Columbus's great adventure

in early August, everything was ready for going to sea. The most famous fleet that will sail on the ocean is anchored in palos Port, a small seaport in southwest Spain. It includes Columbus' flagship Santa Maria and two light sailboats, Pinta and Nina (la Pinta, la Ni? a y la Santa María)。 The three ships are different in size, and they are equipped with cannons, items traded with local indigenous people, and six months' grain and other food. The flagship "Santa Maria" weighs 13 tons, is about 35 meters long, has a deck of 18 meters long, has three masts, and is equipped with horn sails, with Columbus as the captain. The second ship is the Pinta, with Martin Binson as the captain. It weighs 9 tons and is fast. The hull length is only half of the flagship length. The third Nina, weighing about 6 tons, is captain of Martin's brother Vicente Binson. The Benson brothers also participated in this expedition as investors, and their success is closely related to their vital interests.

The most difficult job is to recruit sailors. A considerable number of the crew members are Columbus' friends, servants and curious officials. A considerable number of prisoners were granted amnesty on the condition of this voyage. This makes up 88 people, including a linguist who knows Arabic. This is because at that time, people thought that Arabic was the mother tongue of all languages, so the linguist intended to act as an interpreter when meeting with China Khan.

On August 3rd, 1492, Columbus led the fleet to anchor and set sail. At that time, there was no wind, the sails hung feebly, and the fleet slowly sailed out along the Tinto River at low tide.

On August 12th, the fleet sailed to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. After adding firewood and supplies, the fleet left the Canary Islands on September 6, and because all the crew members were in a good mood, no one escaped. The fleet sailed due west in the northeast wind that often rises near the Canary Islands. According to Columbus' experience in sailing in this area a few years ago, this northeast wind is the best wind direction for crossing the ocean to Japan.

The fleet sailed day and night along the easterly wind, and sometimes it could sail more than 15 miles to the west day and night. But day after day, it is always the empty sea surface that is displayed in front of people. The crew led a monotonous life at sea. From morning till night, the boatboy reports the time according to the hourglass every 3 minutes. The crew changed shifts every four hours. Since in the boat in the late 15th century, only the captain and one or two senior officials had the right to enjoy a comfortable cabin and berth, the off-duty crew had to lie lazily on the deck and chat, or take a good sleep in the shade.

On the first day of his voyage, Columbus enjoyed himself very much. The fresh morning, warm afternoon and quiet sea brought him great joy. The only thing that made him anxious was the anxiety of the sailors. Columbus prepared two logbooks at the beginning. A record of the actual distance he estimated to drive every day is secret; The voyage recorded in the other book is much smaller than the actual voyage, and it is open, so that the crew will not feel frightened and lose confidence when the voyage is prolonged. But because Columbus always overestimated the speed, his fake diary was closer to the actual situation.

although, two weeks later, due to the change of wind direction, the fleet began to sail against the wind, which made Columbus feel relieved. In his diary, he wrote, "I just need this headwind, because the crew are worried that there will never be a proper wind direction to send them back to Spain."

Soon, they found clusters of green seaweed floating on the sea surface, and by this time they had sailed to the sargasso sea, which was covered with a large number of floating Sargasso in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. When they passed smoothly, they realized that it was unnecessary to worry that the ship would hit a reef or get entangled in the surrounding seaweed at first. Later, a sailor found a sea crab attached to seaweed. Columbus thought it was a sign that land was approaching, because in his view, crabs could not be found 8 miles away from land. In fact, this is just a small crab that thrives everywhere in the sargasso sea.

On the evening of September 25th, the ship Pinta shouted that it had reached the land ahead, and the crew on board also climbed the mast, and an island was faintly visible where the sea and the sky met. Columbus was so excited that he knelt on the ground and thanked God, and ordered the crew to sing an ode to God. But the island they found disappeared the next day. This kind of thing has happened in the past and in the future. They mistook the hanging thunderstorm clouds for land.

in October, the fleet has been drifting in the ocean for three weeks in isolation, but the shadow of the land is still invisible. Sailors with stubble on their faces and clothes drenched by sweat and seawater began to complain publicly. They said that this voyage was a stupid voyage, and several sailors were going to throw Columbus into the sea before returning.

