The weather in Owen165438+1October

At the beginning of August, everything is ready to go to sea. The most famous fleet sailing on the ocean will be anchored at palos Port, a small seaport in southwest Spain. Including Columbus's flagship Santa Maria and two light sailboats, Pinta and Nina (la Pinta, la Ni? Santa Maria. Three ships of different sizes are equipped with cannons, goods traded with local aborigines, and food such as food for six months. The flagship "Santa Maria" weighs 130 tons, is about 35 meters long and has a deck length of 18 meters. It has three masts and is equipped with angle sails, and its captain is Columbus. The second ship is Pinta, and the captain is Martin Binson. It weighs 90 tons and is very fast. The length of the hull is only half that of the flagship. The third Nina weighs about 60 tons and is the captain of Martin's brother Vincent Binson. The Benson brothers also participated in the expedition as investors, and their success is closely related to their vital interests.

The most difficult job is to recruit sailors, a considerable number of whom are Columbus's friends, servants and curious officials. Under the conditions of this voyage, quite a few prisoners were pardoned. There are 88 people in all, including a linguist who knows Arabic. This is because people thought Arabic was the mother tongue of all languages at that time, so linguists planned to act as translators when meeting with China Khan.

1On August 3, 492, Columbus led the fleet to anchor. There was no wind, the sails hung feebly, and the fleet slowly sailed out along the Tinto River at low tide.

On August 12, the fleet sailed to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. After adding firewood and supplies, the fleet left the Canary Islands on September 6, and no one escaped because all the crew members were in a good mood. The fleet sailed due west in the northeast wind that often blows near the Canary Islands. According to Columbus' sailing experience in this area a few years ago, this northeast wind is the best wind direction to cross the ocean to Japan.

The fleet sailed day and night along the east wind, and sometimes it could sail westward 150 miles. But day after day, the empty sea is always displayed in front of people. The crew led a monotonous life at sea. From morning till night, the boatman tells the time according to the hourglass every 30 minutes. The crew changes shifts every four hours. In the late15th century, only the captain and one or two senior officials had the right to enjoy comfortable cabins and berths on board, so the off-duty crew could only lie on the deck and chat lazily or have a good sleep in the shade.

On the first day of his voyage, Columbus had a very happy time. The fresh morning, warm afternoon and quiet sea brought him great happiness. The only thing that made him anxious was the anxiety of the sailors. Columbus prepared two logbooks at the beginning. He estimated that the record of the actual distance of driving every day was secret; The voyage recorded in the other book is much smaller than the actual voyage, and it is open, so that the crew will not feel frightened and lose confidence when the voyage is extended. But because Columbus always overestimated the speed, his fake diary was closer to the actual situation.

Although, two weeks later, due to the change of wind direction, the fleet began to travel against the wind, but this made Columbus breathe a sigh of relief. He wrote in his diary, "I just need this headwind because the crew are worried that there will never be a suitable wind to send them back to Spain."

Soon, they found clusters of green algae floating on the sea. By this time, they had sailed to the sargasso sea, which was covered by a large number of Sargasso floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. When they passed smoothly, they realized that it was unnecessary to worry that the ship would hit the rocks or get entangled in the surrounding algae at first. Later, a sailor found a sea crab attached to seaweed. Columbus thought it was a signal that the land was approaching, because in his view, crabs could not be found 80 miles from the land. In fact, this is just a small crab that breeds everywhere in the sargasso sea.

On the evening of September 25, the Pinta shouted that the land had been reached ahead, and the crew on board climbed the mast. An island was faintly visible at the junction of the sea and the sky. Columbus was very excited. He knelt on the ground and thanked God, and ordered the crew to sing a song praising God. But the island they found disappeared the next day. This kind of thing has happened in the past and will happen in the future. They mistook the hanging thunderstorm clouds for land.

On June+10, 5438, the fleet had been drifting in the ocean for three weeks, but the shadow of the land was still invisible. Sailors with stubble on their faces and clothes soaked by sweat and seawater began to complain publicly. They said the voyage was a foolish one, and several sailors were going to throw Columbus into the sea before returning.

