REPEATING ANCIENT VOYAGE

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 11 June 1932, Page 11

REPEATING ANCIENT VOYAGE

rpHIRTY sailors who were preparing to. sail across the Atlantic in a ship which is a replica of the Santa Maria, in which Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, have found two obstacles to carrying out the details of their plan. They will have to carry a wireless set, and a doctor will accompany them. The adventurers are departing from historical authenticity in these two. details unwillingly. But marine rules are ! marine rules, and they have had to make these concessions to regulation. Otherwise the Santa Maria, a vessel built by the Spanish Government as a duplicate of Columbus’s tiny flagship, will have no conveniences which the discoverer of America did not enjoy.

The Santa Maria, which was a special attraction at the Seville Exhibition last year, was due to leave.Palos in April or May, flying the old Spanish flag with rampant lion, by special permission. Some forty da3 r s later, if the ocean is kind, she will touch at Santo Domingo. Then will follow a tour of the principal coast cities of South, Gen-j tral and North America, and, finally, a. visit to the World’s Fair at Chicago.

Following in Track of Columbus

i The sailors will sleep on the floor as Columbus’s men did, and if they do not learn to cook on a stove of the 1492 i type, they will remain hungry. ] Exhaustive research before the vessel was built has made her exactly like the ship of Columbus, according to Mr Octavio E. Moscoso, author and editor, who is helping with the arrangements in the New World. All the ropes and sails were hand- * made, the sails are the same size and quality as the original Santa Maria’s, and in the decorations no paints were employed which were not used in the 15th century. The Santa Maria will carry to Santo Domingo a stone from the monastery of La Eabidam, where Columbus once stopped overnight, discouraged' by. his quest for support for the voyage he wished to make. The prior of the monastery, Father Marchina, interested himself in Columbus, and sent a message on his behalf to Queen Isabella. This stone will be placed' in the Columbus Lighthouse at Santo Do-

mingo, which is to be built by funds contributed by various countries in the Western Hemisphere.