I, Columbus Read online

  Monday, 25 February, 1493. Last night I sailed to the east, on course, the sea calm, thanks be to God. A very large bird, an eagle, came to the ship.

  Wednesday, 27 February, 1493. I am very concerned with storms, now that I am so near the end of my journey.

  March

  Monday, 4 March, 1493. Last night we experienced a terrible storm and thought we would be lost because the waves came from two directions, and the wind appeared to raise the ship in the air, with the water from the sky and the lightning from every direction. It pleased Our Lord to sustain us, and we continued in this fashion until the first watch, when our Lord showed us land. God protected us until daylight, but it was with infinite labor and fright.

  When the sun came up I recognized the land which was the Rock of Sintra, near the river at Lisbon. I decided to enter because I could not do anything else. I learned from the seafaring people that there never has been a winter with so many storms; twenty-five ships had been lost.

  I wrote the King of Portugal, who was twenty-seven miles from here to ask permission to land at Lisbon.

  Tuesday, 5 March, 1493. Bartolome of Diaz of Lisbon, master of the large ship of the King of Portugal, better equipped with cannons and arms than any ship I have ever seen, came to the Nina with an armed vessel. He told me to get aboard his ship to give an account of myself to the King.

  I replied, “I am the Admiral of the Sovereigns of Castile. I will not leave my ship unless compelled to do so by force of arms.”

  He replied, “Send the master of your ship.”

  I said, “I will send neither the master nor any other person unless by force because I consider it the same to allow another person to go as myself. It is the custom of Admirals of the Sovereigns of Castile to die rather than send their people.”

  He changed his demands and said that since I had made that determination, it should be as I wished, but he requested to see the letters from Your Highnesses, if I had them. It pleased me to show them to him. He returned to his ship and told his Captain who then came to the Nina with great ceremony, complete with trumpets, pipes, making a great display.

  Wednesday, 6 March, 1493. When word spread I had come from the Indies, many people came to see me and the Indians. It was wonderful to see the way they marveled at us.

  Saturday, 9 March, 1493. The King himself received me with great honor and showed me much respect, asking me to sit down and talking very freely with me.

  Monday, 11 March, 1493. Today I took leave of the King.

  Friday, 15 March, 1493. I continued my course until dawn with a light wind. I entered the bar at Sales until I was inside the harbor from which I had departed on August 3 of the past year. Thus, the writing is now completed. I intend to go by sea to Barcelona where, Your Highnesses are staying. This is in order to give a full account of my voyage, which Our Lord has permitted me to make. This voyage has proven to be a miraculous voyage despite the opposition of so many principal persons of your household, who were all against me and treated this undertaking as a folly. I hope to Our Lord that it will be the greatest honor for Christianity, although it has been accomplished with such ease.

  Your servant,

  Christopher Columbus, Lord Admiral of the Ocean Sea.

  Epilogue

  Columbus presented this Log to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in April, 1493. The Queen immediately ordered a scribe to make an exact copy for Columbus, now Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Columbus received the copy just before he sailed on his second voyage in September. This version of the Log is based upon that copy. The original Log disappeared soon after Isabella’s death in 1504.

  Columbus journeyed to the New World four times. On each voyage he encountered new adventures and endured new hardships. On each voyage he believed he had reached the Indies. Christopher Columbus died in 1506 never knowing he had discovered a new world.

  Acknowledgements

  Robert H. Fuson translated this version of Christopher Columbus’s log. It was published as The Log of Christopher Columbus by Maine International Marine Publishing Co., Camden, Maine, in 1987. Mr. Fuson, an avid sailor, retraced Columbus’s first voyage following the Log, measuring the miles, and seeing the same sights that Columbus saw five hundred years ago. We owe a debt of great appreciation to Mr. Fuson. His fascination with Columbus, his knowledge of Spanish, and his understanding of sailing, allowed us to join Columbus on his great adventure.

  Most of all we express our awe of Columbus himself, a man with a vision and the determination to accomplish it.

  About the Author

  Peter and Connie Roop are award-winning authors and educators who have published over one hundred children’s books, including the Reading Rainbow feature selection Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie. They have written biographies, historical fiction, general fiction, and science books. In 2013 the Wisconsin Library Association recognized the Roops as Notable Wisconsin Authors for their body of work, and Peter Roop has been named a Wisconsin State Teacher of the Year.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  Text copyright © 1990 by Peter and Connie Roop

  Illustrations copyright © 1990 by Peter E. Hanson

  Cover design by Mauricio Díaz

  ISBN: 978-1-5040-1013-9

  This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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