ejoices in heaven, as He foresees that so
many souls of so many people heretofore lost are to be saved; and let
us be glad not only for the exaltation of our faith, but also for the
increase of temporal prosperity, in which not only Spain, but all
Christendom is about to share.

As these things have been accomplished, so have they been briefly
narrated. Farewell.

[1] The first letter of Columbus, descriptive of his first
voyage, was written in February, 1498, when he was off the
Azores, on his return home. It was addrest to Louis de Santangel,
the treasurer of King Ferdinand of Spain. Altho addrest to the
treasurer, it was intended for the eyes of the King himself, and
for those of his queen, Isabella. The letter was first printed in
Barcelona, soon after the arrival of Columbus. Another account,
substantially the same, was written by Columbus in Lisbon in
March of the same year, an--at once translated into Latin and
published in Rome in several editions, one being that of Stephen
Plannck, of which five copies only are now known to be extant. Of
this Plannck edition a translation from the Latin into English
made by Henry W. Haynes has been published by the New York Public
Library. From this translation the passage here given is taken.

[2] The identity of the island on which Columbus made his first
landing was formerly much in controversy. The best opinion now
inclines to accept the conclusions reached by Captain Beecher of
the British Navy some fifty years ago, that the landing was made
on what is known as Watling's Island, one of the Bahamas. This
island is about thirteen miles long, north and south, and six
wide, and is made up of coral, shell and other marine debris. A
monument was erected on it by a Chicago newspaper in 1892, with
this inscription: "On this spot Christopher Columbus first set
foot on the soil of the New World." The monument is said already
to be in a state of decay, having been poorly constructed.
Watling's Island lies about 200 miles southeast of Nassau, and is
nearly on a parallel with Havana, but lies 400 miles east of it.
Its inhabitants number about 700, who are dispersed among fifteen
hamlets. The horses on the island scarcely number 50. There are a
few cows and several flocks of sheep. The people are all poor.
Little is grown on the island, droughts occur, and starv