They grumbled; and the more the signs
increased the more they grumbled; till finally one morning Columbus came
on deck and found that his own helmsman had turned the _Santa
Maria_ eastward, and all the crew were standing by in menacing
attitudes.
The other two ships, as we have seen, were commanded by the Pinzon
brothers; and they, being natives of Palos, had secured all the
respectable Palos men who were willing to enlist; but Columbus had only
the worst element--the jail-birds and loafers from other towns. And here
they stood, saying plainly by their manner, "We are going back! What are
you going to do about it?"
We don't know exactly what he did do about it; Martin Alonzo Pinzon sent
him advice to "hang a few of the rebels; and if you can't manage to hang
them, I and my brothers will row to your ship and do it." But
Christopher appears to have handled the situation without their help,
and without hanging any one; for soon the helmsman swung the _Santa
Maria_ around again. On October 10 trouble broke out afresh, and
Columbus makes this entry in his diary:--
"The crew, not being able to stand the length of the voyage, complained
to me, but I reanimated them."
By October 10 the voyage had lasted some seventy days! No wonder the
crew needed to be "reanimated.
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