Somebody Actually Overawed Superstitious Natives by Predicting an Eclipse
Christopher Columbus led a fleet in June of 1503, which was struck by a severe storm. His ships suffered serious damage, and to save them from sinking, the famous navigator was forced to beach the entire fleet in Jamaica, where Columbus and his crew ended up marooned. The island’s native Arawaks were friendly at first, and provided the castaways with food and shelter. However, the new arrivals began wearing out their welcome as the days turned to months, and the Arawaks became less friendly. Finally, after six months of rising tensions and tempers, Columbus’ crews mutinied and attacked their hosts, robbing and murdering some. Understandably, the Arawak stopped bringing them food.
Columbus was faced with starvation, and the risk that angry Arawaks might attack and massacre him and his men at any moment. So he hit upon an ingenious plan as a way out of his dilemma. While reading an almanac that contained astronomical charts covering solar and lunar eclipses from 1475 to 1506, Columbus noticed that a total lunar eclipse was due shortly, on the night of February 29, 1504. So he arranged a meeting with the Arawaks’ chieftain, and told him that the Christian God was angry with the natives for not feeding Columbus and his men.
He informed the natives that his angry God would demonstrate His wrath three nights from now, by turning the moon blood red, then blotting it out. That would be the harbinger of many calamities He was about to unleash upon the Arawaks. The natives laughed it off, until the appointed night, when Columbus’ prediction came true: before the astonished natives’ eyes, the moon turned red, then started disappearing. According to Columbus’ son, the terrified Arawaks “with great howling and lamentation came running from every direction to the ships laden with provisions and beseeching the admiral to intercede with his god on their behalf“. The frightened natives promised to go back to helping Columbus, if he would only restore the moon back the way it was.
So yes, that cliche of pulp fiction and Hollywood actually happened in real life. Columbus played it up for all he was worth, and told the locals that he would have to check with his God and see if He was in a forgiving mood. He then went into his cabin, and used an hourglass to time the eclipse. At its peak, Columbus emerged to announce that he had interceded for the Arawaks with God, who had agreed – just this once – to forgive them and allow the moon to gradually return. The moon slowly started reappearing, just as Columbus finished talking. From then on, the Arawaks went out of their way to be helpful, and kept Columbus and his crew supplied and well fed. The castaways spent a leisurely time for the remainder of their stay in Jamaica, until rescue ships arrived to take them off the island a few months later.