Nature Bulletin No. 651   Oct6ober 14, 1961
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
John J. Duffy, President
Roberts Mann, Conservation Editor
David H. Thompson, Senior Naturalist

****:COLUMBUS DAY

October 12th, 1492, was a great turning point in history. On that day 
Christopher Columbus, with 87 men in three small sailing vessels, 
sighted the low hills of a little island in the West Indies which he named 
San Salvador. Although he made three more voyages across the Atlantic 
he never realized that, instead of a route to the Orient, he had 
discovered a whole New World.

With favorable winds they had sailed westward from the Canary Islands 
for 33 days and nights without sighting land. As they ran before the 
wind day after day into unknown seas the crews began to grumble that 
they would starve before they could make their way back to Spain. On 
the 6th day a brilliant meteor was an ill omen to the superstitious 
sailors. To quiet their fears somewhat, Columbus kept two ship's logs: a 
private record of his own showing the true distances traveled, and a 
second one -- for the crew -- in which each day's run was reduced.

In his daily journal Columbus repeatedly mentioned birds seen from 
one or another of his ships. On the 9th day a great flock of birds were 
seen from the Pinta and, next day, two brown pelicans lighted on the 
Santa Maria. Almost daily after that others came aboard -- including 
"three little land birds that perched in the rigging and sang merrily. " 
Near sunset the kinds that sleep on land were seen to fly away toward 
the west and southwest. Columbus followed them because he recalled 
that most of the islands found by Portuguese navigators were located by 
watching the flight of birds. During October 11 they saw floating cane 
stalks, a carved stick, land weeds and a branch with berries. Then, at 10 
p.m., Columbus and several of his men saw a faint flickering light on 
the horizon. That was San Salvador.

After exploring among the West Indies for a week he wrote: "All the 
other things and lands of these islands are so lovely that I do not know 
where to go first, and my eyes never weary of looking at such lovely 
verdure so different from that of our own land. I believe, moreover, that 
here there are many herbs and many trees which will be of great value 
in Spain for dyes and as medicinal spices, but I do not recognize them 
and this causes me much sorrow . . . "

"The flocks of parrots darken the sun, and there are large and small 
birds of so many different kinds and so unlike ours, that it is a marvel. 
There are, moreover, trees of a thousand types, all with their various 
fruits and all scented. "

For almost three months he cruised the coasts of Cuba, Haiti, San 
Domingo and other islands trading beads, little bells and clothing for 
balls of cotton yarn, food and a little gold, but he failed to find among 
the natives any large supply of that precious metal. He described 
pumpkins, yams, beans, maize and a root from which bread is made The 
natives, whom he called "Indians", were seen puffing on "firebrands" or 
inhaling into their nostrils smoke from the smoldering leaves of an herb 
through a hollow forked reed called a "tabaco". Their only domestic 
animals were dogs that did not bark.

Anxious to return to Europe with news of his achievement, he set sail 
on January 4, 1493, and reached the Azores on February 18. In April he 
entered Barcelona in a triumphal procession and exhibited before their 
Spanish majesties -- the spoils of the new-found lands -- ornaments of 
gold, bright-feathered birds, animal skins, strange plants, and six 
painted savages.