Christopher Columbus embarked on the first of three voyages to the "New World" with three ships — the Niña, Pinta and Santa María — on August 3, 1492. He kept a logbook in which he faked some entries to soothe a mutinous crew, and a private diary in which he detailed the details of the journey that shaped the subsequent history of the western hemisphere. Upon his return to Spain, Columbus presented his record to Queen Isabella I of Castile. She had it copied and retained the original, then gave the copy to Columbus before his second voyage. The whereabouts of the original Spanish text remain a mystery — its location has not been known since
