De Kay James T. - Meet Christopher Columbus

The sailors had not seen land for three weeks.

They started to worry. Would they ever see land again? They became frightened and angry.

Late one night the moon came up. A sailor stood in the crows nest high on the Pintas mast. He looked hard into the night.

Land! he shouted. Land!

Text copyright 1968 by Random House, Inc.
Text copyright renewed 1996 by James T. de Kay.
Illustrations copyright 1989 by John Edens.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in slightly different form by Random House, Inc., in 1968.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
De Kay, James T.
Meet Christopher Columbus / written by James T. de Kay; illustrated by John Edens.
p. cm. (Landmark books)
SUMMARY : An easy-to-read biography of the sailor who never fully recognized the
importance of his discovery which changed history.
eISBN: 978-0-307-81494-4
1. Columbus, ChristopherJuvenile literature.
2. ExplorersAmericaBiographyJuvenile literature.
3. ExplorersSpainBiographyJuvenile literature.
4. AmericaDiscovery and explorationSpanishJuvenile literature.
[1. Columbus, Christopher. 2. Explorers. 3. AmericaDiscovery and
explorationSpanish.] I. Edens, John, ill. II. Title. III. Series.
E111.D28 1989 970.015dc19 88-19068

First Landmark Books edition, 2001

v3.1

Five hundred years ago people in Europe knew little about the world. They knew it was round. But they did not know how big it was. They knew of lands to the east. But they did not know how far away they were. They knew there was an ocean to the west. But they did not know how far it stretched. They did not think anyone had ever crossed it. And they were afraid to try.

But Christopher Columbus was not afraid. His dream was to cross the Western Ocean. He became one of the greatest explorers in history.

About 500 years ago in the city of Genoa, Italy, lived a red-haired boy. His name was Christopher Columbus. He worked for his father making cloth. But he did not want to be a cloth maker all his life. He wanted to see new lands and have adventures. He wanted to be a sailor.

Genoa was a good place to learn about sailing. It was a busy port on the Mediterranean Sea. Sailing ships from many lands came there. The streets were filled with sailors and traders.

Christopher soon learned to sail. First he sailed in little boats just for the fun of it. Then he sailed on big ships. He learned all the things a sailor has to know. He learned to tell a forecastle from a poop deck. He learned about masts and sails and yards. He learned about cleats and rigging and all kinds of seagoing things.

By the time Christopher was 25 years old, he had sailed all over the Mediterranean Sea. He had been to France, Africa, and Greece. He had seen strange cities. He had had many adventures.

Christophers wish had come true. He was a sailor.

In the spring of 1476 there was some exciting news. Five ships were getting ready to leave Genoa. They were going to sail to England. England is far away from Genoa. It is far away from the Mediterranean Sea. The ships would have to sail out into the great Western Ocean. Then they would sail north, past the lands of Spain, Portugal, and France.

Christopher got a job on one of the ships. And in the spring of 1476 he sailed out of the Mediterranean.

For the first time Christopher saw the great, green Western Ocean.

One day Columbus heard a shout from a sailor high on a mast. The sailor was pointing at some ships. They were warships! They were coming closer and closer.

The guns on the warships boomed. Cannon balls smashed into the side of Columbuss ship. They tore into the ropes and sails. They knocked down the masts.

Columbuss ship had guns too. The sailors shot back at the warships. There was noise and smoke everywhere. And Columbus heard the screams of sailors hit by the cannon balls.

The fight lasted all day. Many men were killed. Columbus was hurt. But he kept on fighting.

Then a terrible thing happened. His ship began to sink.

Columbus jumped into the sea. He grabbed an oar floating in the water. He started to swim. He swam for hours. When he got too tired, he rested on the oar. Then he swam some more.

At last, late at night, he reached land. He pulled himself up on the beach and rested. Some men came down to help him. They told him he was in the country of Portugal.

Christopher Columbus decided to stay in Portugal. He went to live near the big, busy port of Lisbon. He married. He and his wife had a baby boy. They named him Diego.

From Lisbon he sailed to many places. He sailed to Africa, which is hot, and Thule, which is cold. He sailed to England and Ireland, Flanders and Germany. He talked to men who had been to other lands. These men sailed into Lisbon in ships filled with pepper and ginger and cinnamon and cloves.

These things were called spices. Spices made food taste much better. People would pay almost anything to get them.

The sailors bought the spices from people called Arabs. But everyone knew the Arabs did not grow the spices. They got them from faraway lands named Cathay and India and Cipango. These lands were called the Indies. The Indies lay far away to the east of the Mediterranean.

Many men did not want to buy the spices from the Arabs. They wanted to go straight to the Indies. The spices were much cheaper there.

The best way to get there was to cross the lands owned by the Arabs. But the Arabs would not let anyone cross their lands.

There was another way to get to the Indies. It was across deserts and over mountains. This way was too long and too dangerous.

Any man who found a new way to the Indies would become rich.

Columbus was sure he could find a way. He studied maps. He read books about the Indies. One book he read over and over was called The Adventures of Marco Polo.