Queen Isabella was so impressed with what he said that she immediately petitioned the Royal Treasurer to give Columbus money to make his voyage of discovery.
"Your majesty, there is no money to spare," was the polite answer of the Treasurer, who, like all the rest of the court, thought Columbus was a visionary dreamer if not crazy.
"Very well," she said. "I will pawn my crown jewels," and she did. This was a most noble and courageous act on her part, for a queen in those days was scarcely considered dignified or respectable without splendid crown jewels to wear on public occasions, but she was bent upon sending the gospel of Christ to the heathen in America. Does it not seem strange that the Golden Hearted and the Queen of Spain should be credited with the same desire to help the people of the Americas, and that they lived hundreds of years apart and could never have known of each other, and that one incident is a fact of history and the other only a legend?
But as soon as Columbus secured the money another difficulty arose. No sailor could be found who would risk his life on an unknown sea with such a crazy old man. Finally Queen Isabella had to promise liberty and full pardon to the convicts in the prisons before Columbus could get any one to go with him. It was a terrible thing for him but he had a brave heart, and the monks from the convent at Palos sent some of their number with him to teach the natives.
On and on, the three caravels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and Nina, sailed without finding land, until their provisions were getting low and the crews of convicts were about to mutiny and kill Columbus. In order to keep them quiet he told them wonderful stories of the riches of this land they were trying to find.
"You can have all the gold, and silver, and precious gems you can carry," he promised them. In an instant you could see the cunning and greed in their wicked faces. They did not care whether the earth was round or flat, nor what became of the natives, if they only had gold, and then they would gather around Columbus and question him closely about the size of the nuggets and precious stones. Of course he could only guess at it, but he knew that to save his life he must say something, so he replied:
"I firmly believe that there are immense pieces of solid gold to be found there, and that it is abundant."
"ON AND ON THE THREE CARAVELS SAILED."
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