Christopher Columbus was quite sure that it was possible to sail to East Asia and India by heading to the west from Europe. His convictions were based not on obscure and legendary news of the discovery of Finland by the Normans, but on the considerations of Columbus' genius. The warm voyage from the Gulf of Mexico to the western shore of Europe evidenced of the existence of a great land in the west. Vincent, the Portuguese skipper, caught a piece of wood in the sea near the Azores (Eckhart 88-89). which depicted figures carved on it. The carving was sophisticated, but it could be seen that it was made not of a iron, but of some other cutter. The same piece of wood was introduced to Columbus by his friend. John II, the Portuguese King, showed Columbus pieces of cane brought by the western sea current. They reminded Columbus of Ptolemy's words regarding the huge sizes of Indian plants. The inhabitants of different isles told Columbus that the sea brought them unusual species of trees, which could not be observed in Europe. There were also several cases when the western sea current brought boats with several dead people which belonged to neither European nor African races.
Shortly before that, the small port city of Palos had incurred the wrath of government, which was followed by the obligation to store two ships for public service during two years. Isabelle ordered Palos to give those ships at Columbus' disposal. The third ship was equipped by Columbus with money that was given to him by his friends. At that time, the Pinzóns had a great influence in Palos and were engaged in maritime commerce. With the aid of the Pinzóns, Columbus dispelled the apprehensions of the sailors regarding making a long voyage to the west, and recruited nearly a hundred of good seamen. After three months the equipment of the squadron was ready, and on August 3 of 1492 two caravels Niña and Pinta sailed from the harbor of Palos (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996). The captains of the ships were Martin Alonso Pinzón and his brother Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. Alongside the Pinzóns' ships, the voyage was made by Santa María under the lead of Christopher Columbus (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996).
Having sailed from Palos, Columbus was constantly heading to the west by the degrees of latitude of the Canary Islands. The voyage under these degrees was much longer than under the northern or southern latitudes. However, its advantage was represented by the constant favorable wind. The squadron stopped near one of the Azores' isles to repair damaged Pinta, which took nearly a month (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996). After that, Columbus' first voyage continued farther to the west. In order not to disturb the seamen, Columbus hid the true measure of the distance they had sailed. In the tables which he showed to his companions he presented figures that were smaller than the actual ones, and recorded the veritable information in his journal. The weather was fine, and the wind was favorable. The air temperature reminded of fresh and warm morning hours of April days in Andalusia.
The squadron sailed for more than a month and saw nothing but the sea and the sky. The captains of the smaller ships were ordered to lie to drift until dawn once they covered 780 nautical miles, which was made due to the fear of stumbling upon underwater rocks. From this time forward, Columbus began to keep his double account. From the very departure Columbus expected that he would have a lot of trouble with his crew, since many of them set sail against their own will. Once in his youth Columbus managed to eliminate the resistance of his sailors by rearranging the points of the compass so that the crew suddenly found themselves near Tunis, though they had expected to land at Sardinia. With a view to maintaining the crew's morale, Columbus decided to resort to trickery once again.
At the same time, the sailor began to be anxious. The magnetic needle changed its direction and started to deviate from the pole more to the west than to the parts of the sea that were close to Europe and Africa (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996). This contributed to the anxious state of the seamen. Indeed, it seemed like the voyage was going to lead them to unknown placed ruled by unfamiliar impacts. Columbus made his attempts to reassure his sailors by explaining that the change in the direction of the magnetic needle was made due to the change in the positions of the ships against the polar star (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996).
On the second half of September, the favorable eastern wind carried the ships across the calm sea, which was covered by green sea plants in some places. With that, the invariability of the direction of the wind increased the sailors' anxiety. They started to think that there was no other wind in those places, and that it would be impossible to sail back the same way. However, these concerns also disappeared when the forceful sea currents from the southwest took place, since they would make the return to Europe possible. The squadron of Christopher Columbus was sailing in the part of the ocean that would later be called the sea grass, and this thick plant coverage seemed the sign of the nearness of the land. Moreover, a flock of birds strengthened the hope that the land was near.
On September 25, at sunset, the participants of Columbus' first voyage saw a cloud on the horizon northwestwards, and took it for an island (Mar, Medieval Sourcebook, 1996). However, the next morning they understood that they were wrong. Former historians have stories that the sailors conspired in order to make Columbus return to their homeland, and even threatened his life and urged him to promise to turn back if the land would not show during the subsequent three days. However, it is now proved that all these stories are fictions which took place after decades of Columbus' time. The apprehension of the seamen, though very natural, were turned into a riot by the fantasy of the subsequent generation.
On the contrary, Columbus reassured his sailors by promises, threats and reminders of the power the Queen had granted to him in order to retain his authority on the ship. Furthermore, Columbus promised a lifetime pension of 30 gold coins for the first sailor to see the land. That is why, the sailors who were at the topsails gave signals that they saw the land several times. However, when it proved wrong, the whole crew was gripped by despondency. In order to put an end to these frustrations, Columbus said that the one who would give a false signal about the land on the horizon would lose his right for the pension.
Nowadays, many historians question the real goal of the first voyage by presenting arguments that Columbus did not even plan to search for India. Instead, many believe that he was actually seeking different legendary islands like Antilia, though the major part of these considerations proved insufficiently grounded. After his first successful voyage, Columbus would later make another three voyage to the west. It was he who discovered many isles in the Caribbean and investigated the part of the coast of the American mainland.
However, the subsequent voyages of Christopher Columbus were not so successful. He found neither fold nor any fabulous riches. As a result, the Spanish government was disappointed with Columbus' failures and deprived the brave sailor of all his titles. Columbus' property was spent to settling debts made for the equipment of the ships. Having been left and forgotten by everyone, Columbus died in poverty.
Until the end of his life Columbus was not aware of the fact that he had discovered a new continent. The lands he discovered were called "India", and their inhabitants were called "Indians". This title, however, got accustomed to the native inhabitants of America. Later on, Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian traveler, proved that the lands discovered by Columbus were a new continent. The description of Vespucci's voyages to the shores of South America generated a great interest in Europe, which resulted in the fact that America was called in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
Works Cited
Eckhart, Mary L. Columbus' Dictionary. Boston: Branden Pub., 1992. 88-89. Print.
Mar, Paul Halsall. "Medieval Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal." Fordham University. 1996. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. <http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.asp>.
