October 7, 1492—False Landfall From the beginning of the journey it was clear that the purpose and goal of Columbus's trip was to find a route to the Indies. Because it was so important that land be found, and as quickly as possible, Ferdinand and Isabella offered a fairly substantial reward to the sailor who was the first to spot land. Throughout the voyage there were numerous false sightings of land, each of which led to high expectations and dashed hopes as days went by without a single island appearing on the horizon. The first false sighting occurred on September 25. Columbus and the crew were disappointed by the false claim and, feeling that the crew was getting restless and might begin to see things that were not there, he ordered that any more false claims would cause the reward to be forfeited.Sunday, 7 October 1492I sailed to the west and made 9 knots for 2 hours and then 6 knots for 8½ hours. I went about 69 miles up until an hour before sunset, but told the crew 54. This morning we saw what appeared to be land to the west, but it was not very distinct. Furthermore, no one wished to make a false claim of discovery, for I had ordered that if anyone make such a claim and, after sailing three days, the claim proved to be false, the 10,000 maravedíes reward promised by the Catholic Sovereigns would be forfeited, even if afterwards he actually did see it. Being warned of this, no one aboard the Santa María or Pinta dare call out "Land, land!" However, after we had rendezvoused this morning at sunrise (I had ordered that we assemble at sunrise and sunset because that is when there is the least haze and we can see the farthest) the Niña, which is a better sailor, ran ahead and fired a cannon and ran up a flag on her mast to indicate that land had been sighted. Joy turned to dismay as the day progressed, for by evening we had found no land and had to face the reality that it was only an illusion. God did offer us, however, a small token of comfort: many large flocks of birds flew over, coming from the north and flying to the SW. They were more varied in kind than any we had seen before and they were land birds, either going to sleep ashore or fleeing the winter in the lands whence they came. I know that most of the islands discovered by the Portuguese have been found because of birds. What were the possible negative effects on the sailors when a false landfall claim occurred? How did Columbus try to stop the men from rushing to call out a sighting of land? Did it seem to work?
Sunday, 7 October 1492I sailed to the west and made 9 knots for 2 hours and then 6 knots for 8½ hours. I went about 69 miles up until an hour before sunset, but told the crew 54. This morning we saw what appeared to be land to the west, but it was not very distinct. Furthermore, no one wished to make a false claim of discovery, for I had ordered that if anyone make such a claim and, after sailing three days, the claim proved to be false, the 10,000 maravedíes reward promised by the Catholic Sovereigns would be forfeited, even if afterwards he actually did see it. Being warned of this, no one aboard the Santa María or Pinta dare call out "Land, land!" However, after we had rendezvoused this morning at sunrise (I had ordered that we assemble at sunrise and sunset because that is when there is the least haze and we can see the farthest) the Niña, which is a better sailor, ran ahead and fired a cannon and ran up a flag on her mast to indicate that land had been sighted. Joy turned to dismay as the day progressed, for by evening we had found no land and had to face the reality that it was only an illusion. God did offer us, however, a small token of comfort: many large flocks of birds flew over, coming from the north and flying to the SW. They were more varied in kind than any we had seen before and they were land birds, either going to sleep ashore or fleeing the winter in the lands whence they came. I know that most of the islands discovered by the Portuguese have been found because of birds.