But the unshakable Columbus will continue to sail west. 10 year 10 7, they saw a bird that was definitely not a seabird flying southwest from their heads. At this time, a large number of migratory birds flew from North America to the Caribbean Islands and South America for the winter. Therefore, Columbus led the whole fleet to sail from west to south, marked by migratory birds.

65438+1October 1 1, the waves brought a branch with leaves, a branch full of flowers, and a wood that seemed to have been artificially cut ... These signs indicate that the land is approaching. At sunset, Columbus and his crew sang a song of blessing. He reminded everyone that the king had promised to reward the first person who discovered the land with a huge annuity, and Columbus also rewarded him with a silk tunic. At night, the ship lit an open flame and hung lanterns at the stern to ensure that the ships would not separate from each other. At 7 pm, the crew started the first night shift.

On a rough night, the fleet bumped on the sparkling waves in the moonlight. The captains of all ships are searching for the ocean far to the west or pacing back and forth nervously on the deck. 10, Columbus finally found a faint light in the distance. It seems that someone took the candle and put it down. After a while, it will disappear forever. According to the analysis of later generations, the fire Columbus saw may be a wildfire lit by Indians on the east coast of an island to drive away mosquitoes indoors.

The false alarm that made everyone happy was over and everyone was calm again. Under the quiet starlight, the fleet continued to sail forward. At two o'clock the next morning, a crew member of the Pinta shouted again:

"land! Land! " This time, they did find land, and sandstone with gray light in the moonlight formed cliffs. It is just an island in the Bahamas, which arcs out of Florida, but it is not a part of east indies.

At this time, Columbus was not an explorer, but a discoverer of the new continent, which can be said to be the greatest day of Columbus's life. Six miles ahead stands a slightly undulating island, surrounded by necklace-like coral reefs and sparkling beaches. The island named San Salvador by Columbus is full of green tropical forests. San Salvador means "holy savior" in Spanish. In fact, it is just an island, 65,438+03 miles long and 5 miles wide.

Columbus saw several naked people coming out of the Woods from the ship, so he called the captain of the ship together. "Governor" Columbus put on pomegranate red clothes, and the green flags "F" and "Y" representing the king and queen were carried by the other two captains respectively to hold the ceremony. Then two flags were raised on the newly erected wooden pole. Columbus declared that this place had become Spanish territory. Then he led people to set foot on the earth and prostrate themselves on the ground, thanking God for bringing them good luck. Residents with reddish-brown skin were very curious and confused when watching the "performance" of this group of uninvited guests with white skin.

Soon, the residents began to watch Columbus curiously. They are all naked and very healthy. They thought they had arrived in Columbus, east indies, and called these natives Indians. In this way, all native Americans have been called this since then. In fact, the people they saw at that time were Arawaks scattered on the islands along the north coast of South America.

Columbus made a deal with these aborigines, exchanging small objects such as bronze bells, red hats and glass beads for small ornaments such as gold, cotton yarn and parrots. This kind of transaction is an absolutely unequal exchange. An ordinary Spanish coin can be exchanged for 25 pounds of cotton yarn. Later, when Columbus described these residents, he said, "The people I met were very young ... they didn't carry iron weapons, and they didn't know that iron weapons would hurt people. When I showed them the sword, they caught the blade because of ignorance and hurt their fingers. They don't have iron ... "

The crew stayed in San Salvador for two days and exchanged some cheap decorations for Indian food and fresh water.

The Arabic linguist brought here is useless here. Columbus learned from the Arawaks only through gestures and symbols that there was a king in the south and there was a lot of gold, and there were also many such islands in the south and the west.

