Notwithstanding the issue of the royal order that Columbus should be provided with everything he asked, the equipment of the fleet progressed very slowly, for the money promised him could not be raised at once and those opposed to the undertaking put many obstacles in his way, which retarded the progress of the business. At last, however, two freight vessels left for Hispaniola in January, 1498, but Columbus had to wait until the thirtieth of May before he could weigh anchor with six vessels deficiently manned. He had now determined to take an entirely new course, hoping to discover the real Indies. With this purpose in view, after he reached the Canary Islands he sailed in the same direction to the island of the Green Cape, which the Portuguese had discovered. Immediately after leaving the Canaries he sent half of his vessels directly to Hispaniola to take fresh provisions to the colony and ordered their captains to make the voyage as quickly as possible. After passing the island of the Green Cape, which is called the Salz Island, he anchored near a small, barren one where the Portuguese sent their lepers to be cured. Upon this small island there are multitudes of turtles which swim there from the African coast to lay their eggs in the sand. These animals are very easily caught. When placed upon their backs they cannot move. It had been found that to eat their flesh and wash in their blood was a sure cure for leprosy, so those afflicted with that disease were sent there to be healed. Besides these turtles there was an immense number of goats upon this island, which had sprang from eight goats once brought there by a Portuguese. There was neither tree nor stream on the island and the poor lepers were forced to drink foul rain water which collected in holes. There were at that time only seven of them on the island. From there Columbus steered to the southward until he reached the equator, where his fleet was becalmed. The sun’s rays beat down upon their heads fiercely and they could find no shelter from its blazing heat. The wine-casks split, all the water aboard was foul, the provisions rotted, the vessels themselves grew so hot that the despairing sailors expected every instant they would take fire. Besides his own troubles and the despair of his exhausted companions, he was afflicted by gout, induced by his anxiety and sleeplessness. He lay racked with pain, troubled with anxiety over the dangerous condition of his vessels, tormented with the heat, without the comfort of a drink of fresh water. At last the heavens had pity upon him and sent such an abundant rain that the men could hardly remain upon deck. It did not greatly abate the terrible heat, but they secured a supply of fresh water, and, as the calm disappeared, hope once more arose in their half-lifeless breasts. They eagerly implored him not to persist in sailing farther south and this time he yielded and took a southwesterly course.