But the unshakable Columbus will continue to sail westward. On October 7, they saw a bird that was definitely not a seabird flying over their heads to the southwest. At this time, a large number of migratory birds flew from North America to the Caribbean islands and South America for the winter. Therefore, Columbus led the whole fleet to sail to the south by west, which was marked by migratory birds.

On October 11th, the waves brought a branch with leaves, a branch full of flowers and a piece of wood that seemed to have been artificially cut ... These signs indicate that land is approaching. Columbus sang blessing song with his crew at sunset. He reminded everyone that the king had promised to reward the first person who discovered land with a huge annuity, and Columbus also rewarded him with a silk tunic. In the evening, the ship lit an open flame and hung lanterns at the stern, so as to ensure that the ships would not be separated from each other. At 7 o'clock in the evening, the crew began their first night shift.

In the night when the waves are rough, the fleet bumps on the waves under the moonlight. The captains of all the ships were searching the ocean far to the west or pacing back and forth nervously on the deck. At 1 o'clock, Columbus finally found a faint light in the distance. It seems that someone holds a candle and then puts it down. After a while, it disappears forever. According to the analysis of later generations, the fire Columbus saw may be a wildfire lit by Indians on the east coast of an island to drive away mosquitoes indoors.

The false alarm that made everyone happy in vain passed, and everyone was calm again. Under the quiet starlight, the fleet continued to sail forward. At two o'clock the next morning, a crew member of the Pinta shouted again:

"Land! Land! " This time, they did find land, and the sandstone that shone gray in the moonlight constituted the cliff bank. It's just an island in the Bahamas that arcs out of Florida, but it's not a part of east indies.

At this time, Columbus was not an explorer, but a discoverer of the new continent, which can be said to be the greatest day of Columbus's life. A slightly undulating island surrounded by a necklace-like coral reef and sparkling beaches stands six miles ahead. The island named San Salvador by Columbus is full of green tropical forests. San Salvador means "Holy Savior" in Spanish. In fact, it is only a small island 13 miles long and 5 miles wide.

Columbus saw several naked people coming out of the Woods from the ship, so he called together the captains of the ships. Columbus, the "governor", put on pomegranate red clothes, and the green flags "F" and "Y" representing the king and queen were carried by two other captains respectively, and held a ceremony. Then, the two flags were raised on the wooden poles that had just been erected. Columbus declared that this place has become the territory of Spain. Then he led the people to set foot on the earth and prostrate themselves on the ground to thank God for bringing them good luck. Residents with reddish-brown skin are very curious and confused when they watch the "performance" of this group of uninvited guests with white skin.

Soon, the residents began to watch Columbus curiously. They were all naked and very fit. They thought they had arrived in Columbus, east indies, and called these indigenous people Indians. In this way, all native Americans have been called so since then. In fact, the people they saw at that time were Arawaks scattered on the islands on the north coast of South America.

Columbus made a deal with these aborigines, and exchanged small items such as bronze bells, red hats and glass beads for small ornaments made of gold, cotton yarn and parrots. This trade is an absolutely unequal exchange. An ordinary Spanish coin can be exchanged for 25 pounds of cotton yarn. Later, when Columbus described these residents, he said, "All the people I met were very young ... They didn't carry iron weapons and didn't know that they could hurt people. When I showed them the sword, they grabbed the blade and hurt their fingers because of ignorance. They don't have any ironware ... "

The crew stayed in San Salvador for two days, and they also exchanged some cheap decorations for food and fresh water from the Indians.

The Arabic linguist brought here is useless here. Columbus learned from the Arawaks only by gestures and symbols that there was a king with a lot of gold in the south, and there were many such islands in the south and west.

the news is inspiring. On the map with many imaginative elements at that time, there were indeed many islands scattered in the sea in eastern Asia, including the so-called Japan. According to Marco Polo's Travels, there is so much gold there that even the roof and floor of the palace are made of gold. So Columbus made up his mind to look for this treasure in the southwest. After arresting six Arawaks as translators and guides, the fleet sailed southwest for about two weeks. On the way, they discovered some new islands, and tasted sweet potatoes, corn and cassava for the first time in this area, which made them admire the Indian's strange sleeping berth-network hammock. Soon after this, European seafarers adopted this kind of hammock.

However, after searching all over the Bahamas, they didn't find much gold, so according to Indian rumors, they continued to look for a bigger island called Cuba in the south. The scenery to the east here is very beautiful, and towering green hills can be seen everywhere. Therefore, Columbus said that Cuba is the most beautiful island he has ever heard. However, there, they also didn't find any merchant ships and palaces with golden roofs. All they saw were canoes and villages made up of round huts.

