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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1492-0.txt b/1492-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0baac1d --- /dev/null +++ b/1492-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5971 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Christopher Columbus from his +own Letters and Journals, by Edward Everett Hale + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of Christopher Columbus from his own Letters and Journals + +Author: Edward Everett Hale + +Release Date: February 15, 2006 [EBook #1492] +Last Updated: November 7, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF COLUMBUS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + +FROM HIS OWN LETTERS AND JOURNALS + +AND + +OTHER DOCUMENTS OF HIS TIME. + + + +by EDWARD EVERETT HALE, + + + [This was originally done on the 400th Anniversary + of 1492, as was the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago. + Interesting how our heroes have all been de-canonized in the + interest of Political Correctitude] + --Comments by Michael S. Hart + + + + +PREFACE. + +This book contains a life of Columbus, written with the hope of +interesting all classes of readers. + +His life has often been written, and it has sometimes been well written. +The great book of our countryman, Washington Irving, is a noble model +of diligent work given to a very difficult subject. And I think every +person who has dealt with the life of Columbus since Irving’s time, has +expressed his gratitude and respect for the author. + +According to the custom of biographers, in that time and since, he +includes in those volumes the whole history of the West India islands, +for the period after Columbus discovered them till his death. He also +thinks it his duty to include much of the history of Spain and of the +Spanish court. I do not myself believe that it is wise to attempt, in a +book of biography, so considerable a study of the history of the time. +Whether it be wise or not, I have not attempted it in this book. I have +rather attempted to follow closely the personal fortunes of Christopher +Columbus, and, to the history around him, I have given only such space +as seemed absolutely necessary for the illustration of those fortunes. + +I have followed on the lines of his own personal narrative wherever we +have it. And where this is lost I have used the absolutely contemporary +authorities. I have also consulted the later writers, those of the +next generation and the generation which followed it. But the more one +studies the life of Columbus the more one feels sure that, after the +greatness of his discovery was really known, the accounts of the time +were overlaid by what modern criticism calls myths, which had grown up +in the enthusiasm of those who honored him, and which form no part of +real history. If then the reader fails to find some stories with which +he is quite familiar in the history, he must not suppose that they are +omitted by accident, but must give to the author of the book the credit +of having used some discretion in the choice of his authorities. + +When I visited Spain in 1882, I was favored by the officers of the +Spanish government with every facility for carrying my inquiry as far as +a short visit would permit. Since that time Mr. Harrisse has published +his invaluable volumes on the life of Columbus. It certainly seems as +if every document now existing, which bears upon the history, had been +collated by him. The reader will see that I have made full use of this +treasure-house. + +The Congress of Americanistas, which meets every year, brings forward +many curious studies on the history of the continent, but it can +scarcely be said to have done much to advance our knowledge of the +personal life of Columbus. + +The determination of the people of the United States to celebrate fitly +the great discovery which has advanced civilization and changed the face +of the world, makes it certain that a new interest has arisen in the +life of the great man to whom, in the providence of God, that discovery +was due. The author and publishers of this book offer it as their +contribution in the great celebration, with the hope that it may be of +use, especially in the direction of the studies of the young. + +EDWARD E. HALE. + +ROXBURY, MASS., June 1st, 1891. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER 1. EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. + His Birth and Birth-place--His Early Education--His + experience at Sea-His Marriage and Residence in Lisbon-- + His Plans for the Discovery of a Westward + Passage to the Indies + + CHAPTER II. HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. + Columbus Leaves Lisbon, and Visits Genoa--Visits Great + Spanish Dukes--For Six Years is at the Court of Ferdinand + and Isabella--The Council of Salamanca--His + Petition is at Last Granted--Squadron Made Ready + + CHAPTER III. THE GREAT VOYAGE. + The Squadron Sails--Refits at Canary Islands--Hopes + and Fears of the Voyage--The Doubts of the Crew-- + Land Discovered + + CHAPTER IV. + The Landing on the Twelfth of October--The Natives and + their Neighbors--Search for Gold-Cuba Discovered + Columbus Coasts Along its Shores + + CHAPTER V. + Landing on Cuba--The Cigar and Tobacco--Cipango and + the Great Khan--From Cuba to Hayti--Its Shores and + Harbors + + CHAPTER VI. + Discovery of Hayti or Hispaniola--The Search for Gold-- + Hospitality and Intelligence of the Natives--Christmas + Day--A Shipwreck--Colony to be Founded--Columbus + Sails East and Meets Martin Pinzon-The Two + Vessels Return to Europe--Storm--The Azores-- + Portugal--Home + + CHAPTER VII. + Columbus is Called to Meet the King and Queen--His + Magnificent Reception--Negotiations with the Pope and + with the King of Portugal--Second Expedition Ordered + --Fonseca--The Preparations at Cadiz + + CHAPTER VIII. + The Second Expedition Sails From Cadiz--Touches at + Canary Islands--Discovery of Dominica and Guadeloupe + --Skirmishes with the Caribs--Porto Rico Discovered + --Hispaniola--The Fate of the Colony at La Navidad + + CHAPTER IX. + The New Colony--Expeditions of Discovery--Guacanagari-- + Search for Gold--Mutiny in the Colony--The + Vessels Sent Home--Columbus Marches Inland-- + Collection of Gold--Fortress of St. Thomas--A New Voyage + of Discovery--Jamaica Visited--The South Shore + of Cuba Explored--Return--Evangelista Discovered + --Columbus Falls Sick--Return to Isabella + + CHAPTER X. THE THIRD VOYAGE. + Letter to the King and Queen--Discovery of Trinidad and + Paria--Curious Speculation as to the Earthly Paradise + --Arrival at San Domingo--Rebellions and Mutinies in + that Island-Roldan and His Followers--Ojeda and + His Expedition--Arrival of Bobadilla--Columbus a + Prisoner + + CHAPTER XI. SPAIN, 1500, 1502. + A Cordial Reception in Spain--Columbus Favorably + Received at Court--New Interest in Geographical + Discovery--His Plans for the Redemption of the Holy + Sepulchre--Preparations for a Fourth Expedition + + CHAPTER XII. FOURTH VOYAGE. + The Instructions Given for the Voyage--He is to go to + the Mainland of the Indies--A Short Passage--Ovando + Forbids the Entrance of Columbus into Harbor + Bobadilla’s Squadron and Its Fate--Columbus Sails Westward + --Discovers Honduras, and Coasts Along Its Shores + --The Search for Gold--Colony Attempted and Abandoned + --The Vessels Become Unseaworthy--Refuge at + Jamaica--Mutiny Led by the Brothers Porras--Messages + to San Domingo--The Eclipse--Arrival of Relief + --Columbus Returns to San Domingo, and to Spain + + CHAPTER XIII. + Two Sad Years--Isabella’s Death--Columbus at Seville-- + His Illness--Letters to the King--journeys to Segovia + --Salamanca and Valladolid--His Suit There--Philip + and Juana--Columbus Executes His Will--Dies--His + Burial and the Removal of His Body--His Portraits-- + His Character + + APPENDIX A + + APPENDIX B + + APPENDIX C + + + + +THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + + + +CHAPTER I. -- EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. + +HIS BIRTH AND BIRTH-PLACE--HIS EARLY EDUCATION--HIS EXPERIENCE AT +SEA--HIS MARRIAGE AND RESIDENCE IN LISBON--HIS PLANS FOR THE DISCOVERY +OF A WESTWARD PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. + +Christopher Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa. The honor of his +birth-place has been claimed by many villages in that Republic, and the +house in which he was born cannot be now pointed out with certainty. But +the best authorities agree that the children and the grown people of +the world have never been mistaken when they have said: “America was +discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa.” + +His name, and that of his family, is always written Colombo, in the +Italian papers which refer to them, for more than one hundred years +before his time. In Spain it was always written Colon; in France it is +written as Colomb; while in England it has always kept its Latin form, +Columbus. It has frequently been said that he himself assumed this form, +because Columba is the Latin word for “Dove,” with a fanciful feeling +that, in carrying Christian light to the West, he had taken the mission +of the dove. Thus, he had first found land where men thought there was +ocean, and he was the messenger of the Holy Spirit to those who sat in +darkness. It has also been assumed that he took the name of Christopher, +“the Christ-bearer,” for similar reasons. But there is no doubt that +he was baptized “Christopher,” and that the family name had long been +Columbo. The coincidences of name are but two more in a calendar in +which poetry delights, and of which history is full. + +Christopher Columbus was the oldest son of Dominico Colombo and Suzanna +Fontanarossa. This name means Red-fountain. He bad two brothers, +Bartholomew and Diego, whom we shall meet again. Diego is the Spanish +way of writing the name which we call James. + +It seems probable that Christopher was born in the year 1436, though +some writers have said that he was older than this, and some that he was +younger. The record of his birth and that of his baptism have not been +found. + +His father was not a rich man, but he was able to send Christopher, as a +boy, to the University of Pavia, and here he studied grammar, geometry, +geography and navigation, astronomy and the Latin language. But this was +as a boy studies, for in his fourteenth year he left the university and +entered, in hard work, on “the larger college of the world.” If the date +given above, of his birth, is correct, this was in the year 1450, a few +years before the Turks took Constantinople, and, in their invasion of +Europe, affected the daily life of everyone, young or old, who lived in +the Mediterranean countries. From this time, for fifteen years, it +is hard to trace along the life of Columbus. It was the life of an +intelligent young seaman, going wherever there was a voyage for him. He +says himself, “I passed twenty-three years on the sea. I have seen all +the Levant, all the western coasts, and the North. I have seen England; +I have often made the voyage from Lisbon to the Guinea coast.” This he +wrote in a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella. Again he says, “I went to +sea from the most tender age and have continued in a sea life to this +day. Whoever gives himself up to this art wants to know the secrets of +Nature here below. It is more than forty years that I have been thus +engaged. Wherever any one has sailed, there I have sailed.” + +Whoever goes into the detail of the history of that century will come +upon the names of two relatives of his--Colon el Mozo (the Boy, or the +Younger) and his uncle, Francesco Colon, both celebrated sailors. The +latter of the two was a captain in the fleets of Louis XI of France, +and imaginative students may represent him as meeting Quentin Durward at +court. Christopher Columbus seems to have made several voyages under +the command of the younger of these relatives. He commanded the Genoese +galleys near Cyprus in a war which the Genoese had with the Venetians. +Between the years 1461 and 1463 the Genoese were acting as allies with +King John of Calabria, and Columbus had a command as captain in their +navy at that time. + +“In 1477,” he says, in one of his letters, “in the month of February, I +sailed more than a hundred leagues beyond Tile.” By this he means Thule, +or Iceland. “Of this island the southern part is seventy-three degrees +from the equator, not sixty-three degrees, as some geographers pretend.” + But here he was wrong. The Southern part of Iceland is in the latitude +of sixty-three and a half degrees. “The English, chiefly those of +Bristol, carry their merchandise, to this island, which is as large as +England. When I was there the sea was not frozen, but the tides there +are so strong that they rise and fall twenty-six cubits.” + +The order of his life, after his visit to Iceland, is better known. +He was no longer an adventurous sailor-boy, glad of any voyage which +offered; he was a man thirty years of age or more. He married in the +city of Lisbon and settled himself there. His wife was named Philippa. +She was the daughter of an Italian gentleman named Bartolomeo Muniz de +Perestrello, who was, like Columbus, a sailor, and was alive to all the +new interests which geography then presented to all inquiring minds. +This was in the year 1477, and the King of Portugal was pressing the +expeditions which, before the end of the century, resulted in the +discovery of the route to the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. + +The young couple had to live. Neither the bride nor her husband had +any fortune, and Columbus occupied himself as a draftsman, illustrating +books, making terrestrial globes, which must have been curiously +inaccurate, since they had no Cape of Good Hope and no American +Continent, drawing charts for sale, and collecting, where he could, the +material for such study. Such charts and maps were beginning to assume +new importance in those days of geographical discovery. The value +attached to them may be judged from the statement that Vespucius paid +one hundred and thirty ducats for one map. This sum would be more than +five hundred dollars of our time. + +Columbus did not give up his maritime enterprises. He made voyages to +the coast of Guinea and in other directions. + +It is said that he was in command of one of the vessels of his relative +Colon el Mozo, when, in the Portuguese seas, this admiral, with his +squadron, engaged four Venetian galleys returning from Flanders. A +bloody battle followed. The ship which Christopher Columbus commanded +was engaged with a Venetian vessel, to which it set fire. There was +danger of an explosion, and Columbus himself, seeing this danger, flung +himself into the sea, seized a floating oar, and thus gained the shore. +He was not far from Lisbon, and from this time made Lisbon his home for +many years.(*) + + (*) The critics challenge these dates, but there seems to be + good foundation for the story. + +It seems clear that, from the time when he arrived in Lisbon, for +more than twenty years, he was at work trying to interest people in his +“great design,” of western discovery. He says himself, “I was constantly +corresponding with learned men, some ecclesiastics and some laymen, +some Latin and some Greek, some Jews and some Moors.” The astronomer +Toscanelli was one of these correspondents. + +We must not suppose that the idea of the roundness of the earth was +invented by Columbus. Although there were other theories about its +shape, many intelligent men well understood that the earth was a globe, +and that the Indies, though they were always reached from Europe by +going to the East, must be on the west of Europe also. There is a +very funny story in the travels of Mandeville, in which a traveler is +represented as having gone, mostly on foot, through all the countries +of Asia, but finally determines to return to Norway, his home. In his +farthest eastern investigation, he hears some people calling their +cattle by a peculiar cry, which he had never heard before. After he +returned home, it was necessary for him to take a day’s journey westward +to look after some cattle he had lost. Finding these cattle, he also +heard the same cry of people calling cattle, which he had heard in the +extreme East, and now learned, for the first time, that he had gone +round the world on foot, to turn and come back by the same route, when +he was only a day’s journey from home, Columbus was acquainted with such +stories as this, and also had the astronomical knowledge which almost +made him know that the world was round, “and, like a ball, goes spinning +in the air.” The difficulty was to persuade other people that, because +of this roundness, it would be possible to attain Asia by sailing to the +West. + +Now all the geographers of repute supposed that there was not nearly +so large a distance as there proved to be, in truth, between Europe and +Asia. Thus, in the geography of Ptolemy, which was the standard book +at that time, one hundred and thirty-five degrees, a little more than +one-third of the earth’s circumference, is given to the space between +the extreme eastern part of the Indies and the Canary Islands. In fact, +as we now know, the distance is one hundred and eighty degrees, half the +world’s circumference. Had Columbus believed there was any such immense +distance, he would never have undertaken his voyage. + +Almost all the detailed knowledge of the Indies which the people of +his time had, was given by the explorations of Marco Polo, a Venetian +traveler of the thirteenth century, whose book had long been in the +possession of European readers. It is a very entertaining book now, and +may well be recommended to young people who like stories of adventure. +Marco Polo had visited the court of the Great Khan of Tartary at Pekin, +the prince who brought the Chinese Empire into very much the condition +in which it now is. He had, also, given accounts of Japan or Cipango, +which he had himself never visited. Columbus knew, therefore, that, +well east of the Indies, was the island of Cipango, and he aimed at that +island, because he supposed that that was the nearest point to Europe, +as in fact it is. And when finally he arrived at Cuba, as the reader +will see, he thought he was in Japan. + +Columbus’s father-in-law had himself been the Portuguese governor of the +island of Porto Santo, where he had founded a colony. He, therefore, +was interested in western explorations, and probably from him Columbus +collected some of the statements which are known to have influenced +him, with regard to floating matters from the West, which are constantly +borne upon that island by the great currents of the sea. + +The historians are fond of bringing together all the intimations which +are given in the Greek and Latin classics, and in later authors, with +regard to a land beyond Asia. Perhaps the most famous of them is that of +Seneca, “In the later years there shall come days in which Ocean shall +loose his chains, and a great land shall appear . . . and Thule shall +not be the last of the worlds.” + +In a letter which Toscanelli wrote to Columbus in 1474, he inclosed a +copy of a letter which he had already sent to an officer of Alphonso V, +the King of Portugal. In writing to Columbus, he says, “I see that you +have a great and noble desire to go into that country (of the East) +where the spices come from, and in reply to your letter I send you a +copy of that which I addressed some years ago to my attached friend in +the service of the most serene King of Portugal. He had an order from +his Highness to write me on this subject. . . . If I had a globe in +my hand, I could show you what is needed. But I prefer to mark out the +route on a chart like a marine chart, which will be an assistance to +your intelligence and enterprise. On this chart I have myself drawn the +whole extremity of our western shore from Ireland as far down as the +coast of Guinea toward the South, with all the islands which are to be +found on this route. Opposite this (that is, the shores of Ireland and +Africa) I have placed directly at the West the beginning of the Indies +with the islands and places where you will land. You will see for +yourself how many miles you must keep from the arctic pole toward +the equator, and at what distance you will arrive at these regions so +fertile and productive of spices and precious stones.” In Toscanelli’s +letter, he not only indicates Japan, but, in the middle of the ocean, he +places the island of Antilia. This old name afterwards gave the name by +which the French still call the West Indies, Les Antilles. Toscanelli +gives the exact distance which Columbus will have to sail: “From Lisbon +to the famous city of Quisay (Hang-tcheou-fou, then the capital of +China) if you take the direct route toward the West, the distance will +be thirty-nine hundred miles. And from Antilia to Japan it will be two +hundred and twenty-five leagues.” Toscanelli says again, “You see that +the voyage that you wish to attempt is much legs difficult than would be +thought. You would be sure of this if you met as many people as I do who +have been in the country of spices.” + +While there were so many suggestions made that it would be possible to +cross the Atlantic, there was one man who determined to do this. This +man was Christopher Columbus. But he knew well that he could not do +it alone. He must have money enough for an expedition, he must have +authority to enlist crews for that expedition, and he must have power to +govern those crews when they should arrive in the Indies. In our times +such adventures have been conducted by mercantile corporations, but in +those times no one thought of doing any such thing without the direct +assistance and support of some monarch. + +It is easy now to see and to say that Columbus himself was singularly +well fitted to take the charge of the expedition of discovery. He was an +excellent sailor and at the same time he was a learned geographer and +a good mathematician. He was living in Portugal, the kings of which +country had, for many years, fostered the exploration of the coast of +Africa, and were pushing expeditions farther and farther South. + +In doing this, they were, in a fashion, making new discoveries. For +Europe was wholly ignorant of the western coast of Africa, beyond the +Canaries, when their expeditions began. But all men of learning +knew that, five hundred years before the Christian era, Hanno, a +Carthaginian, had sailed round Africa under the direction of the senate +of Carthage. The efforts of the King of Portugal were to repeat the +voyage made by Hanno. In 1441, Gonzales and Tristam sailed as far as +Sierra Leone. They brought back some blacks as slaves, and this was the +beginning of the slave trade. + +In 1446 the Portuguese took possession of the Azores, the most western +points of the Old World. Step by step they advanced southward, and +became familiar with the African coast. Bold navigators were eager to +find the East, and at last success came. Under the king’s orders, in +August, 1477, three caravels sailed from the Tagus, under Bartolomeo +Diaz, for southern discovery. Diaz was himself brave enough to be +willing to go on to the Red Sea, after he made the great discovery of +the Cape of Good Hope, but his crews mutinied, after he had gone much +farther than his predecessors, and compelled him to return. He passed +the southern cape of Africa and went forty miles farther. He called it +the Cape of Torments, “Cabo Tormentoso,” so terrible were the storms he +met there. But when King John heard his report he gave it that name of +good omen which it has borne ever since, the name of the “Cape of Good +Hope.” + +In the midst of such endeavors to reach the East Indies by the long +voyage down the coast of Africa and across an unknown ocean, Columbus +was urging all people who cared, to try the route directly west. If +the world was round, as the sun and moon were, and as so many men of +learning believed, India or the Indies must be to the west of Portugal. +The value of direct trade with the Indies would be enormous. Europe had +already acquired a taste for the spices of India and had confidence in +the drugs of India. The silks and other articles of clothing made in +India, and the carpets of India, were well known and prized. Marco Polo +and others had given an impression that there was much gold in India; +and the pearls and precious stones of India excited the imagination of +all who read his travels. + +The immense value of such a commerce may be estimated from one fact. +When, a generation after this time, one ship only of all the squadron of +Magellan returned to Cadiz, after the first voyage round the world, she +was loaded with spices from the Moluccas. These spices were sold by +the Spanish government for so large a sum of money that the king was +remunerated for the whole cost of the expedition, and even made a very +large profit from a transaction which had cost a great deal in its +outfit. + +Columbus was able, therefore, to offer mercantile adventurers the +promise of great profit in case of success; and at this time kings were +willing to take their share of such profits as might accrue. + +The letter of Toscanelli, the Italian geographer, which has been spoken +of, was addressed to Alphonso V, the King of Portugal. To him and +his successor, John the Second, Columbus explained the probability of +success, and each of them, as it would seem, had confidence in it. +But King John made the great mistake of intrusting Columbus’s plan to +another person for experiment. He was selfish enough, and mean enough, +to fit out a ship privately and intrust its command to another seaman, +bidding him sail west in search of the Indies, while he pretended that +he was on a voyage to the Cape de Verde Islands. He was, in fact, +to follow the route indicated by Columbus. The vessel sailed. But, +fortunately for the fame of Columbus, she met a terrible storm, and +her officers, in terror, turned from the unknown ocean and returned to +Lisbon. Columbus himself tells this story. It was in disgust with the +bad faith the king showed in this transaction that he left Lisbon to +offer his great project to the King and Queen of Spain. + +In a similar way, a generation afterward, Magellan, who was in the +service of the King of Portugal, was disgusted by insults which he +received at his court, and exiled himself to Spain. He offered to the +Spanish king his plan for sailing round the world and it was accepted. +He sailed in a Spanish fleet, and to his discoveries Spain owes the +possession of the Philippine Islands. Twice, therefore, did kings of +Portugal lose for themselves, their children and their kingdom, the fame +and the recompense which belong to such great discoveries. + +The wife of Columbus had died and he was without a home. He left Lisbon +with his only son, Diego, in or near the end of the year 1484. + + + +CHAPTER II. -- HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. + +COLUMBUS LEAVES LISBON, AND VISITS GENOA--VISITS GREAT SPANISH +DUKES--FOR SIX YEARS IS AT THE COURT OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA--THE +COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA--HIS PETITION IS AT LAST GRANTED--SQUADRON MADE +READY. + +It has been supposed that when Columbus left Lisbon he was oppressed by +debts. At a subsequent period, when King John wanted to recall him, he +offered to protect him against any creditors. But on the other hand, it +is thought that at this time he visited Genoa, and made some provision +for the comfort of his father, who was now an old man. Christopher +Columbus, himself, according to the usual opinion regarding his birth, +was now almost fifty years old. + +It is probable that at this time he urged on his countrymen, the +Genoese, the importance of his great plan; and tried to interest them +to make the great endeavor, for the purpose of reaching the Indies by a +western route. As it proved, the discovery of the route by the Cape +of Good Hope was, commercially, a great injury to Genoa and the other +maritime cities of Italy. Before this time, the eastern trade of Europe +came by the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, and the Italian cities. +Columbus’s offer to Genoa was therefore one which, if her statesmen +could have foreseen the future, they would have considered eagerly. + +But Genoa was greatly depressed at this period. In her wars with the +Turks she had been, on the whole, not successful. She had lost Caffa, +her station in the Crimea, and her possessions in the Archipelago were +threatened. The government did not accept Columbus’s proposals, and he +was obliged to return with them to Spain. He went first to distinguished +noblemen, in the South of Spain, who were of liberal and adventurous +disposition. One was the Duke of Medina Celi, and one the Duke of Medina +Sidonia. Each of these grandees entertained him at their courts, and +heard his proposals. + +The Duke of Medina Celi was so much interested in them, that at one time +he proposed to give Columbus the direction of four vessels which he +had in the harbor of Cadiz. But, of a sudden, he changed his mind. The +enterprise was so vast, he said, that it should be under the direction +of the crown. And, without losing confidence in it, he gave to Columbus +an introduction to the king and queen, in which he cordially recommended +him to their patronage. + +This king and queen were King Ferdinand of Aragon, and Queen Isabella of +Castile. The marriage of these two had united Spain. Their affection for +each other made the union real, and the energy, courage and wisdom of +both made their reign successful and glorious. Of all its glories the +greatest, as it has proved, was connected with the life and discoveries +of the sailor who was now to approach them. He had been disloyally +treated by Portugal, he had been dismissed by Genoa. He had not +succeeded with the great dukes. Now he was to press his adventure upon +a king and queen who were engaged in a difficult war with the Moors, who +still held a considerable part of the peninsula of Spain. + +The king and queen were residing at Cordova, a rich and beautiful city, +which