And so he went on for several days, with the wind veering always south and south-west, and pointing pretty steadily to the north-east.  On February 4th he changed his course, and went as near due east as he could.  They now began to find themselves in considerable doubt as to their position.  The Admiral said he was seventy-five leagues to the south of Flores; Vincenti Pinzon and the pilots thought that they had passed the Azores and were in the neighbourhood of Madeira.  In other words, there was a difference of 600 miles between their estimates, and the Admiral remarks that “the grace of God permitting, as soon as land is seen, it will be known who has calculated the surest.”

A great quantity of birds that began to fly about the ship made him think that they were near land, but they turned out to be the harbingers of a storm.  On Tuesday, February 12th, the sea and wind began to rise, and it continued to blow harder throughout that night and the next day.  The wind being aft he went under bare poles most of the night, and when day came hoisted a little sail; but the sea was terrible, and if he had not been so sure of the staunch little Nina he would have felt himself in danger of being lost.  The next day the sea, instead of going down, increased in roughness; there was a heavy cross sea which kept breaking right over the ship, and it became necessary to make a little sail in order to run before the wind, and to prevent the vessel falling back into the trough of the seas.  All through Thursday he ran thus under the half hoisted staysail, and he could see the Pinta running also before the wind, although since she presented more surface, and was able to carry a little more sail than the Nina, she was soon lost to sight.  The Admiral showed lights through the night, and this time there was no lack of response from Martin Alonso; and for some part of that dark and stormy night these two humanly freighted scraps of wood and cordage staggered through the gale showing lights to each other; until at last the light from the Pinta disappeared.  When morning came she was no longer to be seen; and the wind and the sea had if anything increased.  The Nina was now in the greatest danger.  Any one wave of the heavy cross sea, if it had broken fairly across her, would have sunk her; and she went swinging and staggering down into the great valleys and up into the hills, the steersman’s heart in his mouth, and the whole crew in an extremity of fear.  Columbus, who generally relied upon his seamanship, here invoked external aid, and began to offer bargains to the Almighty.  He ordered that lots should be cast, and that he upon whom the lot fell should make a vow to go on pilgrimage to Santa Maria de Guadaloupe carrying a white candle of five pounds weight.  Same dried peas were brought, one for every member of the crew, and on one of them a cross was marked with a knife; the peas were well shaken and were put into a cap.  The first to draw was the Admiral; he drew the marked