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Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay
the disc of the orb at times, which have disappeared, as If hid
behind the body of the luminary. I think it will be found that
the north star hath made some slight deviation in its position,
and that it will continue thus to move for some short period,
after which, no doubt, it will be found returning to its customary position, when it will be seen that its temporary eccentricity hath in no manner disturbed its usual harmony with
the needles. Note the star well throughout the night, and in
the morning let the amplitude be again taken, when I think
the truth of my conjecture will be proved by the regularity of
the movement of the heavenly body. So far from being discouraged by this sign, we ought rather to rejoice that we have
made a discovery, which, of itself, will entitle the expedition to
the credit of having added materially to the stores of science!»
The pilots were fain to be satisfied with this solution of
their doubts, in the absence of any other means of accounting for them. They remained long on the poop discoursing of
the strange occurrence; and as men, even in their blindest
moods, usually reason themselves into either tranquillity or
apprehension, they fortunately succeeded in doing the first on
this occasion. With the men there was more difficulty, for
when it became known to the crews of the three vessels that
the needles had begun to deviate from their usual direction,
a feeling akin to despair seized on them, almost without exception. Here Sancho was of material service. When the panic
was at its height, and the people were on the point of presenting themselves to the admiral, with a demand that the heads of
the caravels should be immediately turned toward the northeast, he interposed with his knowledge and influence to calm
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
the tumult. The first means this trusty follower had recourse
to, in order to bring his shipmates back to reason, was to swear,
without reservation, that he had frequently known the needle and the north star to vary, having witnessed the fact with
his own eyes on twenty previous occasions, and no harm to
come of it. He invited the elder and more experienced seamen to make An accurate observation of the difference which
already existed, which was quite a point of the compass, and
then to see, in the morning, If this difference had not increased in the same direction.
«This», he continued, «will be a certain sign, my friends,
that the star is in motion, since we can all see that the compasses are just where they have been ever since we left Palos
de Moguer. When one of two things is in motion, and it is
certain which stands still, there can be no great difficulty in
saying which is the uneasy one. Now, look thou here, Martin
Martinez», who was one of the most factious of the disaffected;
«words are of little use when men can prove their meaning by
experiments like this. Thou seest two balls of spun-yarn on
this windlass; well, it is wanted to be known which of them
remains there, and which is taken away. I remove the smallest
ball, thou perceivest, and the largest remains; from which it
followeth, as only one can remain, and that one is the larger
ball, why the smaller must be taken away. I hold no man fit to
steer a caravel, by needle or by star, who will deny a thing that
is proven as plainly and as simply as this!»
Martin Martinez, though a singularly disaffected man, was
no logician; and, Sancho’s oaths backing his demonstrations to
the letter, his party soon became the most numerous. as there
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Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay
is nothing so encouraging to the dull-minded and discontented mutineer, as to perceive that he is of the strongest side, so
is there nothing so discouraging as to find himself in the minority; and Sancho so far prevailed as to bring most of his fellows round to a belief in the expediency of waiting to ascertain the state of things in the morning, before they committed
themselves by any act of rashness.
«Thou hast done well, Sancho», said Columbus, An hour
later, when the mariner came secretly to make his nightly
report of the state of feeling among the people. «Thou hast
done well in all but these oaths, taken to prove that thou hast
witnessed this phenomenon before. Much as I have navigated the earth, and careful as have been my observations, and
ample as have been my means, never before have I known
the needle to vary from its direction toward the north star:
and I think that which hath escaped my notice would not be
apt to attract thine».
«You do me injustice, Señor Don Almirante, and have in-
flicted a wound touching my honesty, that a dobla only can
cure» –
«Thou knowest, Sancho, that no one felt more alarm when
the deviation of the needle was first noted, than thyself. So
great, in sooth, was thy apprehension, that thou even refused to receive gold, a weakness of which thou art usually
exceedingly innocent».
«When the deviation was first noted, your Excellency, this
was true enough; for, not to attempt to mislead one who hath
more penetration than befalleth ordinary men, I did fancy that
our hopes of ever seeing Spain or St. Clara de Moguer again,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
were so trifling as to make it of no great consequence who was
admiral, and who a simple helmsman».
