CHAP. I I . ]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
243
which, if known, might have inclined your highnesses to befriend them.
And although, on the one hand, I was comforted by faith
that the Deity would not permit a work of such great exaltation to his church, wrought through so many troubles and contradic tions, to remain imperfect; yet, on the other hand, I reflected on my sins, as a punishment for which he might intend that I should be deprived of the glory which would redound to me in this world."* In the midst of these gloomy apprehensions, an expedient suggested itself, by which, though he and his ships should perish, the glory of his achievement might survive to his name, and its advantages be secured to his sovereigns.
He wrote on parchment
a brief account of his voyage and discovery, and of his having taken possession of the newly-found lands in the name of their catholic majesties.
This he sealed and directed to the king and
queen; superscribing a promise of a thousand ducats to whomsoever should deliver the packet unopened.
He then wrapped it in a
waxed cloth, which he placed in the centre of a cake of wax, and inclosing the whole in a large barrel, threw it into the sea, giving his men to suppose he was performing some religious vow.
Lest
this memorial should never reach the land, he inclosed a copy in a similar manner, and placed it upon the poop, so that, should the caravel be swallowed up by the waves, the barrel might float off and survive. These precautions in some measure mitigated his anxiety, and he was still more relieved when, after heavy showers, there ap peared at sunset a streak of clear sky in the west, giving hopes that the wind was about to shift to that quarter. * Hist, del Almirante, cap. 36.
Q2
These hopes