FROM CORDOVA TO CATHAY.

(Second Paper.)

AT THE NEW WORLD'S PORTAL.

A

S we have seen, Columbus, crowned with success, departed for Palos, invested with all the rights and privileges he had been for years so anxious to obtain.

But two months after the surrender of Boabdil to Ferdinand and Isabella, the same hands that had received the emblems of their triumph over the Moors, affixed the royal sign-manual to a paper confirming Columbus in his title to a yet undiscovered country beyond the unknown sea. A commemorative chapel on the bank of the Xenil marks the spot made famous by the surrender of the Moor; in the royal chapel attached to the cathedral of Granada the alabaster tombs of the king and queen are sacred shrines, to which pilgrims by thousands annually wend their way; but no monument rises above the spot where the great navigator engaged to barter a world for prospective emolument and titular honors.

We know with what tenacity he clung to the scheme he had formulated for the enrichment and ennobling of himself and his family, preferring to abandon the country rather than to

abate one iota of his project. And it was with doubtful pace that he followed the messenger from Isabella, who had overtaken him at the Bridge of Pines, with the promise of her consent.

But at last he was on his way back to Palos, triumphant at every point. And, while he is pursuing his way toward the coast, let us briefly review his history hitherto.

St. George. Palos.

THE CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE, PALOS.

He was born in Genoa, the historians tell us, in the year 1446. This may not be the exact date, and respecting his youth and early manhood there is the

same obscurity; but about the year 1470, we find him residing in Portugal, the birthplace of his wife, and somewhat later engaged in correspondence with Toscanelli. According to his son's statement, in 1477 he "navigated one hundred leagues beyond Thule;" but in 1482 he is in the south of Spain, having vainly endeavored to enlist the king of Portugal in his plans, and is sent to Isa

(Looking out upon the stream down which Columbus sailed from Palos to the sea.)

bella by the Duke of Medina Celi. at the court in Cordova. He follows the court to Salamanca in 1486, and there has audience with the queen. In 1487 he is before the Council in the Dominican Convent, returns to Cordova the same year in the train of Isabella, whence he is summoned to the military camp at Malaga. The year 1489 finds him before the walls of Baza, where he witnessed the surrender of the Moors under Boabdil the Elder, and doubtless conversed with the two monks who came there to the queen from Jerusalem. 1490 sees him in Seville and Cordova, whence he finally departs in disgust for the port of Huelva, stopping on his way at the Convent of La Rabida, where he attracts the attention of the prior, and subsequently has the famous conference with the friar, the village doctor of Palos, and Martin Alonso Pinzon of Moguer. This

conference in the convent took place in the latter part of the year 1491; as the result a messenger was dispatched to Isabella, then in camp at Santa Fé, who returned after fourteen days with royal orders for the prior to come to Granada; he departs in haste, and eventually returns with the queen's command for Columbus to appear before the court, and with the necessary money for the trip. Columbus arrives at Santa Fé the first week in January, 1492, in good time (as we have seen) to witness the surrender of Granada; he has audience with his sovereigns, cannot agree upon terms, prepares to depart from Spain, is overtaken by the queen's courier at Puente de Pinos, returns, and is finally made happy with the royal consent.

The "capitulation" for conquest and exploration is signed April 17, 1492, and May 12 he sets out for Palos. Ten days later, the twenty-third, the royal command for the people of Palos to furnish men for the voyage is read in the church of St. George, and the Pinzon family come to his assistance. Preparations are hurried forward, and by the first of August the vessels drop down the Rio Tinto to the Domingo Rubio, where the final departure is taken at the Convent of La Rabida. This much for a chronological statement of events.

:

We will now retrace our steps and visit in person the scenes of the great discoverer's weary wanderings and his final gladsome trip through Andalusia. Memorials of Columbus are scattered throughout Spain to-day in Madrid the royal armory contains his armor, the naval museum one of his charts; at Valladolid, in 1506, he died, and the house is still pointed out in which he drew his last breath; the convent, also, in which his remains were first interred.

But, though we may trace the wanderings of our hero over a great portion of Spain, it is in the South that the most interesting event occurred. Vastly rich is Seville, the queen city of the Guadalquivir, in Columbian memories; for here we find that valuable library, the Colombina, bequeathed the city by his son, Fernando, containing twenty thousand volumes, among them some that once pertained to the great man himself; one with marginal notes by his own. hand, and one of his charts. Those very islands of the Bahamas, which I myself have seen, dim and shadowy, and shining in the sun, are here outlined by the great discoverer himself, upon paper discolored and stained by sea-salt, as though it had accompanied him on all his voyages.

That, however, which oftenest drew me and longest held me was the marble slab in the pavement of the great cathedral, that formerly covered the remains of Columbus, and now marks the resting-place of his son Fernando, with its world-famous inscription: A Castilla y a Leon Mundo Nuevo dio Colon; "To Castile and to Leon a New World gave Columbus." Thus, although the remains of Columbus himself are now in the New World, many glorious memorials of him are to be seen in Spain, and mainly in Seville.

At Seville, I dwelt in the house of a cleric, and my friend gave me a letter of introduction to the Cura of Moguer, the town nearest to Palos. It was on

a bright morning in April that I left the city for a trip to Palos, and the valley of the Guadalquivir was bright in greenest fields of grain and of olive orchards. Seville is in truth of queenly aspect, sitting in the midst of the fertile plain, her towering Giralda rising far above the outline of distant hills. For two thirds the distance the railroad runs through a fertile and highly-cultivated plain, but the rest was mainly barren, though covered with sheets and beds of purple flowers in beautiful bloom.

We passed the ruins of a Roman fortification of times most ancient, and then crossed a river flowing over iron-colored rocks, curiously worn. The character of the soil was shown in its color, which was yellow and deep red;

spring of 1828, a man more famous than I traversed this same route, and with the same intent-gentle and genial Washington Irving. But there was no railroad in those days, and he was obliged to make the journey on horseback, taking as many days, perhaps, as I did hours, but enjoying it, every mile.

Leaving the railway at the station of San Juan del Puerto, I took the diligencia, an old carriage, for the town of Moguer, a league distant on a hill, where I found, contrary to my expectations, good accommodations: a fonda, or house of entertainment, with clean beds and an excellent table. I was soon served with a good breakfast, and mine host" took quite a fancy to me, insisting on taking me to the places of interest, and telling me all the local news.

But he was lamentably ignorant respecting things Columbian, though intelligent and inquisitive. When I inquired about the scenes of interest to one studying Columbus, he excused himself, saying he was from another province, and not posted regarding the affairs of Palos. "But this man Columbus, when did he sail, Señor? And are you sure he sailed from Palos? No ship of No ship of any size has left there this many a year; the village, even, is half a mile from the river.