On the 19th April 1492 articles were signed, by which Columbus received from the Spanish monarchs the titles of Admiral and Viceroy of all the lands he might discover, as well as one-tenth of all the tribute to be derived from them; and on Friday the 3rd August, of the same year, he set sail in three vessels, entitled the Santa Maria (the flagship), the Pinta, and the Nina.  He started from the port of Palos, first for the Canary Islands.  These he left on the 6th September, and steered due west.  On the 13th of that month, Columbus observed that the needle of the compass pointed due north, and thus drew attention to the variability of the compass.  By the 21st September his men became mutinous and tried to force him to return.  He induced them to continue, and four days afterwards the cry of “Land! land!” was heard, which kept up their spirits for several days, till, on the 1st October, large numbers of birds were seen.  By that time Columbus had reckoned that he had gone some 710 leagues from the Canaries, and if Zipangu were in the position that Tostanelli’s map gave it, he ought to have been in its neighbourhood.  It was reckoned in those days that a ship on an average could make four knots an hour, dead reckoning, which would give about 100 miles a day, so that Columbus might reckon on passing over the 3100 miles which he thought intervened between the Azores and Japan in about thirty-three days.  All through the early days of October his courage was kept up by various signs of the nearness of land—­birds and branches—­while on the 11th October, at sunset, they sounded, and found bottom; and at ten o’clock, Columbus, sitting in the stern of his vessel, saw a light, the first sure sign of land after thirty-five days, and in near enough approximation to Columbus’s reckoning to confirm him in the impression that he was approaching the mysterious land of Zipangu.  Next morning they landed on an island, called by the natives Guanahain, and by Columbus San Salvador.  This has been identified as Watling Island.  His first inquiry was as to the origin of the little plates of gold which he saw in the ears of the natives.  They replied that they came from the West—­another confirmation of his impression.  Steering westward, they arrived at Cuba, and afterwards at Hayti (St. Domingo).  Here, however, the Santa Maria sank, and Columbus determined to return, to bring the good news, after leaving some of his men in a fort at Hayti.  The return journey was made in the Nina in even shorter time to the Azores, but afterwards severe storms arose, and it was not till the 15th March 1493 that he reached Palos, after an absence of seven and a half months, during which everybody thought that he and his ships had disappeared.