greywacke stone, laid in courses, strongly cemented by a mortar of sand and gravel of excellent quality, which nearly equals the stone itself in hardness. It appears to have been at some former period covered with a stucco of similar character to the cement with which the stone is held together. It is nearly twenty-five feet in height; its diameter outside is twenty-three feet, and inside eighteen feet nine inches. It is circular, and is supported upon eight arches resting on thick columns about ten feet high; the height of the centres of the arches from the ground is twelve feet six inches. The foundation extends to the depth of four or five feet.

The columns are peculiar, having only half capitals, which seem to have been simply rounded slabs of stone, of which the part projecting on the inside had been cut away. According to Professor Rafn, the architecture of this building is in the ante-Gothic style, which was common in the north and west of Europe from the eighth to the twelfth centuries. The circular form, the low columns, their thickness in proportion to their distance from each other, and the entire want of ornament, all point out this epoch. He imagines it was used for a baptistery, and accounts for the absence of buildings of a similar character by the abundance of wood in America.

II. FROM the time of the Northmen nothing seems to have been known of the western continent till the birth of Christopher Columbus.

The territory of Genoa had the honor of giving birth to him, and the traveller in Italy is still gratified by beholding at the little village of Cocoletto, the humble mansion, where, in a narrow room in the rear, looking out upon the deep blue Mediterranean, and over which the troubled sea often throws its spray, Christopher Columbus, called by the Spaniards Colon, first saw the light. He appears. to have had an early attachment to sea affairs; he studied navigation with the

utmost industry, and supported himself by making charts for the sea-service He had the universal character of a sober, temperate, and devout man; he was a good mathematician, and had, in other respects, a tolerable share of learning. The fame of the Portuguese in naval affairs having drawn him to Lisbon, he there settled, carried on a trade to the coast of Guinea, and at length married a woman of considerable fortune.

The reasons which, probably, determined Columbus to attempt the discovery of America, were the following: he had observed, when at the Cape de Verd slands, that at a particular season, the wind always blew from the west, which he thought was occasioned by a large tract of land lying that way; and he thought that the spherical figure of the earth demanded, that the land on the one side should be balanced by an equal quantity on the other.

He flattered himself that by sailing west, he should find a nearer passage to the Indies, than that which the Portuguese hoped to discover, by sailing round the coast of Africa, of a great part of which they had already made themselves masters. When he was fully convinced of the possibility of carrying his scheme into execution, he proposed it to the state of Genoa as early as the year 1484; out they having rejected it, he applied in the year 1485 to John the Second king of Portugal, in whose dominions he had now resided some years, and commissioners were appointed to treat with him; who, having artfully drawn his secret from him, advised the king to fit out a ship to try the practicability of the plan, and to rob Columbus of the honor and advantage of it; but the design failed; and when the king would have treated with Columbus a second time, his indignation at the treatment he had received, determined him to apply elsewhere; and that very year he sent his brother Bartholomew with proposals to Henry VII., king of England, while he himself proceeded to Spain, to offer his services to Ferdinand and Isabella.

Bartholomew had the misfortune to fall into the hands of pirates, who, stripping him of all he had, he arrived in England in a very miserable condition where he was taken ill of a fever, and reduced to great distress. On his recovery, he applied himself with great industry to the making and selling of maps and charts, by which he at length, in the year 1488, put himself into a proper equipage to appear before the king (Henry VII.), with whom he entered into an agreement, in the name and on the behalf of his brother.

When Christopher Columbus arrived in Spain, he communicated his plan to Martin Alonzo Pinzon, a celebrated pilot, who saw the force of his arguments, and readily agreed to go with him, if his application at court should be successful; but so much difficulty attended the prosecution of his suit, and he met with so many delays and insults, that he was actually on the point of leaving Spain for England, to see what success his brother had met with, and in case his applications had been equally fruitless, to offer his proposals to the court of France At this interval Queen Isabella was prevailed upon to encourage his plan; and articles of agreement were signed at Santa Fe, in the kingdom of Grenada, on the seventeenth of April, 1492.