The news is encouraging. On the map with a lot of imagination at that time, there were indeed many islands scattered in East Asian waters, including the so-called Japan. According to Kyle Poirot's travel notes, there is so much gold there that even the roof and floor of the palace are made of gold. So Columbus made up his mind to look for this treasure in the southwest. After arresting six Arawaks as translators and guides, the fleet sailed southwest for about two weeks. On the way, they discovered some new islands, and tasted sweet potatoes, corn and cassava for the first time in this area, which made them admire the Indian's unique sleeping berth-network hammock. Shortly thereafter, European seafarers adopted this hammock.

However, they searched all over the Bahamas and didn't find much gold, so according to Indian rumors, they continued to look for a bigger island in the south called Cuba. The scenery in the east here is very beautiful, and towering green hills can be seen everywhere. So Columbus said Cuba was the most beautiful island he had ever heard of. However, there, they didn't find any merchant ships and palaces with golden roofs. All they saw were canoes and villages made up of round huts.

When Columbus showed a piece of gold to the local natives, they pointed to a place inland and said, "Cuba Nakan." "Cuba Nakan?" "... Kan? ""… Khan? " That's it. Columbus thought they must have said "the great Khan of China". So he thinks he is in China now, not in Japan.

Columbus quickly sent a diplomatic mission to see Khan with official letters from Ferdinand and Isabella. Obviously, it is impossible to see China's great Khan here, and it is impossible to find any gold treasure, but I found a peculiar habit of local residents-that is, to roll up a leaf called Tuo Bacos and stuff it into the nostrils, and inhale the smoke emitted when it is lit. They didn't expect this weed to become as valuable as gold one day. This is tobacco.

After sailing along the north coast of Cuba for five weeks, the fleet still hasn't found gold. After listening to the Arawak people's opinions, one day, Captain Pinta took the initiative to anchor and sailed eastward to an island called babic to look for gold, and never came back for six weeks.

On February 5, 65438, Columbus only led Nina and St. Mary to the easternmost point of Cuba. On his way eastward, another coast with a large population and beautiful scenery appeared. All the staff thought it was an island as beautiful as Spain, which was named by Columbus. This is now the island of Hispaniola, which belongs to Haiti and Dominica.

Two weeks later, Columbus and his team explored about13 of the northern coast of Hispaniola, and drew a fairly accurate map of this area. Sometimes they will visit the big tribe of the Awak people and look for gold together. They found that the farther east they went, the more likely they were to find gold.

On February 20th, 65438, the fleet anchored in Akour Bay surrounded by mountains. Friendly local residents presented them with some gold ornaments. A piece of embroidered cotton cloth inlaid with gold was given to Columbus as a gift, which was specially sent by a tribal chief a few miles away, so Columbus decided to pay a return visit immediately. On the way, the St. Mary unfortunately hit the rocks. Columbus learned from the chieftain that there was a place called Sivao on the mainland that was rich in gold. Sivao was misunderstood by Columbus as a misunderstanding of Japan, so he believed that endless treasure was finally found on this Spanish island, which he believed was Japan, located in the sea east of China. They built a fort on the shore. The wood comes from the wreck of the Santa Maria. It was named Navida, which means "Christmas" in Spanish. As the first colonial activity in this new continent, Columbus left 40 people to mine the gold mine in Hispaniola. Subsequently, they took all kinds of special products, a lot of gold and these six Indians from the island as evidence of this discovery, and began their long voyage back to Spain on1493 65438+1October 4.

Two days later, Columbus's Nina rejoined the west-bound Pinta. Two exploration ships sailed fearlessly to the vast Atlantic Ocean. In two weeks, Mount Hispaniola will no longer exist. The way home is also thrilling, and it has also experienced stormy waves and storms. Near the Azores, two ships were scattered by huge waves. On March 4th, Nina finally arrived in Lisbon, and on March 5th, 65438+, the ship sailed into palos Port. A few hours later, the Pinta also entered the port. After 7 months 12 days, these tired explorers finally came back.

The happiest day of Columbus's life was a few months after his return. In mid-April, he was called into the palace and was awarded the title of general. The grand reception also surprised Columbus. Columbus also became a hero at that time.

