. The storied West Indies . his sovereigns was lost, and theonly portion copied neglects to give the latitude andlongitude of the first landfall and landing place inthe Xew World. Bishop Las Casas, his renowned con-temporary, had access to this journal and made ex-cerpts from it; but, not being a scientific man, heomitted the very data which Columbus, as a trainednavigator, would have considered most important. So it is that during the centuries that have passedsince the advent of Columbus here, his first landingplace has been wrapped in mystery—or, rather, hasnot been satisfactorily determine
. The storied West Indies . his sovereigns was lost, and theonly portion copied neglects to give the latitude andlongitude of the first landfall and landing place inthe Xew World. Bishop Las Casas, his renowned con-temporary, had access to this journal and made ex-cerpts from it; but, not being a scientific man, heomitted the very data which Columbus, as a trainednavigator, would have considered most important. So it is that during the centuries that have passedsince the advent of Columbus here, his first landingplace has been wrapped in mystery—or, rather, hasnot been satisfactorily determined. One thing, how-ever, is now known: that the veritable isle of SanSalvador, or Guanahani, is not Cat Island, as for somany years erroneously believed. This we maysay: That it is one of the Bahama Islands, that it 4 THE STORIED WEST INDIES lies within fifty miles of Cat Island, either northwestor southeast, and that Columbus threaded his waythrough the archipelago, before he reached and ex-plored the north coast of FIRST VOYAGEN E A 2f Route to and through the Bahamas. It may be well, after all, that some of the prob-lems of history and of exploration are left for thepresent generation to solve; and who knows but thatsome of my readers may have the pleasure of addingto the sum of information now possessed by theworld? It will be a sad prospect, will it not, whenthere are no more countries to explore and no moreworlds to conquer? At all events, though I myselfhave visited and examined all the islands of impor- SAN SALVADOR 5 tance in the Bahamas, and have done so under themost favorable auspices, I can not affirm that I knowexactly where Columbus landed. The island uponwhich I think he landed (and my opinion is sup-ported by many persons who have investigated thesubject) is that known as Watlmgs, named after oneof the old sea rovers of the archipelago many yearsago. It lies about fifty miles to the eastward of Co-lumbus Point, is twelve miles in length by seven inwidth
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