10-11-1492
***Christopher Columbus***
Medieval
Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal
Thursday, 11 October. Steered
west-southwest; and encountered a heavier sea than they had met with before
in the whole voyage. Saw pardelas and a green rush near the vessel. The crew
of the Pinta saw a cane and a log;
they also picked up a stick which appeared to have been carved with an iron
tool, a piece of cane, a plant which grows on land, and a board. The crew of
the Nina saw other signs of land,
and a stalk loaded with rose berries. These signs encouraged them, and they
all grew cheerful. Sailed this day till sunset, twenty-seven leagues.
After sunset steered their original
course west and sailed twelve miles an hour till two hours after midnight,
going ninety miles, which are twenty-two leagues and a half; and as the Pinta was the swiftest sailer, and
kept ahead of the Admiral, she discovered land and made the signals which had
been ordered. The land was first seen by a
sailor called Rodrigo de Triana, although the Admiral at ten o'clock that evening standing on the
quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to
be land; calling to Pero Gutierrez, groom of the King's wardrobe, he told him
he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it; he did
the same to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with
the squadron as comptroller, but he was unable to see it from his situation.
The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a
wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of
land.
But the Admiral held it for certain that land was near; for which reason,
after they had said the Salve, which the seamen are accustomed to repeat and
chant after their fashion, the Admiral directed them to keep a strict watch
upon the forecastle and look out diligently for land, and to him who should
first discover it, he promised a silken jacket, besides the reward which the
King and Queen had offered, which was an annuity of ten thousand maravedis.
At two o'clock in the morning the land was discovered, at two leagues'
distance; they took in sail and remained under the square-sail lying to till
day, which was Friday, when they found themselves near a small island, one
of the Lucayos, called in the Indian language Guanahani.
UFOCAT PRN 79585
UFOCAT URN
79585 Mysteries of the Skies: UFOs in Perspective by Gordon I. R. Lore Jr.,
p. 41,
© 1968
UFOCAT URN 75960 UFO
Nachtrichten, May 1971
UFOCAT URN 71098 Beyond Earth: Mans Contact with UFOs
by Ralph Blum, p. 44, © 1974
Central America - Bahamas
San Salvador Latitude 24-02 N, Longitude 74-28 W
[Island]
Reference:
British West Indies and Bermuda gazetteer, Prepared in the Office of
Geography, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., September 1955
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