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I know not even my own work, past or present;

Dim, ever-shifting guesses of it spread before me,

Of newer, better worlds, their mighty parturition,

Mocking, perplexing me.

And these things I see suddenly—what mean they?

As if some miracle, some hand divine unseal’d my eyes,

Shadowy, vast shapes, smile through the air and sky,

And on the distant waves sail countless ships,

And anthems in new tongues I hear saluting me.

—from “Prayer of Columbus,” Walt Whitman, 1871

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea

Bartholomew Columbus, his brother, the Adelantado (“Advancer”)

Diego Columbus, his brother

Felipa Moñiz, his wife

Diego Columbus, his son with Felipa Moñiz

Ferdinand Columbus, his son with Beatriz de Arana

Ferdinand II of Aragon, king of Castile

Isabella I of Castile

Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, bishop and chaplain to Isabella

João II of Portugal, the “Perfect Prince”

Manuel I of Portugal

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, sailor of Palos, Spain

Martín Alonso Pinzón, brother of Vicente

Francisco Martín Pinzón, brother of Vicente

Diego Alvarez Chanca, physician, friend of Columbus

Juan de la Cosa, cartographer

Father Ramon Pané, priest, emissary to the Taínos

Antonio de Torres, associate of Columbus

Luis de Torres, translator on the first voyage

Guacanagarí, Taíno cacique

Guarionex, cacique

Caonabó, Carib cacique

Anacaona, Caonabó’s wife, executed by the Spanish

The Quibián, cacique

Alonso de Ojeda, Columbus’s lieutenant and rival

Amerigo Vespucci, Florentine bureaucrat and explorer

Francisco Roldán, mutineer on the third voyage

Francisco de Bobadilla, judicial investigator

Nicolás de Ovando, governor of Hispaniola

Francisco Porras, mutineer on the fourth voyage

Diego Méndez, leader of rescue mission on the fourth voyage

Bartolomé de Las Casas, soldier, friar, chronicler

PROLOGUE

October 1492

“I sailed to the West southwest, and we took more water aboard than at any other time on the voyage,” wrote Christopher Columbus in his logbook on Thursday, October 11, 1492, on the verge of the defining moment of discovery. It occurred not a moment too soon, because the fearful and unruly crews of his three ships were about to mutiny. Overcome with doubt himself, he had tried to remind the rebels of their sworn duty, “telling them that, for better or worse, they must complete the enterprise on which the Catholic Sovereigns”—Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, who jointly ruled Spain—“had sent them.” He could not risk offending his royal patrons, whom he lobbied for ten years to obtain this commission, and so he insisted, “I started out to find the Indies and will continue until I have accomplished that mission, with the help of Our Lord.” And they had better follow his lead or risk a cruel punishment.

Suddenly it seemed as if his prayers had been answered: “I saw several things that were indications of land.” For one thing, “A large flock of sea birds flew overhead.” And for another, a slender reed floated past his flagship, Santa María, and it was green, indicating it had grown nearby. Pinta’s crew noticed the same thing, as well as a “manmade” plank, carved by an unknown hand, perhaps with an “iron tool.” Those aboard Niña spotted a stick, equally indicative that they were approaching land. He encouraged the crew to give thanks rather than mutiny at this critical moment, doubled the number of lookouts, and promised a generous reward to the first sailor to spot terra firma.

And then, for hours, nothing.

Around ten o’clock that night, Columbus anxiously patrolled the highest deck, the stern castle. In the gloom, he thought he saw something resembling “a little wax candle bobbing up and down.” Perhaps it was a torch belonging to fishermen abroad at night, or perhaps it belonged to someone on land, “going from house to house.” Perhaps it was nothing more than a phantom sighting, common at sea, even for expert eyes. He summoned a couple of officers; one agreed with his assessment, the other scoffed. No one else saw anything,