ANNIVERSARY
COLUMBUS DAY − OCTOBER 11 − FIRST VOYAGE
That year, on the evening of August 3, Coluμbus left from Palos with three ships, the Santa Maria, Niña and Pinta. The ships were property of the Pinzón brothers but the monarchs forced the Palos inhabitants to contribute to the expedition. He first sailed to the Canary Islands, fortunately owned by Castile, where he reprovisioned and made repairs, and on September 6 started the five week voyage across the ocean. One of the enduring legends is that of a faked logbook to make his crew believe they had covered a smaller distance than they actually had. All we have is Bartolome de Las Casas's abstract, and he was not a mariner. Nor was it ever easy to read Columbus's nonnative Spanish with its Portuguese phonetics and Genoese locutions. Until the original diary is found we'll never be sure, but he could never have fooled all the sailors, the pilots, masters, nor least of all the experienced captains at the helms of the Niña and Pinta, the Pinzón brothers. Most likely he calculated the distance as he'd been taught as a youth, and then converted it into numbers the crew would understand. Another legend is that the crew grew so homesick and fearful that they threatened to hurl Columbus overboard and sail back to Spain. Although the actual situation is unclear, most likely the sailors' resentments merely amounted to complaints or suggestions. After 65 days out of sight of land, on 7 October 1492 as recorded in the ship's log, the crew spotted shore birds flying west and changed direction to make their landfall. A comparison of dates and migratory patterns leads to the conclusion that the birds were Eskimo curlews and American golden plovers. See Columbus and the shorebirds. Columbus called the Island he reached San Salvador, and recorded that the native name of the Island is Guanahani. There is still much discussion about which island he reached. Until 1986 many historians believed that it was likely San Salvador Island (called Watling Island before 1925) in the Bahamas. Now most historians tend to believe that this is Samana Cay. Columbus landing was on October 12, 1492). The Native Americans he encountered, the Taíno or Arawak, were peaceful and friendly. In his log for October 14, 1492, Columbus drafted a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella concerning the Taíno: Vuestras Altezas cuando mandaren puedenlos todos llevar a Castilla o tenellos en la misma isla captivos, porque con cincuenta hombres los ternan todos sojuzgados, les haran hazar todo lo que quisieren. ("When your highnesses should so command, all of them can be brought to Castile, or be kept captive on their own island, for with fifty men you will keep them all in subjugation and make them do anything you wish.") He wrote with such awe of the friendly innocence and beauty of these Indians in their tropical paradise that he inadvertently created the enduring myth of the Noble Savage. "These people have no religious beliefs, nor are they idolaters. They are very gentle and do not know what evil is; nor do they kill others, nor steal; and they are without weapons." No blood was shed on this first voyage, and he believed conversion to Christianity would be achieved through love, not force. On this first voyage, Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba (landed on October 28) and the northern coast of Hispaniola. He'd heard the word "Kulkukan" (Feathered Serpent), and rejoiced that the land of "Kublai Khan" or the "Great Khan" was nigh. He believed the peaks of Cuba to be the Himalayas, which gives one a sense of just how lost he was and how long it took the people of the world to map the Earth. (The vast interior of the North and South American mainlands would of course be largely mapped with the leadership of native guides and interpreters.) Here the Santa Maria ran aground and had to be abandoned. He was received by the native cacique Guacanagari, who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus founded the settlement La Navidad and left 39 men. On January 4, 1493 he set sail for home, not yet understanding the elliptical nature of the trade winds that had brought him west. He wrestled his ship against the wind and ran into one of the worst storms of the century. He had no choice but to land his ship in Portugal, where he was told a fleet of 100 caravels had been lost. (Astoundingly, both the Niña and the Pinta were spared.) Some have speculated that landing in Portugal was intentional. The relations between Portugal and Castile were poor at the time, and he was held up, but finally released. Word of his discovery of new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe. He didn't reach Spain until March 15, when the story of his journey was in its third printing. He was received as a hero in Spain, and this was his moment in the sun.
COLUMBUS−TAG CHRISTOPH KOLUMBUS
Nachdem er die Erlaubnis der spanischen Königspaares Ferdinand V. und Isabella I. für die Entdeckungsreise erhalten hatte, stach Kolumbus am 3. August 1492 mit seinem Flaggschiff, der Karacke Santa Maria, sowie den beiden Karavellen Niña und Pinta von Palos aus in See. Am 12. Oktober 1492 erreichten die Schiffe die Neue Welt. Kolumbus ging auf einer Insel der Bahamas an Land, die von den Einheimischen Guanahani genannt wurde. Er gab ihr den Namen San Salvador (span. für Heiliger Retter). Unter Wissenschaftlern umstritten ist die Frage, ob die heutige Insel San Salvador, die diesen Namen 1926 erhielt, identisch mit der von Kolumbus entdeckten ist. In den 1980er Jahren führten Neuberechnungen der Route anhand der Logbücher Kolumbus' zu der These, die Insel Samana Cay sei die Insel, auf der Kolumbus zuerst landete. Auf der Weiterfahrt entdeckte er auch Kuba und Hispaniola, die zweitgrößte Insel der Antillen (heute Haiti und Dominikanische Republik), vor der die Santa Maria am 25. Dezember strandete. Aus den Überresten des Schiffes errichtete Kolumbus die erste spanische Festung in der neuen Welt, die er La Navidad (spanisch für Weihnachten) nannte. Hispaniola (zunächst La Isla Española genannt) wurde die erste Kolonie des spanischen Königreichs in der Neuen Welt, Kolumbus deren Gouverneur und Vizekönig. Am 16. Januar 1493 machte Kolumbus sich mit seinen beiden verbliebenen Schiffen auf den Weg zurück nach Europa, einen Teil seiner Mannschaft ließ er als Bewohner der Kolonie zurück. Er erreichte Palos am 15. März und wurde daraufhin auf einem Triumphzug durch Spanien gefeiert.