By this agreement, Columbus was to be admiral of the seas, and viceroy of all the countries he should discover: he was to have a tenth part of the profits redounding to their majesties from his labors; and an eighth of what he should bring home in his ships; himself furnishing one eighth of the expense of the equipment.

When this agreement was concluded, he was allowed three vessels; the Galega, which he named the Santa Maria, a carrac, or ship with a deck, commanded by himself; the Pinta, of which Martin Alonzo Pinzon was captain; and the Nina, under the command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon, brother to Martin Alonzo, who furnished half of Columbus's share of the expense. These two

vessels were called carávels, that is, ships without decks; and the whole fleet, which carried but one hundred and twenty men, put to sea from Palos, on Friday the third day of August, 1492.

On the next morning the rudder of the Pinta breaking loose, they made it fast in the best manner they were able with cords, till they had an opportunity effectually to repair it. Several of the seamen began to consider this as an ill omen; but the admiral told them that "no omen could be evil to those whose designs were good."

They arrived at the Canaries on the eleventh of August, where they remained, refreshing themselves, till the sixth of September; when they weighed anchor, and proceeded on their voyage, for fear of the Portuguese, who had fitted out three caravels to attack them.

On the seventh they lost sight of land, and with it all their courage, bitterly bemoaning their fate, as that of wretches destined to certain destruction. Columbus comforted these cowards in the best manner he was able; setting before them the certain prospect of wealth and happiness, as the reward of their labors; and that they might not think themselves so far from home, as they really were, he resolved, during the whole voyage, to deceive them in the reckoning; and having this day sailed eighteen leagues, he pretended they had made no more than fifteen.

On the fourteenth of September, they took notice of the variation of the compass, and the people on board the Nina saw a heron, and some tropic birds, and the next day the sea was covered with yellow and green weeds, among which they saw a live lobster; and as they advanced they found the sea-water less salt, from which circumstances they imagined they were near land.

Alonzo Pinzon, who had been ahead, lay by for the captain on the eighteenth, acquainting him that he had seen a large number of birds flying westward, and imagined he saw land fifteen leagues to the north; but Columbus, having no doubt but he was mistaken, would not alter his course, though most earnestly solicited so to do by the sailors.

On the nineteenth, the sight of a great number of sea-gulls, which it was imagined could not fly far, began to give the admiral himself some hopes of seeing land speedily; but on sounding with a line of two hundred fathoms, no bottom could be found. They now saw abundance of weeds, and three days afterward took a bird like a heron, web-footed, of a dark color, with a white tuft on the head; and in the evening, saw three small singing-birds, which flew away at break of day.

They now encountered such a quantity of weeds, that they were apprehensive the ships would not long be able to make their way. Till this time the wind had been always right astern; but now shifting to the southwest, gave the admiral an opportunity of exposing the groundless fears of the sailors, who had imagined they should never have a fair wind to carry them back; but notwithstanding all he could say to them, they loudly complained of the danger they were in of perishing at sea, and a mutiny would, in all probability, have been the consequence of their clamors, but for a strong gale, which sprung up at westnorthwest, and convinced them that there was no danger of their having no opportunity to return.

Several flights of small birds, which they observed coming from the west, and a pigeon, which flew over the ship, gave them fresh hopes of making land; but when they found themselves disappointed, their mortification was the greater, and their complaints increased.

They censured the admiral as a person, who, from an idle ambition of aggran dizing himself, and his own family, had led them into dangers and difficulties, in search of a country which nowhere existed; they said they had given suffi

cient proofs of their courage, by venturing so far from home, and began to entertain serious thoughts of compelling Columbus to return. In a word, so great were their fears, that some of them were for throwing the admiral overboard, and asserting, on their return to Spain, that he fell into the sea, as he was gazing at the stars.

Columbus was not insensible of the spirit of mutiny, by which they were actuated, and exerted himself, partly by representing their duty to the king, partly by threats of punishment in case of disobedience, and partly by promises of the reward of their perseverance; so that the enterprise received no detriment from their ill-grounded fears and apprehensions.