they had taken from the Moors. Under their rule Cordova had been +the most important seat of learning in Europe. Here Columbus tarried at +the house of Alonso de Quintinilla, who became an ardent convert to +his theory, and introduced him to important friends. By their agency, +arrangements were made, in which Columbus should present his views to +the king. The time was not such as he could have wished. All Cordova was +alive with the preparation for a great campaign against the enemy. But +King Ferdinand made arrangements to hear Columbus; it does not appear +that, at the first hearing, Isabella was present at the interview. But +Ferdinand, although in the midst of his military cares, was interested +in the proposals made by Columbus. He liked the man. He was pleased by +the modesty and dignity with which he brought forward his proposals. +Columbus spoke, as he tells us, as one specially appointed by God +Himself to carry out this discovery. The king did not, however, at once +adopt the scheme, but gave out that a council of men of learning should +be called together to consider it. + +Columbus himself says that he entered the service of the sovereigns +January 26, 1486. The council to which he was referred was held in +the university city of Salamanca, in that year. It gave to him a full +opportunity to explain his theory. It consisted of a fair representation +of the learning of the time. But most of the men who met had formed +their opinions on the subjects involved, and were too old to change +them. A part of them were priests of the church, in the habit of looking +to sacred Scripture as their only authority, when the pope had given no +instruction in detail. Of these some took literally expressions in the +Old Testament, which they supposed to be fatal to the plans of Columbus. +Such was the phrase in the 104th Psalm, that God stretches out the +heavens like a curtain. The expression in the book of Hebrews, that the +heavens are extended as a tent, was also quoted, in the same view. + +Quotations from the early Fathers of the church were more fatal to the +new plan than those from the Scripture. + +On the other hand there were men who cordially supported Columbus’s +wishes, and there were more when the congress parted than when it met. +Its sessions occupied a considerable part of the summer, but it was not +for years that it rendered any decision. + +The king, queen and court, meanwhile, were occupied in war with the +Moors. Columbus was once and again summoned to attend the court, and +more than once money was advanced to him to enable him to do so. Once he +began new negotiations with King John, and from him he received a letter +inviting him to return to Portugal. He received a similar letter +from King Henry VII of England inviting him to his court. Nothing was +determined on in Spain. To this day, the people of that country are +thought to have a habit of postponement to tomorrow of that which +perplexes them. In 1489, according to Ortiz de Zuniga, Columbus fought +in battle in the king’s army. + +When, however, in the winter of 1490, it was announced that the army +was to take the field again, never to leave its camp till Grenada had +fallen, Columbus felt that he must make one last endeavor. He insisted +that he must have an answer regarding his plans of discovery. The +confessor of the queen, Fernando da Talavera, was commanded to obtain +the definite answer of the men of learning. Alas! it was fatal to +Columbus’s hopes. They said that it was not right that great princes +should undertake such enterprises on grounds as weak as those which he +relied upon. + +The sovereigns themselves, however, were more favorable; so was a +minority of the council of Salamanca. And the confessor was instructed +to tell him that their expenses in the war forbade them from sending him +out as a discoverer, but that, when that was well over, they had hopes +that they might commission him. This was the end of five years of +solicitation, in which he had put his trust in princes. Columbus +regarded the answer, as well he might, as only a courtly measure of +refusal. And he retired in disgust from the court at Seville. + +He determined to lay his plans before the King of France. He was +traveling with this purpose, with his son, Diego, now a boy of ten or +twelve years of age, when he arrived at night at the hospitable +convent of Saint Mary of Rabida, which has been made celebrated by that +incident. It is about three miles south of what was then the seaport of +Palos, one of the active ports of commercial Spain. The convent stands +on level ground high above the sea; but a steep road runs down to the +shore of the ocean. Some of its windows and corridors look out upon +the ocean on the west and south, and the inmates still show the room in +which Columbus used to write, and the inkstand which served his purposes +while he lived there. It is maintained as a monument of history by the +Spanish government. + +At the door of this convent he asked for bread and water for his boy. +The prior of the convent was named Juan Perez de Marchena. He was +attracted by the appearance of Columbus, still more by his conversation, +and invited him to remain as their guest. + +When he learned that his new friend was about to offer to France the +advantages of a discovery so great as that proposed, he begged him to +make one effort more at home. He sent for some friends, Fernandos, a +physician at Palos, and for the brothers Pinzon, who now appear for the +first time in a story where their part is distinguished. Together they +all persuaded Columbus to send one messenger more to wait upon their +sovereigns. The man sent was Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, who found +access to the queen because Juan Perez, the prior, had formerly been her +confessor. She had confidence in him, as she had, indeed, in Columbus. +And in fourteen days the friendly pilot came back from Santa Fe with a +kind letter from the queen to her friend, bidding him return at once to +court. Perez de Marchena saddled his mule at once and before midnight +was on his way to see his royal mistress. + +Santa Fe was half camp, half city. It had been built in what is called +the Vega, the great fruitful plain which extends for many miles to the +westward of Grenada. The court and army were here as they pressed +their attack on that city. Perez de Marchena had ready access to Queen +Isabella, and pressed his suit well. He was supported by one of her +favorites, the Marquesa de Moya. In reply to their solicitations, +she asked that Columbus should return to her, and ordered that twenty +thousand maravedis should be sent to him for his traveling expenses. + +This sum was immediately sent by Perez to his friend. Columbus bought a +mule, exchanged his worn clothes for better ones, and started, as he was +bidden, for the camp. + +He arrived there just after the great victory, by which the king and +queen had obtained their wish--had taken the noble city of Grenada and +ended Moorish rule in Spain. King, queen, court and army were preparing +to enter the Alhambra in triumph. Whoever tries to imagine the scene, in +which the great procession entered through the gates, so long sealed, or +of the moment when the royal banner of Spain was first flying out upon +the Tower of the Vela, must remember that Columbus, elate, at last, with +hopes for his own great discovery, saw the triumph and joined in the +display. + +But his success was not immediate, even now. Fernando de Talavera, +who had had the direction of the wise council of Salamanca, was now +Archbishop of Grenada, whose see had been conferred on him after the +victory. He was not the friend of Columbus. And when, at what seemed the +final interview with king and queen, he heard Columbus claim the right +to one-tenth of all the profits of the enterprise, he protested against +such lavish recompense of an adventurer. He was now the confessor of +Isabella, as Juan Perez, the friendly prior, had been before. Columbus, +however, was proud and firm. He would not yield to the terms prepared +by the archbishop. He preferred to break off the negotiation, and again +retired from court. He determined, as he had before, to lay his plans +before the King of France. + +Spain would have lost the honor and the reward of the great discovery, +as Portugal and Genoa had lost them, but for Luis de St. Angel, and +the queen herself. St. Angel had been the friend of Columbus. He was an +important officer, the treasurer of the church revenues of Aragon. +He now insisted upon an audience from the queen. It would seem that +Ferdinand, though King of Aragon, was not present. St. Angel spoke +eloquently. The friendly Marchioness of Moya spoke eagerly and +persuasively. Isabella was at last fired with zeal. Columbus should go, +and the enterprise should be hers. + +It is here that the incident belongs, represented in the statue by Mr. +Mead, and that of Miss Hosmer. The sum required for the discovery of a +world was only three thousand crowns. Two vessels were all that Columbus +asked for, with the pay of their crews. But where were three thousand +crowns? The treasury was empty, and the king was now averse to any +action. It was at this moment that Isabella said, “The enterprise is +mine, for the Crown of Castile. I pledge my jewels for the funds.” + +The funds were in fact advanced by St. Angel, from the ecclesiastical +revenues under his control. They were repaid from the gold brought in +the first voyage. But, always afterward, Isabella regarded the Indies +as a Castilian possession. The most important officers in its +administration, indeed most of the emigrants, were always from Castile. + +Columbus, meanwhile, was on his way back to Palos, on his mule, alone. +But at a bridge, still pointed out, a royal courier overtook him, +bidding him return. The spot has been made the scene of more than one +picture, which represents the crisis, in which the despair of one moment +changed to the glad hope which was to lead to certainty. + +He returned to Isabella for the last time, before that great return in +which he came as a conqueror, to display to her the riches of the New +World. The king yielded a slow and doubtful assent. Isabella took +the enterprise in her own hands. She and Columbus agreed at once, and +articles were drawn up which gave him the place of admiral for life on +all lands he might discover; gave him one-tenth of all pearls, precious +stones, gold, silver, spices and other merchandise to be obtained in his +admiralty, and gave him the right to nominate three candidates from whom +the governor of each province should be selected by the crown. He was to +be the judge of all disputes arising from such traffic as was proposed; +and he was to have one-eighth part of the profit, and bear one-eighth +part of the cost of it. + +With this glad news he returned at once to Palos. The Pinzons, who had +been such loyal friends, were to take part in the enterprise. He carried +with him a royal order, commanding the people of Palos to fit out two +caravels within ten days, and to place them and their crews at the +disposal of Columbus. The third vessel proposed was to be fitted out +by him and his friends. The crews were to be paid four months’ wages in +advance, and Columbus was to have full command, to do what he chose, if +he did not interfere with the Portuguese discoveries. + +On the 23rd of May, Columbus went to the church of San Giorgio in Palos, +with his friend, the prior of St. Mary’s convent, and other important +people, and the royal order was read with great solemnity: + +But it excited at first only indignation or dismay. The expedition was +most unpopular. Sailors refused to enlist, and the authorities, who had +already offended the crown, so that they had to furnish these vessels, +as it were, as a fine, refused to do what they were bidden. Other orders +from Court were necessary. But it seems to have been the courage and +determination of the Pinzons which carried the preparations through. +After weeks had been lost, Martin Alonso Pinzon and his brothers +said they would go in person on the expedition. They were well-known +merchants and seamen, and were much respected. Sailors were impressed, +by the royal authority, and the needful stores were taken in the same +way. It seems now strange that so much difficulty should have surrounded +an expedition in itself so small. But the plan met then all the +superstition, terror and other prejudice of the time. + +All that Columbus asked or needed was three small vessels and their +stores and crews. The largest ships engaged were little larger than the +large yachts, whose races every summer delight the people of America. +The Gallega and the Pinta were the two largest. They were called +caravels, a name then given to the smallest three-masted vessels. +Columbus once uses it for a vessel of forty tons; but it generally +applied in Portuguese or Spanish use to a vessel, ranging one hundred +and twenty to one hundred and forty Spanish “toneles.” This word +represents a capacity about one-tenth larger than that expressed by our +English “ton.” + +The reader should remember that most of the commerce of the time was the +coasting commerce of the Mediterranean, and that it was not well that +the ships should draw much water. The fleet of Columbus, as it sailed, +consisted of the Gallega (the Galician), of which he changed the name to +the Santa Maria, and of the Pinta and the Nina. Of these the first two +were of a tonnage which we should rate as about one hundred and thirty +tons. The Nina was much smaller, not more than fifty tons. One writer +says that they were all without full decks, that is, that such decks as +they had did not extend from stem to stern. But the other authorities +speak as if the Nina only was an open vessel, and the two larger were +decked. Columbus himself took command of the Santa Maria, Martin Alonso +Pinzon of the Pinta, and his brothers, Francis Martin and Vicente Yanez, +of the Nina. The whole company in all three ships numbered one hundred +and twenty men. + +Mr. Harrisse shows that the expense to the crown amounted to 1,140,000 +maravedis. This, as he counts it, is about sixty-four thousand dollars +of our money. To this Columbus was to add one-eighth of the cost. His +friends, the Pinzons, seem to have advanced this, and to have been +afterwards repaid. Las Casas and Herrera both say that the sum thus +added was much more than one-eighth of the cost and amounted to half a +million maravedis. + + + +CHAPTER III. -- THE GREAT VOYAGE. + +THE SQUADRON SAILS--REFITS AT CANARY ISLANDS--HOPES AND FEARS OF THE +VOYAGE--THE DOUBTS OF THE CREW--LAND DISCOVERED. + +At last all was ready. That is to say, the fleet was so far ready that +Columbus was ready to start. The vessels were small, as we think of +vessels, but he was not dissatisfied. He says in the beginning of his +journal, “I armed three vessels very fit for such an enterprise.” He +had left Grenada as late as the twelfth of May. He had crossed Spain to +Palos,(*) and in less than three months had fitted out the ships and was +ready for sea. + + (*) Palos is now so insignificant a place that on some + important maps of Spain it will not be found. It is on the + east side of the Tinto river; and Huelva, on the west side, + has taken its place. + +The harbor of Palos is now ruined. Mud and gravel, brought down by the +River Tinto, have filled up the bay, so that even small boats cannot +approach the shore. The traveler finds, however, the island of Saltes, +quite outside the bay, much as Columbus left it. It is a small spit of +sand, covered with shells and with a few seashore herbs. His own account +of the great voyage begins with the words: + +“Friday, August 3, 1492. Set sail from the bar of Saltes at 8 o’clock, +and proceeded with a strong breeze till sunset sixty miles, or fifteen +leagues south, afterward southwest and south by west, which is in the +direction of the Canaries.” + +It appears, therefore, that the great voyage, the most important and +successful ever made, began on Friday, the day which is said to be so +much disliked by sailors. Columbus never alludes to this superstition. + +He had always meant to sail first for the Canaries, which were the most +western land then known in the latitude of his voyage. From Lisbon to +the famous city of “Quisay,” or “Quinsay,” in Asia, Toscanelli, his +learned correspondent, supposed the distance to be less than one +thousand leagues westward. From the Canary islands, on that supposition, +the distance would be ten degrees less. The distance to Cipango, or +Japan, would be much less. + +As it proved, the squadron had to make some stay at the Canaries. The +rudder of the Pinta was disabled, and she proved leaky. It was +suspected that the owners, from whom she had been forcibly taken, had +intentionally disabled her, or that possibly the crew had injured her. +But Columbus says in his journal that Martin Alonso Pinzon, captain of +the Pinta, was a man of capacity and courage, and that this quieted +his apprehensions. From the ninth of August to the second of September, +nearly four weeks were spent by the Pinta and her crew at the Grand +Canary island, and she was repaired. She proved afterwards a serviceable +vessel, the fastest of the fleet. At the Canaries they heard stories of +lands seen to the westward, to which Columbus refers in his journal. On +the sixth of September they sailed from Gomera and on the eighth they +lost sight of land. Nor did they see land again for thirty-three days. +Such was the length of the great voyage. All the time, most naturally, +they were wishing for signs, not of land perhaps, but which might show +whether this great ocean were really different from other seas. On the +whole the voyage was not a dangerous one. + +According to the Admiral’s reckoning--and in his own journal Columbus +always calls himself the Admiral--its length was one thousand and +eighty-nine leagues. This was not far from right, the real distance +being, in a direct line, three thousand one hundred and forty nautical +miles, or three thousand six hundred and twenty statute miles.(*) It +would not be considered a very long voyage for small vessels now. In +general the course was west. Sometimes, for special reasons, they sailed +south of west. If they had sailed precisely west they would have struck +the shore of the United States a little north of the spot where St. +Augustine now is, about the northern line of Florida. + + (*) The computations from Santa Cruz, in the Canaries, to + San Salvador give this result, as kindly made for us by + Lieutenant Mozer, of the United States navy. + +Had the coast of Asia been, indeed, as near as Toscanelli and Columbus +supposed, this latitude of the Canary islands would have been quite near +the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang river, in China, which was what Columbus +was seeking. For nearly a generation afterwards he and his followers +supposed that the coast of that region was what they had found. + +It was on Saturday, the eighth of September, that they lost sight of +Teneriffe. On the eleventh they saw a large piece of the mast of a ship +afloat. On the fourteenth they saw a “tropic-bird,” which the sailors +thought was never seen more than twenty-five leagues from land; but +it must be remembered, that, outside of the Mediterranean, few of the +sailors had ever been farther themselves. On the sixteenth they began +to meet “large patches of weeds, very green, which appeared to have been +recently washed away from land.” This was their first knowledge of the +“Sargasso sea,” a curious tract in mid-Atlantic which is always green +with floating seaweeds. “The continent we shall find farther on,” wrote +the confident Admiral. + +An observation of the sun on the seventeenth proved what had been +suspected before, that the needles of the compasses were not pointing +precisely to the north. The variation of the needle, since that time, +has been a recognized fact. But this observation at so critical a time +first disclosed it. The crew were naturally alarmed. Here was evidence +that, in the great ocean, common laws were not to be relied upon. But +they had great respect for Columbus’s knowledge of such subjects. He +told them that it was not the north which had changed, nor the needle, +which was true to the north, but the polar star revolved, like other +stars, and for the time they were satisfied. + +The same day they saw weeds which he was sure were land weeds. From them +he took a living crab, whose unintentional voyage eastward was a great +encouragement to the bolder adventurer westward. Columbus kept the crab, +saying that such were never found eighty leagues from land. In fact +this poor crab was at least nine hundred and seventy leagues from the +Bahamas, as this same journal proves. On the eighteenth the Pinta ran +ahead of the other vessels, Martin Alonso was so sure that he should +reach land that night. But it was not to come so soon. + +Columbus every day announced to his crew a less distance as the result +of the day than they had really sailed. For he was afraid of their +distrust, and did not dare let them know how far they were from home. +The private journal, therefore, has such entries as this, “Sailed more +than fifty-five leagues, wrote down only forty-eight.” That is, he wrote +on the daily log, which was open to inspection, a distance some leagues +less than they had really made. + +On the twentieth pelicans are spoken of, on the twenty-first “such +abundance of weeds that the ocean seemed covered with them,” “the sea +smooth as a river, and the finest air in the world. Saw a whale, an +indication of land, as they always keep near the coast.” To later times, +this note, also, shows how ignorant Columbus then was of mid-ocean. + +On the twenty-second, to the Admiral’s relief, there was a head wind; +for the crew began to think that with perpetual east winds they would +never return to Spain. They had been in what are known as the trade +winds. On the twenty-third the smoother water gave place to a rough sea, +and he writes that this “was favorable to me, as it happened formerly to +Moses when he led the Jews from Egypt.” + +The next day, thanks to the headwinds, their progress was less. On the +twenty-fifth, Pinzon, of the Pinta, felt sure that they were near the +outer islands of Asia as they appeared on the Toscanelli map, and at +sunset called out with joy that he saw land, claiming a reward for such +news. The crews of both vessels sang “Glory to God in the highest,” and +the crew of the little Nina were sure that the bank was land. On this +occasion they changed from a western course to the southwest. But alas! +the land was a fog-bank and the reward never came to Martin Pinzon. On +the twenty-sixth, again “the sea was like a river.” This was Wednesday. +In three days they sailed sixty-nine leagues. Saturday was calm. They +saw a bird called “‘Rabihorcado,’ which never alights at sea, nor goes +twenty leagues from land,” wrote the confident Columbus; “Nothing is +wanting but the singing of the nightingale,” he says. + +Sunday, the thirtieth, brought “tropic-birds” again, “a very clear sign +of land.” Monday the journal shows them seven hundred and seven leagues +from Ferro. Tuesday a white gull was the only visitor. Wednesday they +had pardelas and great quantities of seaweed. Columbus began to be sure +that they had passed “the islands” and were nearing the continent of +Asia. Thursday they had a flock of pardelas, two pelicans, a rabihorcado +and a gull. Friday, the fifth of October, brought pardelas and +flying-fishes. + +We have copied these simple intimations from the journal to show how +constantly Columbus supposed that he was near the coast of Asia. On the +sixth of October Pinzon asked that the course might be changed to the +southwest. But Columbus held on. On the seventh the Nina was ahead, and +fired a gun and hoisted her flag in token that she saw land. But again +they were disappointed. Columbus gave directions to keep close order +at sunrise and sunset. The next day he did change the course to west +southwest, following flights of birds from the north which went in that +direction. On the eighth “the sea was like the river at Seville,” the +weeds were very few and they took land birds on board the ships. On the +ninth they sailed southwest five leagues, and then with a change of wind +went west by north. All night they heard the birds of passage passing. + +On the tenth of October the men made remonstrance, which has been +exaggerated in history into a revolt. It is said, in books of authority, +that Columbus begged them to sail west only three days more. But in the +private journal of the tenth he says simply: “The seamen complained +of the length of the voyage. They did not wish to go any farther. The +Admiral did his best to renew their courage, and reminded them of the +profits which would come to them. He added, boldly, that no complaints +would change his purpose, that he had set out to go to the Indies, and +that with the Lord’s assistance he should keep on until he came there.” + This is the only passage in the journal which has any resemblance to the +account of the mutiny. + +If it happened, as Oviedo says, three days before the discovery, it +would have been on the eighth of October. On that day the entry is, +“Steered west southwest, and sailed day and night eleven or twelve +leagues--at times, during the night, fifteen miles an hour--if the log +can be relied upon. Found the sea like the river at Seville, thanks to +God. The air was as soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant +that it was delicious to breathe it. The weeds appeared very fresh. Many +land birds, one of which they took, flying towards the southwest, also +grajaos, ducks and a pelican were seen.” + +This is not the account of a mutiny. And the discovery of Columbus’s own +journal makes that certain, which was probable before, that the romantic +account of the despair of the crews was embroidered on the narrative +after the event, and by people who wanted to improve the story. It was, +perhaps, borrowed from a story of Diaz’s voyage. We have followed the +daily record to show how constantly they supposed, on the other hand, +that they were always nearing land. + +With the eleventh of October, came certainty. The eleventh is sometimes +spoken of as the day of discovery, and sometimes the twelfth, when they +landed on the first island of the new world. + +The whole original record of the discovery is this: “Oct. 11, course +to west and southwest. Heavier sea than they had known, pardelas and a +green branch near the caravel of the Admiral. From the Pinta they see a +branch of a tree, a stake and a smaller stake, which they draw in, and +which appears to have been cut with iron, and a piece of cane. Besides +these, there is a land shrub and a little bit of board. The crew of +the Nina saw other signs of land and a branch covered with thorns and +flowers. With these tokens every-one breathes again and is delighted. +They sail twenty-seven leagues on this course. + +“The Admiral orders that they shall resume a westerly course at sunset. +They make twelve miles each hour; up till two hours after midnight they +made ninety miles. + +“The Pinta, the best sailer of the three, was ahead. She makes signals, +already agreed upon, that she has discovered land. A sailor named +Rodrigo de Triana was the first to see this land. For the Admiral being +on the castle of the poop of the ship at ten at night really saw a +light, but it was so shut in by darkness that he did not like to say +that it was a sign of land. Still he called up Pedro Gutierrez, the +king’s chamberlain, and said to him that there seemed to be a light, +and asked him to look. He did so and saw it. He said the same to Rodrigo +Sanchez of Segovia, who had been sent by the king and queen as inspector +in the fleet, but he saw nothing, being indeed in a place where he could +see nothing. + +“After the Admiral spoke of it, the light was seen once or twice. It was +like a wax candle, raised and lowered, which would appear to few to be +a sign of land. But the Admiral was certain that it was a sign of land. +Therefore when they said the ‘Salve,’ which all the sailors are used to +say and sing in their fashion, the Admiral ordered them to look out well +from the forecastle, and he would give at once a silk jacket to the man +who first saw land, besides the other rewards which the sovereigns had +ordered, which were 10,000 maravedis, to be paid as an annuity forever +to the man who saw it first. + +“At two hours after midnight land appeared, from which they were about +two leagues off.” + +This is the one account of the discovery written at the time. It +is worth copying and reading at full in its little details, for it +contrasts curiously with the embellished accounts which appear in the +next generation. Thus the historian Oviedo says, in a dramatic way: + +“One of the ship boys on the largest ship, a native of Lepe, cried +‘Fire!’ ‘Land!’ Immediately a servant of Columbus replied, ‘The Admiral +had said that already.’ Soon after, Columbus said, ‘I said so some time +ago, and that I saw that fire on the land.’” And so indeed it happened +that Thursday, at two hours after midnight, the Admiral called a +gentleman named Escobedos, officer of the wardrobe of the king, and told +him that he saw fire. And at the break of day, at the time Columbus +had predicted the day before, they saw from the largest ship the island +which the Indians call Guanahani to the north of them. + +“And the first man to see the land, when day came, was Rodrigo of +Triana, on the eleventh day of October, 1492.” Nothing is more certain +than that this was really on the twelfth. + +The reward for first seeing land was eventually awarded to Columbus, and +it was regularly paid him through his life. It was the annual payment +of 10,000 maravedis. A maravedi was then a little less than six cents +of our currency. The annuity was, therefore, about six hundred dollars a +year. + +The worth of a maravedi varied, from time to time, so that the +calculations of the value of any number of maravedis are very confusing. +Before the coin went out of use it was worth only half a cent. + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- THE LANDING ON THE TWELFTH OF OCTOBER + +--THE NATIVES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS--SEARCH FOR GOLD--CUBA +DISCOVERED--COLUMBUS COASTS ALONG ITS SHORES. + +It was on Friday, the twelfth of October, that they saw this island, +which was an island of the Lucayos group, called, says Las Casas, “in +the tongue of the Indians, Guanahani.” Soon they saw people naked, and +the Admiral went ashore in the armed boat, with Martin Alonzo Pinzon +and, Vicente Yanez, his brother, who was captain of the Nina. The +Admiral unfurled the Royal Standard, and the captain’s two standards of +the Greek Cross, which the Admiral raised on all the ships as a sign, +with an F. and a Y.; over each letter a crown; one on one side of the +{“iron cross symbol”} and the other on the other. When they were ashore +they saw very green trees and much water, and fruits of different kinds. + +“The Admiral called the two captains and the others who went ashore, +and Rodrigo Descovedo, Notary of the whole fleet, and Rodrigo Sanchez of +Segovia, and he said that they must give him their faith and witness how +he took possession before all others, as in fact he did take possession +of the said island for the king and the queen, his lord and lady. . . . +Soon many people of the island assembled. These which follow are +the very words of the Admiral, in his book of his first navigation and +discovery of these Indies.” + +October 11-12. “So that they may feel great friendship for us, and +because I knew that they were a people who would be better delivered +and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force, I gave to some of +them red caps and glass bells which they put round their necks, and many +other things of little value, in which they took much pleasure, and they +remained so friendly to us that it was wonderful. + +“Afterwards they came swimming to the ship’s boats where we were. And +they brought us parrots and cotton-thread in skeins, and javelins and +many other things. And they bartered them with us for other things, +which we gave them, such as little glass beads and little bells. In +short, they took everything, and gave of what they had with good +will. But it seemed to me that they were a people very destitute of +everything. + +“They all went as naked as their mothers bore them, and the women as +well, although I only saw one who was really young. And all the men I +saw were young, for I saw none more than thirty years of age; very well +made, with very handsome persons, and very good faces; their hair thick +like the hairs of horses’ tails, and cut short. They bring their hair +above their eyebrows, except a little behind, which they wear long, and +never cut. Some of them paint themselves blackish (and they are of the +color of the inhabitants of the Canaries, neither black nor white), and +some paint themselves white, and some red, and some with whatever they +can get. And some of them paint their faces, and some all their bodies, +and some only the eyes, and some only the nose. + +“They do not bear arms nor do they know them, for I showed them +swords and they took them by the edge, and they cut themselves through +ignorance. They have no iron at all; their javelins are rods without +iron, and some of them have a fish’s tooth at the end, and some of +them other things. They are all of good stature, and good graceful +appearance, well made. I saw some who had scars of wounds in their +bodies, and I made signs to them (to ask) what that was, and they showed +me how people came there from other islands which lay around, and tried +to take them captive and they defended themselves. And I believed, and I +(still) believe, that they came there from the mainland to take them for +captives. + +“They would be good servants, and of good disposition, for I see that +they repeat very quickly everything which is said to them. And I believe +that they could easily be made Christians, for it seems to me that they +have no belief. I, if it please our Lord, will take six of them to your +Highnesses at the time of my departure, so that they may learn to +talk. No wild creature of any sort have I seen, except parrots, in this +island.” + +All these are the words of the Admiral, says Las Casas. The journal of +the next day is in these words: + +Saturday, October 13. “As soon as the day broke, many of these men came +to the beach, all young, as I have said, and all of good stature, a very +handsome race. Their hair is not woolly, but straight and coarse, like +horse hair, and all with much wider foreheads and heads than any other +people I have seen up to this time. And their eyes are very fine and +not small, and they are not black at all, but of the color of the Canary +Islanders. And nothing else could be expected, since it is on one line +of latitude with the Island of Ferro, in the Canaries. + +“They came to the ship with almadias,(*) which are made of the trunk +of a tree, like a long boat, and all of one piece--and made in a very +wonderful manner in the fashion of the country--and large enough for +some of them to hold forty or forty-five men. And others are smaller, +down to such as hold one man alone. They row with a shovel like a +baker’s, and it goes wonderfully well. And if it overturns, immediately +they all go to swimming and they right it, and bale it with calabashes +which they carry. + + (*) Arabic word for raft or float; here it means canoes. + +“They brought skeins of spun cotton, and parrots, and javelins, and +other little things which it would be wearisome to write down, and they +gave everything for whatever was given to them. + +“And I strove attentively to learn whether there were gold. And I saw +that some of them had a little piece of gold hung in a hole which they +have in their noses. And by signs I was able to understand that going to +the south, or going round the island to the southward, there was a king +there who had great vessels of it, and had very much of it. I tried +to persuade them to go there; and afterward I saw that they did not +understand about going.(*) + + (*) To this first found land, called by the natives + Guanahani, Columbus gave the name of San Salvador. There is, + however, great doubt whether this is the island known by + that name on the maps. Of late years the impression has + generally been that the island thus discovered is that now + known as Watling’s island. In 1860 Admiral Fox, of the + United States navy, visited all these islands, and studied + the whole question anew, visiting the islands himself and + working backwards to the account of Columbus’s subsequent + voyage, so as to fix the spot from which that voyage began. + Admiral Fox decides that the island of discovery was neither + San Salvador nor Watling’s island, but the Samana island of + the same group. The subject is so curious that we copy his + results at more length in the appendix. + +“I determined to wait till the next afternoon, and then to start for the +southwest, for many of them told me that there was land to the south and +southwest and northwest, and that those from the northwest came often +to fight with them, and so to go on to the southwest to seek gold and +precious stones. + +“This island is very large and very flat and with very green trees, and +many waters, and a very large lake in the midst, without any mountain. +And all of it is green, so that it is a pleasure to see it. And these +people are so gentle, and desirous to have our articles and thinking +that nothing can be given them unless they give something and do not +keep it back. They take what they can, and at once jump (into the water) +and swim (away). But all that they have they give for whatever is given +them. For they barter even for pieces of porringus, and of broken glass +cups, so that I saw sixteen skeins of cotton given for three Portuguese +centis, that is a blanca of Castile, and there was more than twenty-five +pounds of spun cotton in them. This I shall forbid, and not let anyone +take (it); but I shall have it all taken for your Highnesses, if there +is any quantity of it. + +“It grows here in this island, but for a short time I could not believe +it at all. And there is found here also the gold which they wear hanging +to their noses; but so as not to lose time I mean to go to see whether I +can reach the island of Cipango. + +“Now as it was night they all went ashore with their almadias.” + +Sunday, October 14. “At daybreak I had the ship’s boat and the boats +of the caravels made ready, and I sailed along the island, toward the +north-northeast, to see the other port, * * * * what there was (there), +and also to see the towns, and I soon saw two or three, and the people, +who all were coming to the shore, calling us and giving thanks to God. +Some brought us water, others things to eat. Others, when they saw that +I did not care to go ashore, threw themselves into the sea and came +swimming, and we understood that they asked us if we had come from +heaven. And an old man came into the boat, and others called all (the +rest) men and women, with a loud voice: ‘Come and see the men who have +come from heaven; bring them food and drink.’ + +“There came many of them and many women, each one with something, giving +thanks to God, casting themselves on the ground, and raising their heads +toward heaven. And afterwards they called us with shouts to come ashore. + +“But I feared (to do so), for I saw a great reef of rocks which +encircles all that island. And in it there is bottom and harbor for +as many ships as there are in all Christendom, and its entrance very +narrow. It is true that there are some shallows inside this ring, but +the sea is no rougher than in a well. + +“And I was moved to see all this, this morning, so that I might be able +to give an account of it all to your Highnesses, and also (to find out) +where I might make a fortress. And I saw a piece of land formed like an +island, although it is not one, in which there were six houses, which +could be cut off in two days so as to become an island; although I do +not see that it is necessary, as this people is very ignorant of arms, +as your Highnesses will see from seven whom I had taken, to carry +them off to learn our speech and to bring them back again. But your +Highnesses, when you direct, can take them all to Castile, or keep them +captives in this same island, for with fifty men you can keep them all +subjected, and make them do whatever you like. + +“And close to the said islet are groves of trees, the most beautiful I +have seen, and as green and full of leaves as those of Castile in the +months of April and May, and much water. + +“I looked at all that harbor and then I returned to the ship and set +sail, and I saw so many islands that I could not decide to which I +should go first. And those men whom I had taken said to me by signs that +there were so very many that they were without number, and they repeated +by name more than a hundred. At last I set sail for the largest one, and +there I determined to go. And so I am doing, and it will be five leagues +from the island of San Salvador, and farther from some of the rest, +nearer to others. They all are very flat, without mountains and very +fertile, and all inhabited. And they make war upon each other although +they are very simple, and (they are) very beautifully formed.” + +Monday, October 15, Columbus, on arriving at the island for which he had +set sail, went on to a cape, near which he anchored at about sunset. He +gave the island the name of Santa Maria de la Concepcion.(*) + + (*) This is supposed to be Caico del Norte. + +“At about sunset I anchored near the said cape to know if there were +gold there, for the men whom I had taken at the Island of San Salvador +told me that there they wore very large rings of gold on their legs and +arms. I think that all they said was for a trick, in order to make their +escape. However, I did not wish to pass by any island without taking +possession of it. + +“And I anchored, and was there till today, Tuesday, when at the break of +day I went ashore with the armed boats, and landed. + +“They (the inhabitants), who were many, as naked and in the same +condition as those of San Salvador, let us land on the island, and gave +us what we asked of them. * * * + +“I set out for the ship. And there was a large almadia which had +come to board the caravel Nina, and one of the men from we Island of San +Salvador threw himself into the sea, took this boat, and made off; and +the night before, at midnight, another jumped out. And the almadia went +back so fast that there never was a boat which could come up with her, +although we had a considerable advantage. It reached the shore, and they +left the almadia, and some of my company landed after them, and they all +fled like hens. + +“And the almadia, which they had left, we took to the caravel Nina, to +which from another headland there was coming another little almadia, +with a man who came to barter a skein of cotton. And some of the sailors +threw themselves into the sea, because he did not wish to enter the +caravel, and took him. And I, who was on the stern of the ship, and saw +it all, sent for him and gave him a red cap and some little green glass +beads which I put on his arm, and two small bells which I put at his +ears, and I had his almadia returned, * * * and sent him ashore. + +“And I set sail at once to go to the other large island which I saw at +the west, and commanded the other almadia to be set adrift, which the +caravel Nina was towing astern. And then I saw on land, when the man +landed, to whom I had given the above mentioned things (and I had not +consented to take the skein of cotton, though he wished to give it to +me), all the others went to him and thought it a great wonder, and it +seemed to them that we were good people, and that the other man, who +had fled, had done us some harm, and that therefore we were carrying him +off. And this was why I treated the other man as I did, commanding him +to be released, and gave him the said things, so that they might have +this opinion of us, and so that another time, when your Highnesses send +here again, they may be well disposed. And all that I gave him was not +worth four maravedis.” + +Columbus had set sail at ten o’clock for a “large island” he mentions, +which he called Fernandina, where, from the tales of the Indian +captives, he expected to find gold. Half way between this island and +Santa Maria, he met with “a man alone in an almadia which was passing” + (from one island to the other), “and he was carrying a little of their +bread, as big as one’s fist, and a calabash of water and a piece of red +earth made into dust, and then kneaded, and some dry leaves, which must +be a thing much valued among them, since at San Salvador they brought +them to me as a present.(*) And he had a little basket of their sort, in +which he had a string of little glass bells and two blancas, by which I +knew that he came from the Island of San Salvador. * * * He came to the +ship; I took him on board, for so he asked, and made him put his almadia +in the ship, and keep all he was carrying. And I commanded to give him +bread and honey to eat, and something to drink. + + (*) Was this perhaps tobacco? + +“And thus I will take him over to Fernandina, and I will give him all +his property so that he may give good accounts of us, so that, if it +please our Lord, when your Highnesses send there, those who come may +receive honor, and they may give us of all they have.” + +Columbus continued sailing for the island he named Fernandina, now +called Inagua Chica. There was a calm all day and he did not arrive in +time to anchor safely before dark. He therefore waited till morning, and +anchored near a town. Here the man had gone, who had been picked up the +day before, and he had given such good accounts that all night long the +ship had been boarded by almadias, bringing supplies. Columbus directed +some trifle to be given to each of the islanders, and that they should +be given “honey of sugar” to eat. He sent the ship’s boat ashore for +water and the inhabitants not only pointed it out but helped to put the +water-casks on board. + +“This people,” he says, “is like those of the aforesaid islands, and +has the same speech and the same customs, except that these seem to me a +somewhat more domestic race, and more intelligent. * * * And I saw also +in this island cotton cloths made like mantles. * * * + +“It is a very green island and flat and very fertile, and I have no +doubt that all the year through they sow panizo (panic-grass) and +harvest it, and so with everything else. And I saw many trees, of very +different form from ours, and many of them which had branches of many +sorts, and all on one trunk. And one branch is of one sort and one of +another, and so different that it is the greatest wonder in the world. * +* * One branch has its leaves like canes, and another like the lentisk; +and so on one tree five or six of these kinds; and all so different. Nor +are they grafted, for it might be said that grafting does it, but they +grow on the mountains, nor do these people care for them. * * * + +“Here the fishes are so different from ours that it is wonderful. There +are some like cocks of the finest colors in the world, blue, yellow, red +and of all colors, and others painted in a thousand ways. And the colors +are so fine that there is no man who does not wonder at them and take +great pleasure in seeing them. Also, there are whales. As for wild +creatures on shore, I saw none of any sort, except parrots and lizards; +a boy told me that he saw a great snake. Neither sheep nor goats nor +any other animal did I see; although I have been here a very short time, +that is, half a day, but if there had been any I could not have failed +to see some of them.” * * * + +Wednesday, October 17. He left the town at noon and prepared to sail +round the island. He had meant to go by the south and southeast. But as +Martin Alonzo Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, had heard, from one of +the Indians he had on board, that it would be quicker to start by the +northwest, and as the wind was favorable for this course, Columbus took +it. He found a fine harbor two leagues further on, where he found some +friendly Indians, and sent a party ashore for water. “During this time,” + he says, “I went (to look at) these trees, which were the most beautiful +things to see which have been seen; there was as much verdure in the +same degree as in the month of May in Andalusia, and all the trees were +as different from ours as the day from the night. And so (were) the +fruits, and the herbs, and the stones and everything. The truth is that +some trees had a resemblance to others which there are in Castile, but +there was a very great difference. And other trees of other sorts +were such that there is no one who could * * * liken them to others of +Castile. * * * + +“The others who went for water told me how they had been in their +houses, and that they were very well swept and clean, and their beds +and furniture (made) of things which are like nets of cotton.(*) Their +houses are all like pavilions, and very high and good chimneys.(**) + + (*) They are called Hamacas. + + (**) Las Casas says they were not meant for smoke but as a + crown, for they have no opening below for the smoke. + +“But I did not see, among many towns which I saw, any of more than +twelve or fifteen houses. * * * And there they had dogs. * * * And there +they found one man who had on his nose a piece of gold which was like +half a castellano, on which there were cut letters.(*) I blamed them for +not bargaining for it, and giving as much as was asked, to see what it +was, and whose coin it was; and they answered me that they did not dare +to barter it.” + + (*) A castellano was a piece of gold, money, weighing about + one-sixth of an ounce. + +He continued towards the northwest, then turned his course to the +east-southeast, east and southeast. The weather being thick and heavy, +and “threatening immediate rain. So all these days since I have been in +these Indies it has rained little or much.” + +Friday, October 19. Columbus, who had not landed the day before, now +sent two caravels, one to the east and southeast and the other to the +south-southeast, while he himself, with the Santa Maria, the SHIP, as he +calls it, went to the southeast. He ordered the caravels to keep their +courses till noon, and then join him. This they did, at an island to the +east, which he named Isabella, the Indians whom he had with him calling +it Saomete. It has been supposed to be the island now called Inagua +Grande. + +“All this coast,” says the Admiral, “and the part of the island which I +saw, is all nearly flat, and the island the most beautiful thing I +ever saw, for if the others are very beautiful this one is more so.” He +anchored at a cape which was so beautiful that he named it Cabo Fermoso, +the Beautiful Cape, “so green and so beautiful,” he says, “like all the +other things and lands of these islands, that I do not know where to go +first, nor can I weary my eyes with seeing such beautiful verdure and so +different from ours. And I believe that there are in them many herbs and +many trees, which are of great value in Spain for dyes (or tinctures) +and for medicines of spicery. But I do not know them, which I greatly +regret. And as I came here to this cape there came such a good and sweet +odor of flowers or trees from the land that it was the sweetest thing in +the world.” + +He heard that there was a king in the interior who wore clothes and +much gold, and though, as he says, the Indians had so little gold that +whatever small quantity of it the king wore it would appear large to +them, he decided to visit him the next day. He did not do so, however, +as he found the water too shallow in his immediate neighborhood, and +then had not enough wind to go on, except at night. + +Sunday morning, October 21, he anchored, apparently more to the west, +and after having dined, landed. He found but one house, from which +the inhabitants were absent; he directed that nothing in it should be +touched. He speaks again of the great beauty of the island, even greater +than that of the others he had seen. “The singing of the birds,” he +says, “seems as if a man would never seek to leave this place, and the +flocks of parrots which darken the sun, and fowls and birds of so many +kinds and so different from ours that it is wonderful. And then there +are trees of a thousand sorts, and all with fruit of their kinds. +And all have such an odor that it is wonderful, so that I am the most +afflicted man in the world not to know them.” + +They killed a serpent in one of the lakes upon this island, which Las +Casas says is the Guana, or what we call the Iguana. + +In seeking for good water, the Spaniards found a town, from which the +inhabitants were going to fly. But some of them rallied, and one of them +approached the visitors. Columbus gave him some little bells and glass +beads, with which he was much pleased. The Admiral asked him for water, +and they brought it gladly to the shore in calabashes. + +He still wished to see the king of whom the Indians had spoken, but +meant afterward to go to “another very great island, which I believe +must be Cipango, which they call Colba.” This is probably a mistake in +the manuscript for Cuba, which is what is meant. It continues, “and +to that other island which they call Bosio” (probably Bohio) “and the +others which are on the way, I will see these in passing. * * * But +still, I am determined to go to the mainland and to the city of Quisay +and to give your Highnesses’ letters to the Grand Khan, and seek a reply +and come back with it.” + +He remained at this island during the twenty-second and twenty-third of +October, waiting first for the king, who did not appear, and then for a +favorable wind. “To sail round these islands,” he says, “one needs many +sorts of wind, and it does not blow as men would like.” At midnight, +between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth, he weighed anchor in order +to start for Cuba. + +“I have heard these people say that it was very large and of great +traffic,” he says, “and that there were in it gold and spices, and great +ships and merchants. And they showed me that I should go to it by the +west-southwest, and I think so. For I think that if I may trust the +signs which all the Indians of these islands have made me, and those +whom I am carrying in the ships, for by the tongue I do not understand +them, it (Cuba) is the Island of Cipango,(*) of which wonderful things +are told, and on the globes which I have seen and in the painted maps, +it is in this district.” + + (*) This was the name the old geographers gave to Japan. + +The next day they saw seven or eight islands, which are supposed to be +the eastern and southern keys of the Grand Bank of Bahama. He anchored +to the south of them on the twenty-sixth of October, and on the next day +sailed once more for Cuba. + +On Sunday, October 28, he arrived there, in what is now called the +Puerto de Nipe; he named it the Puerto de San Salvador. Here, as he went +on, he was again charmed by the beautiful country. He found palms “of +another sort,” says Las Casas, “from those of Guinea, and from ours.” He +found the island the “most beautiful which eyes have seen, full of very +good ports and deep rivers,” and that apparently the sea is never rough +there, as the grass grows down to the water’s edge. This greenness to +the sea’s edge is still observed there. “Up till that time,” says Las +Casas, “he had not experienced in all these islands that the sea was +rough.” He had occasion to learn about it later. He mentions also that +the island is mountainous. + + + +CHAPTER V. -- LANDING ON CUBA + +--THE CIGAR AND TOBACCO--CIPANGO AND THE GREAT KHAN--FROM CUBA TO +HAYTI--ITS SHORES AND HARBORS. + +When Columbus landed, at some distance farther along the coast, he found +the best houses he had yet seen, very large, like pavilions, and very +neat within; not in streets but set about here and there. They were all +built of palm branches. Here were dogs which never barked (supposed +to be the almiqui), wild birds tamed in the houses and “wonderful +arrangements of nets,(*) and fish-hooks and fishing apparatus. There +were also carved masks and other images. Not a thing was touched.” The +inhabitants had fled. + + (*) These were probably hammocks. + +He went on to the northwest, and saw a cape which he named Cabo de +Palmas. The Indians on board the Pinta said that beyond this cape was +a river and that at four days’ journey from this was what they called +“Cuba.” Now they had been coasting along the Island of Cuba for two or +three days. But Martin Pinzon, the captain of the Pinta, understood this +Cuba to be a city, and that this land was the mainland, running far to +the north. Columbus until he died believed that it was the mainland. + +Martin Pinzon also understood that the king of that land was at war with +the Grand Khan, whom they called Cami. The Admiral determined to go to +the river the Indians mentioned, and to send to the king the letter +of the sovereigns. He meant to send with it a sailor who had been to +Guinea, and some of the Guanahani Indians. He was encouraged, probably, +by the name of Carni, in thinking that he was really near the Grand +Khan. + +He did not, however, send off these messengers at once, as the wind +and the nature of the coast proved unfit for his going up the river the +Indians had spoken of. He went back to the town where he had been two +days before. + +Once more he found that the people had fled, but “after a good while +a man appeared,” and the Admiral sent ashore one of the Indians he had +with him. This man shouted to the Indians on shore that they must not be +afraid, as these were good people, and did harm to no man, nor did +they belong to the Grand Khan, but they gave, of what they had, in many +islands where they had been. He now jumped into the sea and swam ashore, +and two of the inhabitants took him in their arms and brought him to a +house where they asked him questions. When he had reassured them, they +began to come out to the ships in their canoes, with “spun cotton and +others of their little things.” But the Admiral commanded that nothing +should be taken from them, so that they might know that he was seeking +nothing but gold, or, as they called it, nucay. + +He saw no gold here, but one of them had a piece of wrought silver +hanging to his nose. They made signs, that before three days many +merchants would come from the inland country to trade with the +Spaniards, and that they would bring news from the king, who, according +to their signs, was four days’ journey away. “And it is certain” says +the Admiral, “that this is the mainland, and that I am before Zayto and +Quinsay, a hundred leagues more or less from both of them, and this is +clearly shown by the tide, which comes in a different manner from that +in which it has done up to this time; and yesterday when I went to the +northwest I found that it was cold.” + +Always supposing that he was near Japan, which they called Cipango, +Columbus continued to sail along the northern coast of Cuba and explored +about half that shore. He then returned to the east, governed by the +assurances of the natives that on an island named Babegue he would find +men who used hammers with which to beat gold into ingots. This gold, +as he understood them, was collected on the shore at night, while the +people lighted up the darkness with candles. + +At the point where he turned back, he had hauled his ships up on the +shore to repair them. From this point, on the second of November, he +sent two officers inland, one of whom was a Jew, who knew Chaldee, +Hebrew and a little Arabic, in the hope that they should find some one +who could speak these languages. With them went one of the Guanahani +Indians, and one from the neighborhood. + +They returned on the night between the fifth and sixth of November. +Twelve leagues off they had found a village of about fifty large +houses, made in the form of tents. This village had about a thousand +inhabitants, according to the explorers. They had received the +ambassadors with cordial kindness, believing that they had descended +from heaven. + +They even took them in their arms and thus carried them to the finest +house of all. They gave them seats, and then sat round them on the +ground in a circle. They kissed their feet and hands, and touched them, +to make sure whether they were really men of flesh and bone. + +It was on this expedition that the first observation was made of that +gift of America to the world, which has worked its way so deep and far +into general use. They met men and women who “carried live coals, so +as to draw into their mouths the smoke of burning herbs.” This was the +account of the first observers. But Las Casas says that the dry herbs +were wrapped in another leaf as dry. He says that “they lighted one end +of the little stick thus formed, and sucked in or absorbed the smoke by +the other, with which,” he says, “they put their flesh to sleep, and it +nearly intoxicates them, and thus they say that they feel no fatigue. +These mosquetes, as we should call them, they call tobacos. I knew +Spaniards on this Island of Hispaniola who were accustomed to take them, +who, on being reproved for it as a vice, replied that it was not in +their power (in their hand) to leave off taking them. I do not know what +savour or profit they found in them.” This is clearly a cigar. + +The third or fourth of November, then, 1892, with the addition of nine +days to change the style from old to new, may be taken by lovers of +tobacco as the fourth centennial of the day when Europeans first learned +the use of the cigar. + +On the eleventh of November the repairs were completed. + +He says that the Sunday before, November 11 it had seemed to him that it +would be good to take some persons, from those of that river, to carry +to the sovereigns, so that “they might learn our tongue, so as to know +what there is in the country, and so that when they come back they may +be tongues to the Christians, and receive our customs and the things of +the faith. Because I saw and know,” says the Admiral, “that this people +has no religion (secta) nor are they idolaters, but very mild and +without knowing what evil is, nor how to kill others, nor how to take +them, and without arms, and so timorous that from one of our men ten +of them fly, although they do sport with them, and ready to believe and +knowing that there is a God in heaven, and sure that we have come from +heaven; and very ready at any prayer which we tell them to repeat, and +they make the sign of the cross. + +“So your Highnesses should determine to make them Christians, for I +believe that if they begin, in a short time they will have accomplished +converting to our holy faith a multitude of towns.” “Without doubt there +are in these lands the greatest quantities of gold, for not without +cause do these Indians whom I am bringing say that there are places in +these isles where they dig out gold and wear it on their necks, in their +ears and on their arms and legs, and the bracelets are very thick. + +“And also there are stones and precious pearls, and unnumbered spices. +And in this Rio de Mares, from which I departed last night, without +doubt there is the greatest quantity of mastic, and there might be more +if more were desired. For the trees, if planted, take root, and there +are many of them and very great and they have the leaf like a lentisk, +and their fruit, except that the trees and the fruit are larger, is +such as Pliny describes, and I have seen in the Island of Chios in the +Archipelago. + +“And I had many of these trees tapped to see if they would send out +resin, so as to draw it out. And as it rained all the time I was at the +said river, I could not get any of it, except a very little which I am +bringing to your Highnesses. And besides, it may be that it is not the +time to tap them, for I believe that this should be done at the time +when the trees begin to leave out from the winter and seek to send out +their flowers, and now they have the fruit nearly ripe. + +“And also here there might be had a great store of cotton, and I believe +that it might be sold very well here without taking it to Spain, in the +great cities of the Great Khan, which will doubtless be discovered, and +many others of other lords, who will then have to serve your Highnesses. +And here will be given them other things from Spain, from the lands of +the East, since these are ours in the West. + +“And here there is also aloes everywhere, although this is not a thing +to make great account of, but the mastic should be well considered, +because it is not found except in the said island of Chios, and I +believe that they get from it quite 50,000 ducats if I remember aright. +And this is the best harbor which I have seen thus far--deep and easy of +access, so that this would be a good place for a large town.” + +The notes in Columbus’s journals are of the more interest and value, +because they show his impressions at the moment when he wrote. However +mistaken those impressions, he never corrects them afterwards. Although, +while he was in Cuba, he never found the Grand Khan, he never recalls +the hopes which he has expressed. + +He had discovered the island on its northern side by sailing southwest +from the Lucayos or Bahamas. From the eleventh of November until the +sixth of December he was occupied in coasting along the northern shore, +eventually returning eastward, when he crossed the channel which parts +Cuba from Hayti. + +The first course was east, a quarter southeast, and on the sixteenth, +they entered Port-au-Prince, and took possession, raising a cross there. +At Port-au-Prince, to his surprise, he found on a point of rock two +large logs, mortised into each other in the shape of a cross, so +“that you would have said a carpenter could not have proportioned them +better.” + +On the nineteenth the course was north-northeast; on the twenty-first +they took a course south, a quarter southwest, seeking in these changes +the island of “Babeque,” which the Indians had spoken of as rich with +gold. On the day last named Pinzon left the Admiral in the Pinta, and +they did not meet again for more than a month. + +Columbus touched at various points on Cuba and the neighboring islands. +He sought, without success, for pearls, and always pressed his inquiries +for gold. He was determined to find the island of Bohio, greatly to the +terror of the poor Indians, whom he had on board: they said that its +natives had but one eye, in the middle of their foreheads, and that they +were well armed and ate their prisoners. + +He landed in the bay of Moa, and then, keeping near the coast, sailed +towards the Capo del Pico, now called Cape Vacz. At Puerto Santo he +was detained some days by bad weather. On the fourth of December he +continued his eastward voyage, and on the next day saw far off the +mountains of Hayti, which was the Bohio he sought for. + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- DISCOVERY OF HAYTI OR HISPANIOLA + +--THE SEARCH FOR GOLD--HOSPITALITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE +NATIVES--CHRISTMAS DAY--A SHIPWRECK--COLONY TO BE FOUNDED--COLUMBUS +SAILS EAST AND MEETS MARTIN PINZON--THE TWO VESSELS RETURN TO EUROPE +--STORM--THE AZORES--PORTUGAL--HOME. + +On the sixth of December they crossed from the eastern cape of Cuba +to the northwestern point of the island, which we call Hayti or San +Domingo. He says he gave it this name because “the plains appeared to +him almost exactly like those of Castile, but yet more beautiful.” + +He coasted eastward along the northern side of the island, hoping that +it might be the continent, and always inquiring for gold when he landed; +but the Indians, as before, referred him to yet another land, still +further south, which they still called Bohio. It was not surrounded by +water, they said. The word “caniba,” which is the origin of our word +“cannibal,” and refers to the fierce Caribs, came often into their talk. +The sound of the syllable can made Columbus more sure that he was now +approaching the dominions of the Grand Khan of eastern Asia, of whom +Marco Polo had informed Europe so fully. + +On the twelfth of the month, after a landing in which a cross had been +erected, three sailors went inland, pursuing the Indians. They captured +a young woman whom they brought to the fleet. She wore a large ring of +gold in her nose. She was able to understand the other Indians whom +they had on board. Columbus dressed her, gave her some imitation pearls, +rings and other finery, and then put her on shore with three Indians and +three of his own men. + +The men returned the next day without going to the Indian village. +Columbus then sent out nine men, with an Indian, who found a town of a +thousand huts about four and a half leagues from the ship. They thought +the population was three thousand. The village in Cuba is spoken of as +having twenty people to a house. Here the houses were smaller or the +count of the numbers extravagant. The people approached the explorers +carefully, and with tokens of respect. Soon they gained confidence +and brought out food for them: fish, and bread made from roots, “which +tasted exactly as if it were made of chestnuts.” + +In the midst of this festival, the woman, who had been sent back from +the ship so graciously, appeared borne on the shoulders of men who were +led by her husband. + +The Spaniards thought these natives of St. Domingo much whiter than +those of the other islands. Columbus says that two of the women, if +dressed in Castilian costume, would be counted to be Spaniards. He says +that the heat of the country is intense, and that if these people lived +in a cooler region they would be of lighter color. + +On the fourteenth of December he continued his voyage eastward, and +on the fifteenth landed on the little island north of Hayti, which +he called Tortuga, or Turtle island. At midnight on the sixteenth he +sailed, and landed on Hispaniola again. Five hundred Indians met him, +accompanied by their king, a fine young man of about twenty years of +age. He had around him several counselors, one of whom appeared to be +his tutor. To the steady questions where gold could be found, the reply +as steady was made that it was in “the Island of Babeque.” This island, +they said, was only two days off, and they pointed out the route. The +interview ended in an offer by the king to the Admiral of all that +he had. The explorers never found this mysterious Babeque, unless, as +Bishop Las Casas guessed, Babeque and Jamaica be the same. + +The king visited Columbus on his ship in the evening, and Columbus +entertained him with European food. With so cordial a beginning of +intimacy, it was natural that the visitors should spend two or three +days with these people. The king would not believe that any sovereigns +of Castile could be more powerful than the men he saw. He and those +around him all believed that they came direct from heaven. + +Columbus was always asking for gold. He gave strict orders that it +should always be paid for, when it was taken. To the islanders it was +merely a matter of ornament, and they gladly exchanged it for the glass +beads, the rings or the bells, which seemed to them more ornamental. One +of the caciques or chiefs, evidently a man of distinction and authority, +had little bits of gold which he exchanged for pieces of glass. It +proved that he had clipped them off from a larger piece, and he went +back into his cabin, cut that to pieces, and then exchanged all those in +trade for the white man’s commodities. Well pleased with his bargain, +he then told the Spaniards that he would go and get much more and would +come and trade with them again. + +On the eighteenth of December, the wind not serving well, they waited +the return of the chief whom they had first seen. In the afternoon he +appeared, seated in a palanquin, which was carried by four men, and +escorted by more than two hundred of his people. He was accompanied by a +counselor and preceptor who did not leave him. He came on board the ship +when Columbus was at table. He would not permit him to leave his place, +and readily took a seat at his side, when it was offered. Columbus +offered him European food and drink; he tasted of each, and then gave +what was offered to his attendants. The ceremonious Spaniards found a +remarkable dignity in his air and gestures. After the repast, one of his +servants brought a handsome belt, elegantly wrought, which he presented +to Columbus, with two small pieces of gold, also delicately wrought. + +Columbus observed that this cacique looked with interest on the hangings +of his ship-bed, and made a present of them to him, in return for his +offering, with some amber beads from his own neck, some red shoes and a +flask of orange flower water. + +On the nineteenth, after these agreeable hospitalities, the squadron +sailed again, and on the twentieth arrived at a harbor which Columbus +pronounced the finest he had ever seen. The reception he met here and +the impressions he formed of Hispaniola determined him to make a colony +on that island. It may be said that on this determination the course of +his after life turned. This harbor is now known as the Bay of Azul. + +The men, whom he sent on shore, found a large village not far from the +shore, where they were most cordially received. The natives begged the +Europeans to stay with them, and as it proved, Columbus accepted the +invitation for a part of his crew. On the first day three different +chiefs came to visit him, in a friendly way, with their retinues. +The next day more than a hundred and twenty canoes visited the ship, +bringing with them such presents as the people thought would be +acceptable. Among these were bread from the cassava root, fish, water in +earthen jars, and the seeds of spices. These spices they would stir in +with water to make a drink which they thought healthful. + +On the same day Columbus sent an embassy of six men to a large town in +the interior. The chief by giving his hand “to the secretary” pledged +himself for their safe return. + +The twenty-third was Sunday. It was spent as the day before had been, +in mutual civilities. The natives would offer their presents, and say +“take, take,” in their own language. Five chiefs were among the visitors +of the day. From their accounts Columbus was satisfied that there was +much gold in the island, as indeed, to the misery and destruction of its +inhabitants, there proved to be. He thought it was larger than England. +But he was mistaken. In his journal of the next day he mentions Civao, a +land to the west, where they told him that there was gold, and again he +thought he was approaching Cipango, or Japan. + +The next day he left these hospitable people, raising anchor in the +morning, and with a light land wind continued towards the west. At +eleven in the evening Columbus retired to rest. While he slept, on +Christmas Day, there occurred an accident which changed all plans for +the expedition so far as any had been formed, and from which there +followed the establishment of the ill-fated first colony. The evening +was calm when Columbus himself retired to sleep, and the master of the +vessel followed his example, entrusting the helm to one of the boys. +Every person on the ship, excepting this boy, was asleep, and he seems +to have been awake to little purpose. + +The young steersman let the ship drift upon a ridge of rock, although, +as Columbus says, indignantly, there were breakers abundant to show the +danger. So soon as she struck, the boy cried out, and Columbus was +the first to wake. He says, by way of apology for himself, that for +thirty-six hours he had not slept until now. The master of the ship +followed him. But it was too late. The tide, such as there was, was +ebbing, and the Santa Maria was hopelessly aground. Columbus ordered the +masts cut away, but this did not relieve her. + +He sent out his boat with directions to carry aft an anchor and cable, +but its crew escaped to the Nina with their tale of disaster. The Nina’s +people would not receive them, reproached them as traitors, and in their +own vessel came to the scene of danger. Columbus was obliged to transfer +to her the crew of the Santa Maria. + +So soon as it was day, their friendly ally, Guacanagari, came on board. +With tears in his eyes, he made the kindest and most judicious offers +of assistance. He saw Columbus’s dejection, and tried to relieve him by +expressions of his sympathy. He set aside on shore two large houses to +receive the stores that were on the Santa Maria, and appointed as many +large canoes as could be used to remove these stores to the land. He +assured Columbus that not a bit of the cargo or stores should be lost, +and this loyal promise was fulfilled to the letter. + +The weather continued favorable. The sea was so light that everything +on board the Santa Maria was removed safely. Then it was that Columbus, +tempted by the beauty of the place, by the friendship of the natives, +and by the evident wishes of his men, determined to leave a colony, +which should be supported by the stores of the Santa Maria, until +the rest of the party could go back to Spain and bring or send +reinforcements. The king was well pleased with this suggestion, and +promised all assistance for the plan. A vault was dug and built, in +which the stores could be placed, and on this a house was built for the +home of the colonists, so far as they cared to live within doors. + +The chief sent a canoe in search of Martin Pinzon and the Pinta, to tell +them of the disaster. But the messengers returned without finding them. +At the camp, which was to be a city, all was industriously pressed, with +the assistance of the friendly natives. Columbus, having no vessel but +the little Nina left, determined to return to Europe with the news of +his discovery, and to leave nearly forty men ashore. + +It would appear that the men, themselves, were eager to stay. The luxury +of the climate and the friendly overtures of the people delighted them, +They had no need to build substantial houses. So far as houses were +needed, those of the natives were sufficient. All the preparations +which Columbus thought necessary were made in the week between the +twenty-sixth of December and the second of January. On that day he +expected to sail eastward, but unfavorable winds prevented. + +He landed his men again, and by the exhibition of a pretended battle +with European arms, he showed the natives the military force of their +new neighbors. He fired a shot from an arquebuse against the wreck +of the Santa Maria, so that the Indians might see the power of his +artillery. The Indian chief expressed his regret at the approaching +departure, and the Spaniards thought that one of his courtiers said that +the chief had ordered him to make a statue of pure gold as large as the +Admiral. + +Columbus explained to the friendly chief that with such arms as the +sovereigns of Castile commanded they could readily destroy the dreaded +Caribs. And he thought he had made such an impression that the islanders +would be the firm friends of the colonists. + +“I have bidden them build a solid tower and defense, over a vault. Not +that I think this necessary against the natives, for I am satisfied +that with a handful of people I could conquer the whole island, were it +necessary, although it is, as far as I can judge, larger than Portugal, +and twice as thickly peopled.” In this cheerful estimate of the people +Columbus was wholly wrong, as the sad events proved before the year had +gone by. + +He left thirty-nine men to be the garrison of this fort; and the colony +which was to discover the mine of gold. In command he placed Diego da +Arana, Pedro Gutierres and Rodrigo de Segovia. To us, who have more +experience of colonies and colonists than he had had, it does not seem +to promise well that Rodrigo was “the king’s chamberlain and an officer +of the first lord of the household.” Of these three, Diego da Arana was +to be the governor, and the other two his lieutenants. The rest were all +sailors, but among them there were Columbus’s secretary, an alguazil, or +person commissioned in the civil service at home, an “arquebusier,” who +was also a good engineer, a tailor, a ship carpenter, a cooper and a +physician. So the little colony had its share of artificers and men of +practical skill. They all staid willingly, delighted with the prospects +of their new home. + +On the third of January Columbus sailed for Europe in the little Nina. +With her own crew and the addition she received from the Santa Maria, +she must have been badly crowded. Fortunately for all parties, on +Sunday, the third day of the voyage, while they were still in sight of +land, the Pinta came in sight. Martin Pinzon came on board the Nina and +offered excuses for his absence. Columbus was not really satisfied with +them, but he affected to be, as this was no moment for a quarrel. He +believed that Pinzon had left him, that, in the Pinta, he might be alone +when he discovered the rich gold-bearing island of Babeque or Baneque. +Although the determination was made to return, another week was spent in +slow coasting, or in waiting for wind. It brought frequent opportunities +for meeting the natives, in one of which they showed a desire to take +some of their visitors captive. This would only have been a return for a +capture made by Pinzon of several of their number, whom Columbus, on +his meeting Pinzon, had freed. In this encounter two of the Indians were +wounded, one by a sword, one by an arrow. It would seem that he did not +show them the power of firearms. + +This was in the Bay of Samana, which Columbus called “The Bay of +Arrows,” from the skirmish or quarrel which took place there. They then +sailed sixty-four miles cast, a quarter northeast, and thought they saw +the land of the Caribs, which he was seeking. But here, at length, his +authority over his crew failed. The men were eager to go home;--did not, +perhaps, like the idea of fight with the man-eating Caribs. There was +a good western wind, and on the evening of the sixteenth of January +Columbus gave way and they bore away for home. + +Columbus had satisfied himself in this week that there were many islands +east of him which he had not hit upon, and that to the easternmost of +these, from the Canaries, the distance would prove not more than four +hundred leagues. In this supposition he was wholly wrong, though a chain +of islands does extend to the southeast. + +He seems to have observed the singular regularity by which the trade +winds bore him steadily westward as he came over. He had no wish to +visit the Canary Islands again, and with more wisdom than could have +been expected, from his slight knowledge of the Atlantic winds, he bore +north. Until the fourteenth of February the voyage was prosperous and +uneventful. One day the captive Indians amused the sailors by swimming. +There is frequent mention of the green growth of the Sargasso sea. But +on the fourteenth all this changed. The simple journal thus describes +the terrible tempest which endangered the two vessels, and seemed, at +the moment, to cut off the hope of their return to Europe. + +“Monday, February 14.--This night the wind increased still more; the +waves were terrible. Coming from two opposite directions, they crossed +each other, and stopped the progress of the vessel, which could neither +proceed nor get out from among them; and as they began continually to +break over the ship, the Admiral caused the main-sail to be lowered. She +proceeded thus during three hours, and made twenty miles. The sea became +heavier and heavier, and the wind more and more violent. Seeing the +danger imminent, he allowed himself to drift in whatever direction the +wind took him, because he could do nothing else. Then the Pinta, of +which Martin Alonzo Pinzon was the commander, began to drift also; but +she disappeared very soon, although all through the night the Admiral +made signals with lights to her, and she answered as long as she could, +till she was prevented, probably by the force of the tempest, and by her +deviation from the course which the Admiral followed.” Columbus did not +see the Pinta again until she arrived at Palos. He was himself driven +fifty-four miles towards the northeast. + +The journal continues. “After sunrise the strength of the wind +increased, and the sea became still more terrible. The Admiral all this +time kept his mainsail lowered, so that the vessel might rise from among +the waves which washed over it, and which threatened to sink it. +The Admiral followed, at first, the direction of east-northeast, and +afterwards due northeast. He sailed about six hours in this direction, +and thus made seven leagues and a half. He gave orders that every sailor +should draw lots as to who should make a pilgrimage to Santa Maria of +Guadeloupe, to carry her a five-pound wax candle. And each one took a +vow that he to whom the lot fell should make the pilgrimage. + +“For this purpose, he gave orders to take as many dry peas as there were +persons in the ship, and to cut, with a knife, a cross upon one of them, +and to put them all into a cap, and to shake them up well. The first who +put his hand in was the Admiral. He drew out the dry pea marked with the +cross; so it was upon him that the lot fell, and he regarded himself, +after that, as a pilgrim, obliged to carry into effect the vow which he +had thus taken. They drew lots a second time, to select a person to go +as pilgrim to Our Lady of Lorette, which is within the boundaries of +Ancona, making a part of the States of the Church: it is a place +where the Holy Virgin has worked and continues to work many and great +miracles. The lot having fallen this time upon a sailor of the harbor of +Santa Maria, named Pedro de Villa, the Admiral promised to give him all +the money necessary for the expenses. He decided that a third pilgrim +should be sent to watch one night at Santa Clara of Moguer, and to have +a mass said there. For this purpose, they again shook up the dry peas, +not forgetting that one which was marked with the cross, and the lot +fell once again to the Admiral himself. He then took, as did all his +crew, the vow that, on the first shore which they might reach, they +would go in their shirts, in a procession, to make a prayer in some +church in invocation of Our Lady.” + +“Besides the general vows, or those taken by all in common, each man +made his own special vow, because nobody expected to escape. The storm +which they experienced was so terrible, that all regarded themselves +as lost; what increased the danger was the circumstance that the vessel +lacked ballast, because the consumption of food, water and wine had +greatly diminished her load. The hope of the continuance of weather +as fine as that which they had experienced in all the islands, was +the reason why the Admiral had not provided his vessel with the proper +amount of ballast. Moreover, his plan had been to ballast it in the +Women’s Island, whither he had from the first determined to go. The +remedy which the Admiral employed was to fill with sea water, as soon as +possible, all the empty barrels which had previously held either wine or +fresh water. In this way the difficulty was remedied. + +“The Admiral tells here the reasons for fearing that our Saviour would +allow him to become the victim of this tempest, and other reasons which +made him hope that God would come to his assistance, and cause him to +arrive safe and sound, so that intelligence such as that which he was +conveying to the king and queen would not perish with him. The strong +desire which he had to be the bearer of intelligence so important, and +to prove the truth of all which he had said, and that all which he +had tried to discover had really been discovered, seemed to contribute +precisely to inspire him with the greatest fear that he could not +succeed. He confessed, himself, that every mosquito that passed before +his eyes was enough to annoy and trouble him. He attributed this to his +little faith, and his lack of confidence in Divine Providence. On the +other hand, he was re-animated by the favors which God had shown him in +granting to him so great a triumph as that which he had achieved, in +all his discoveries, in fulfilling all his wishes, and in granting that, +after having experienced in Castile so many rebuffs and disappointments, +all his hopes should at last be more than surpassed. In one word, as the +sovereign master of the universe, had, in the outset, distinguished him +in granting all his requests, before he had carried out his expedition +for God’s greatest glory, and before it had succeeded, he was compelled +to believe now that God would preserve him to complete the work which he +had begun.” Such is Las Casas’s abridgment of Columbus’s words. + +“For which reasons he said he ought to have had no fear of the tempest +that was raging. But his weakness and anguish did not leave him a +moment’s calm. He also said that his greatest grief was the thought of +leaving his two boys orphans. They were at Cordova, at their studies. +What would become of them in a strange land, without father or mother? +for the king and queen, being ignorant of the services he had rendered +them in this voyage, and of the good news which he was bringing to them, +would not be bound by any consideration to serve as their protectors. + +“Full of this thought, he sought, even in the storm, some means of +apprising their highnesses of the victory which the Lord had granted +him, in permitting him to discover in the Indies all which he had sought +in his voyage, and to let them know that these coasts were free from +storms, which is proved, he said, by the growth of herbage and trees +even to the edge of the sea. With this purpose, that, if he perished in +this tempest, the king and queen might have some news of his voyage, he +took a parchment and wrote on it all that he could of his discoveries, +and urgently begged that whoever found it would carry it to the king +and queen. He rolled up this parchment in a piece of waxed linen, closed +this parcel tightly, and tied it up securely; he had brought to him +a large wooden barrel, within which he placed it, without anybody’s +knowing what it was. Everybody thought the proceeding was some act of +devotion. He then caused it to be thrown into the