Latest / This Country of Ours, Part 1 / 04 - This Country of Ours, Part 1 by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

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04 - This Country of Ours, Part 1 by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · This Country of Ours, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: This Country of Ours Chapter four. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. This
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  Speaker 1: reading by Kara Shallenberg. This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter four. How Columbus returned in triumph. Christmas Eve came
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  Speaker 1: and the Admiral, being very weary, went below to sleep,
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  Speaker 1: leaving a sailor to steer the ship. But this sailor
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  Speaker 1: thought he too would like to sleep, so he gave
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  Speaker 1: the tiller in charge of a boy. Now throughout the
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  Speaker 1: whole voyage, the Admiral had forbidden this, whether it was
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  Speaker 1: stormy or calm, He had commanded that the helm was
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  Speaker 1: never to be entrusted to a boy. This boy knew
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  Speaker 1: very little of how to steer a ship, and being
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  Speaker 1: caught in a current, it was cast upon a sand
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  Speaker 1: bank and wrecked. By good luck, every one was saved
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  Speaker 1: and landed upon the island of Haiti. But Columbus had
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  Speaker 1: now only one little vessel, and it was not large
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  Speaker 1: enough to carry all the company. Many of them, however,
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  Speaker 1: were so delighted with the islands that they wanted to
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  Speaker 1: stay there. And they had often asked the admiral's leave
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  Speaker 1: to do so. Columbus therefore now determined to allow some
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  Speaker 1: of his men to remain to found a little colony
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  Speaker 1: and trade with the Indians. And he trusted in God
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  Speaker 1: that when he came back from Spain, as he intended
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  Speaker 1: to do, he would find a ton of gold collected
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  Speaker 1: by them, and that they would have found a gold
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  Speaker 1: mine and such quantities of spices that the sovereigns would
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  Speaker 1: in the space of three years be able to undertake
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  Speaker 1: a crusade and conquer the Holy Sepulcher. So, out of
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  Speaker 1: the wreck of the Santa Maria, Columbus built a fort,
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  Speaker 1: and from the many who begged to be left behind,
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  Speaker 1: he chose forty four, appointing one of them, Diego de Arana,
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  Speaker 1: as governor. He called the fort La Navida, or the Nativity,
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  Speaker 1: in memory of the day upon which it was founded.
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  Speaker 1: The island itself he called Espanola, or Little Spain. Then,
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  Speaker 1: on Friday, the fourth of January fourteen ninety three, then
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  Speaker 1: Nina spread her sails and slowly glided away, leaving in
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  Speaker 1: that far island amid the unknown seas, the first colony
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  Speaker 1: of white men ever settled in the west. Two days
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  Speaker 1: after Columbus set forth upon his homeward voyage, he fell
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  Speaker 1: in again with the Pinta. The master had found no gold,
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  Speaker 1: so he determined to join Columbus once more. He now
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  Speaker 1: came on board and tried to make his peace with Columbus,
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  Speaker 1: but the admiral received him coldly, for he had little
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  Speaker 1: faith in his excuses. And now once more together the
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  Speaker 1: two little vessels sailed homeward. But soon storms arose. The
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  Speaker 1: ships were battered by wind, tossed about hither and thither
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  Speaker 1: by waves, and at length separated again more than once.
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  Speaker 1: Columbus feared that his tiny vessel would be engulfed in
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  Speaker 1: the stormy seas, and the results of his great enterprise
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  Speaker 1: never been. But at length the shores of Portugal were sighted,
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  Speaker 1: and on Friday, the fifteenth of March fourteen ninety three,
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  Speaker 1: he landed again at Palos in Spain, from whence he
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  Speaker 1: had set forth more than seven months before. The people
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  Speaker 1: of Palos had hardly hoped to see again those who
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  Speaker 1: had sailed away on so desperate an adventure. Now, when
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  Speaker 1: they saw only one of the three vessels return, their
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  Speaker 1: joy was mingled with grief. When However, they learned that
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  Speaker 1: Columbus returned in triumph, and that India had been reached.
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  Speaker 1: Their joy knew no bounds. Shops were closed, bells were rung,
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  Speaker 1: and all the people in holiday attire thronged to the harbor,
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  Speaker 1: and with shouts and cheers, they bore Columbus in triumph
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  Speaker 1: to the church there to give thanks to God for
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  Speaker 1: his safe and glorious return. And ere the shouts had
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  Speaker 1: died away, a second vessel was seen approaching. It was
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  Speaker 1: the Pinta, which, though parted from the Nina, had also
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  Speaker 1: weathered the storms and now comes safely to port at once.