[Edit this paragraph] The second expedition

The king and queen were eager to possess this newly discovered land and wealth, and ordered Columbus to return to Hispaniola immediately. A huge fleet of 17 ships and 1200 crew members was completed in less than five months. This colonial expedition is the largest expedition sent by European mainland. Columbus took his brother Diego as his assistant. The purpose of this expedition is to make Columbus establish a permanent colony there, make the local indigenous people submit, and find out whether Cuba is really a part of Asia.

Different from the first voyage, the fleet set out from the beautiful port of Cadiz with the accompaniment of horns. The first time was from a small town by the river. That was September 25th, 1493. In order to find some big islands in the southeast of Hispaniola suggested by Indians, the fleet set sail farther south than last time after starting from the Canary Islands. 165438+1October 3rd, which is Sunday, which means Desdomeni in Spanish. Because they found a beautiful island that day, Columbus named it Dominica. This island, which marks the beginning of Columbus' cruise in the Caribbean, is located in the middle of the Little Antilles.

After a short stay in galante, Mali, an island named after Columbus' flagship, the fleet continued to sail north and soon landed in Guadeloupe, a lush volcanic island. Here, the crew found that the local Calebs had the habit of eating people, and it was here that they tasted the delicious pineapple for the first time.

On the way to the north, the fleet passed a series of islands-Saint Kitts, Redonda, Antigua, Montserrat and Nevis. Many names of these islands were named by Columbus. 165438+1October 13, the fleet docked in St. Croix, 14, and they had the first armed conflict with the Calais. The fleet crossed the long Virgin Islands and traveled along the south coast of Puerto Rico. 165438+1October 22nd, the fleet passed through the Mona Channel, and the island of Hispaniola, where they landed last time, appeared before us.

165438+1On October 28th, the fleet arrived in Dana Veda. They found that the fortress had been burned down and the people who stayed here had disappeared without a trace. It turned out that the people who Columbus sent here to dig gold mines did not mine gold, but plundered, robbed and occupied women everywhere, which angered the indigenous people on the island and killed them all. So Columbus did not dare to station here, but led the fleet to Isabella, which was estimated to be 100 miles east, and established a new colony there. Then they visited the inland of the island for several months and finally confirmed that it was not Japan. At the end of April, Columbus's younger brother stayed behind, and Columbus personally led three sailboats to visit the south coast of Cuba. There was still no gold found there, so they decided to send it to the tropical island of Jamaica on May 5 to look for it. About 1 week later, they returned to Cuba from Jamaica in disappointment. In the following 1 month, led by Columbus, the fleet carefully and slowly crossed the winding and narrow bay on the southern coast of Cuba, which was covered with rocks and islands.

During the voyage, Grumble's superb skills as a navigator were revealed. At that time, Columbus only had a compass, various charts, a pair of bipedal compasses, a ruler and a timed hourglass, which were the most basic navigation instruments. One of his astrolabes and Shibungi is useless, because the ship is always in motion. Columbus sailed only by dead reckoning, which was a method commonly used by experienced navigators at that time. They estimate the approximate position of the ship at regular intervals according to the estimated speed, course and sailing time. At that time, there were only rudimentary instruments, and the result was very inaccurate. /kloc-In the 6th century, sailors used a rope with knots at a certain distance to calculate the speed of the ship, and counted the knots every half hour to know the speed of the ship. "knots" have been used as speed units until now. However, in Columbus' time, because people didn't know this method at all, there was a great error in the calculation speed. Because the timing hourglass must also be adjusted regularly according to regional changes or according to the local noon sun height angle. Sailors often use the Little Big Dipper as a way to tell the time of night by rotating around the North Star once a day like an hour hand. This method assumes that the human body is in the center of Polaris, and the date is represented by the radiation around it, thus forming a star clock. For example, on April 15, at midnight, the brightest star will appear overhead. Columbus adopted this method of timing. Seafarers' own experience is an important factor to master the dead reckoning method. As far as experience is concerned, according to seafarers at that time, no one can do better than Columbus in observing the waves and the sky. He can often predict the future weather according to the stars and clouds in the sky. The scattered islands found on the first voyage in the vast Caribbean were unknown at that time, and Columbus could easily find them on later voyages. All these facts show that Columbus was a great maritime genius.

