Nine against the unknown
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NINE AGAINST THE UNKNOWN
or having penetrated to the elusive dominions of that elusive
Kublai who had been sleeping the last sleep in dusty Peking
two hundred years. Columbus was carried to his house in
Seville, to the attentions of that devoted family which held
by family feeling with a strong Italian tenacity. Had he been
able to sink himself in the care of his neglected Beatriz or
the devotion of his sons, Diego and Ferdinand, he might even
then have escaped to life and health.
But such grace and greatness was beyond the Genoese,
unabandoned still by his own febrific fabrications of fantasy.
For him life had become the pursuit, ever westwards, of the
golden kingdoms of myth and imagination. He was incapable
o resting and taking his ease. Presently Diego was despatched
to the court to plead his case. He had little time for effective
pleading. Isabella, the only person likely to listen again to the
Admiral, was dying. With her death on the 26th of November
his last hope of receiving either reinstatement or funds for
a new expedition vanished.
He lingered on two years more, white-haired, pain-racked,
insatiable still of reinstatement. At Vallodolid in early May
it became plain that his time was short. He had a priest sum¬
moned and received the offices of his Church with the same
fervent devoutness as had characterized all his life ; he looked
round at the faces pf the family which encircled him, and
orgot them, staring in spirit still westwards ; then his thoughts
strayed fr°m even that worldly longing. His last whisper was
Into ihy hands, Master, I commend my spirit.”
And when that enigmatic spirit had sailed into the dim
seas to its utmost bourne, surely his Earthly Paradise at last,
ey une the strayed chapman of Genoa in the monastery
oi Las Cuevas of Seville. J
$ 14
consequences which followed the discovery of the
sailing-route across the Atlantic focused on their discoverer
more attention than has been paid to any other of the earth’s
conquerors. He has been viewed through innumerable works
i“erajle eyf’ from lnnumerable viewpoints. He has
been acclaimed as the hero that son Ferdinand saw him; as
has seidomCbSter .r °m p® ,<--asas viewed. But his greatness
has seldom been disputed. His feet may be feet of clay, heavy
NINE AGAINST THE UNKNOWN
or having penetrated to the elusive dominions of that elusive
Kublai who had been sleeping the last sleep in dusty Peking
two hundred years. Columbus was carried to his house in
Seville, to the attentions of that devoted family which held
by family feeling with a strong Italian tenacity. Had he been
able to sink himself in the care of his neglected Beatriz or
the devotion of his sons, Diego and Ferdinand, he might even
then have escaped to life and health.
But such grace and greatness was beyond the Genoese,
unabandoned still by his own febrific fabrications of fantasy.
For him life had become the pursuit, ever westwards, of the
golden kingdoms of myth and imagination. He was incapable
o resting and taking his ease. Presently Diego was despatched
to the court to plead his case. He had little time for effective
pleading. Isabella, the only person likely to listen again to the
Admiral, was dying. With her death on the 26th of November
his last hope of receiving either reinstatement or funds for
a new expedition vanished.
He lingered on two years more, white-haired, pain-racked,
insatiable still of reinstatement. At Vallodolid in early May
it became plain that his time was short. He had a priest sum¬
moned and received the offices of his Church with the same
fervent devoutness as had characterized all his life ; he looked
round at the faces pf the family which encircled him, and
orgot them, staring in spirit still westwards ; then his thoughts
strayed fr°m even that worldly longing. His last whisper was
Into ihy hands, Master, I commend my spirit.”
And when that enigmatic spirit had sailed into the dim
seas to its utmost bourne, surely his Earthly Paradise at last,
ey une the strayed chapman of Genoa in the monastery
oi Las Cuevas of Seville. J
$ 14
consequences which followed the discovery of the
sailing-route across the Atlantic focused on their discoverer
more attention than has been paid to any other of the earth’s
conquerors. He has been viewed through innumerable works
i“erajle eyf’ from lnnumerable viewpoints. He has
been acclaimed as the hero that son Ferdinand saw him; as
has seidomCbSter .r °m p® ,<--asas viewed. But his greatness
has seldom been disputed. His feet may be feet of clay, heavy
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Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated. 
| The books of Lewis Grassic Gibbon > Nine against the unknown > (142) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/205219788 |
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| Description | A record of geographical exploration / by J. Leslie Mitchell and Lewis Grassic Gibbon. |
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| Shelfmark | S.72.d.10 |
| Attribution and copyright: |
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More information
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| Description | Sixteen books written by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1901-1935), regarded as the most important Scottish prose writer of the early 20th century. All were published in the last seven years of his life, mostly under his real name, James Leslie Mitchell. They include two works of science fiction, non-fiction works on exploration, short stories set in Egypt, a novel about Spartacus, and the classic 'Scots Quair' trilogy which includes 'Sunset Song'. Mitchell's first book 'Hanno, or the future of exploration' (1928) is rare and has never been republished. |
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