In person Columbus was tall and shapely. His appearance was distinguished. He had a long face, aquiline nose, soft blue eyes, and a very fair complexion. In his youth his hair was auburn but, owing to his many hardships and severe labors, it grew white early, for his life was a continual alternation from fortune to misfortune, from calumny to laudation, from the highest expressions of honor to the lowest degradations. Few and fleeting were his hours of pleasure, for hardly a day passed that he was not called upon to contend with physical pain or troublesome mishaps or aggravating injuries. Otherwise he was strong in his bodily constitution and was very powerful and agile. He had a pleasing and attractive manner and was friendly and modest with every one. He was courteous to strangers, affable to his attendants, merry with his good friends and, what was especially characteristic of him, in almost every situation of life he conducted himself in a manner that commanded admiration. He lived moderately, dressed modestly, and whenever in his various expeditions he was overtaken by adverse circumstances, he allowed himself no comforts which were not shared by his companions. In his youth he devoted himself industriously to the sciences, in which he excelled the average scholars of his time. But what is most worthy of commendation was the quiet, sincere piety which he manifested upon every occasion. He was inclined to anger, but he so far overcame this passion with the principles of his religion that he could display an admirable gentleness and patience when exposed to the coarse assaults of his unworthy adversaries. Such was the man who was so grossly mistaken and misjudged by his contemporaries but whose name is immortal and must ever arouse love and admiration in the hearts of all who prize the nobility of virtue and human greatness. Chapter XIX Diego, Columbus’ Son, Secures the Rights coming to him from his Father—The Spaniards Extend their Authority in Central America and Rule Cruelly—Ponce de Leon’s Discovery of Florida