sea.” (*) + + (*) Within a few months, in the summer of 1890, a well known + English publisher has issued an interesting and ingenious + edition, of what pretended to be a facsimile of this + document. The reader is asked to believe that the lost + barrel has just now been found on the western coast of + England. But publishers and purchasers know alike that this + is only an amusing suggestion of what might have been. + +The sudden and heavy showers, and the squalls which followed some time +afterwards, changed the wind, which turned to the west. They had the +wind thus abaft, and he sailed thus during five hours with the foresail +only, having always the troubled sea, and made at once two leagues and a +half towards the northeast. He had lowered the main topmast lest a wave +might carry it away. + +With a heavy wind astern, so that the sea frequently broke over the +little Nina, she made eastward rapidly, and at daybreak on the fifteenth +they saw land. The Admiral knew that he had made the Azores, he had been +steadily directing the course that way; some of the seamen thought they +were at Madeira, and some hopeful ones thought they saw the rock of +Cintra in Portugal. Columbus did not land till the eighteenth, when +he sent some men on shore, upon the island of Santa Maria. His news of +discovery was at first received with enthusiasm. + +But there followed a period of disagreeable negotiation with Castaneda, +the governor of the Azores. Pretending great courtesy and hospitality, +but really acting upon the orders of the king of Portugal, he did his +best to disable Columbus and even seized some of his crew and kept them +prisoners for some days. When Columbus once had them on board again, +he gave up his plans for taking ballast and water on these inhospitable +islands, and sailed for Europe. + +He had again a stormy passage. Again they were in imminent danger. “But +God was good enough to save him. He caused the crew to draw lots to +send to Notre Dame de la Cintra, at the island of Huelva, a pilgrim who +should come there in his shirt. The lot fell upon himself. All the crew, +including the Admiral, vowed to fast on bread and water on the first +Saturday which should come after the arrival of the vessel. He had +proceeded sixty miles before the sails were torn; then they went under +masts and shrouds on account of the unusual strength of the wind, and +the roughness of the sea, which pressed them almost on all sides. They +saw indications of the nearness of the land; they were in fact, very +near Lisbon.” + +At Lisbon, after a reception which was at first cordial, the Portuguese +officers showed an inhospitality like that of Castaneda at the Azores. +But the king himself showed more dignity and courtesy. He received the +storm-tossed Admiral with distinction, and permitted him to refit his +shattered vessel with all he needed. Columbus took this occasion to +write to his own sovereigns. + +On the thirteenth he sailed again, and on the fifteenth entered the bay +and harbor of Palos, which he had left six months and a half before. He +had sailed on Friday. He had discovered America on Friday. And on Friday +he safely returned to his home. + +His journal of the voyage ends with these words: “I see by this voyage +that God has wonderfully proved what I say, as anybody may convince +himself, by reading this narrative, by the signal wonders which he has +worked during the course of my voyage, and in favor of myself, who have +been for so long a time at the court of your Highnesses in opposition +and contrary to the opinions of so many distinguished personages of your +household, who all opposed me, treating my project as a dream, and my +undertaking as a chimera. And I hope still, nevertheless, in our Lord, +this voyage will bring the greatest honor to Christianity, although it +has been performed with so much ease.” + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- COLUMBUS IS CALLED TO MEET THE KING AND QUEEN + +--HIS MAGNIFICENT RECEPTION--NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POPE AND WITH THE +KING OF PORTUGAL--SECOND EXPEDITION ORDERED--FONSECA--THE PREPARATIONS +AT CADIZ. + +The letter which Columbus sent from Lisbon to the king and queen was +everywhere published. It excited the enthusiasm first of Spain and then +of the world. This letter found in the earlier editions is now one of +the most choice curiosities of libraries. Well it may be, for it is the +first public announcement of the greatest event of modern history. + +Ferdinand and Isabella directed him to wait upon them at once at court. +It happened that they were then residing at Barcelona, on the eastern +coast of Spain, so that the journey required to fulfill their wishes +carried him quite across the kingdom. It was a journey of triumph. The +people came together in throngs to meet this peaceful conqueror who +brought with him such amazing illustrations of his discovery. + +The letter bearing instructions for him to proceed to Barcelona was +addressed “To Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of the Ocean Sea, +Viceroy and Governor of the islands discovered in the Indies.” So far +was he now raised above the rank of a poor adventurer, who had for seven +years attended the court in its movements, seeking an opportunity to +explain his proposals. + +As he approached Barcelona he was met by a large company of people, +including many persons of rank. A little procession was formed of the +party of the Admiral. Six Indians of the islands who had survived the +voyage, led the way. They were painted according to their custom in +various colors, and ornamented with the fatal gold of their countries, +which had given to the discovery such interest in the eyes of those who +looked on. + +Columbus had brought ten Indians away with him, but one had died on the +voyage and he had left three sick at Palos. Those whom he brought to +Barcelona, were baptized in presence of the king and queen. + +After the Indians, were brought many curious objects which had come +from the islands, such as stuffed birds and beasts and living paroquets, +which perhaps spoke in the language of their own country, and rare +plants, so different from those of Spain. Ornaments of gold were +displayed, which would give the people some idea of the wealth of the +islands. Last of all came Columbus, elegantly mounted and surrounded by +a brilliant cavalcade of young Spaniards. The crowd of wondering people +pressed around them. Balconies and windows were crowded with women +looking on. Even the roofs were crowded with spectators. + +The king and queen awaited Columbus in a large hall, where they were +seated on a rich dais covered with gold brocade. It was in the palace +known as the “Casa de la Deputacion” which the kings of Aragon made +their residence when they were in Barcelona. A body of the most +distinguished lords and ladies of Spain were in attendance. As Columbus +entered the hall the king and queen arose. He fell on his knee that he +might kiss their hands but they bade him rise and then sit and give an +account of his voyage. + +Columbus spoke with dignity and simplicity which commanded respect, +while all listened with sympathy. He showed some of the treasures he +had brought, and spoke with certainty of the discoveries which had been +made, as only precursors of those yet to come. When his short narrative +was ended, all the company knelt and united in chanting the “Te Deum,” + “We Praise Thee, O God.” Las Casas, describing the joy and hope of +that occasion says, “it seems as if they had a foretaste of the joys of +paradise.” + +It would seem as if those whose duty it is to prepare fit celebrations +of the periods of the great discovery, could hardly do better than +to produce on the twenty-fourth of April, 1893, a reproduction of +the solemn pageant in which, in Barcelona, four centuries before, the +Spanish court commemorated the great discovery. + +From this time, for several weeks, a series of pageants and festivities +surrounded him. At no other period of his life were such honors paid to +him. It was at one of the banquets, at which he was present, that +the incident of the egg, so often told in connection with the great +discovery, took place. A flippant courtier--of that large class of +people who stay at home when great deeds are done, and afterwards +depreciate the doers of them--had the impertinence to ask Columbus, if +the adventure so much praised was not, after all, a very simple matter. +He probably said “a short voyage of four or five weeks; was it anything +more?” Columbus replied by giving him an egg which was on the table, and +asking him if he could stand it on one end. He said he could not, and +the other guests said that they could not. Columbus tapped it on the +table so as to break the end of the shell, and the egg stood erect. “It +is easy enough,” he said, “when any one has shown you how.” + +It is well to remember, that if after years showed that the ruler of +Spain wearied in his gratitude, Columbus was, at the time, welcomed with +the enthusiasm which he deserved. From the very grains of gold brought +home in this first triumph, the queen, Isabella, had the golden +illumination wrought of a most beautiful missal-book. + +Distinguished artists decorated the book, and the portraits of +sovereigns then on the throne appear as the representations of King +David, King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and other royal personages. This +book she gave afterwards to her grandson, Charles V, of whom it has been +said that perhaps no man in modern times has done the world more harm. + +This precious book, bearing on its gilded leaves the first fruits of +America, is now preserved in the Royal Library at Madrid. + +The time was not occupied merely in shows and banquets. There was no +difficulty now, about funds for a second expedition. Directions were +given that it might be set forward as quickly as possible, and on an +imposing scale. For it was feared at court that King John of Portugal, +the successful rival of Spain, thus far, in maritime adventure, might +anticipate further discovery. The sovereigns at once sent an embassy to +the pope, not simply to announce the discovery, but to obtain from him +a decree confirming similar discoveries in the same direction. There +was at least one precedent for such action. A former pope had granted +to Portugal all the lands it might discover in Africa, south of +Cape Bojador, and the Spanish crown had assented by treaty to this +arrangement. Ferdinand and Isabella could now refer to this precedent, +in asking for a grant to them of their discoveries on the western side +of the Atlantic. The pope now reigning was Alexander II. He had not long +filled the papal chair. He was an ambitious and prudent sovereign--a +native of Spain--and, although he would gladly have pleased the king of +Portugal, he was quite unwilling to displease the Spanish sovereigns. +The Roman court received with respect the request made to them. The +pope expressed his joy at the hopes thrown out for the conversion of +the heathen, which the Spanish sovereigns had expressed, as Columbus had +always done. And so prompt were the Spanish requests, and so ready the +pope’s answer, that as early as May 3, 1493, a papal bull was issued to +meet the wishes of Spain. + +This bull determined for Spain and for Portugal, that all discoveries +made west of a meridian line one hundred leagues west of the Azores +should belong to Spain. All discoveries east of that line should belong +to Portugal. No reference was made to other maritime powers, and it does +not seem to have been supposed that other states had any rights in such +matters. The line thus arranged for the two nations was changed by their +own agreement, in 1494, for a north and south line three hundred and +fifty leagues west of the Cape de Verde Islands. The difference between +the two lines was not supposed to be important. + +The decision thus made was long respected. Under a mistaken impression +as to the longitude of the Philippine Islands in the East Indies, Spain +has held those islands, under this line of division, ever since their +discovery by Magellan. She considered herself entitled to all the +islands and lands between the meridian thus drawn in the Atlantic and +the similar meridian one hundred and eighty degrees away, on exactly the +other side of the world. + +Under the same line of division, Portugal held, for three centuries and +more, Brazil, which projects so far eastward into the Atlantic as to +cross this line of division. + +Fearful, all the time, that neither the pope’s decree, nor any diplomacy +would prevent the king of Portugal from attempting to seize lands at the +west, the Spanish court pressed with eagerness arrangements for a second +expedition. It was to be on a large and generous scale and to take out a +thousand men. For this was the first plan, though the number afterwards +was increased to fifteen hundred. To give efficiency to all the measures +of colonization, what we should call a new department of administration +was formed, and at the head of it was placed Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca. + +Fonseca held this high and responsible position for thirty years. He +early conceived a great dislike of Columbus, who, in some transactions +before this expedition sailed, appealed to the sovereigns to set aside +a decision of Fonseca’s, and succeeded. For all the period while he +managed the Indian affairs of Spain, Fonseca kept his own interests +in sight more closely than those of Spain or of the colonists; and not +Columbus only, but every other official of Spain in the West Indies, had +reason to regret the appointment. + +The king of Portugal and the sovereigns of Spain began complicated and +suspicious negotiations with each other regarding the new discoveries. +Eventually, as has been said, they acceded to the pope’s proposal and +decree. But, at first, distrusting each other, and concealing their +real purposes, in the worst style of the diplomacy of that time, they +attempted treaties for the adjustment between themselves of the right to +lands not yet discovered by either. Of these negotiations, the important +result was that which has been named,--the change of the meridian of +division from that proposed by the pope. It is curious now to see that +the king of Portugal proposed a line of division, which would run east +and west, so that Spain should have the new territories north of the +latitude of the Grand Canary, and Portugal all to the south. + +In the midst of negotiation, the king and queen and Columbus knew +that whoever was first on the ground of discovery would have the great +advantage. There was a rumor in Spain that Portugal had already sent out +vessels to the west. Everything was pressed with alacrity at Cadiz. +The expedition was to be under Columbus’s absolute command. Seamen of +reputation were engaged to serve under him. Seventeen vessels were to +take out a colony. Horses as well as cattle and other domestic animals +were provided. Seeds and plants of different kinds were sent out, and +to this first colonization by Spain, America owes the sugar-cane, and +perhaps some other of her tropical productions. + +Columbus remained in Barcelona until the twenty-third of May. But before +that time, the important orders for the expedition had been given. +He then went to Cadiz himself, and gave his personal attention to the +preparations. Applications were eagerly pressed, from all quarters, for +permission to go. Young men of high family were eager to try the great +adventure. It was necessary to enlarge the number from that at first +proposed. The increase of expense, ordered as the plans enlarged, did +not please Fonseca. To quarrels between him and Columbus at this time +have been referred the persecutions which Columbus afterwards suffered. +In this case the king sustained Columbus in all his requisitions, and +Fonseca was obliged to answer them. + +So rapidly were all these preparations made, that, in a little more than +a year from the sailing of the first expedition, the second, on a scale +so much larger, was ready for sea. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- THE SECOND EXPEDITION SAILS + +--FROM CADIZ AT CANARY ISLANDS--DISCOVERY OF DOMINICA +AND GUADELOUPE--SKIRMISHES WITH THE CARIBS--PORTO RICO +DISCOVERED--HISPANIOLA--THE FATE OF THE COLONY AT LA NAVIDAD. + +There is not in history a sharper contrast, or one more dramatic, than +that between the first voyage of Columbus and the second. In the first +voyage, three little ships left the port of Palos, most of the men of +their crews unwilling, after infinite difficulty in preparation, and in +the midst of the fears of all who stayed behind. + +In the second voyage, a magnificent fleet, equipped with all that the +royal service could command, crowded with eager adventurers who are +excited by expectations of romance and of success, goes on the very same +adventure. + +In the first voyage, Columbus has but just turned the corner after the +struggles and failures of eight years. He is a penniless adventurer who +has staked all his reputation on a scheme in which he has hardly any +support. In the second case, Columbus is the governor-general, for aught +he knows, of half the world, of all the countries he is to discover; +and he knows enough, and all men around him know enough, to see that his +domain may be a principality indeed. + +Success brings with it its disadvantages. The world has learned since, +if it did not know it then, that one hundred and fifty sailors, used to +the hard work and deprivations of a seafaring life, would be a much +more efficient force for purposes of discovery, than a thousand and more +courtiers who have left the presence of the king and queen in the hope +of personal advancement or of romantic adventure. Those dainty people, +who would have been soldiers if there were no gunpowder, are not men to +found states; and the men who have lived in the ante-chambers of courts +are not people who co-operate sympathetically with an experienced man of +affairs like Columbus. + +From this time forward this is to be but a sad history, and the sadness, +nay, the cruelty of the story, results largely from the composition of +the body of men whom Columbus took with him on this occasion. It is +no longer coopers and blacksmiths and boatswains and sailmakers who +surround him. These were officers of court, whose titles even cannot be +translated into modern language, so artificial were their habits and so +conventional the duties to which they had been accustomed. Such men it +was, who made poor Columbus endless trouble. Such men it was, who, at +the last, dragged him down from his noble position, so that he died +unhonored, dispirited and poor. To the same misfortune, probably, do we +owe it that, for a history of this voyage, we have no longer authority +so charming as the simple, gossipy journal which Columbus kept through +the first voyage, of which the greater part has happily been preserved. +It may be that he was too much pressed by his varied duties to keep up +such a journal. For it is alas! an unfortunate condition of human life, +that men are most apt to write journals when they have nothing to tell, +and that in the midst of high activity, the record of that activity is +not made by the actor. In the present case, a certain Doctor Chanca, a +native of Seville, had been taken on board Columbus’s ship, perhaps with +the wish that he should be the historian of the expedition. It may be +that in the fact that his journal was sent home is the reason why the +Admiral’s, if he kept one, has never been preserved. Doctor Chanca’s +narrative is our principal contemporary account of the voyage. From +later authorities much can be added to it, but all of them put +together are not, for the purposes of history, equal to the simple +contemporaneous statement which we could have had, had Columbus’s own +journal been preserved. + +The great fleet sailed from Cadiz on the twenty-fifth day of September, +in the year 1493, rather more than thirteen months after the sailing +of the little fleet from Palos of the year before. They touched at the +Grand Canary as before, but at this time their vessels were in good +condition and there was no dissatisfaction among the crews. From +this time the voyage across the ocean was short. On the third day of +November, 11 the Sunday after All Saints Day had dawned, a pilot on the +ship cried out to the captain that he saw land. “So great was the joy +among the people, that it was marvellous to hear the shouts of pleasure +on all hands. And for this there was much reason because the people were +so much fatigued by the hard life and by the water which they drank that +they all hoped for land with much desire.” + +The reader will see that this is the ejaculation of a tired landsman; +one might say, of a tired scholar, who was glad that even the short +voyage was at an end. Some of the pilots supposed that the distance +which they had run was eight hundred leagues from Ferro; others thought +it was seven hundred and eighty. As the light increased, there were +two islands in sight the first was mountainous, being the island of +“Dominica,” which still retains that name, of the Sunday when it was +discovered; the other, the island of Maria Galante, is more level, but +like the first, as it is described by Dr. Chanca, it was well wooded. +The island received its name from the ship that Columbus commanded. In +all, they discovered six islands on this day. + +Finding no harbor which satisfied him in Dominica, Columbus landed on +the island of Maria Galante, and took possession of it in the name of +the king and queen. Dr. Chanca expresses the amazement which everyone +had felt on the other voyage, at the immense variety of trees, of fruits +and of flowers, which to this hour is the joy of the traveller in the +West Indies. + +“In this island was such thickness of forest that it was wonderful, and +such a variety of trees, unknown to anyone, that it was terrible, some +with fruit, some with flowers, so that everything was green. * * * There +were wild fruits of different sorts, which some not very wise men tried, +and, on merely tasting them, touching them with their tongues, their +faces swelled and they had such great burning and pain that they seemed +to rage (or to have hydrophobia). They were cured with cold things.” + This fruit is supposed to have been the manchireel, which is known to +produce such effects. + +They found no inhabitants on this island and went on to another, now +called Guadeloupe. It received this name from its resemblance to a +province of the same name in Spain. They drew near a mountain upon it +which “seemed to be trying to reach the sky,” upon which was a beautiful +waterfall, so white with foam that at a distance some of the sailors +thought it was not water, but white rocks. The Admiral sent a light +caravel to coast along and find harbor. This vessel discovered some +houses, and the captain went ashore and found the inhabitants in them. +They fled at once, and he entered the houses. There he found that they +had taken nothing away. There was much cotton, “spun and to be spun,” + and other goods of theirs, and he took a little of everything, among +other things, two parrots, larger and different from what had been seen +before. He also took four or five bones of the legs and arms of men. +This last discovery made the Spaniards suppose that these islands were +those of Caribs, inhabited by the cannibals of whom they had heard in +the first voyage. + +They went on along the coast, passing by some little villages, from +which the inhabitants fled, “as soon as they saw the sails.” The Admiral +decided to send ashore to make investigations, and next morning “certain +captains” landed. At dinnertime some of them returned, bringing with +them a boy of fourteen, who said that he was one of the captives of the +people of the island. The others divided, and one party “took a little +boy and brought him on board.” Another party took a number of women, +some of them natives of the island, and others captives, who came of +their own accord. One captain, Diego Marquez, with his men, went off +from the others and lost his way with his party. After four days he came +out on the coast, and by following that, he succeeded in coming to the +fleet. Their friends supposed them to have been killed and eaten by the +Caribs, as, since some of them were pilots and able to set their course +by the pole-star, it seemed impossible that they should lose themselves. + +During the first day Columbus spent here, many men and women came to the +water’s edge, “looking at the fleet and wondering at such a new thing; +and when any boat came ashore to talk with them, saying, ‘tayno, tayno,’ +which means good. But they were all ready to run when they seemed +in danger, so that of the men only two could be taken by force or +free-will. There were taken more than twenty women of the captives, and +of their free-will came other women, born in other islands, who were +stolen away and taken by force. Certain captive boys came to us. In this +harbor we were eight days on account of the loss of the said captain.” + +They found great quantities of human bones on shore, and skulls hanging +like pots or cups about the houses. They saw few men. The women said +that this was because ten canoes had gone on a robbing or kidnapping +expedition to other islands. “This people,” says Doctor Chanca, +“appeared to us more polite than those who live in the other islands +we have seen, though they all have straw houses.” But he goes on to say +that these houses are better made and provided, and that more of both +men’s and women’s work appeared in them. They had not only plenty of +spun and unspun cotton, but many cotton mantles, “so well woven that +they yield in nothing (or owe nothing) to those of our country.” + +When the women, who had been found captives, were asked who the people +of the island were, they replied that they were Caribs. “When they heard +that we abhorred such people for their evil use of eating men’s flesh, +they rejoiced much.” But even in the captivity which all shared, they +showed fear of their old masters. + +“The customs of this people, the Caribs,” says Dr. Chanca, “are +beastly;” and it would be difficult not to agree with him, in spite of +the “politeness” and comparative civilization he has spoken of. + +They occupied three islands, and lived in harmony with each other, but +made war in their canoes on all the other islands in the neighborhood. +They used arrows in warfare, but had no iron. Some of them used +arrow-heads of tortoise shell, others sharply toothed fish-bones, which +could do a good deal of damage among unarmed men. “But for people of our +nation, they are not arms to be feared much.” + +These Caribs carried off both men and women on their robbing +expeditions. They slaughtered and ate the men, and kept the women as +slaves; they were, in short, incredibly cruel. Three of the captive boys +ran away and joined the Spaniards. + +They had twice sent out expeditions after the lost captain, Diego +Marquez, and another party had returned without news of him, on the +very day on which he and his men came in. They brought with them ten +captives, boys and women. They were received with great joy. “He and +those that were with him, arrived so DESTROYED BY THE MOUNTAIN, that +it was pitiful to see them. When they were asked how they had lost +themselves, they said that it was the thickness of the trees, so +great that they could not see the sky, and that some of them, who were +mariners, had climbed up the trees to look at the star (the Pole-star) +and that they never could see it.” + +One of the accounts of this voyage(*) relates that the captive women, +who had taken refuge with the Spaniards, were persuaded by them to +entice some of the Caribs to the beach. “But these men, when they had +seen our people, all struck by terror, or the consciousness of their +evil deeds, looking at each other, suddenly drew together, and very +lightly, like a flight of birds, fled away to the valleys of the woods. +Our men then, not having succeeded in taking any cannibals, retired to +the ships and broke the Indians’ canoes.” + + (*) That of Peter Martyr. + +They left Guadeloupe on Sunday, the tenth of November. They passed +several islands, but stopped at none of them, as they were in haste to +arrive at the settlement of La Navidad in Hispaniola, made on the first +voyage. They did, however, make some stay at an island which seemed well +populated. This was that of San Martin. The Admiral sent a boat ashore +to ask what people lived on the island, and to ask his way, although, +as he afterwards found, his own calculations were so correct that he +did not need any help. The boat’s crew took some captives, and as it +was going back to the ships, a canoe came up in which were four men, two +women and a boy. They were so astonished at seeing the fleet, that they +remained, wondering what it could be, “two Lombard-shot from the ship,” + and did not see the boat till it was close to them. They now tried +to get off, but were so pressed by the boat that they could not. “The +Caribs, as soon as they saw that flight did not profit them, with much +boldness laid hands on their bows, the women as well as the men. And I +say with much boldness, because they were no more than four men and two +women, and ours more than twenty-five, of whom they wounded two. To one +they gave two arrow-shots in the breast, and to the other one in the +ribs. And if we had not had shields and tablachutas, and had not come up +quickly with the boat and overturned their canoe, they would have +shot the most of our men with their arrows. And after their canoe was +overturned, they remained in the water swimming, and at times getting +foothold, for there were some shallow places there. And our men had much +ado to take them, for they still kept on shooting as they could. And +with all this, not one of them could be taken, except one badly wounded +with a lance-thrust, who died, whom thus wounded they carried to the +ships.” + +Another account of this fight says that the canoe was commanded by one +of the women, who seemed to be a queen, who had a son “of cruel look, +robust, with a lion’s