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| THE SPANISH CARAVELS NINA AND PINTA -
Simultaneously with the project of reproducing, at Chicago, the Convent of La Rabida, from which Columbus
sailed to discover America, the Spanish Government was induced to
build three caravels, in exact imitation, as far as ship architects
could opine from old prints and descriptions, of the fleet in which
Columbus began his voyage. These vessels left Old Rabida, at Palos,
Spain, amid great rejoicings, on August 6, 1892, exactly four hundred
years from the day the great navigator weighed anchor and went into
the ocean sea. Captain Concas was in command of the three little
ships, and there was a general fear that they would not make the
passage safely. They, however, pursued the course laid out on the
ancient map, and went through the Sargasso Sea, where weeds impeded
the progress of their keels; they sighted Watkins' Island, sailed
north of it and around to its western side, landed, went on to Cuba,
and north to New York, where they took part in the International
Naval Review of April, 1893. They then sailed for the St. Lawrence
River, made the tour of the great lakes, and entered the harbor of
the World's Fair, where they cast anchor at the walls of the New
Rabida, which stands near by at the right of our picture. On
September 12, 1893, the Kingdom of Spain, through Captain Concas,
delivered these curious boats to the Republic of the United States,
and the gift was accepted by the Navy Department, through Assistant
Secretary McAdoo, who had traveled to Chicago from Washington for
that purpose. Captain Concas placed the cost of the expedition of
1892 and 1893 at $80,000. |
