CHAP.
I.]
in this direction.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
237
He had not proceeded two leagues, however,
when a most favorable breeze sprang up for the voyage to Spain. He observed a gloom gathering on the countenances of the sailors, as they diverged from the homeward route.
Reflecting upon the
little hold he had upon the feelings and affections of these men, the insubordinate spirit they had repeatedly evinced, the uncer tainty of the good faith of Pinzon, and the leaky condition of his ships, he was suddenly brought to a pause.
As long as he
protracted his return, the whole fate of his discovery was at the mercy of a thousand contingencies, and an adverse accident might bury himself, his crazy barks, and all the records of his voyage for ever in the ocean.
Repressing, therefore, the strong inclina
tion to seek further discoveries, and determined to place what he had already made beyond the reach of accident, he once more shifted sail, to the great joy of his crews, and resumed his course for Spain.* * Journal of Columb.
Navarrete, torn. 1.
cap. 77. Hist. del Almirante, cap. 34, 3 5 .
Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. i.