“Ho! Rodrigo de Triana! come hither!” and when the man had hurried to his side, “look over into the water. Are those weeds from fresh water? Did ever you see the like grow in the sea? And is that a fresh twig of wood, floating yonder?”
“There is land hereabout,” said Rodrigo, turning pale. “There is no doubt of it this time,” and he ran wildly forward, shouting the intelligence to the men, and bidding them look into the water.
Chapter XVI.
While the crew of the Pinta were rejoicing over the certain indications of land, Diego chanced to look towards the other vessels, and saw that the Santa Maria was crowding on more sail.
He immediately suspected the meaning of that. The indications of land had been seen on board of the admiral’s vessel, and those aboard of her were intending to gain a good lead before communicating their discovery. Owing to the unfortunate altercation between the admiral and Martin Alonzo, the crews of the two vessels had become imbued with a feeling of jealousy towards each other, and each was willing to gain honor at the expense of the other.
Besides, there was a reward of ten thousand maravedis offered for the first discovery of land, and each vessel was naturally desirous of seeing it earned on her deck. Diego then ran over to his cousin and exclaimed:
“They have seen the signs on the Santa Maria, and are pushing her to take the lead.”