Christopher Columbus - Softcover

On the third day at sea the rudder of the Pinta broke loose. They had to stop at one of the Canary Islands for repairs.

On September 6, the men saw fire and smoke rising from the top of a tall mountain. They were so frightened, they wanted to turn back at once. In a calm voice, Columbus told them that this was a volcano. He told them there was nothing to fear.

By September 9, they had sailed out of sight of land. For days they sailed. For weeks they sailed.

Never before had they sailed so long without seeing land.

Most of the men were afraid.

"Turn back," they begged Columbus. "Turn back before the sea dragons eat us."

But Columbus was not afraid. He knew there were no sea dragons.

He tried to cheer up the sailors. He told them of the gold that would soon belong to them. He told them the king would give a lot of money to the first man who saw land.

But the men muttered and grumbled. The men grumbled when the wind blew too hard. They grumbled when there was no wind at all. And they grumbled about the weeds they saw in the sea.

"Many bunches of very green weed," Columbus wrote in his log on September 16.

Some of the men were afraid the ships would get stuck in the thick green and yellow weeds. Columbus said the ships would sail right through. And they did.

On the night of September 25, a shout came from the Pinta. "Land, Land, sir!" The reward is mine!"

The men climbed up the rigging. Everyone shouted that he saw land. Columbus fell to his knees and thanked God.

That night no one slept. But in the morning, there was no land.

What they had thought to be land was only a low cloud. Columbus wrote in his log: "What had supposed to be land was not, but sky."

That day the men were more angry than ever. They said, "There is not much drinking water left. We will die of thirst."

"Let's throw Columbus overboard."

"We could say he fell in."

Columbus heard the men plotting.

He told them, "Kill me if you like. But it will do you no good. The King and Queen will hang every last one of you if you come home without me."

Then he reminded them that the first man to sight land would get a reward. "And I myself will give a fine jacket of silk," he said.

But these words did not comfort the frightened sailors. They kept their knives handy. They were ready to kill.