The First Wise Traveler to the West - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 18

Figure 2.3. Ships of Columbus
The fateful adventure ended on October 12, 1492, after thirty-three days at sea. As
a tribute to Columbus's seamanship, not a sailor was lost during the crossing. The fleet
landed somewhere in the Bahamas; the best reconstruction puts the landing at Watlings
Island. In thanks for deliverance, Columbus called his landfall San Salvador. At that mo-
ment, Columbus became an Admiral and, in the name of his sovereigns and with appro-
priate words and ceremony, took possession of the island. Sword in hand, brandishing the
flag of his sovereigns, Columbus invented the protocols of discovery. (An American flag
signed by President Richard Nixon stands firmly planted on the moon.)
Always goal-driven, Columbus kept two logs on his voyage. One was his secret but
accurate estimates of daily progress, and the other was a false log to calm his crew's fears
that they had sailed too far. Ironically, the false log is truer to course than the secret but
presumably accurate one.
OCTOBER 12, 1492: HOW DID THE WORLD CHANGE?
Let the great world spin forever,
Down the ringing grooves of change.