THE HOUR OF TRIUMPH From the moment when Columbus set foot on Spanish soil in the spring of 1493 he was surrounded by a fame and glory which, although they were transient, were of a splendour such as few other men can have ever experienced.

He had not merely discovered a country, he had discovered a world.

He had not merely made a profitable expedition; he had brought the promise of untold wealth to the kingdom of Spain.

He had not merely made himself the master of savage tribes; he had conquered the supernatural, and overcome for ever those powers of darkness that had been thought to brood over the vast Atlantic.

He had sailed away in obscurity, he had returned in fame; he had departed under a cloud of scepticism and ridicule, he had come again in power and glory.