and a branch of a tree still green, and also a piece of wood which had been cut with some sort of tool, and, what was more conclusive still, a branch bearing upon it something like berries, which had evidently grown upon the land, and which could not have been long in the water. Of course, all the officers and men on board of the several vessels became greatly excited. Everybody was looking out with the utmost eagerness, all anxious to secure the prize for being the first to see the land.

After sunset Columbus changed the course of the ships more to the westward again, supposing that the land lay to the southward of them, and desiring not to come too suddenly upon it in the night. About ten o'clock, as he was standing upon his lookout on the quarter-deck, surveying the horizon, he thought he saw a light. He called another person to come and look at it, and he, too, thought it was a light. A third person, who was asked to look, could not see it, and presently it disappeared. It afterward came into view again. once or twice and seemed to be moving.

The sailors were accustomed to have a religious service on board, after the labors of the day and of the evening were over, in which they sang together the Ave Maria, a chant used in the Catholic worship. After the close of the service on this eve

ning Columbus announced to them formally that he believed they were now very near the land, and advised them all to keep a careful lookout until morning. He promised to give a silk doublet, in addition to the reward which had been offered by the king and queen of Spain, to the one who should first see the shore. The reward which their majesties had offered was a pension for life, of considerable value.

At length, at about two o'clock in the morning, a cry of land was raised. The land was seen first by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana. The sails were immediately ordered to be furled, all except one, which was necessary to steady the vessel in lying to, and in this situation they all waited for morning.

As soon as it became light the shore appeared in full view, and groups of savages were seen upon the beach, gazing at the vessels with every mark of wonder and admiration.

CHAPTER IV.

SEQUEL OF THE VOYAGE.

PREPARATIONS FOR LANDING.

As soon as the arrangements could be made Columbus prepared to land. As has already been said, he entertained very lofty ideas of the dignity of his mission, and of the exalted rank which he held as governor of the lands that he had discovered and as Lord High Admiral of the seas, and he deemed it proper that the act of landing should be effected in a ceremonious and formal manner. He accordingly dressed himself in his official costume, which was of a very rich and gorgeous description, and at the same time ordered the barge to be armed and made ready. The barge was brought alongside the several vessels in succession, and Columbus, with the two other commanders, were taken on board. Each bore in his hand a banner. Columbus carried the one which had been borne upon his own ship as the flag of the admiral. All the banners were embroidered with the crowns and initial letters of the king and queen of Spain.

The principal secretaries and other officers of the expedition also embarked in the barge, and a suitable number of seamen, some of whom were armed in order to act as an escort for the party and a guard, while others were to serve as oarsmen. In this manner the landing party left the ship and proceeded toward the shore..

THE CEREMONY OF TAKING POSSESSION.

The whole party, as they drew toward the land, were intently occupied in gazing at the scene which met their view, while the groups of natives, almost naked, that were gathered on the beach watched their coming with a still stronger expression of wonder and curiosity depicted upon their countenances. As soon as the boats reached the beach Columbus was the first to leap to the shore. The others followed him. They found themselves in the midst of an enchanting scene of tropical verdure and beauty. Before them were groves of trees covered with a dense foliage of the very richest green, and fruits and flowers of new and unknown forms were growing luxuriantly around them.

Columbus advanced a short distance upon the land, and then taking his station where he could be seen by all, he summoned the officers and sea

men who had come on shore with him in the barge to gather around him, and then planting the staff of his banner in the soil, he called upon all present to witness that he took possession of that land in the name of their majesties the king and queen of Spain.

FORMING ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE NATIVES.

The remainder of the day was spent in making various observations and in forming acquaintance with the natives. Columbus said, in an account which he gave of these transactions, that he determined to treat the natives kindly, being convinced that they could be brought over to the Christian faith more easily by kindness than by force. So he distributed among them some gay-colored caps, glass beads, little bells and other such things as he had brought with him for the purpose, all of which seemed to please them very much, and they, in return, gave Columbus and his men parrots and balls of cotton thread, which it seems they had contrived in some way to spin, and javelins, which appeared to be their only weapons of war.

The relations thus established between the natives and their visitors became so friendly that in the course of the day many of the former swam off to the ships and were received on board, where