face, who followed her.” This account represents +the queen’s son to have been wounded, as well as the man who died. “The +Caribs differed from the other Indians in having long hair; the others +wore theirs braided and a hundred thousand differences made in their +heads, with crosses and other paintings of different sorts, each one +as he desires, which they do with sharp canes.” The Indians, both the +Caribs and the others, were beardless, unless by a great exception. The +Caribs, who had been taken prisoners here, had their eyes and eyebrows +blackened, “which, it seems to me, they do as an ornament, and with that +they appear more frightful.” They heard from these prisoners of much +gold at an island called Cayre. + +They left San Martin on the same day, and passed the island of Santa +Cruz, and the next day (November 15) they saw a great number of islands, +which the Admiral named Santa Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. +This seemed “a country fit for metals,” but the fleet made no stay +there. They did stop for two days at an island called Burenquen. The +Admiral named it San Juan Bautista (Saint John Baptist). It is what +we now call Porto Rico. He was not able to communicate with any of the +inhabitants, as they lived in such fear of the Caribs that they all +fled. All these islands were new to the Admiral and all “very beautiful +and of very good land, but this one seemed better than all of them.” + +On Friday, the twenty-second of November, they landed at the island of +Hispaniola or Hayti which they so much desired. None of the party who +had made the first voyage were acquainted with this part of the island; +but they conjectured what it was, from what the Indian captive women +told them. + +The part of the island where they arrived was called Hayti, another part +Xamana, and the third Bohio. “It is a very singular country,” says Dr. +Chanca, “where there are numberless great rivers and great mountain +ridges and great level valleys. I think the grass never dries in the +whole year. I do not think that there is any winter in this (island) nor +in the others, for at Christmas are found many birds’ nests, some with +birds, and some with eggs.” The only four-footed animals found in these +islands were what Dr. Chanca calls dogs of various colors, and one +animal like a young rabbit, which climbed trees. Many persons ate these +last and said they were very good. There were many small snakes, and few +lizards, because the Indians were so fond of eating them. “They made as +much of a feast of them as we would do of pheasants.” + +“There are in this island and the others numberless birds, of those +of our country, and many others which never were seen there. Of our +domestic birds, none have ever been seen here, except that in Zuruquia +there were some ducks in the houses, most of them white as snow, and +others black.” + +They coasted along this island for several days, to the place where the +Admiral had left his settlement. While passing the region of Xamana, +they set ashore one of the Indians whom they had carried off on the +first voyage. They “gave him some little things which the Admiral had +commanded him to give away.” Another account adds that of the ten Indian +men who had been carried off on the first voyage, seven had already +died on account of the change of air and food. Two of the three whom the +Admiral was bringing back, swam ashore at night. “The Admiral cared for +this but little, thinking that he should have enough interpreters among +those whom he had left in the island, and whom he hoped to find there +again.” It seems certain that one Indian remained faithful to the +Spaniards; he was named Diego Colon, after the Admiral’s brother. + +On the day that the captive Indian was set ashore, a Biscayan sailor +died, who had been wounded by the Caribs in the fight between the boat’s +crew and the canoe. A boat’s crew was sent ashore to bury him, and as +they came to land there came out “many Indians, of whom some wore gold +at the neck and at the ears. They sought to come with the christians to +the ships, and they did not like to bring them, because they had not had +permission from the Admiral.” The Indians then sent two of their number +in a little canoe to one of the caravels, where they were received +kindly, and sent to speak with the Admiral. + +“They said, through an interpreter, that a certain king sent them to +know what people we were, and to ask that we might be kind enough to +land, as they had much gold and would give it to him, and of what they +had to eat. The Admiral commanded silken shirts and caps and other +little things to be given them, and told them that as he was going where +Guacanagari was, he could not stop, that another time he would be able +to see him. And with that, they (the Indians) went away.” + +They stopped two days at a harbor which they called Monte Christi, to +see if it were a suitable place for a town, for the Admiral did not feel +altogether satisfied with the place where the settlement of La Navidad +had been made on the first voyage. This Monte Christi was near “a great +river of very good water” (the Santiago). But it is all an inundated +region, and very unfit to live in. + +“As they were going along, viewing the river and land, some of our men +found, in a place close by the river, two dead men, one with: a cord +(lazo) around his neck, and the other with one around his foot. This was +the first day. On the next day following, they found two other dead men +farther on than these others. One of these was in such a position +that it could be known that he had a plentiful beard. Some of our men +suspected more ill than good, and with reason, as the Indians are all +beardless, as I have said.” + +This port was not far from the port where the Spanish settlement had +been made on the first voyage, so that there was great reason for these +anxieties. They set sail once more for the settlement, and arrived +opposite the harbor of La Navidad on the twenty-seventh of November. As +they were approaching the harbor, a canoe came towards them, with five +or six Indians on board, but, as the Admiral kept on his course without +waiting for them, they went back. + +The Spaniards arrived outside the port of La Navidad so late that they +did not dare to enter it that night. “The Admiral commanded two Lombards +to be fired, to see if the christians replied, who had been left with +the said Guacanagari, (this was the friendly cacique Guacanagari of the +first voyage), for they too had Lombards,” “They never replied, nor did +fires nor signs of houses appear in that place, at which the people were +much discouraged, and they had the suspicion that was natural in such a +case.” + +“Being thus all very sad, when four or five hours of the night had +passed, there came the same canoe which they had seen the evening +before. The Indians in it asked for the Admiral and the captain of one +of the caravels of the first voyage. They were taken to the Admiral’s +ship, but would not come on board until they had spoken with him and +seen him.” They asked for a light, and as soon as they knew him, they +entered the ship. They came from Guacanagari, and one of them was his +cousin. + +They brought with them golden masks, one for the Admiral and another for +one of the captains who had been with him on the first voyage, probably +Vicente Yanez Pinzon. Such masks were much valued among the Indians, +and are thought to have been meant to put upon idols, so that they were +given to the Spaniards as tokens of great respect. The Indian party +remained on board for three hours, conversing with the Admiral and +apparently very glad to see him again. When they were asked about the +colonists of La Navidad, they said that they were all well, but that +some of them had died from sickness, and that others had been killed +in quarrels among themselves. Their own cacique, Guacanagari, had been +attacked by two other chiefs, Caonabo and Mayreni. They had burned his +village, and he had been wounded in the leg, so that he could not come +to meet the Spaniards that night. As the Indians went away, however, +they promised that they would bring him to visit them the next day. So +the explorers remained “consoled for that night.” + +Next day, however, events were less reassuring. None of last night’s +party came back and nothing was seen of the cacique. The Spaniards, +however, thought that the Indians might have been accidentally +overturned in their canoe, as it was a small one, and as wine had been +given them several times during their visit. + +While he was still waiting for them, the Admiral sent some of his men +to the place where La Navidad had stood. They found that the strong fort +with a palisade was burned down and demolished. They also found some +cloaks and other clothes which had been carried off by the Indians, who +seemed uneasy, and at first would not come near the party. + +“This did not appear well” to the Spaniards, as the Admiral had told +them how many canoes had come out to visit him in that very place on +the other voyage. They tried to make friends, however, threw out to +them some bells, beads and other presents, and finally a relation of the +cacique and three others ventured to the boat, and were taken on board +ship. + +These men frankly admitted that the “christians” were all dead. The +Spaniards had been told so the night before by their Indian interpreter, +but they had refused to believe him. They were now told that the King of +Canoaboa(*) and the King Mayreni had killed them and burned the village. + + (*) “Canoaboa” was thought to mean “Land of Gold.” + +They said, as the others had done, that Guacanagari was wounded in the +thigh and they, like the others, said they would go and summon him. The +Spaniards made them some presents, and they, too, disappeared. + +Early the next morning the Admiral himself, with a party, including Dr. +Chanca, went ashore. + +“And we went where the town used to be, which we saw all burnt, and the +clothes of the christians were found on the grass there. At that time +we saw no dead body. There were among us many different opinions, some +suspecting that Guacanagari himself was (concerned) in the betrayal or +death of the christians, and to others it did not appear so, as his town +was burnt, so that the thing was very doubtful.” + +The Admiral directed the whole place to be searched for gold, as he had +left orders that if any quantity of it were found, it should be buried. +While this search was being made, he and a few others went to look for a +suitable place for a new settlement. They arrived at a village of seven +or eight houses, which the inhabitants deserted at once. Here they found +many things belonging to the christians, such as stockings, pieces of +cloth, and “a very pretty mantle which had not been unfolded since it +was brought from Castile.” These, the Spaniards thought, could not have +been obtained by barter. There was also one of the anchors of the ship +which had gone ashore on the first voyage. + +When they returned to the site of La Navidad they found many Indians, +who had become bold enough to come to barter gold. They had shown the +place where the bodies of eleven Spaniards lay “covered already by the +grass which had grown over them.” They all “with one voice” said that +Canoaboa and Mayreni had killed them. But as, at the same time, they +complained that some of the christians had taken three Indian wives, and +some four, it seemed likely that a just resentment on the part of the +islanders had had something to do with their death. + +The next day the Admiral sent out a caravel to seek for a suitable +place for a town, and he himself went out to look for one in a different +direction. He found a secure harbor and a good place for a settlement, +But he thought it too far from the place where he expected to find a +gold mine. On his return, he found the caravel he had sent out. As it +was coasting along the island, a canoe had come out to it, with two +Indians on board, one of whom was a brother of Guacanagari. This man +begged the party to come and visit the cacique. The “principal men” + accordingly went on shore, and found him in bed, apparently suffering +from his wounded thigh, which he showed them in bandages. They judged +from appearances that he was telling them the truth. + +He said to them, “by signs as best he could,” that since he was thus +wounded, they were to invite the Admiral to come to visit him. As they +were going away, he gave each of them a golden jewel, as each “appeared +to him to deserve it.” “This gold,” says Dr. Chanca, “is made in very +delicate sheets, like our gold leaf, because they use it for making +masks and to plate upon bitumen. They also wear it on the head and for +earrings and nose-rings, and therefore they beat it very thin as they +only wear it for its beauty and not for its value.” + +The Admiral decided to go to the cacique on the next day. He was visited +early in the day by his brother, who hurried on the visit. + +The Admiral went on shore and all the best people (gente de pro) with +him, “handsomely dressed, as would be suitable in a capital city.” They +carried presents with them, as they had already received gold from him. + +“When we arrived, we found him lying in his bed, according to their +custom, hanging in the air, the bed being made of cotton like a net. He +did not rise, but from the bed made a semblance of courtesy, as best he +knew how. He showed much feeling, with tears in his eyes, at the death +of the Christians, and began to talk of it, showing, as best he could, +how some died of sickness, and how others had gone to Canoaboa to seek +for the gold mine, and that they had been killed there, and how the +others had been killed in their town.” + +He presented to the Admiral some gold and precious stones. One of the +accounts says that there were eight hundred beads of a stone called +ciba, one hundred of gold, a golden coronet, and three small calabashes +filled with gold dust. Columbus, in return, made him a present. + +“I and a navy surgeon were there,” says Dr. Chanca. “The Admiral now +said that we were learned in the infirmities of men, and asked if he +would show us the wound. He replied that it pleased him to do so. I said +that it would be necessary, if he could, for him to go out of the house, +since with the multitudes of people it was dark, and we could not see +well. He did it immediately, as I believe, more from timidity than from +choice. The surgeon came to him and began to take off the bandage. Then +he said to the Admiral that the injury was caused by ciba, that is, by +a stone. When it was unbandaged we managed to examine it. It is certain +that he was no more injured in that leg than in the other, although he +pretended that it was very painful.” + +The Spaniards did not know what to believe. But it seemed certain that +an attack of some enemy upon these Indians had taken place, and the +Admiral determined to continue upon good terms with them. Nor did he +change this policy toward Guacanagari. How far that chief had tried to +prevent the massacre will never be known. The detail of the story was +never fully drawn from the natives. The Spaniards had been cruel and +licentious in their dealing with the Indians. They had quarrelled among +themselves, and the indignant natives, in revenge, had destroyed them +all. + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- THE NEW COLONY + +--EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY--GUACANAGARI--SEARCH FOR GOLD--MUTINY IN THE +COLONY--THE VESSELS SENT HOME--COLUMBUS MARCHES INLAND--COLLECTION +OF GOLD--FORTRESS OF ST. THOMAS--A NEW VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY--JAMAICA +VISITED--THE SOUTH SHORE OF CUBA EXPLORED--RETURN--EVANGELISTA +DISCOVERED--COLUMBUS FALLS SICK--RETURN TO ISABELLA. + +Columbus had hoped, with reason, to send back a part of the vessels +which made up his large squadron, with gold collected in the year by +the colonists at La Navidad. In truth, when, in 1501, the system of +gold-washing-had been developed, the colony yielded twelve hundred +pounds of gold in one year. The search for gold, from the beginning, +broke up all intelligent plans for geographical discovery or for +colonization. In this case, it was almost too clear that there was +nothing but bad news to send back to Spain. Columbus went forward, +however, as well as he could, with the establishment of a new colony, +and with the search for gold. + +He sent out expeditions of discovery to open relations with the natives, +and to find the best places for washing and mining for gold. +Melchior Meldonado commanded three hundred men, in the first of these +expeditions. They came to a good harbor at the mouth of a river, +where they saw a fine house, which they supposed might be the home of +Guacanagari. They met an armed party of one hundred Indians; but these +men put away their weapons when signals of peace were made, and brought +presents in token of good-will. + +The house to which they went was round, with a hemispherical roof or +dome. It was thirty-two paces in diameter, divided by wicker work into +different rooms. Smaller houses, for persons of rank lower than the +chiefs, surrounded it. The natives told the explorers that Guacanagari +himself had retired to the hills. + +On receiving the report of these explorers Columbus sent out Ojeda +with a hundred men, and Corvalan with a similar party in different +directions. These officers, in their report, described the operation of +gold-washing, much as it is known to explorers in mining regions to-day. +The natives made a deep ditch into which the gold bearing sand should +settle. For more important work they had flat baskets in which they +shook the sand and parted it from the gold. With the left hand they +dipped up sand, handled this skilfully or “dextrously” with the right +hand, so that in a few minutes they could give grains of gold to the +gratified explorers. Ojeda brought home to Columbus one nugget which +weighed nine ounces. + +They also brought tidings of the King of Canoaboa, of whom they had +heard before, and he is called by the name of Caunebo himself.(*) He was +afterwards carried, as a prisoner or as a hostage, on the way to Spain; +but died on the passage. + + (*) The name is spelled in many different ways. + +Columbus was able to dispatch the returning ships, with the encouraging +reports brought in by Meldonado and Ojeda, but with very little +gold. But he was obliged to ask for fresh supplies of food for the +colony--even in the midst of the plenty which he described; for he had +found already what all such leaders find, the difficulty of training men +to use food to which they were not accustomed. He sent also his Carib +prisoners, begging that they might be trained to a knowledge of the +christian religion and of the Spanish language. He saw, already, how +much he should need interpreters. The fleet sailed on the second of +February, and its reports were, on the whole, favorably received. + +Columbus chose for the new city an elevation, ten leagues east of Monte +Christi, and at first gave to his colony the name of Martha. It is the +Isabella of the subsequent history. + +The colonists were delighted with the fertility of the soil under the +tropical climate. Andalusia itself had not prepared them for it. They +planted seeds of peas, beans, lettuces, cabbages and other vegetables, +and declared that they grew more in eight days than they would have +grown in twenty at home. They had fresh vegetables in sixteen days after +they planted them; but for melons, pumpkins and other fruits of that +sort, they are generous enough to allow thirty days. + +They had carried out roots and suckers of the sugar-cane. In fifteen +days the shoots were a cubit high. A farmer who had planted wheat in the +beginning of February had ripe grain in the beginning of April; so that +they were sure of, at least, two crops in a year. + +But the fertility of the soil was the only favorable token which the +island first exhibited. The climate was enervating and sickly. The +labor on the new city was hard and discouraging. Columbus found that his +colonists were badly fitted for their duty, or not fitted for it at +all. Court gentlemen did not want to work. Priests expected to be put +on better diet than any other people. Columbus--though he lost his +own popularity--insisted on putting all on equal fare, in sharing the +supplies he had brought from Spain. It did not require a long time to +prove that the selection of the site of the colony was unfortunate. +Columbus himself gave way to the general disease. While he was ill, a +mutiny broke out which he had to suppress by strong measures. + +Bornal Diaz, who ranked as comptroller of the expedition, and Fermin +Cedo, an assayer, made a plot for seizing the remaining ships and +sailing for Europe. News of the mutiny was brought to Columbus. He +found a document in the writing of Diaz, drawn as a memorial, accusing +Columbus himself of grave crimes. He confined Diaz on board a ship to +be sent to Spain with the memorial. He punished the mutineers of lower +rank. He took the guns and naval munitions from four of the vessels, and +entrusted them all to a person in whom he had absolute confidence. + +On the report of the exploring parties, four names were given to as many +divisions of the island. Junna was the most western, Attibunia the most +eastern, Jachen the northern and Naiba the southern. Columbus himself, +seeing the fortifications of the city well begun, undertook, in March, +an exploration, of the island, with a force of five hundred men. + +It was in the course of this exploration that one of the natives brought +in a gold-bearing stone which weighed an ounce. He was satisfied with a +little bell in exchange. He was surprised at the wonder expressed by the +Spaniards, and showing a stone as large as a pomegranate, he said that +he had nuggets of gold as large as this at his home. Other Indians +brought in gold-bearing stones which weighed more than an ounce. At +their homes, also, but not in sight, alas, was a block of gold as large +as an infant’s head. + +Columbus himself thought it best to take as many men as he could into +the mountain region. He left the new city under the care of his brother, +Diego, and with all the force of healthy men which he could muster, +making a little army of nearly five hundred men, he marched away +from the sickly seaboard into the interior. The simple natives were +astonished by the display of cavalry and other men in armor. After a few +days of a delightful march, in the beauty of spring in that country, he +entered upon the long sought Cibao. He relinquished his first idea of +founding another city here, but did build a fortress called St. Thomas, +in joking reference to Cedo and others, who had asserted that these +regions produced no gold. While building this fortress, as it was +proudly called, he sent a young cavalier named Luxan for further +exploration. + +Luxan returned with stories even greater than they had heard of before, +but with no gold, “because he had no orders to do so.” He had found +ripe grapes. And at last they had found a region called Cipangi, cipan +signifying stone. This name recalled the memory of Cipango, or Japan. +With tidings as encouraging as this, Columbus returned to his city. He +appointed his brother and Pedro Margarita governors of the city, and +left with three ships for the further exploration of Cuba, which he had +left only partly examined in his first voyage. He believed that it was +the mainland of Asia. And as has been said, such was his belief till he +died, and that of his countrymen. Cuba was not known to be an island for +many years afterwards. He was now again in the career which pleased him, +and for which he was fitted. He was always ill at ease in administering +a colony, or ruling the men who were engaged in it. He was happy and +contented when he was discovering. He had been eager to follow the +southern coast of Cuba, as he had followed the north in his first +voyage. And now he had his opportunity. Having commissioned his +brother Diego and Margarita and appointed also a council of four other +gentlemen, he sailed to explore new coasts, on the twenty-fourth of +April. + +He was soon tempted from his western course that he might examine +Jamaica, of which he saw the distant lines on the south. “This island,” + says the account of the time, “is larger than Sicily. It has only one +mountain, which rises from the coast on every side, little by little, +until you come to the middle of the island and the ascent is so gradual +that, whether you rise or descend, you hardly know whether you are +rising or descending.” Columbus found the island well peopled, and from +what he saw of the natives, thought them more ingenious, and better +artificers, than any Indians he had seen before. But when he proposed +to land, they generally showed themselves prepared to resist him. He +therefore deferred a full examination of the island to his return, and, +with the first favorable wind, pressed on toward the southern coast of +Cuba. He insisted on calling this the “Golden Chersonesus” of the East. +This name had been given by the old geographers to the peninsula now +known as Malacca. + +Crossing the narrow channel between Jamaica and Cuba, he began coasting +that island westward. If the reader will examine the map, he will find +many small keys and islands south of Cuba, which, before any survey had +been made, seriously retarded his westward course. In every case he was +obliged to make a separate examination to be sure where the real coast +of the island was, all the time believing it was the continent of Asia. +One of the narratives says, with a pardonable exaggeration, that in all +this voyage he thus discovered seven hundred islands. His own estimate +was that he sailed two hundred and twenty-two leagues westward in the +exploration which now engaged him. + +The month of May and the beginning of June were occupied with such +explorations. The natives proved friendly, as the natives of the +northern side of Cuba had proved two years before. They had, in general, +heard of the visit of the Spaniards; but their wonder and admiration +seem to have been none the less now that they saw the reality. + +On one occasion the hopes of all the party, that they should find +themselves at the court of the Grand Khan, were greatly quickened. A +Spaniard had gone into a forest alone, hunting. Suddenly he saw a man +clothed in white, or thought he did, whom he supposed to be a friar of +the order of Saint Mary de Mercedes, who was with the expedition. +But, almost immediately, ten other friars dressed in the same costume, +appeared, and then as many as thirty. The Spaniard was frightened at the +multiplication of their number, it hardly appears why, as they were all +men of peace, or should have been, whatever their number. He called out +to his companions, and bade them escape. But the men in white called +out to him, and waved their hands, as if to assure him that there was no +danger. He did not trust them, however, but rushed back to the shore +and the ship, as fast as he could, to report what he had seen to the +Admiral. + +Here, at last, was reason for hope that they had found one of the +Asiatic missions of the Church. Columbus at once landed a party, +instructing them to go forty miles inland, if necessary, to find people. +But this party found neither path nor roadway, although the country was +rich and fertile. Another party brought back rich bunches of grapes, and +other native fruits. But neither party saw any friars of the order of +Saint Mary. And it is now supposed that the Spaniard saw a peaceful +flock of white cranes. The traveller Humboldt describes one occasion, +in which the town of Angostura was put to alarm by the appearance of a +flock of cranes known as soldados, or “soldiers,” which were, as people +supposed, a band of Indians. + +In his interviews with the natives at one point and another, upon the +coast, Columbus was delighted with their simplicity, their hospitality, +and their kindly dealing with each other. On one occasion, when the Mass +was celebrated, a large number of them were present, and joined in the +service, as well as they could, with respect and devotion. An old man +as much as eighty years old, as the Spaniards thought, brought to +the Admiral a basket full of fruit, as a present. Then he said, by an +interpreter: + +“We have heard how you have enveloped, by your power, all these +countries, and how much afraid of you the people have been. But I have +to exhort you, and to tell you that there are two ways when men leave +this body. One is dark and dismal; it is for those who have injured the +race of men. The other is delightful and pleasant; it is for those who, +while alive, have loved peace and the repose of mankind. If, then, you +remember that you are mortal, and what these retributions are, you will +do no harm to any one.” + +Columbus told him in reply that he had known of the two roads after +death, and that he was well pleased to find that the natives of these +lands knew of them; for he had not expected this. He said that the king +and queen of Spain had sent him with the express mission of bringing +these tidings to them. In particular, that he was charged with the +duty of punishing the Caribs and all other men of impure life, and of +rewarding and honoring all pure and innocent men. This statement so +delighted the old prophet that he was eager to accompany Columbus on a +mission so noble, and it was only by the urgent entreaty of his wife +and children that he stayed with them. He found it hard to believe that +Columbus was inferior in rank or command to any other sovereign. + +The beauty of the island and the hospitality of the natives, however, +were not enough to dispose the crews to continue this exploration +further. They were all convinced that they were on the coast of Asia. +Columbus did not mean that afterwards any one should accuse him of +abandoning the discovery of that coast too soon. Calling to their +attention the distance they had sailed, he sent round a written +declaration for the signature of every person on the ships. Every man +and boy put his name to it. It expressed their certainty that they were +on the cape which made the end of the eastern Indies, and that any +one who chose could proceed thence westward to Spain by land. This +extraordinary declaration was attested officially by a notary, and still +exists. + +It was executed in a bay at the extreme southwestern corner of Cuba. It +has been remarked by Munoz, that at that moment, in that place, a ship +boy at the masthead could have looked over the group of low islands and +seen the open sea, which would have shown that Cuba was an island. + +The facts, which were controlling, were these, that the vessels were +leaky and the crews sick and discontented. On the thirteenth of June, +Columbus stood to the southeast. He discovered the island now known as +the Island of Pines. He called it Evangelista. He anchored here and took +in water. In an interview, not unlike that described, in which the old +Cuban expressed his desire to return with Columbus, it is said that +an Evangelistan chief made the same offer, but was withheld by the +remonstrances, of his wife and children. A similar incident is reported +in the visit to Jamaica, which soon followed. Columbus made a careful +examination of that island. Then he crossed to Hispaniola, where, from +the Indians, he received such accounts from the new town of Isabella as +assured him that all was well there. + +With his own indomitable zeal, he determined now to go to the Carib +islands and administer to them the vengeance he had ready. But his own +frame was not strong enough for his will. He sank exhausted, in a sort +of lethargy. The officers of his ship, supposing he was dying, put about +the vessels and the little squadron arrived, none too soon as it proved, +at Isabella. + +He was as resolute as ever in his determination to crush the Caribs, and +prevent their incursions upon those innocent islanders to whom he had +made so many promises of protection. But he fell ill, and for a short +time at least was wholly unconscious. The officers in command took +occasion of his illness, and of their right to manage the vessels, to +turn back to the city of Isabella. He arrived there “as one half dead,” + and his explorations and discoveries for this voyage were thus brought +to an end. To his great delight he found there his brother Bartholomew, +whom he had not seen for eight years. Bartholomew had accompanied Diaz +in the famous voyage in which he discovered the Cape of Good Hope. +Returning to Europe in 1488 he had gone to England, with a message from +Christopher Columbus, asking King Henry the Seventh to interest himself +in the great adventure he proposed. + +The authorities differ as to the reception which Henry gave to this +great proposal. Up to the present time, no notice has been found of his +visit in the English archives. The earliest notice of America, in the +papers preserved there, is a note of a present of ten pounds “to +hym that found the new land,” who was Cabot, after his first voyage. +Bartholomew Columbus was in England on the tenth of February, 1488; how +much later is not known. Returning from England he staid in France, in +the service of Madama de Bourbon. This was either Anne of Beaujeu, or +the widow of the Admiral Louis de Bourbon. Bartholomew was living in +Paris when he heard of his brother’s great discovery. + +He had now been appointed by the Spanish sovereigns to command a fleet +of three vessels, which had been sent out to provision the new colony. +He had sailed from Cadiz on the thirtieth of April, 1494, and he arrived +at Isabella on St. John’s Day of the same year. + +Columbus welcomed him with delight, and immediately made him his +first-lieutenant in command of the colony. There needed a strong hand +for the management of the colony, for the quarrels which had existed +before Columbus went on his Cuban voyage had not diminished in his +absence. Pedro Margarita and Father Boil are spoken of as those who +had made the most trouble. They had come determined to make a fortune +rapidly, and they did not propose to give up such a hope to the slow +processes of ordinary colonization. Columbus knew very well that those +who had returned to Spain had carried with them complaints as to his own +course. He would have been glad on some accounts to return, himself, +at once; but he did not think that the natives of the islands were +sufficiently under the power of the new colony to be left in safety. + +First of all he sent back four caravels, which had recently arrived +from Europe, with five hundred Indians whom he had taken as slaves. He +consigned them to Juan de Fonseca’s care. He was eager himself to say +that he sent them out that they might be converted, to Christianity, +and that they might learn the Spanish language and be of use as +interpreters. But, at the same time, he pointed out how easy it would +be to make a source of revenue to the Crown from such involuntary +emigration. To Isabella’s credit it is to be said, that she protested +against the whole thing immediately; and so far as appears, no further +shipments were made in exactly the same way. But these poor wretches +were not sent back to the islands, as she perhaps thought they were. +Fonseca did not hesitate to sell them, or apprentice them, to use our +modern phrase, and it is said by Bernaldez that they all died. His +bitter phrase is that Fonseca took no more care of them than if they had +been wild animals. + +Columbus did not recover his health, so as to take a very active part +in affairs for five months after his arrival at San Domingo. He was well +aware that the Indians were vigorously organized, with the intention of +driving his people from the island, or treating the colony as they had +treated the colony of Navidad. He called the chief of the Cipangi, named +Guarionexius, for consultation. The interpreter Didacus, who had served +them so faithfully, married the king’s sister, and it was hoped that +this would be a bond of amity between the two nations. + +Columbus sent Ojeda into the gold mountains with fifty armed men to make +an alliance with Canabao. Canabao met this party with a good deal of +perplexity. He undoubtedly knew that he had given the Spaniards good +reason for doubting him. It is said that he had put to death twenty +Spaniards by treasonable means, but it is to be remembered that this is +the statement of his enemies. He, however, came to Columbus with a large +body of his people, all armed. When he was asked why he brought so +large a force with him, he said that so great a king as he, could not go +anywhere without a fitting military escort. But Ojeda did not hesitate +to take him prisoner and carry him into Isabella, bound. As has been +said, he was eventually sent to Spain, but he died on the passage. + +Columbus made another fortress, or tower, on the border of King +Guarionexius’s country, between his kingdom and Cipango. He gave to this +post the name of the “Tower of the Conception,” and meant it to be a +rallying point for the miners and others, in case of any uprising of the +natives against them. This proved to be an important centre for mining +operations. From this place, what we should call a nugget of gold, +which one of the chiefs brought in, was sent to Spain. It weighed twenty +ounces. A good deal of interest attached also to the discovery of amber, +one mass of which weighed three hundred pounds. Such discoveries renewed +the interest and hope which had been excited in Spain by the first +accounts of Hispaniola. + +Columbus satisfied himself that he left the island really subdued; and +in this impression he was not mistaken. Certain that his presence in +Spain was needed, if he would maintain his own character against the +attacks of the disaffected Spaniards who had gone before him, he set +sail on the Nina on the tenth of March, taking with him as a consort +a caravel which had been built at Isabella. He did not arrive in Cadiz +till the eleventh of June, having been absent from Spain two years and +nine months. + +His return to Spain at this time gave Isabella another opportunity to +show the firmness of her character, and the determination to which alone +belongs success. + +The excitement and popularity which attended the return from the first +voyage had come to an end. Spain was in the period of reaction. +The disappointment which naturally follows undue expectations and +extravagant prophecies, was, in this instance, confirmed by the return +of discontented adventurers. Four hundred years have accustomed the +world to this reflex flow of disappointed colonists, unable or unwilling +to work, who come back from a new land to say that its resources have +been exaggerated. In this case, where everything was measured by the +standard of gold, it was certainly true that the supply of gold received +from the islands was very small as compared with the expenses of the +expedition which had been sent out. + +Five hundred Indians, who came to be taught the language, entering Spain +as slaves, were but a poor return for the expenses in which the +nation, not to say individuals, had been involved. The people of Spain, +therefore, so far as they could show their feeling, were prejudiced +against Columbus and those who surrounded him. They heard with +incredulity the accounts of Cuba which he gave, and were quite +indifferent to the geographical theories by which he wanted to prove +that it was a part of Asia. He believed that the rich mines, which he +had really found in Hispaniola, were the same as those of Ophir. But +after five years of waiting, the Spanish public cared but little for +such conjectures. + +As he arrived in Cadiz, he found three vessels, under Nino, about +to sail with supplies. These were much needed, for the relief of the +preceding year, sent out in four vessels, had been lost by shipwreck. +Columbus was able to add a letter of his own to the governor of +Isabella, begging him to conform to the wishes expressed by the king +and queen in the dispatches taken by Nino. He recommended diligence in +exploring the new mines, and that a seaport should be founded in their +neighborhood. At the same time he received a gracious letter from the +king and queen, congratulating him on his return, and asking him to +court as soon as he should recover from his fatigue. + +Columbus was encouraged by the tone of this letter. He had chosen to act +as if he were in disgrace, and dressed himself in humble garb, as if +he were a Franciscan monk, wearing his beard as the brethren of those +orders do. Perhaps this was in fulfillment of one of those vows which, +as we know, he frequently made in periods of despondency. + +He went to Burgos, where Ferdinand and Isabella were residing, and on +the way made such a display of treasure as he had done on the celebrated +march to Barcelona. Canabao, the fierce cacique of Hispaniola, had died +on the voyage, but his brother and nephew still lived, and he took +them to the king and queen, glittering on state occasions with golden +ornaments. One chain of gold which the brother wore, is said to +have been worth more than three thousand dollars of our time. In the +procession Columbus carried various masks and other images, made by the +Indians in fantastic shapes, which attracted the curiosity which in all +nations surrounds the idols of a foreign creed. + +The sovereigns received him cordially. No reference was made to the +complaints of the adventurers who had returned. However the sovereigns +may have been impressed by these, they were still confident in Columbus +and in his merits, and do not seem to have wished to receive the partial +accounts of his accusers. On his part, he pressed the importance of a +new expedition, in order that they might annex to their dominions the +eastern part of Asia. He wanted for this purpose eight ships. He was +willing to leave two in the island of Hispaniola, and he hoped that +he might have six for a voyage of discovery. The sovereigns assented +readily to his proposal, and at the time probably intended to carry out +his wishes. + +But Spain had something else to do than to annex Asia or to discover +America; and the fulfillment of the promises made so cordially in 1496, +was destined to await the exigencies of European war and diplomacy. In +fact, he did not sail upon the third expedition for nearly two years +after his arrival in Cadiz. + +In the autumn of 1496, an order was given for a sum amounting to +nearly a hundred thousand dollars of our time, for the equipment of +the promised squadron. At the same time Columbus was relieved from the +necessity by which he was bound in his original contract, to furnish +at least one-eighth of the money necessary in any of these expeditions. +This burden was becoming too heavy for him to bear. It was agreed, +however, that in the event of any profit resulting to the crown, he +should be entitled to one-eighth of it for three ensuing years. This +concession must be considered as an evidence that he was still in +favor. At the end of three years both parties were to fall back upon the +original contract. + +But these noble promises, which must have been so encouraging to him, +could not be fulfilled, as it proved. For the exigencies of war, the +particular money which was to be advanced to Columbus was used for the +repair of a fortress upon the frontier. Instead of this, Columbus was to +receive his money from the gold brought by Nino on his return. Alas, it +proved that a report that he had returned with so much gold, meant that +he had Indian prisoners, from the sale of whom he expected to realize +this money. And poor Columbus was virtually consigned to building +and fitting out his ship from the result of a slave-trade, which was +condemned by Isabella, and which he knew was wretchedly unprofitable. + +A difficulty almost equally great resulted from the unpopularity of +the expedition. People did not volunteer eagerly, as they had done, the +minds of men being poisoned by the reports of emigrants, who had +gone out in high hope, and had returned disappointed. It even became +necessary to commute the sentences of criminals who had been sentenced +to banishment, so that they might be transported into the new +settlements, where they were to work without pay. Even these expedients +did not much hasten the progress of the expedition. + +Fonseca, the steady enemy of Columbus, was placed in command again at +this time. The queen was overwhelmed with affliction by the death of +Prince Juan; and it seemed to Columbus and his friends that every petty +difficulty was placed in the way of preparation. When at length six +vessels were fitted for sea, it was only after the wear and tear of +constant opposition from officials in command; and the expedition, as it +proved, was not what Columbus had hoped for, for his purposes. + +On the thirtieth of May, however, in 1498, he was able to sail. As this +was the period when the Catholic church celebrates the mystery of +the Trinity, he determined and promised that the first land which he +discovered should receive that sacred name. He was well convinced of the +existence of a continent farther south than the islands among which he +had cruised, and intended to strike that continent, as in fact he did, +in the outset of his voyage. + + + +CHAPTER X. -- THE THIRD VOYAGE. + +LETTER TO THE KING AND QUEEN--DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD AND +PARIA--CURIOUS SPECULATION AS TO THE EARTHLY PARADISE--ARRIVAL AT +SAN DOMINGO--REBELLIONS AND MUTINIES IN THAT ISLAND--ROLDAN AND HIS +FOLLOWERS--OJEDA AND HIS EXPEDITION--ARRIVAL OF BOBADILLA--COLUMBUS A +PRISONER. + +For the narrative of the third voyage, we are fortunate in having once +more a contemporary account by Columbus himself. The more important part +of his expedition was partly over when he was able to write a careful +letter to the king and queen, which is still preserved. It is lighted +up by bursts of the religious enthusiasm which governed him from the +beginning. All the more does it show the character of the man, and it +impresses upon us, what is never to be forgotten, the mixture in his +motive of the enthusiasm of a discoverer, the eager religious feeling +which might have quickened a crusader, and the prospects of what we +should call business adventure, by which he tries to conciliate persons +whose views are less exalted than his own. + +In addressing the king and queen, who are called “very high and very +powerful princes,” he reminds them that his undertaking to discover the +West Indies began in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which appointed +him as a messenger for this enterprise. He asks them to remember that he +has always addressed them as with that intention. + +He reminds them of the seven or eight years in which he was urging +his cause and that it was not enough that he should have showed the +religious side of it, that he was obliged to argue for the temporal view +as well. But their decision, for which he praises them indirectly, was +made, he says, in the face of the ridicule of all, excepting the two +priests, Marcheza and the Archbishop of Segovia. “And everything will +pass away excepting the word of God, who spoke so clearly of these lands +by the voice of Isaiah in so many places, affirming that His name should +be divulged to the nations from Spain.” He goes on in a review of the +earlier voyages, and after this preface gives his account of the voyage +of 1498. + +They sailed from Santa Lucca the thirtieth of May, and went down to +Madeira to avoid the hostile squadron of the French who were awaiting +him at Cape St. Vincent. In the history by Herrara, of another +generation, this squadron is said to be Portuguese. From Maderia, +they passed to the Canary Islands, from which, with one ship and two +caravels, he makes his voyage, sending the other three vessels to +Hispaniola. After making the Cape de Verde Islands, he sailed southwest. +He had very hot weather for eight days, and in the hope of finding +cooler weather changed his course to the westward. + +On the thirty-first of July, they made land, which proved to be the cape +now known as Galeota, the southeastern cape of the island of Trinidad. +The country was as green at this season as the orchards of Valencia in +March. Passing five leagues farther on, he lands to refit his vessels +and take on board wood and water. The next day a large canoe from the +east, with twenty-four men, well armed, appeared. + +The Admiral wished to communicate with them, but they refused, although +he showed them basins and other things which he thought would attract +them. Failing in this effort, he directed some of the boys of the +crew to dance and play a tambourine on the poop of the ship. But this +conciliatory measure had as little success as the other. The natives +strung their bows, took up their shields and began to shoot the dancers. +Columbus stopped the entertainment, therefore, and ordered some balls +shot at them, upon which they left him. With the other vessel they +opened more friendly communication, but when the pilot went to Columbus +and asked leave to land with them, they went off, nor were any of them +or theirs seen again. + +On his arrival at Punta de Icacocos, at the southern point of Trinidad, +he observes the very strong currents which are always noticed by +voyagers, running with as much fury as the Guadalquiver in time of +flood. In the night a terrible wave came from the south, “a hill as +high as a ship,” so that even in writing of it he feels fear. But no +misfortune came from it. + +Sailing the next day, he found the water comparatively fresh. He is, in +fact, in the current produced by the great river Orinoco, which affects, +in a remarkable way, all the tide-flow of those seas. Sailing north, +he passes different points of the Island of Trinidad, and makes out the +Punta de la Pena and the mainland. He still observes the freshness of +the water and the severity of the currents. + +As he sails farther westward, he observes fleets, and he sends his +people ashore. They find no inhabitants at first, but eventually meet +people who tell him the enemy of this country is Paria. Of these he took +on board four. The king sent him an invitation to land, and numbers +of the people came in canoes, many of whom wore gold and pearls. These +pearls came to them from the north. Columbus did not venture to land +here because the provisions of his vessels were already failing him. + +He describes the people, as of much the same color as those who have +been observed before, and were ready for intercourse, and of good +appearance. Two prominent persons came to meet them, whom he thought to +be father and son. The house to which the Spaniards were led was large, +with many seats. An entertainment was brought forward, in which there +were many sorts of fruits, and wine of many kinds. It was not made from +grapes, however, and he supposed it must be made of different sorts of +fruits. + +A part of the entertainment was of maize, “which is a sort of corn which +grows here, with a spike like a spindle.” The Indians and their +guests parted with regret that they could not understand each other’s +conversation. All this passed in the house of the elder Indian. The +younger then took them to his house, where a similar collation was +served, and they then returned to the ship, Columbus being in haste to +press on, both on account of his want of supplies and the failure of his +own health. He says he was still suffering from diseases which he had +contracted on the last voyage, and with blindness. “That then his eyes +did not give him as much pain, nor were they bloodshot as much as they +are now.” + +He describes the people whom they at first visited as of fine stature, +easy bearing, with long straight hair, and wearing worked handkerchiefs +on their heads. At a little distance it seemed as if these were made of +silk, like the gauze veil with which the Spaniards were familiar, from +Moorish usage. + +“Others,” he says, “wore larger handkerchiefs round their waists, like +the panete of the Spaniards.” By this phrase he means a full garment +hanging over the knees, either trousers or petticoats. These people +were whiter in color than the Indians he had seen before. They all wore +something at the neck and arms, with many pieces of gold at the neck. +The canoes were much larger than he had seen, better in build and +lighter; they had a cabin in the middle for the princes and their women. + +He made many inquiries for gold, but was told he must go farther on, but +he was advised not to go there, because his men would be in danger +of being eaten. At first, Columbus supposed that this meant that +the inhabitants of the gold-bearing countries were cannibals, but he +satisfied himself afterwards that the natives meant that they would be +eaten by beasts. With regard to pearls, also, he got some information +that he should find them when he had gone farther west and farther +north. + +After these agreeable courtesies, the little fleet raised its anchors +and sailed west. Columbus sent one caravel to investigate the river. +Finding that he should not succeed in that direction, and that he had no +available way either north or south, he leaves by the same entrance +by which he had entered. The water is still very fresh, and he is +satisfied, correctly as we know, that these currents were caused by the +entrance of the great river of water. + +On the thirteenth of August he leaves the island by what he calls the +northern mouth of the river (Boca Grande), and begins to strike salt +water again. + +At this part of Columbus’s letter there is a very curious discussion of +temperature, which shows that this careful observer, even at that time, +made out the difference between what are called isothermal curves and +the curves of latitude. He observes that he cannot make any estimate +of what his temperature will be on the American coast from what he has +observed on the coast of Africa. + +He begins now to doubt whether the world is spherical, and is disposed +to believe that it is shaped like a pear, and he tries to make a theory +of the difference of temperature from this suggestion. We hardly need to +follow this now. We know he was entirely wrong in his conjecture. “Pliny +and others,” he says, “thought the world spherical, because on their +part of it it was a hemisphere.” They were ignorant of the section over +which he was sailing, which he considers to be that of a pear cut in +the wrong way. His demonstration is, that in similar latitudes to the +eastward it is very hot and the people are black, while at Trinidad or +on the mainland it is comfortable and the people are a fine race of men, +whiter than any others whom he has seen in the Indies. The sun in the +constellation of the Virgin is over their heads, and all this comes from +their being higher up, nearer the air than they would have been had they +been on the African coast. + +With this curious speculation he unites some inferences from Scripture, +and goes back to the account in the Book of Genesis and concludes that +the earthly Paradise was in the distant east. He says, however, that +if he could go on, on the equinoctial line, the air would grow more +temperate, with greater changes in the stars and in the water. He does +not think it possible that anyone can go to the extreme height of the +mountain where the earthly Paradise is to be found, for no one is to be +permitted to enter there but by the will of God, but he believes that in +this voyage he is approaching it. + +Any reader who is interested in this curious speculation of Columbus +should refer to the “Divina Comedia” of Dante, where Dante himself held +a somewhat similar view, and describes his entrance into the terrestrial +paradise under the guidance of Beatrice. It is a rather curious fact, +which discoverers of the last three centuries have established, that the +point, on this world, which is opposite the city of Jerusalem, where all +these enthusiasts supposed the terrestrial Paradise would be found, is +in truth in the Pacific Ocean not far from Pitcairn’s Island, in the +very region where so many voyagers have thought that they found the +climate and soil which to the terrestrial Paradise belong. + +Columbus expresses his dissent from the recent theory, which was that +of Dante, supposing that the earthly Paradise was at the top of a +sharp mountain. On the other hand, he supposes that this mountain rises +gently, but yet that no person can go to the top. + +This is his curious “excursion,” made, perhaps, because Columbus had the +time to write it. + +The journal now recurs to more earthly affairs. Passing out from the +mouth of the “Dragon,” he found the sea running westward and the wind +gentle. He notices that the waters are swept westward as the trade winds +are. In this way he accounts for there being so many islands in that +part of the earth, the mainland having been eaten away by the constant +flow of the waves. He thinks their very shape indicates this, they being +narrow from north to south and longer from east to west. Although some +of the islands differ in this, special reasons maybe given for the +difference. He brings in many of the old authorities to show, what we +now know to be entirely false, that there is much more land than water +on the surface of the globe. + +All this curious speculation as to the make-up of the world encourages +him to beg their Highnesses to go on with the noble work which they have +begun. He explains to them that he plants the cross on every cape +and proclaims the sovereignty of their Majesties and of the Christian +religion. He prays that this may continue. The only objection to it is +the expense, but Columbus begs their Highnesses to remember how much +more money is spent for the mere formalities of the elegancies of +the court. He begs them to consider the credit attaching to plans of +discovery and quickens their ambition by reference to the efforts of the +princes of Portugal. + +This letter closes by the expression of his determination to go on with +his three ships for further discoveries. + +This letter was written from San Domingo on the eighth of October. He +had already made the great discovery of the mainland of South America, +though he did not yet know that he had touched the continent. He had +intentionally gone farther south than before, and had therefore struck +the island of Trinidad, to which, as he had promised, he gave the name +which it still bears. A sailor first saw the summits of three mountains, +and gave the cry of land. As the ships approached, it was seen that +these three mountains were united at the base. Columbus was delighted by +the omen, as he regarded it, which thus connected his discovery with the +vow which he had made on Trinity Sunday. + +As the reader has seen, he first passed between this great island and +the mainland. The open gulf there described is now known as the Gulf of +Paria. The observation which he made as to the freshness of the water +caused by the flow of the Orinoco, has been made by all navigators +since. It may be said that he was then really in the mouth of the +Orinoco. + +Young readers, at least, will be specially interested to remember that +it was in this region that Robinson Crusoe’s island was placed by Defoe; +and if they will carefully read his life they will find discussions +there of the flow of the “great River Orinoco.” Crossing this gulf, +Columbus had touched upon the coast of Paria, and thus became the first +discoverer of South America. It is determined, by careful geographers, +that the discovery of the continent of North America, had been made +before this time by the Cabots, sailing under the orders of England. + +Columbus was greatly encouraged by the discovery of fine pearls among +the natives of Paria. Here he found one more proof that he was on the +eastern coast of Asia, from which coast pearls had been brought by +the caravans on which, till now, Europe had depended for its Asiatic +supplies. He gave the name “Gulf of Pearls” to the estuary which makes +the mouth of the River Paria. + +He would gladly have spent more time in exploring this region; but +the sea-stores of his vessel were exhausted, he was suffering from a +difficulty with his eyes, caused by overwatching, and was also a cripple +from gout. He resisted the temptation, therefore, to make further +explorations on the coast