h Marco Polo's Indies, and when four natives offered to
act as his guides, he thought it worth while to steer (in the direction of
Martinique) in quest of the fabulous Amazonians. But the breeze blew
towards Spain; home-sickness took possession of the crews; murmurs arose
at the prolongation of the voyage among the currents and reefs of those
strange seas; and, in deference to the universal wish of his companions,
Columbus soon abandoned all idea of further discovery, and resumed his
course for Europe.

STORM ENCOUNTERED.

At first the voyage was tranquil enough, though the adverse trade-winds,
and the bad sailing of the Pinta,[13] retarded the progress of both
vessels.

[Footnote 13: This was occasioned by the defective condition of her
mast, whereupon the admiral remarks in his diary, that "if Pinzon had
exerted himself as much to provide himself with a new mast in the
Indies, where there are so many fine trees, as he had in running away
from him in the hope of loading his vessel with gold, they would not
have laboured under that inconvenience."]

But on the 12th of February a storm overtook them, and became more and
more furious, until, on the 14th, it rose to a hurricane, before which
Pinzon's vessel could only drift helplessly, while the Nina was able to
set a close-reefed foresail, which kept her from being buried in the
trough of the sea. In the evening both caravels were scudding under bare
poles, and when darkness fell, and the signal light of the "Pinta" gleamed
farther and farther off, through the blinding spray, until at last it
could be seen no more, when his panic-stricken crew gave themselves up to
despair, as the winds howled louder and louder, and the seas burst over
his frail vessel--then, indeed, without a single skilled navigator to
advise or to aid him, Columbus must have felt himself alone with the
tempest and the night. But his brave heart bore him up, and his wonderful
capacity for devising expedients on sudden emergencies did not forsake
him. As the stores were consumed, the Nina felt the want of the ballast
which Columbus had intended to take on board at the Amazonian Island.
"Fill the empty casks with water," he said, "and let them serve as
ballast," an expedient which has grown common enough now, but which then
was probably original.

THE PROMISED PILGRAMAGE

Nor, while he did all that human skill could suggest for the safety of his
vessel, did Columbus neglect to i