island to which the name of San Salvador was given, and which is now usually identified with Watling Island of the Bahamas. Columbus did not then, or at any time afterwards, suppose that he had done otherwise than reach some part of the archipelago off Asia. On the present voyage he observed a number of the West Indian islands, and he returned to Spain in March, 1493, to meet with a magnificent reception. Among the effects of Columbus’s discoveries was the necessity which was immediately found for delimiting the spheres in which Portuguese and Spanish explorations respectively should be prosecuted. In the existing state of geographical theory it may be supposed that a satisfactory delimitation was no easy matter to obtain, and, indeed, the line which was chosen was found, in fact, impossible to demarcate. It was determined under the treaty of Tordesillas (June 7, 1494), which followed upon a pronouncement contained in two papal bulls of the previous year, that to Spain should belong islands discovered west of a north-and-south line drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, and that Portugal might claim all lands lying east of this line. The rule gave rise to such difficulties that Portugal is found later making a claim upon Brazil, while Spain did the same upon the Moluccas. In 1493 Columbus led a new and much larger expedition to the scene of his triumph. There was now no lack of enthusiasm to be of his company. On November 3 Dominica was reached; the Antilles were subsequently surveyed, and Hispaniola or Haiti, which had been discovered on the first expedition, was again visited. Jamaica was found, the south coast of Cuba was traced--though this island was taken for a peninsula--and it is possible that the mainland of Central America was seen. Columbus returned in 1496 to Spain, and set out on his third voyage in 1498. Holding a more southerly course than before, he came to Trinidad, and subsequently recognized the neighbourhood of continental land by observing a current of fresh water of considerable strength in the open sea; this was from the mouth of the Orinoco. The settlers in the new colonies met with many difficulties, and created more. There was much hostility towards Columbus, and he was doubtless restrained from accomplishing much which might have been accomplished if his followers had been wholly loyal. On his last voyage, in 1502–4, his aim was to penetrate right through the archipelago and to complete the circumnavigation of the world. After coasting along Cuba he turned south, and came upon the coast of Honduras, which he followed for nearly four months before he was compelled to return to Spain. Within a few days of his arrival there, he lost his great patroness by the death of Isabella, and he himself passed the remaining months of his life in comparative neglect.