iting. In Cordoba, Columbus took Beatriz Enriquez as his mistress and they had a son, Ferdinand. King John invited Columbus back to Portugal. During the second review of Columbus expedition plan, Bartholomew Diaz returned from discovering the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. This meant that the eastern sea route to India was open and the Portuguese were no longer interested in a western route. Columbus returned to Spain. Finally, after the fall of Grenada in January of 1942, the Spanish Sovereigns agreed to finance the expedition. They promised to make Columbus admiral of the Ocean Sea and viceroy of all islands and continents if he should succeed. Now preparations had to be made. The Spanish rulers ordered the harbor town of Palos to furnish two ships for the expedition as a penalty for offending them. These two ships were the Nina and the Pinta. A third ship, The Santa Maria (flagship), was chartered. Columbus commanded this ship and he selected two Palos captains to command the other ships. The crew was recruited from Palos. On August 3, 1492, the three ships hoisted anchor and left Palos harbor. Columbus had planned to stop at the Canary Islands for only fresh provisions and water but it turned out the Nina needed a new lateen rig and the Pinta needed a new rudder. On September 9, the three ships spread their sails and headed west. For the most part, the passage was smooth and the winds were steady. As the day passed, however, the men could not see how they could sail home against winds that had blown them steadily west. The compass was also not working properly and the men started worrying. A falling meteor and thick growing plants in the sea increased their fears. On October 8, the men were ready to rebel but Columbus agreed to turn back if land was not sighted within a few more days. On October 12 at 2 A...