«And yet thou wouldst now brazen it out, and deny thy
terror! Didst thou not swear to thy fellows, that thou hadst
often seen this deviation before; ay, even on as many as twenty
occasions?»
«Well, Excellency, this is a proof that a cavalier may make
a very capital viceroy and admiral, and know all about Cathay,
without having the clearest notions of history! I told my shipmates, Don Christopher, that I had noted these changes before
this night, and If tied to the stake to be burnt as a martyr, as
I sometimes think will one day be the fate of all of us superfluously honest men, I would call on yourself, Señor Almirante, as the witness of the truth of what I had sworn to».
«Thou wouldst, then, summon a most unfortunate witness,
Sancho, since I neither practise false oaths myself, nor encourage their use in others».
«Don Luis de Bobadilla y Pedro de Muños, here, would
then be my reliance», said the imperturbable Sancho; «for
proof a man hath a right to, when wrongfully accused, and
proof I will have. Your Excellency will please to remember
that it was on the night of Saturday, the 15th, that I first notified your worship of this very change, and that we are now at
the night of Monday, the 17th. I swore to twenty times noting this phenomenon, as it is called, in those eight-and-forty
hours, when it would have been nearer the truth had I said
two hundred times. Santa Maria! I did nothing but note it for
the first few hours!»
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Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay
«Go to, Sancho; thy conscience hath its latitude as well as
its longitude; but thou hast thy uses. Now, that thou understandest the reason of the variation, however, thou wilt encourage thy fellows, as well as keep up thy spirits».
«I make no question that it is all as your Excellency say-
eth about the star’s travelling», returned Sancho; «and it hath
crossed my mind that it is possible we are nearer Cathay than
we have thought; this movement being made by some evil-disposed spirits on purpose to make us lose the way».
«Go to thy hammock, knave, and bethink thee of thy sins;
leaving the reasons of these mysteries to those who are better
taught. There is thy dobla, and see that thou art discreet».
In the morning every being in the three caravels waited
impatiently for the results of the new observations. as the wind
continued favorable, though far from fresh, and a current
was found setting to the westward, the vessels had made, in
the course of twenty-four hours, more than a hundred and
fifty miles, which rendered the increase in the variation perceptible, thus corroborating a prophecy of Columbus, that had
been ventured on previous observation. So easily are the ignorant the dupes of the plausible, that this solution temporarily
satisfied all doubts, and it was generally believed that the star
had moved, while the needle remained true.
How far Columbus was misled by his own logic in this affair,
is still a matter of doubt. That he resorted to deceptions which
might be considered innocent, in order to keep up the courage of his companions, is seen in the fact of the false, or public
reckoning; but there is no proof that this was one of the instances in which he had recourse to such means. No person of
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
any science believed, even when the variation of the compass
was unknown, that the needle pointed necessarily to the polar
star; the coincidence in the direction of the magnetic needle
and the position of the heavenly body, being thought accidental; and there is nothing extravagant in supposing that
the admiral – who had the instrument in his possession, and
was able to ascertain that none of its virtue was visibly lost,
while he could only reason from supposed analogy concerning
the evolutions of the star – should imagine that a friend he
had ever found so faithful, had now deserted him, leaving him
disposed to throw the whole mystery of the phenomenon on
the more distant dwellers in space. Two opinions have been
ventured concerning the belief of the celebrated navigator, in
the theory he advanced on this occasion; the one affirming,
and the other denying his good faith in urging the doctrine
he had laid down. Those who assert the latter, however, would
seem to reason a little loosely themselves, their argument
mainly resting on the improbability of a man like Columbus
uttering so gross a scientific error, at a time when science it-
is known to-day of its cause. Still it is possible that the admiral may not have had any settled notions on the subject, even
while he was half inclined to hope his explanation was correct; for it is certain that, in the midst of the astronomical and
geographical ignorance of his age, this extraordinary man had
many accurate and sublime glimpses of truths that were still in
embryo as respected their development and demonstration by
the lights of precise and inductive reasoning.