Due to Columbus' calculation error, by June of 12, the fleet had traveled about 650 miles along the south coast of Cuba. All the sailors said that the island could not be so long, so Columbus mistook Cuba for the destination of their westward journey-an extension of Asia.

Before returning to Isabella on September 29th, Columbus visited the south coast of Jamaica and Hispaniola and drew a map. After returning to Isabella, Columbus found that during their five months at sea, the newly established new colony was in chaos again. Groups of Spaniards wandered back and forth on the island, scaring local natives from time to time, taking their gold and arresting people for hard work, so an open war broke out soon. Forced by the situation, Columbus had to lead the army to participate in the war and slaughter the natives. In the 50 years since 1492, hundreds of thousands of Arawaks on the island of Hispaniola were almost extinct.

A Spanish prosecutor visited Columbus on June 1495+00 because someone accused him of mismanagement and willfulness. 1496 In March, Columbus had to leave Isabella and return to Spain to defend himself. Thirty Indians and 250 disappointed colonists also returned to Spain with Columbus's two small boats. Because of the small number of people and the hunger along the way, when they arrived in Cadiz in June 1 1 and trudged down the gangway, these sallow and emaciated people almost became skeletons.

[Edit this paragraph] The third exploration

Two years later, recovered Columbus went out to sea again to explore the new continent. At that time, because the king and queen had other things to do, their enthusiasm for exploration disappeared this time. The expedition took a group of immigrants, including some women and a group of prisoners sentenced to hard labor, and went abroad in a fleet of only six ships. Although the main purpose of this voyage was only to transport materials and personnel to Hispaniola, Columbus planned to discover the new continent, and the island he discovered last time was his goal.

Columbus's fleet set sail on May 3rd. 1498. After arriving in the Canary Islands, only three ships still docked in Hispanio, and the other ships, led by Columbus, turned southwest to Cape Verde, which was more southerly than all previous voyages.

On July 3 1 day, Columbus discovered land, and three peaks connected at the bottom miraculously appeared. Columbus called this island Trinidad, thanks to the Trinity. The next day, in the south where the sea meets the sky, there was a vague shadow of another island. In fact, the land Columbus saw was South America, and the island he only saw in a vague silhouette was Santa Island.

Columbus explored the Gulf of Paria (now Venezuela) between Trinidad and South America for two weeks. Columbus found that the Indians living in Venezuela were wearing a string of pearls and large gold-copper alloy ornaments, and they were all skillful craftsmen of cotton textile. So in less than 1 year, a very profitable pearl breeding industry was developed.

Worried that the wine and food on board would deteriorate at high temperature, Columbus decided to sail back to Hispaniola on August 15. According to the fact that the water in Parias Bay is a sign of fresh water, Columbus concluded that Santa Claus Island is much bigger than an island. An expedition sent ashore also found four large rivers, which are actually some tributaries of the Orinoco River flowing into the sea. Columbus, who loves dreaming, actually regarded this place as the Garden of Eden, and the rivers he discovered turned into four rivers in heaven. This was not surprising at that time, when many scholars believed that there was a paradise on earth somewhere in Southeast Asia.

1on August 9, 498, Columbus's fleet returned to Santo Domingo, the capital of Hispaniola, which was founded by his other brother. When we arrived, the situation here was also in chaos. Columbus had to deal with Spanish colonists and local natives who did not obey him. He also hanged some sailors who refused to obey him, and some settlers and sailors who returned to Spain accused him and his brother of improper governance in the areas under the jurisdiction of the governor in Spanish courts. Other Spaniards believe that Hispaniola, as a part of Spain, should not be ruled by Italians. Many people accused him of ruling his territory like a tyrant. At that time, Columbus was extremely exhausted physically and mentally and suffered from arthritis and other diseases. 1499 5438+00 In June, he sent two ships back to Spain and asked the court to appoint a royal commissioner to help him manage the island of Hispaniola.