The men were, however, extremely anxious and disconsolate, till on the twenty-fifth of September, about sunsetting, while Columbus was talking to Vincent Yanez Pinzon, he cried, "Land! Land! Let me not lose the reward for this good news!" and immediately pointed toward the southwest, where there was something which looked like an island, at the distance of twenty-five leagues. This, which was afterward looked on as a contrivance between Columbus and Pinzon, so animated the men, that they returned thanks to God with the utmost fervency, and the admiral, at the earnest entreaty of the crew, steered toward the supposed island most part of the night; but in the morning no island was to be seen, and the men were as loud in their complaints as ever.

Columbus continued on his course with the utmost resolution; and on the twenty-ninth they saw many flying fishes, some of which fell into the ship. They also saw a gull, several wagtails, and other birds, and were encompassed with so great a quantity of weeds, that the men thought they were near land and in danger of running aground.

On the thirtieth they also saw many wagtails, and observed that the weeds lay in a line from west-northwest, to east-southeast.

At break of day, on the first of October, a wagtail came on board the admiral, and that day the pilot told the admiral, that they were five handred and seventyeight leagues west of the island of Ferro; but by Columbus's account they were seven hundred and seven; but he took no notice of the error, because he would not discourage the sailors.

On the second they killed a tunny fish, and some birds; but seeing no birds on the third day, they feared they had missed some islands, and the men begged the admiral to steer either to the right or left; but regardless of their entreaties, he resolved to keep right on his course, that the credit of his undertaking might not suffer by an idle compliance with their demands.

Hereupon the men began to mutiny, and would probably have taken some desperate measures, had not the flight of upward of forty sparrows, and other birds, from the west, again given them hopes that they were near land. Some signs of land appeared to the westward on the seventh of October, but the weather being hazy, no one would venture to cry land.

An annuity of ten thousand marvadies, or thirty crowns, for life, had been offered by their catholic majesties to the person who should first discover land; but if any one cried out land, and it did not prove to be so, he was to be excluded from the reward, even though he should afterward discover it. But the people of the Nina, which was generally ahead, fired a gun, and hoisted colors, concluding it was certainly land; but as they sailed farther they were soon undeceived.

Next day they saw many birds, both large and small, among which were some land-fowl, flying from the west to the southwest, and Columbus, thinking they could not fly far, imitated the Portuguese, who, by following such flights of birds, had discovered several islands; he therefore changed his course, and stood for the west; and having already sailed seven hundred and twenty leagues to the westward of the Canaries, imagined he should soon find land; and he had often told the sailors to expect it at that distance.

They saw twelve singing-birds, and many ducks, gulls, and jays, on the eighth of October; and on the eleventh, when all the admiral's skill and address would have been insufficient to withstand much longer the mutinous disposition of the crew, he was comforted with indubitable proofs of their being near land; for on this day they saw a green rush, and a large rock-fish swim near the admiral's ship; and those on board the Pinta took up a staff most curiously wrought, and saw a cane floating, and a number of weeds fresh torn from the shore.

On the evening of this day the admiral represented to his men, how merciful God had been to them, in conducting them safe so long a voyage; and said, that since the tokens he now saw were proofs they were near land, he would have them watch all night, and they would most likely discover it before the morning; and he promised to give a velvet doublet, as an addition to their majesties' reward, to the person who should make the discovery.

Two hours before midnight, Columbus standing on the poop, saw a light on shore, and called Guitierres, groom of the privy chamber to the king, who also saw it. It appeared like a candle, or other light carried in a person's hand from one house to another.

About two o'clock in the morning land was discovered, at the distance of two leagues, by Roderic de Trians, on board the Pinta, which was considerably ahead; but the reward was afterward paid to Columbus, by order of their catholic majesties, for having first discovered the light.

The ships now lay too, and the people waited with the utmost anxiety for a sight of that land of which they had been so long in search; and at the break