Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Notes]

The appearance of the Word format closely approximates the original text, except that sentence fragments are rejoined across page and illustration boundaries. The HTML and TXT formats discard page boundaries but retain the year references in square brackets. Thus [1492-1495] indicate the following text covers this period, until the next such appearance.

Where useful comparisons can be made, a few pictures and contemporary maps from Google Earth (TM) have been inserted.

Several books on Columbus are available at Gutenberg.org, including "The Life of Columbus" by Arthur Helps.

A pound sterling in 1600 is worth about 135 pounds or 235 Dollars US in 2006.

Here are some unfamiliar (to me) terms.

camlets
Rich cloth of Asian origin, made of camel's hair and silk and later
made of goat's hair and silk or other combinations. A garment made
from this cloth.

contumacy
Stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness; obstinate resistance to
authority.

druggets
Heavy felted fabric of wool or wool and cotton, used as a floor
covering.

escheated
Reversion of property to the state in the absence of legal heirs or
claimants.

fee simple
An estate of inheritance in land, either absolute and without
limitation to any particular class of heirs (fee simple) or limited to
a particular class of heirs (fee tail).

glebe
Plot of land yielding profit to an English parish church or an
ecclesiastical office.

Pascua Florida
Feast of flowers; Easter.

quit rent
A land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a landowning
authority, freeing the tenant of a holding from other obligations.

New Style (dates)
Describing dates after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. Various
nations adopted the Gregorian calendar between 1582 and 1752.

Old Style (dates)
Describing dates before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.

pompion
Pumpkin.

sedulous
Diligent in application or attention; persevering.

settle
Long wooden bench with a high back, often including storage space
beneath the seat.

[End Transcriber's Notes.]

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Columbus After a Portrait by Herrer.

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE EARLIEST DISCOVERY OF AMERICA TO THE PRESENT TIME

BY E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

With 650 Illustrations and Maps

VOLUME I.

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1912

COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TO MY WIFE