al for life of all the new seas and oceans into which he might
sail; he was to be chief ruler of all the lands he might find; he was to
keep one tenth part of all the gold and jewels and treasures he should
bring away, and was to have his "say" in all questions about the new
lands. For his part (and this was because of the offer of his friend at
Palos, Captain Pinzon) he agreed to pay one eighth of all the expenses
of this expedition and of all new enterprises, and was to have one
eighth of all the profits from them.

So Columbus had his wish at last. The queen's men figured up how
much money they could let him have; they called him "Don Christopher
Columbus," "Your Excellency" and "Admiral," and at once he set about
getting ready for his voyage.

CHAPTER IV. HOW THE ADMIRAL SAILED AWAY.

The agreement made between Columbus and the king and queen of Spain was
signed on the seventeenth of April, 1492. But it was four months before
he was quite ready to sail away.

He selected the town of Palos as the place to sail from, because
there, as you know, Captain Pinzon lived; there, too, he had other
acquaintances, so that he supposed it would be easy to get the sailors
he needed for his ships. But in this he was greatly mistaken.

As soon as the papers had been signed that held the queen to her
promise, Columbus set off for Palos. He stopped at the Convent of Rabida
to tell the Friar Juan Perez how thankful he was to him for the help the
good priest had given him, and how everything now looked promising and
successful.

The town of Palos, as you can see from your map of Spain, is situated at
the mouth of the river Tinto on a little bay in the southwestern part
of Spain, not far from the borders of Portugal. To-day the sea has gone
away from it so much that it is nearly high and dry; but four hundred
years ago it was quite a seaport, when Spain did not have a great many
sea towns on the Atlantic coast.

At the time of Columbus's voyage the king and queen of Spain were
angry with the port of Palos for something its people had done that was
wrong--just what this was we do not know. But to punish the town, and
because Columbus wished to sail from there, the king and queen ordered
that Palos should pay them a fine for their wrong-doing. And this fine
was to lend the king and queen of Spain, for one year, without pay, two
sailing vessels of the kind called caravel's, armed and equipped "for
the service of the crown"--tha