A CURIOUS RELIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5634, 6 December 1879, Page 7

A CURIOUS RELIC.

A curious relic of one of the expeditions wbieli Bailed to tho West Indies under tho command of Columbus has, it is stated by a Martinique journal, been recently discovered. On tho 4th of August, 1495, a small squadron of threo vessels under tile orders of Christopher Columbus wa» anchored off the southwestern extremity of the Island of Trinadad. Lato at night Columbus, it is r.-lated by Washington Irving, suddenly saw a wall of water approaching towards tho fleot from the south. His own vessel was lifted up fo high by tho oncoming wave that he feared it would be either submerged or dashed on shore ; while tho cable of one of the oilier ships parted under the strain to which it wa3 subjected. The crews of the vessels gave themselves up for lost; but after a time tho wave, which is surmised must have been caused by an excoptioua'ly large body of water coming suddenly down one of the rivers llowiug into the Gulf of Pari i, ebbed back again. This sudden rise of the waters of the gulf i 3 mentioned by Columbus' sou, Ferdinand, who adds that the lleet suffered no damage save the loss of one anchor. It is this auehor which ha 3 now been found ; and, strangely enough, it was dug up from a depth of Gffc. below the surface of the grouud, at a spot 372 ft. from the nearest point of the coast line. The land, it is will known, is gaining upon tho sea along the ihore of Venezu°la, so that where once ships rode at auchor gardens aro now planted. The anchor itself is of simple form and comparatively rude manufacture, the stock being Sft. long, and round, with a ring at one end Ift. iu diameter to which to make fast the cable, and with ilukes sft. long, the whole weighing 11001b.