420
L I F E A N D V O Y A G E S OF
[BOOK
VII.
C H A P T E R V.
RETURN
OF COLUMBUS ALONG THE
SOUTHERN COAST OP
CUBA. [1494.]
T H E opinion of Columbus, that he was coasting the continent of Asia, and approaching the confines of eastern civilization, was shared by all his fellow-voyagers, among whom were several able and experienced navigators. sharing his enthusiasm.
They were far, however, from
They were to derive no glory from the
success of the enterprise, and they shrunk from its increasing diffi culties and perils.
The ships were strained and crazed by the
various injuries they had received, in running frequently aground. Their cables and rigging were worn, their provisions were grow ing scanty, a great part of the biscuit was spoiled by the seawater, which oozed in through innumerable leaks.
The crews
were worn out by incessant labor, and disheartened at the appear ance of the sea before them, which continued to exhibit a mere wilderness of islands.
They remonstrated, therefore, against per
sisting any longer in this voyage.
They had already followed the
coast far enough to satisfy their minds that it was a continent, and though they doubted not that civilized regions lay in the route they were pursuing, yet their provisions might be exhausted, and their vessels disabled, before they could arrive at them.