Produced by David Widger
From the moment when Columbus set foot on Spanish soil in the spring of1493 he was surrounded by a fame and glory which, although they weretransient, were of a splendour such as few other men can have everexperienced. He had not merely discovered a country, he had discovered aworld. He had not merely made a profitable expedition; he had broughtthe promise of untold wealth to the kingdom of Spain. He had not merelymade himself the master of savage tribes; he had conquered thesupernatural, and overcome for ever those powers of darkness that hadbeen thought to brood over the vast Atlantic. He had sailed away inobscurity, he had returned in fame; he had departed under a cloud ofscepticism and ridicule, he had come again in power and glory. He hadsailed from Palos as a seeker after hidden wealth, hidden knowledge; hereturned as teacher, discoverer, benefactor. The whole of Spain rangwith his fame, and the echoes of it spread to Portugal, France, England,Germany, and Italy; and it reached the ears of his own family, who hadnow left the Vico Dritto di Ponticello in Genoa and were living atSavona.
His life ashore in the first weeks following his return was a successionof triumphs and ceremonials. His first care on landing had been to gowith the whole of his crew to the church of Saint George, where a Te Deumwas sung in honour of his return; and afterwards to perform those vowsthat he had made at sea in the hour of danger. There was a certainamount of business to transact at Palos in connection with the paying ofthe ships' crews, writing of reports to the Sovereigns, and so forth; andit is likely that he stayed with his friends at the monastery of LaRabida while this was being done. The Court was at Barcelona; and it wasprobably only a sense of his own great dignity and importance thatprevented Christopher from setting off on the long journey immediately.But he who had made so many pilgrimages to Court as a suitor could revelin a position that made it possible for him to hang back, and to bepressed and invited; and so when his business at Palos was finished hesent a messenger with his letters and reports to Barcelona, and himself,with his crew and his Indians and all his trophies, departed for Seville,where he arrived on Palm Sunday.
His entrance into that city was only a foretaste of the glory in which hewas to move across the whole of Spain. He was met at the gates of thecity by a squadron of cavalry commanded by an envoy sent by QueenIsabella; and a procession was formed of members of the crew carryingparrots, alive and stuffed, fruits, vegetables, and various otherproducts of the New World.
In a prominent place came the Indians, or rather four of them, for onehad died on the day they entered Palos and three were too ill to leavethat town; but the ones that took part in the procession got all the moreattention and admiration. The streets of Seville were crowded; crowdedalso were the windows, balconies, and roofs. The Admiral was entertainedat the house of the Count of Cifuentes, where his little museum of deadand live curiosities was also accommodated, and where certain favouredvisitors were admitted to view it. His two sons, Diego and Ferdinand,were sent from Cordova to join him; and perhaps he found time to visitBeatriz, although there is no record of his having b