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  Speaker 1: On landing, Columbus had sent a letter to the King
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  Speaker 1: and Queen telling them of his return. Now he received
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  Speaker 1: an answer. It was addressed to Don Christopher Columbus, our
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  Speaker 1: Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Viceroy and governor of the
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  Speaker 1: islands discovered in the Indies. It bade him to come
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  Speaker 1: at once to court. It told him that a new
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  Speaker 1: expedition would immediately be fitted out. So, with a heart
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  Speaker 1: overflowing with joy and pride, Columbus set forth to Barcelona,
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  Speaker 1: where the King and Queen then were the great news
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  Speaker 1: of his voyage and discovery had outsped him, and the
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  Speaker 1: people of Barcelona received him with every mark of respect
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  Speaker 1: and honor. As he passed through the streets, riding on
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  Speaker 1: a splendid horse, and surrounded by the greatest nobles of Spain,
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  Speaker 1: they cheered him again and again. They gazed in wonder
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  Speaker 1: also at the dark skinned savages, the gaily colored parrots,
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  Speaker 1: and other strange things he had brought with him from
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  Speaker 1: out the sea of darkness. Sitting on a throne of
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  Speaker 1: state beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, with the
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  Speaker 1: young Prince of Spain beside them, the King and Queen
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  Speaker 1: received Columbus. At his approach, they rose, and standing, they
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  Speaker 1: welcomed back to their realm as a mighty prince, he
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  Speaker 1: who had gone forth a simple sailor, And as Columbus
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  Speaker 1: would have knelt to kiss their hands, they raised him
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  Speaker 1: and bade him be seated beside them as an equal.
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  Speaker 1: Seldom did the haughty rulers of Spain show such great honor,
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  Speaker 1: even to the proudest nobles in the land. And so
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  Speaker 1: while king and Queen and courtiers listened breathlessly, Columbus told
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  Speaker 1: of all he had done, of all the marvels he
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  Speaker 1: had seen, of the richness and fairness of the lands
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  Speaker 1: he had found and claimed for Spain. And when he
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  Speaker 1: had finished, the King and Queen fell upon their knees,
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  Speaker 1: and clasping their hands, they raised eyes filled with tears
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  Speaker 1: of joy to Heaven, giving thanks to God for his
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  Speaker 1: great mercies. The courtiers too fell upon their knees and
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  Speaker 1: joined their prayers to those of the King and Queen.
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  Speaker 1: While over all the triumphant notes of the tadeum rang out,
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  Speaker 1: so ended the great voyage of Columbus. He had shown
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  Speaker 1: the way across the Sea of Darkness. He had proved
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  Speaker 1: that all the stories of its monsters and other dangers
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  Speaker 1: were false. But even he had no idea of the
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  Speaker 1: greatness of his discovery. He never realized that he had
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  Speaker 1: shown the way to a new world. He believed to
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  Speaker 1: the day of his death that he had indeed found
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  Speaker 1: new islands, but that his greatest feat was that of
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  Speaker 1: finding a new way to the old world. Yet, now
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  Speaker 1: being made a noble, he took for his coat of
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  Speaker 1: arms a group of golden islands in an azure sea,
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  Speaker 1: and for motto the words to Castile and Leon. Columbus
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  Speaker 1: gave a new world now began a time of pomp
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  Speaker 1: and splendor for Columbus, He who had gone forth a
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  Speaker 1: penniless sailor, now rode abroad in gorgeous array. Often he
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  Speaker 1: might be seen with the Queen on one hand, and John,
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  Speaker 1: the young Prince of Spain, on the other. Sometimes even
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  Speaker 1: the King himself would ride with him. And, seeing him
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  Speaker 1: so high in royal favor, all the greatest and proudest
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  Speaker 1: nobles of the land were eager to make much of him.
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  Speaker 1: So they feted him, flattered him, and spread banquets for him.
