Note 103-2 — JOURNAL OF THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS
Reading edition
Rather, the Guards, the name given to the two brightest stars in the constellation of the Little Bear. The literal translation is: “the Guards, when night comes on, are near the arm on the side to the west, and when dawn breaks they are on the line under the arm to the northeast,” etc. What Columbus meant I cannot explain. Neither Navarrete nor the French translators offer any suggestions.