Columbus made his fourth voyage from Spain to the Americas in 1502. He was
such a sure navigator by then that the 3500-mile voyage took a mere 21 days.
But he did not arrive happy. At Santo Domingo on June 29 Columbus requested
entry into the harbor for his five ships, and he urged the governor to
detain a 30-ship fleet ready to sail to Spain. He warned a terrible storm
was brewing. The governor and his retinue mocked Columbus as a phony
fortune-teller. Not only did the governor order the fleet to sail but denied
Columbus entry into the harbor.
"May God take you!' fumed Columbus. That was always his strongest
curse.
Once again Columbus was thwarted by dull, proud people. He was no gypsy
fortune-teller but the sea captain supreme. The mix of oily swells from the
southeast, abnormal tide, heaviness in the air, aching arthritis, wispy
cirrus clouds streaming high overhead, and a magnificent crimson sunset
meant only one thing: a savage hurricane was coming from the north or east!
Denied the harbor, Columbus anchored his ships off the southwest shore of
the island with protection from north and west. If anchors broke loose the
winds would drive them out to sea, not into shore. The 30 ships of the fleet
sailed east, then north through the Mona Passage. Barely underway into the
Atlantic the gold-laden fleet was hammered by ferocious winds. Within hours
20 ships sank with all hands. Nine others were driven ashore and battered to
bits. One ship of the fleet survived. A fortune in gold, 29 ships and 500
men were lost.
Columbus, with every anchor of his five caravels down, bitterly wrote
in his journal during the raging hurricane: 'What man ever born, not
excepting Job, would not have died of despair when in such weather - seeking
safety for son, brother shipmates and self - was forbidden the land and the
harbors that he, by God's will and sweating blood, had won for Spain!'
But once again the master of the sea prevailed. Columbus lost not one
ship from the deadly storm, not one man…

from http://www.heroesofhistory.com/page12.html


"Calif Bill" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
It's Columbus Day.

Would it be appropriate to compile a list of Columbus trivia?

I'll start off:

1. Cristobol Colon (Christopher Columbus) was once married to the
daughter
of
the governor of the Canary Islands. There are rumors that he converted
to
Catholicism from Judaism. He was a pioneer in the art of practical
celestial
navigation.

2. European seamen were well aware of "land to the west" for centuries
before
Colubus "discovered" America. Cod from the waters off Newfoundland was a
common
staple at fish markets in several European ports.

3. The Catholic Church suppressed knowledge of the western lands because
they
were not mentioned in the Bible. There was a fear that people would
question
the absolute authority of the Bible (and thereby the Church) if it
became
common knowledge that the earth was not accurately described in the
scriptures.
This explains why the lands to the west were commonly discussed by the
Norse
(Vinland Sagas, etc) who were latecomers to Christianity, but not
officially
acknowledged in areas that had been more directly subjugated by Rome.

4. To get permission to sail to a land that the super authority, the
church,
denied even existed, Cristobol petitioned to make an expedition to
China,
(an
officially recognized locale). He pitched a religious as well as a
commercial
angle, but it is
rather evident that he knew full well he would not be landing in China.
First
fact in evidence: Columbus promised to "claim" locales where he landed
for
the
Spanish Crown. (The Emporer of China would, of course, have some
objection
the
the Spanish potentates laying claim to Formosa). Second fact in
evidence:
Columbus negotiated a deal to be named "The Admiral of the Western Sea."
(This would give him a share in any prizes or booty wrested from the
area.)
Spain would not have sought a naval war with China, particulary in the
late
15th cnetury. Additional fact in evidence, Colon promised to convert the
godless savages to Catholicism. There were no "godless savages" in
China.

5. In 1492, most people did not believe the world was flat, and Columbus
was
not
obsessed with "proving" it to be round.

There's five to get the ball rolling. Anybody else got a tidbit to
contribute?

6. Dirk Pitt found his body in the New World, preserved by his indian
buddies.