The court appointed Francisco Byrd Wadia. But his power far exceeded Columbus' requirements, and Bo Wadia was granted full power during his term of office. As soon as he came to Santo Domingo, he heard local people complain about the Columbus brothers. With this evidence, Columbus was handcuffed and shackled, not allowed to defend himself, and put into prison, waiting to return to Spain, at the age of 53.

1 500 65438+1October1,Columbus and his brothers were taken back to Cadiz, Spain. They stayed in prison for six weeks before the busy King Fernando released them. Soon after, the king and queen summoned them at the Alhambra Palace in Granada and restored their freedom, reputation and wealth. And under the persuasion of Columbus, he agreed to his fourth voyage plan, but Columbus could no longer serve as the governor of the West Indies territory. Nicholas Obando was appointed as the new governor.

[Edit this paragraph] failed for the fourth time.

A few months later, Columbus regained his dignity as an old man in his fifties with poor eyesight and arthritis. Even so, at the beginning of 1502, he once again asked the king to let him explore and got the king's promise.

On May 1 day, a fleet of four light sailboats led by Columbus set off from the port of Cadiz again. This time, Columbus plans to go through the southern coast of China (actually Cuba) and the paradise on earth he discovered (actually South America), and then return to Spain from the other side of the world.

On June 29th, after passing through Martinique, the fleet temporarily docked in Santo Domingo. And Columbus took the place in front of the road as the Indian zhina. In the following months, Columbus has been trying to break through this obstacle. The fleet set out from Honduras and passed through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and now Panama, facing strong headwinds and huge waves. On February 6, 65438, there was a big storm at sea that lasted for one month. Much thunder and little rain, and heavy rain poured down. The sea churned wildly, which was the biggest storm Columbus had never experienced in his life. The fleet is at the mercy of nature, and there is nothing we can do. The fleet can't move forward, can't find a safe haven, and is in danger of being wiped out at any time. The hot and humid weather encourages the growth of maggots, and the cakes on the ship are full of maggots, so people have to wait until dark to eat together; Some people are too lazy to remove maggots when they are used to it. In this case, if you are picky about food, you are likely to starve to death, as everyone knows.

Columbus remained optimistic even in this difficult adversity. In order to find a passage to another ocean, he explored a bay and a river, but without success. Perhaps because he learned from the Indians near Panama that there was no waterway or strait connecting the two oceans, Columbus gave up his search for the passage and began to look for gold again.

However, the situation of the fleet is getting worse and worse. At first, in mid-April, a light sailboat ran aground on the sandbar. Then, another ship was eaten by maggots. In this tropical heat, the other two ships are also in danger of being eaten by worms. In this case of necessity, Columbus ordered the ship to dock on a sheltered beach, and the crew barely lived, because it was completely impossible to return to Hispaniola by such a ship. Later, Columbus sent two men back to Santo Domingo by canoe for help, but they never came back. Columbus was bedridden with arthritis, and about half of the crew who couldn't bear to wait got up and made trouble. /kloc-at the beginning of 0/0, they left without Columbus' permission and wanted to return to Hispaniola. However, how could their canoes stand the rough sea? Soon they were all blown back to Jamaica by strong winds.

1 On June 29th, 504, the ship that had been waiting for1years finally arrived here, and Columbus and his crew returned to the island of Hispaniola. Columbus, his son, brother and 22 other members returned to Spain on a chartered ship. The date of arrival in Spain is1504165438+1October.

1506 On May 20th, Columbus died. Until his death, he always thought that he had been to Asia. Later, another explorer, Amelia, an Italian, confirmed that Columbus had been to the New World, not Asia. Therefore, this continent is named America. The island first discovered by Columbus is called the West Indies, which is used to distinguish India from the East. And Columbus's goal of going west to Asia has to be left to others to complete.