In 1497 a German translation, or adaptation, from Cosco’s Latin was printed by Bartlomesz Küsker at Strasburg, with the title _Eyn schön kübsch lesen von etlichen inszlen die do in kurtzen zyten funden synd durch dē künig von hispania, und sagt vō groszen wunderlichen dingen die in dē selbē inszlen synd_. It is a black-letter quarto of seven leaves, with one blank, the woodcut of the title being repeated on the verso of the seventh leaf.[185] There are copies in the Lenox (Libri copy) and Carter-Brown libraries; in the Grenville and Huth collections; and in the library at Munich. The text of the Cosco-Sanchez letter, usually quoted by the early writers, is contained in the _Bellum Christianorum Principum_ of Robertus Monarchus, printed at Basle in 1533.[186] [Illustration: THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS.] B. LANDFALL.—It is a matter of controversy what was Guanahani, the first land seen by Columbus. The main, or rather the only, source for the decision of this question is the Journal of Columbus; and it is to be regretted that Las Casas did not leave unabridged the parts preceding the landfall, as he did those immediately following, down to October 29. Not a word outside of this Journal is helpful. The testimony of the early maps is rather misleading than reassuring, so conjectural was their geography. [Illustration: CUT IN THE GERMAN TRANSLATION OF THE FIRST LETTER OF COLUMBUS (TITLE).] It will be remembered that land was first seen two hours after midnight; and computations made for Fox show that the moon was near the third quarter, partly behind the observer, and would clearly illuminate the white sand of the shore, two leagues distant. From Columbus’s course there were in his way, as constituting the Bahama group,—taking the enumeration of to-day, and remembering that the sea may have made some changes,—36 islands, 687 cays, and 2,414 rocks. By the log, as included in the Journal, and reducing his distance sailed by dead reckoning—which then depended on observation by the eye alone, and there were also currents to misguide Columbus, running from nine to thirty miles a day, according to the force of the wind—to a course west, 2° 49′ south, Fox has shown that the discoverer had come 3,458 nautical miles. Applying this to the several islands claimed as the landfall, and knowing modern computed distances, we get the following table:— ┌────────────────┬────────────────┬────────┬────────┐ │ │ │ │ An │ │ Islands. │ Course. │ Miles. │ Excess │ │ │ │ │ of │ ├────────────────┼────────────────┼────────┼────────┤ │ To Grand Turk │ W. 8° 1′ S. │ 2834 │ 624 │ │ Mariguana │ W. 6° 37′ S. │ 3032 │ 426 │ │ Watling │ W. 4° 38′ S. │ 3105 │ 353 │ │ Cat │ W. 4° 20′ S. │ 3141 │ 317 │ │ Samana │ W. 5° 37′ S. │ 3072 │ 387 │ └────────────────┴────────────────┴────────┴────────┘