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  Speaker 1: But some were jealous of the great fame of Columbus,
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  Speaker 1: and they made light of his discoveries. It is told
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  Speaker 1: how one day at a banquet, when every one talked
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  Speaker 1: of these wonderful deeds, one of the guests spoke slightly
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  Speaker 1: of them. It is all very well, he said to Columbus,
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  Speaker 1: But in a great country like Spain, where there are
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  Speaker 1: such numbers of daring sailors and learned folk, besides many
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  Speaker 1: another man might have done the same as you. We
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  Speaker 1: should have found the indies even if you had not
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  Speaker 1: to this speech. Columbus answered nothing, but he asked for
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  Speaker 1: an egg to be brought to him, When it was brought,
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  Speaker 1: he placed it on the table, saying, sirs, I will
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  Speaker 1: lay a wager with any of you that you cannot
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  Speaker 1: make this egg stand up without anything at all to
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  Speaker 1: support it. One after the other they tried, but no
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  Speaker 1: one could do it. At length. It came round to
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  Speaker 1: Columbus again, and he, taking it in his hand, struck
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  Speaker 1: it sharply on the table, so that one end was
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  Speaker 1: chipped a little, and it stood upright. That, my Lord,
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  Speaker 1: is my answer, he said, looking at the courtier, who
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  Speaker 1: had scoffed, And all the company were silent, for they
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  Speaker 1: saw he was well answered. Columbus had shown that after
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  Speaker 1: a deed is once done, it is simple, and everyone
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  Speaker 1: knows how to do it. What he had done in
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  Speaker 1: sailing across the Sea of Darkness was only wonderful because
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  Speaker 1: no one else had thought of doing it. Portugal was
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  Speaker 1: now very jealous of Spain's success, and King Ferdinand of
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  Speaker 1: Spain was fearful lest King John of Portugal should seize
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  Speaker 1: the new islands which Columbus had discovered, so he appealed
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  Speaker 1: to the Pope to settle the matter, and the Pope
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  Speaker 1: decided that all all new lands discovered west of an
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  Speaker 1: imaginary line drawn through the Atlantic Ocean west of the Azores,
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  Speaker 1: and from Pole to Pole, should belong to Spain. All
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  Speaker 1: discoveries east of this line should belong to Portugal. If
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  Speaker 1: you will look at a map of the world, you
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  Speaker 1: will see that this gave to Spain all the Americas
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  Speaker 1: with their islands, except a little bit of Brazil, and
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  Speaker 1: to Portugal the whole of Africa. But almost before this
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  Speaker 1: matter was settled, Columbus had set forth again on another
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  Speaker 1: voyage across the Great Ocean, now no longer the sea
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  Speaker 1: of darkness. This time he had no difficulty in getting
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  Speaker 1: a company, for every one was eager to go with him,
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  Speaker 1: even many of the sons of great nobles. This time too,
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  Speaker 1: the passage was made without any doubts and fears, but
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  Speaker 1: with joyful expectations. Columbus had hoped great things of the
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  Speaker 1: little colony that he had left behind him. But when
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  Speaker 1: he cast Anchor one night before the fort, his heart sank.
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  Speaker 1: All was dark and silent on sure, yet still hoping,
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  Speaker 1: he ordered two cannon to be fired as signal to
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  Speaker 1: the colonists. The cannon boomed through the still warm darkness
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  Speaker 1: of the night, and slowly the echoes died away, but
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  Speaker 1: there was no answer save the sighing of the sea
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  Speaker 1: and the scream of the startled birds. From the fort,
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  Speaker 1: there came no sound or any sign of life, and
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  Speaker 1: with sad forebodings, the Spaniards waited for the dawn. Then
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  Speaker 1: it was seen that the fort was a ruin. It
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  Speaker 1: had been burned and sacked. Torn clothing and broken vessels
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  Speaker 1: were strewn around. But as the Spaniards wandered sadly among
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  Speaker 1: the ruins, they found no trace of their companions, save
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  Speaker 1: eleven graves with the grass growing above them. At first,
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  Speaker 1: no natives would come near the white men, for they
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  Speaker 1: feared their anger. But at length, tempted by the offer
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  Speaker 1: of gifts and other friendly signs, they came. They told
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  Speaker 1: how the Spaniards had quarreled amongst themselves, how the fort
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  Speaker 1: had been attacked by unfriendly Indians from another island, and
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  Speaker 1: how all the white men had been slain. Thus ended
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  Speaker 1: the first white colony ever planted in western lands. All
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  Speaker 1: traces of it have vanished, and upon the spot where
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  Speaker 1: La Navida stood there is now a little fishing village
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  Speaker 1: called petit An's Columbus founded other colonies, but they succeeded
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  Speaker 1: no better than the first one. In all, he made
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  Speaker 1: four voyages across the Atlantic, and in the third he
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  Speaker 1: landed upon the coast of South America, near the mouth
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  Speaker 1: of the Orinoco. But Columbus did not know that at
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  Speaker 1: last he had discovered the great double continent of America.
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  Speaker 1: He thought that he had merely discovered another island, and
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  Speaker 1: he named it La Isla Santa. Afterwards, he was so
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  Speaker 1: delighted at the beauty of the land that he thought
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  Speaker 1: he must have found the Garden of Eden. So he
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  Speaker 1: became certain that he had landed on the eastern corner
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  Speaker 1: of Asia. In fifteen o six, Columbus died. And it
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  Speaker 1: is sad to think that he who, by his great
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  Speaker 1: faith and great daring, led the way across the sea
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  Speaker 1: of darkness and gave a new world to the old,
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  Speaker 1: died in poverty and neglect. The men who had wept
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  Speaker 1: for joy at the news of his discovery shed no
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  Speaker 1: tear over his grave. He died unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
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  Speaker 1: Years passed before men recognized what a great man had
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  Speaker 1: dwelt among them. Years passed before any monument was raised
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  Speaker 1: to his memory. But indeed he had scarce need of
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  Speaker 1: any for as has well been said, the New World
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  Speaker 1: is his monument, and every child of the New World
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  Speaker 1: must surely honor that monument and seek never to deface it.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter four, read on October fourteenth, two thousand seven,
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  Speaker 1: in Oceanside, California,