When Columbus showed a piece of gold to the local aborigines, they pointed to a place inland and said, "Nakan, Cuba." "Cuba Nakan?" "... Kan?" "… Khan?" That's it. Columbus thought they must have said, "Great Khan of China". So he thinks he is in China now, not Japan.

A diplomatic mission was quickly dispatched by Columbus to meet Khan with official letters from Ferdinand and Isabella. Obviously, it is impossible to see China's great Khan and find any gold treasure here, but I found a peculiar habit of local residents-that is, roll up a leaf called Tuo Bacos and stuff it into the nostrils, and inhale the smoke emitted when it is lit. They didn't expect that this weed would become as valuable as gold one day. This is tobacco.

After sailing along the north coast of Cuba for five weeks, the fleet still hasn't found any gold. As a result of listening to the Arawak people's opinions, one day, Captain Pinta took the initiative to anchor and sail eastward to an island called babic to look for gold, and never returned for six weeks.

On December 5th, Columbus only led Nina and St. Mary to the easternmost point of Cuba. As he continued his eastward journey, another coast with a large population and beautiful scenery appeared. All the staff think that this is an island as beautiful as Spain, and the island of Spain was named by Columbus as the name of this island. This is now the island of Hispaniola, which belongs to Haiti and Dominica.

Two weeks later, Columbus and his team explored about one third of the northern coast of Hispaniola and drew a fairly accurate map of this area. Sometimes they visit the big tribe of the Awak people and look for gold together. They found that the farther east they went, the more likely they were to find gold.

On December 2th, the fleet anchored in Akour Bay, which is surrounded by mountains. Friendly local residents presented some gold ornaments to them. A gold-inlaid embroidered cotton cloth was given to Columbus as a gift, which was specially sent by a tribal chief a few miles east, so Columbus decided to pay a return visit immediately. On the way, the St. Mary unfortunately hit the rocks. Columbus learned from the chieftain that there was a place in the mainland called Sivao which was rich in gold. Sivao was misunderstood by Columbus as a misunderstanding of Japan, so he believed that the endless treasure had finally been discovered on this Spanish island, and he believed that the Spanish island was Japan, which was located in the sea east of China. They built a fortress on the shore. The wood came from the wreck of the Santa Maria, and it was named Navidad, which means "Christmas" in Spanish. As the first colonial activity in this new continent, Columbus left 4 people to mine the gold mine in Hispaniola. Subsequently, they took all kinds of specialties from the island, a lot of gold and the six Indians as evidence of this discovery, and on January 4, 1493, they anchored and began a long voyage back to Spain.

Two days later, the Nina of Columbus reunited with the Pinta, which was sailing westward. Two adventure ships sailed fearlessly to the vast Atlantic Ocean. Two weeks later, the mountains of Hispaniola will never be seen again. The voyage home was also thrilling, and it also experienced stormy waves and violent storms. Near the Azores Islands, two ships were scattered by huge waves. On March 4th, Nina finally arrived in Lisbon, and on March 15th, the ship sailed into the port of palos. The Pinta also entered the port a few hours later. After 7 months and 12 days, these tired explorers finally came back.

The happiest day in Columbus' life was a few months after he came back. In mid-April, he was called into the palace and won the title of general. The grand reception was beyond Columbus' expectation. Columbus also became a hero of the moment.

Second Expedition

The king and queen, eager to possess the discovered land and wealth, ordered Columbus to return to Hispaniola at once. A huge fleet consisting of 17 ships and 12 crew members was completed in less than five months. This colonial expedition is the largest expedition sent by local Europe. Columbus took his brother Diego with him as his assistant. The purpose of this expedition is to make Columbus build a permanent colony there, make the local indigenous people submit, and find out whether Cuba is really a part of Asia.

The voyage was different from the first one. The fleet set out from Cadiz, a beautiful port, with the accompaniment of horns. The first time was from a small town along the river. It was September 25th, 1493. In order to find some big islands in the southeast of Hispaniola suggested by Indians, the fleet set sail farther south than last time after starting from the Canary Islands. On November 3, it was Sunday, and Sunday in Spanish means Disdomeni (meaning Lord's Day), because on that day they sent it.