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Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay
Fortunately, If the light brought with it the means of as-
certaining with certainty the variation of the needle, it also
brought the means of perceiving that the sea was still covered
with weeds, and other signs that were thought to be encouraging, as connected with the vicinity of land. The current being
now in the same direction as the wind, the surface of the ocean
was literally as smooth as that of An inland sheet of water, and
the vessels were enabled to sail, without danger, within a few
fathoms of each other.
«This weed, Señor Almirante», called out the elder Pinzon,
«hath the appearance of that which groweth on the banks of
streams, and I doubt that we are near to the mouth of some
exceeding great river!»
«This may be so», returned Columbus; «than which there
can be no more certain sign than may be found in the taste of
the water. Let a bucket be drawn, that we may know».
While Pepe was busied in executing this order, waiting
until the vessel had passed through a large body of weeds for
that purpose, the quick eye of the admiral detected a crab
struggling on the surface of the fresh-looking plants, and he
called to the helmsman in sufficient season, to enable him so
far to vary his course, as to allow the animal to be taken.
«Here is a most precious prize, good Martin Alonzo», said
Columbus, holding the crab between a finger and thumb, that
the other might see it. «These animals are never known to
go further than some eighty leagues from the land; and see,
Señor, yonder is one of the white tropic birds, which, it is
said, never sleep on the water! Truly, God favoreth us; and
what rendereth all these tokens more grateful, is the circum-
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
stance of their coming from the west – the hidden, unknown,
mysterious west!»
A common shout burst from the crews at the appearance of
these signs, and again the beings who lately had been on
the verge of despair, were buoyed up with hope, and ready to
see propitious omens in even the most common occurrences of
the ocean. All the vessels had hauled up buckets of water, and
fifty mouths were immediately wet with the brine; and so general was the infatuation, that every man declared the sea far
less salt than usual. So complete, indeed, was the delusion created by these cheerful expectations, and so thoroughly had all
concern in connection with the moving star been removed by
the sophism of Sancho, that even Columbus, habitually so
wary, so reasoning, so calm, amid his loftiest views, yielded to
his native enthusiasm, and fancied that he was about to discover some vast island, placed midway between Asia and Europe; An honor not to be despised, though it fell so far short of
his higher expectations.
«Truly, friend Martin Alonzo», he said, «this water see-
meth to have less of the savor of the sea, than is customary at
a distance from the outlet of large rivers!»
«My palate telleth the same tale, Señor Almirante. as a fur-
ther sign, the Niña hath struck another tunny, and her people
are at this moment hoisting it in».
Shout succeeded shout, as each new encouraging proof ap-
peared; and the admiral, yielding to the ardor of the crews, ordered sail to be pressed on all the vessels, that each might endeavor to outstrip the others, in the hope of being the first to
discover the expected island. This strife soon separated the car-
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Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay
avels, the Pinta easily outsailing the other two, while the Santa
Maria and the Niña came on more slowly, in her rear. All was
gaiety and mirth, the livelong day, on board those isolated
vessels, that, unknown to those they held, were navigating
the middle of the Atlantic, with horizon extending beyond horizon, without change in the watery boundary, as circle would
form without circle, on the same element, were a vast mass of
solid matter suddenly dropped into the sea.
CHAPTER XIX
«The sails were filled, and fair the light winds blew,
As glad to waft him from his native home;
And fast the white rocks faded from his view,
And soon were lost in circumambient foam:
And then, it may be, of his wish to roam
Repented he, but in his bosom slept
The silent thought, nor from his lips did come
One word of wail, whilst others sate and wept,
And to the reckless gales unmanly moaning kept».
C
HILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE.
As night drew near, the Pinta shortened sail, permitting her consorts to close. All eyes now turned anxiously to
the west, where it was hoped that land might at any moment
appear. The last tint, however, vanished from the horizon,
and darkness enveloped the ocean without bringing any
material change. The wind still blew a pleasant breeze from
the south-east, and the surface of the ocean offered little more
inequality than is usually met on the bosoms of large rivers.
The compasses showed a slightly increasing deviation from
their old coincidence with the polar star, and no one doubted,
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