To be sure they gave the Admiral the biggest ship, but (in his own words) it proved "a dull sailer and unfit for discovery"; while they commanded the two caravels, small and open, but much faster and handier.

Clearly these Pinzons will take no harm from a little watching.

They may be honest souls enough, but their conduct is just a little suspicious, and we cannot be too careful.
Three vessels were at last secured.

The first, named the Santa Maria, was the largest, and was chosen to be the flagship of Columbus.

She was of about one hundred tons burden, and would be about ninety feet in length by twenty feet beam.