History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 1 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

Their size and character.

But though the size and construction of her vessels were thus accommodated to the short and easy voyages along the coast which they were accustomed to perform, Spain possessed many larger. One hundred and fifty years before the time of Columbus, mention is made in an edict issued by Pedro IV. (1354) of Catalonian merchant ships of two and three decks, and from 8,000 to 12,000 quintals burden.[742] Again, in 1419, Alphonso of Aragon hired several merchant ships to transport artillery and horses, &c., from Barcelona to Italy, two of which carried one hundred and twenty horses each. Mention is also made of a Venetian vessel of 700 tons arriving, in 1463, at Barcelona, from England, laden with wheat, and of a Castilian ship which, in 1497, conveyed to that port a cargo of 12,000 quintals burden. In fact, then as now, all the great maritime nations possessed vessels of large dimensions, although the smaller were comparatively far more numerous than in modern times, being better adapted to the nature of the voyages undertaken and the limited extent of maritime commerce.

If therefore Columbus set sail on his expedition with ships the largest of which, as some writers have imagined, was only from 150 to 200 tons burden, this must have been from choice, or for the reason just named; it could not have arisen from ignorance on his part of the kind of vessels best adapted for his purpose, or of the roughness of the sea about to be explored, for he had made various voyages on the Atlantic, had studied with care the logs of the Portuguese navigators in their discoveries, and had himself visited Iceland,[743] and made a voyage to the 73rd degree of north latitude, then a region of the ocean all but unknown. But unfortunately history furnishes no definite account of the vessels placed under his charge, and no authentic delineation of their form. In the abridged edition[744] of Washington Irving’s interesting work, there is, indeed, the representation of a Spanish galley from the tomb of Fernando Columbus in the cathedral of Seville. But there is no reason to suppose that this galley is an actual drawing of any one of the three vessels in which Columbus made his ever memorable voyage, though it probably represents the ordinary coasting vessel of the period, or one of those occasionally employed in the trade between Spain and the smaller Mediterranean ports.

In a small volume consisting only of ten leaves,[745] preserved in the Grenville library, there are two drawings of vessels said to be copies of the caravels of Columbus, but unfortunately no description whatever is given of them; of these, one is given in the edition of Washington Irving’s work just referred to,[746] with the statement that it is “the sketch of a galley coasting the island of Hispaniola, from an illustration contained in a letter written by Columbus to Don Gabriel Sanchez, treasurer of the king of Spain;” and that “the original sketch is supposed to have been made with a pen by Columbus.” But the sketch does not represent the kind of vessel which an experienced navigator, like Columbus, would have chosen for an Atlantic voyage, when he must have had more suitable vessels at his disposal.

Though the word “caravel” was generally used to designate vessels of a small size, in the Mediterranean it was occasionally given to the largest class of ships of war among the Mussulmans. Thus, in a naval classification made by King Alphonzo, in the middle of the thirteenth century, large ships propelled only by sails are described as Naos;[747] the second class, or smaller vessel, were known as Caraccas, Fustas, Ballenares, Pinazas, and Carabelas; while boats of the smallest size, with sails and oars, were called Galleys, Galliots, Tardantes, and Sactias. To the latter class the vessel said to have been sketched with a pen by Columbus, and inclosed in his letter[748] to Don Gabriel Sanchez, evidently belongs. The following delineation from a picture of the fifteenth century, in S. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice, fairly represents the ordinary merchant vessel which might, at the time, have been lying in the harbour of Palos; and her form, not unlike that of a modern Dutch galliot, is well adapted to encounter in safety the large rolling waves of the Atlantic.

Smallness of the expedition.

It is surprising how inconsiderable was the equipment for so important an expedition, but Columbus had evidently reduced his requisitions to the narrowest limits, lest the expense should create further impediments in the way of a voyage which had already caused him so much anxious solicitude. Even until the last moment of his departure he had numerous difficulties to overcome. The owners of one of the smaller vessels impressed into the service showed throughout the greatest repugnance to the voyage, and took an active part in creating quarrels and contentions among the people employed in her equipment. Caulkers performed their work in a careless and imperfect manner; the stores were delayed, and when they arrived were either of the wrong description, or improperly packed; the sails did not fit; the masts were not properly rigged; and, in fact, everything had to be effected by the most harsh and arbitrary measures, and in defiance of bitter popular prejudice.

Its departure, 3rd Aug., 1492.

At length when seamen were found to supply the place of those who, having enlisted willingly, had been persuaded by their friends to desert, this ever memorable expedition took its departure on Friday, the 3rd of August, 1492, Columbus hoisting his flag in the Santa Maria, the largest vessel of the three; while the second, called the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon, accompanied by his brother, Francisco Martin, as pilot; and the third, the Nina, by the third of the brothers, Vicente Yañez Pinzon. There was besides an officer of the crown, a notary, usually sent on government expeditions to keep an official record of all transactions. A physician, Garcia Fernandez, also accompanied the expedition, together with various private adventurers, several servants, and ninety mariners, making in all one hundred and twenty persons.