Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/105

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COLUMN 79 COLUMN- came openly mutinous, but Columbus never f.inched in his determination to press on. On Oct. 12 his perseverance was rewarded with the sight of land, which proved to be one of the Bahama Islands. Here he solemnly planted the cross, giving the island the name of San Salvador. After discovering several other of the West India Islands, including Cuba and Haiti, or San Domingo, at the latter of which, called by him Hispaniola, he settled a small colony, he set sail again for Spain, where he arrived March 15, 1493, and was received with every dem- onstration of joy and admiration by the people and the court. In September of the same year he sailed from Cadiz on the second expedition, with 17 ships and 1,500 men. In this voyage he discovered the Caribbee Islands, Jamaica, etc., but calumnies at home forced him to return in 1496. Having cleared himself with his sovereig:ns, he, in 1498, set out on a third expedition. This time, steering more to the S., he discovered Trinidad and the mouths of the Orinoco, and landed at Paria, on the coast of South America. After these discoveries Columbus steered for Hispaniola, where he found every- thing in disorder. Enemies in Spain had been at work, and an officer named Bo- badilla had been appointed to supersede him as governor, and by this person Co- lumbus was sent home in chains. This unworthy treatment excited the indigna- tion of the Spanish people to such a de- gree that Ferdinand was forced to dis- avow all knowledge of the disgraceful affair. But Columbus failed to obtain re- dress from the king. The spirit of adven- ture, however, was not crushed and he set out on May 9, 1502, with four vessels and 150 men to seek a passage uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which he imagined lay somewhere between Hon- duras and Paria. The voyage was disas- trous, and the constitution of Columbus r rpj. recovered from the shock which it sustained. In coasting Central America hs e;ot a hint which, if followed up, might have led to the discovery of Mexico and the Pacific; but the mutinous character of his crew forced him aside to seek for gold, and having added little of impor- tance to his previous discoveries, he re- turned to Spain in November, 1504. Isa- bella was dead; Ferdinand proved basely ungrateful, and he was permitted to die in poverty at Valladolid, on May 20, 1508. COLUMN, a pillar, shaft, or solid body of considerably greater length than thickness, standing upright, and general- ly serving to support some superincum- bent mass. It is the principal part in the ancient orders of architecture. There are five orders of architecture, each having its own proper style of column. The Gre- cian-Doric has no base, and in some other CORINTHIAN COLUMN respects differs from the Roman Doric, which is an imitation of it. It was short, powerful, and massive, and very simple