of Paria, and passed westward and +northwestward. He made many discoveries of islands in the Caribbean Sea +as he went northwest, and he arrived at the colony of San Domingo, +on the thirtieth of August. He had hoped for rest after his difficult +voyage; but he found the island in confusion which seemed hopeless. + +His brother Bartholomew, from all the accounts we have, would seem to +have administered its affairs with justice and decision; but the problem +he had in hand was one which could not be solved so as to satisfy all +the critics. Close around him he had a body of adventurers, almost +all of whom were nothing but adventurers. With the help of these +adventurers, he had to repress Indian hostilities, and to keep in order +the natives who had been insulted and injured in every conceivable way +by the settlers. + +He was expected to send home gold to Spain with every vessel; he knew +perfectly well that Spain was clamoring with indignation because he did +not succeed in doing so. But on the island itself he had to meet, from +day to day, conspiracies of Spaniards and what are called insurrections +of natives. These insurrections consisted simply in their assertion of +such rights as they had to the beautiful land which the Spaniards were +taking away from them. + +At the moment when Columbus landed, there was an instant of tranquility. +But the natives, whom he remembered only six years ago as so happy and +cheerful and hospitable, had fled as far as they could. They showed +in every way their distrust of those who were trying to become their +masters. On the other hand, soldiers and emigrants were eager to leave +the island if they could. They were near starvation, or if they did +not starve they were using food to which they were not accustomed. The +eagerness with which, in 1493, men had wished to rush to this land of +promise, was succeeded by an equal eagerness, in 1498, to go home from +it. + +As soon as he arrived, Columbus issued a proclamation, approving of the +measures of his brother in his absence, and denouncing the rebels with +whom Bartholomew had been contending. He found the difficulties which +surrounded him were of the most serious character. He had not force +enough to take up arms against the rebels of different names. He offered +pardon to them in the name of the sovereigns, and that they refused. + +Columbus was obliged, in order to maintain any show of authority, to +propose to the sovereigns that they should arbitrate between his brother +and Roldan, who was the chief of the rebel party. He called to the minds +of Ferdinand and Isabella his own eager desire to return to San Domingo +sooner, and ascribed the difficulties which had arisen, in large +measure, to his long delay. He said he should send home the more +worthless men by every ship. + +He asked that preachers might be sent out to convert the Indians and to +reform the dissolute Spaniards. He asked for officers of revenue, and +for a learned judge. He begged at the same time that, for two years +longer, the colony might be permitted to employ the Indians as slaves, +but he promised they would only use such as they captured in war and +insurrections. + +By the same vessel the rebels sent out letters charging Columbus and his +brother with the grossest oppression and injustice. All these letters +came to court by one messenger. Columbus was then left to manage as +best he could, in the months which must pass, before he could receive an +answer. + +He was not wholly without success. That is to say, no actual battles +took place between the parties before the answer returned. But when it +returned, it proved to be written by his worst enemy, Fonseca. It was +a genuine Spanish answer to a letter which required immediate decision. +That is to say, Columbus was simply told that the whole matter must be +left in suspense till the sovereigns could make such an investigation +as they wished. The hope, therefore, of some help from home was wholly +disappointed. + +Roldan, the chief of the rebels, was encouraged by this news to take +higher ground than even he had ventured on before. He now proposed that +he should send fifteen of his company to Spain, also that those who +remained should not only be pardoned, but should have lands granted +them; third, that a public proclamation should be made that all charges +against him had been false; and fourth, that he should hold the office +of chief judge, which he had held before the rebellion. + +Columbus was obliged to accede to terms as insolent as these, and the +rebels even added a stipulation, that if he should fail in fulfilling +either of these articles, they might compel him to comply, by force or +any other means. Thus was he hampered in the very position where, by the +king’s orders, and indeed, one would say, by the right of discovery, he +was the supreme master. + +For himself, he determined to return with Bartholomew to Spain, and he +made some preparations to do so. But at this time he learned, from the +western part of the island, that four strange ships had arrived there. +He could not feel that it was safe to leave the colony in such a +condition of latent rebellion as he knew it to be in; he wrote again to +the sovereigns, and said directly that his capitulation with the rebels +had been extorted by force, and that he did not consider that the +sovereigns, or that he himself, were bound by it. He pressed some of the +requests which he had made before, and asked that his son Diego, who was +no longer a boy, might be sent out to him. + +It proved that the ships which had arrived at the west of the island +were under the command of Ojeda, who will be remembered as a bold +cavalier in the adventures of the second voyage. Acting under a general +permission which had been given for private adventurers, Ojeda had +brought out this squadron, and, when Columbus communicated with him, was +engaged in cutting dye-woods and shipping slaves. + +Columbus sent Roldan, who had been the head of the rebels, to inquire +on what ground he was there. Ojeda produced a license signed by Fonseca, +authorizing him to sail on a voyage of discovery. It proved that +Columbus’s letters describing the pearls of Paria had awakened curiosity +and enthusiasm, and, while the crown had passed them by so coldly, Ojeda +and a body of adventurers had obtained a license and had fitted out four +ships for adventure. The special interest of this voyage for us, is that +it is supposed that Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, made at this time +his first expedition to America. + +Vespucci was not a professional seaman, but he was interested in +geography, and had made many voyages before this time. So soon as it +was announced that Ojeda was on the coast, the rebels of San Domingo +selected him as a new leader. He announced to Columbus, rather coolly, +that he could probably redress the grievances which these men had. +He undoubtedly knew that he had the protection of Fonseca at home. +Fortunately for Columbus, Roldan did not mean to give up his place +as “leader of the opposition;” and it may be said that the difficulty +between the two was a certain advantage to Columbus in maintaining his +authority. + +Meanwhile, all wishes on his part to continue his discoveries were +futile, while he was engaged in the almost hopeless duty of reconciling +various adventurers and conciliating people who had no interests but +their own. In Spain, his enemies were doing everything in their power to +undermine his reputation. His statements were read more and more coldly, +and at last, on the twenty-first and twenty-sixth of May, 1499, letters +were written to him instructing him to deliver into the hands of +Bobadilla, a new commandant, all the fortresses any ships, houses and +other royal property which he held, and to give faith and obedience to +any instructions given by Bobadilla. That is to say, Bobadilla was sent +out as a commander who was to take precedence of every one on the spot. +He was an officer of the royal household, probably a favorite at court, +and was selected for the difficult task of reconciling all difficulties, +and bringing the new colony into loyal allegiance to the crown. He +sailed for San Domingo in the middle of July, 1500, and arrived on the +twenty-third of August. + +On his arrival, he found that Columbus and his brother Bartholomew were +both absent from the city, being in fact engaged in efforts to set +what may be called the provinces in order. The young Diego Columbus +was commander in their absence. The morning after he arrived, Bobadilla +attended mass, and then, with the people assembled around the door of +the church, he directed that his commission should be read. He was to +investigate the rebellion, he was to seize the persons of delinquents +and punish them with rigor, and he was to command the Admiral to assist +him in these duties. + +He then bade Diego surrender to him certain prisoners, and ordered that +their accusers should appear before him. To this Diego replied that his +brother held superior powers to any which Bobadilla could possess; he +asked for a copy of the commission, which was declined, until Columbus +himself should arrive. Bobadilla then took the oath of office, and +produced, for the first time, the order which has been described above, +ordering Columbus to deliver up all the royal property. He won the +popular favor by reading an order which directed him to pay all arrears +of wages due to all persons in the royal service. + +But when he came before the fortress, he found that the commander +declined to surrender it. He said he held the fortress for the king by +the command of the Admiral, and would not deliver it until he should +arrive. Bobadilla, however, “assailed the portal;” that is to say, he +broke open the gate. No one offered any opposition, and the commander +and his first-lieutenant were taken prisoners. He went farther, taking +up his residence in Columbus’s house, and seizing his papers. So soon +as Columbus received account of Bobadilla’s arrival, he wrote to him +in careful terms, welcoming him to the island. He cautioned him against +precipitate measures, told him that he himself was on the point of going +to Spain, and that he would soon leave him in command, with everything +explained. Bobadilla gave no answer to these letters; and when Columbus +received from the sovereigns the letter of the twenty-sixth of May, he +made no longer any hesitation, but reported in person at the city of San +Domingo. + +He traveled without guards or retinue, but Bobadilla had made hostile +preparations, as if Columbus meant to come with military force. Columbus +preferred to show his own loyalty to the crown and to remove suspicion. +But no sooner did he arrive in the city than Bobadilla gave orders +that he should be put in irons and confined in the fortress. Up to +this moment, Bobadilla had been sustained by the popular favor of those +around him; but the indignity, of placing chains upon Columbus, seems to +have made a change in the fickle impressions of the little town. + +Columbus, himself, behaved with magnanimity, and made no complaint. +Bobadilla asked him to bid his brother return to San Domingo, and +he complied. He begged his brother to submit to the authority of the +sovereigns, and Bartholomew immediately did so. On his arrival in San +Domingo he was also put in irons, as his brother Diego had been, and was +confined on board a caravel. As soon as a set of charges could be made +up to send to Spain with Columbus, the vessels, with the prisoners, set +sail. + +The master of the caravel, Martin, was profoundly grieved by the severe +treatment to which the great navigator was subjected. He would gladly +have taken off his irons, but Columbus would not consent. “I was +commanded by the king and queen,” he said, “to submit to whatever +Bobadilla should order in their name. He has put these chains on me by +their authority. I will wear them until the king and queen bid me take +them off. I will preserve them afterwards as relics and memorials of the +reward of my services.” His son, Fernando, who tells this story, says +that he did so, that they were always hanging in his cabinet, and that +he asked that they might be buried with him when he died. + +From this expression of Fernando Columbus, there has arisen, what Mr. +Harrisse calls, a “pure legend,” that the chains were placed in the +coffin of Columbus. Mr. Harrisse shows good reason for thinking that +this was not so. “Although disposed to believe that, in a moment of +just indignation, Columbus expressed the wish that these tokens of the +ingratitude of which he had been the victim should be buried, with him, +I do not believe that they were ever placed in his coffin.” + +It will thus be seen that the third voyage added to the knowledge of +the civilized world the information which Columbus had gained regarding +Paria and the island of Trinidad. For other purposes of discovery, it +was fruitless. + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- SPAIN, 1500, 1501. + +A CORDIAL RECEPTION IN SPAIN--COLUMBUS FAVORABLY RECEIVED AT COURT--NEW +INTEREST IN GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY--HIS PLANS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE +HOLY SEPULCHRE--PREPARATIONS FOR A FOURTH EXPEDITION. + +Columbus was right in insisting on wearing his chains. They became +rather an ornament than a disgrace. So soon as it was announced in Spain +that the great discoverer had been so treated by Bobadilla, a wave of +popular indignation swept through the people and reached the court. +Ferdinand and Isabella, themselves, had never intended to give such +powers to their favorite, that he should disgrace a man so much his +superior. + +They instantly sent orders to Cadiz that Columbus should be received +with all honor. So soon as he arrived he had been able to send, to Dona +Juana de la Torre, a lady high in favor at court, a private letter, +in which he made a proud defense of himself. This letter is still +preserved, and it is of the first interest, as showing his own +character, and as showing what were the real hardships which he had +undergone. + +The Lady Juana read this letter to Isabella. Her own indignation, which +probably had been kindled by the general news that Columbus had been +chained, rose to the highest. She received him, therefore, when he +arrived at court, with all the more cordiality. Ferdinand was either +obliged to pretend to join with her in her indignation, or he had really +felt distressed by the behavior of his subordinate. + +They did not wait for any documents from Bobadilla. As has been said, +they wrote cordially to Columbus; they also ordered that two thousand +ducats should be paid him for his expenses, and they bade him appear at +Grenada at court. He did appear there on the seventeenth of December, +attended by an honorable retinue, and in the proper costume of a +gentleman in favor with the king and queen. + +When the queen met him she was moved to tears, and Columbus, finding +himself so kindly received, threw himself upon his knees. For some time +he could not express himself except by tears and sobs. His sovereigns +raised him from the ground and encouraged him by gracious words. + +So soon as he recovered his self-possession he made such an address +as he had occasion to make more than once in his life, and showed the +eloquence which is possible to a man of affairs. He could well boast of +his loyalty to the Spanish crown; and he might well say that, whether +he were or were not experienced in government, he had been surrounded by +such difficulties in administration as hardly any other man had had to +go through. But really, it was hardly necessary that he should vindicate +himself. + +The stupidity of his enemies, had injured their cause more than any +carelessness of Columbus could have done. The sovereigns expressed their +indignation at Bobadilla’s proceedings, and, indeed, declared at once +that he should be dismissed from command. They never took any public +notice of the charges which he had sent home; on the other hand, they +received Columbus with dignity and favor, and assured him that he should +be reinstated in all his privileges. + +The time at which he arrived was, in a certain sense, favorable for +his future plans, so far as he had formed any. On the other hand, the +condition of affairs was wholly changed from what it was when he began +his great discoveries, and the changes were in some degree unfavorable. +Vasco da Gama had succeeded in the great enterprise by which he had +doubled the Cape of Good Hope, had arrived at the Indies by the route of +the Indian ocean, and his squadron had successfully returned. + +This great adventure, with the commercial and other results which +would certainly follow it, had quickened the mind of all Europe, as the +discovery by Columbus had quickened it eight years before. So far, any +plan for the discoveries over which Columbus was always brooding, would +be favorably received. But, on the other hand, in eight years since the +first voyage, a large body of skillful adventurers had entered upon the +career which then no one chose to share with him. The Pinzon brothers +were among these; Ojeda, already known to the reader, was another; and +Vespucci, as the reader knows, an intelligent and wise student, had +engaged himself in such discoveries. + +The rumors of the voyages of the Cabots, much farther north than those +made by Columbus, had gone through all Europe. In a word, Columbus was +now only one of several skilful pilots and voyagers, and his plans +were to be considered side by side with those which were coming forward +almost every day, for new discoveries, either by the eastern route, +of which Vasco da Gama had shown the practicability, or by the western +route, which Columbus himself had first essayed. + +It is to be remembered, as well, that Columbus was now an old man, and, +whatever were his successes as a discoverer, he had not succeeded as a +commander. There might have been reasons for his failure; but failure +is failure, and men do not accord to an unsuccessful leader the +honors which they are ready to give to a successful discoverer. When, +therefore, he offered his new plans at court, he should have been well +aware that they could not be received, as if he were the only one who +could make suggestions. Probably he was aware of this. He was also +obliged, whether he would or would not, to give up the idea that he was +to be the commander of the regions which he discovered. + +It had been easy enough to grant him this command before there was so +much as an inch of land known, over which it would make him the master. +But now that it was known that large islands, and probably a part of the +continent of Asia, were to be submitted to his sway if he had it, there +was every reason why the sovereigns should be unwilling to maintain for +him the broad rights which they had been willing to give when a scratch +of the pen was all that was needful to give them. + +Bobadilla was recalled; so far well. But neither Ferdinand nor Isabella +chose to place Columbus again in his command. They did choose Don Nicola +Ovando, a younger man, to take the place of Bobadilla, to send him home, +and to take the charge of the colony. + +From the colony itself, the worst accounts were received. If Columbus +and his brother had failed, Bobadilla had failed more disgracefully. +Indeed, he had begun by the policy of King Log, as an improvement on the +policy of King Stork. He had favored all rebels, he had pardoned them, +he had even paid them for the time which they had spent in rebellion; +and the natural result was utter disorder and license. + +It does not appear that he was a bad man; he was a man wholly unused to +command; he was an imprudent man, and was weak. He had compromised the +crown by the easy terms on which he had rented and sold estates; he had +been obliged, in order to maintain the revenue, to work the natives with +more severity than ever. He knew very well that the system, under which +he was working could not last long. One of his maxims was, “Do the best +with your time,” and he was constantly sacrificing future advantages for +such present results as he could achieve. + +The Indians, who had been treated badly enough before, were worse +treated now. And during his short administration, if it may be called +an administration,--during the time when he was nominally at the head +of affairs--he was reducing the island to lower and lower depths. He +did succeed in obtaining a large product of gold, but the abuses of his +government were not atoned for by such remittances. Worst of all, the +wrongs of the natives touched the sensitiveness of Isabella, and she was +eager that his successor should be appointed, and should sail, to put an +end to these calamities. + +The preparations which were made for Ovando’s expedition, for the +recall of Bobadilla, and for a reform, if it were possible, in the +administration of the colony, all set back any preparations for a new +expedition of discovery on the part of Columbus. He was not forgotten; +his accounts were to be examined and any deficiencies made up to him; he +was to receive the arrears of his revenue; he was permitted to have +an agent who should see that he received his share in future. To this +agency he appointed Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, and the sovereigns gave +orders that this agent should be treated with respect. + +Other preparations were made, so that Ovando might arrive with a strong +reinforcement for the colony. He sailed with thirty ships, the size of +these vessels ranging from one hundred and fifty Spanish toneles to one +bark of twenty-five. It will be remembered that the Spanish tonele is +larger by about ten per cent than our English ton. Twenty-five hundred +persons embarked as colonists in the vessels, and, for the first time, +men took their families with them. + +Everything was done to give dignity to the appointment of Ovando, and +it was hoped that by sending out families of respectable character, +who were to be distributed in four towns, there might be a better +basis given to the settlement. This measure had been insisted upon by +Columbus. + +This fleet put to sea on the thirteenth of February, 1502. It met, at +the very outset, a terrible storm, and one hundred and twenty of the +passengers were lost by the foundering of a ship. The impression was at +first given in Spain that the whole fleet had been lost; but this proved +to be a mistake. The others assembled at the Canaries, and arrived in +San Domingo on the fifteenth of April. + +Columbus himself never lost confidence in his own star. He was sure that +he was divinely sent, and that his mission was to open the way to the +Indies, for the religious advancement of mankind. If Vasco de Gama had +discovered a shorter way than men knew before, Christopher Columbus +should discover one shorter still, and this discovery should tend to the +glory of God. It seemed to him that the simplest way in which he could +make men understand this, was to show that the Holy Sepulchre might, now +and thus, be recovered from the infidel. + +Far from urging geographical curiosity as an object, he proposed rather +the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. That is, there was to be a new and +last crusade, and the money for this enterprise was to be furnished from +the gold of the farthest East. He was close at the door of this farthest +East; and as has been said, he believed that Cuba was the Ophir of +Solomon, and he supposed, that a very little farther voyaging would open +all the treasures which Marco Polo had described, and would bring the +territory, which had made the Great Khan so rich, into the possession of +the king of Spain. + +He showed to Ferdinand and Isabella that, if they would once more let +him go forward, on the adventure which had been checked untimely by the +cruelty of Bobadilla, this time they would have wealth which would place +them at the head of the Christian sovereigns of the world. + +While he was inactive at Seville, and the great squadron was being +prepared which Ovando was to command, he wrote what is known as the +“Book of Prophecies,” in which he attempted to convince the Catholic +kings of the necessity of carrying forward the enterprise which he +proposed. He urged haste, because he believed the world was only to last +a hundred and fifty-five years longer; and, with so much before them to +be done, it was necessary that they should begin. + +He remembered an old vow that he had undertaken, that, within seven +years of the time of his discovery, he would furnish fifty thousand +foot soldiers and five thousand horsemen for the recovery of the Holy +Sepulchre. He now arranged in order prophecies from the Holy Scripture, +passages from the writings of the Fathers, and whatever else suggested +itself, mystical and hopeful, as to the success of an enterprise by +which the new world could be used for the conversion of the Gentiles and +for the improvement of the Christianity of the old world. + +He had the assistance of a Carthusian monk, who seems to have been +skilled in literary work, and the two arranged these passages in order, +illustrated them with poetry, and collected them into a manuscript +volume which was sent to the sovereigns. + +Columbus accompanied the Book of Prophecies with one of his own long +letters, written with the utmost fervor. In this letter he begins, as +Peter the Hermit might do, by urging the sovereigns to set on foot a +crusade. If they are tempted to consider his advice extravagant, he asks +them how his first scheme of discovery was treated. He shows that, as +heaven had chosen him to discover the new world, heaven has also chosen +him to discover the Holy Sepulchre. God himself had opened his eyes that +he might make the great discovery, which has reflected such honor upon +them and theirs. + +“If his hopes had been answered,” says a Catholic writer, “the modern +question of holy places, which is the Gordian knot of the religious +politics of the future, would have been solved long ago by the gold of +the new world, or would have been cut by the sword of its discoverer. +We should not have seen nations which are separated from the Roman +communion, both Protestant and Pantheistic governments, coming +audaciously into contest for privileges, which, by the rights of old +possession, by the rights of martyrdom and chivalry, belong to the Holy +Catholic Church, the Apostolic Church, the Roman Church, and after her +to France, her oldest daughter.” + +Columbus now supposed that the share of the western wealth which would +belong to him would be sufficient for him to equip and arm a hundred +thousand infantry and ten thousand horsemen. + +At the moment when the Christian hero made this pious calculation he +had not enough of this revenue with which “to buy a cloak,” This is the +remark of the enthusiastic biographer from whom we have already quoted. + +It is not literally true, but it is true that Columbus was living in the +most modest way at the time when he was pressing his ambitious schemes +upon the court. At the same time, he wrote a poem with which he +undertook to press the same great enterprise upon his readers. It was +called “The End of Man,” “Memorare novissima tua, et non peccabis in +eternum.” + +In his letter to the king and queen he says, “Animated as by a heavenly +fire, I came to your Highnesses; all who heard of my enterprise mocked +it; all the sciences I had acquired profited me as nothing; seven years +did I pass in your royal court, disputing the case with persons of great +authority and learned in all the arts, and in the end they decided that +all was vain. In your Highnesses alone remained faith and constancy. Who +will doubt that this light was from the Holy Scriptures, illumining you, +as well as myself, with rays of marvellous brightness.” + +It is probable that the king and queen were, to a certain extent, +influenced by his enthusiasm. It is certain that they knew that +something was due to their reputation and to his success. By whatever +motive led, they encouraged him with hopes that he might be sent forward +again, this time, not as commander of a colony, but as a discoverer. +Discovery was indeed the business which he understood, and to which +alone he should ever have been commissioned. + +It is to be remembered that the language of crusaders was not then +a matter of antiquity, and was not used as if it alluded to bygone +affairs. It was but a few years since the Saracens had been driven out +of Spain, and all men regarded them as being the enemies of Christianity +and of Europe, who could not be neglected. More than this, Spain was +beginning to receive very large and important revenues from the islands. + +It is said that the annual revenues from Hispaniola already amounted to +twelve millions of our dollars. It was not unnatural that the king and +queen, willing to throw off the disgrace which they had incurred from +Bobadilla’s cruelty, should not only send Ovando to replace him, but +should, though in an humble fashion, give to Columbus an opportunity to +show that his plans were not chimerical. + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- FOURTH VOYAGE. + +THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN FOR THE VOYAGE--HE IS TO GO TO THE MAINLAND OF +THE INDIES--A SHORT PASSAGE--OVANDO FORBIDS THE ENTRANCE OF COLUMBUS +INTO HARBOR--BOBADILLA’S SQUADRON AND ITS FATE--COLUMBUS SAILS +WESTWARD--DISCOVERS HONDURAS, AND COASTS ALONG ITS SHORES--THE +SEARCH FOR GOLD--COLONY ATTEMPTED AND ABANDONED--THE VESSELS +BECOME UNSEAWORTHY--REFUGE AT JAMAICA--MUTINY LED BY THE +BROTHERS PORRAS--MESSAGES TO SAN DOMINGO--THE ECLIPSE--ARRIVAL OF +RELIEF--COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SAN DOMINGO, AND TO SPAIN. + +It seems a pity now that, after his third voyage, Columbus did not +remain in Spain and enjoy, as an old man could, the honors which he had +earned and the respect which now waited upon him. Had this been so, the +world would have been spared the mortification which attends the thought +that the old man to whom it owes so much suffered almost everything in +one last effort, failed in that effort, and died with the mortification +of failure. But it is to be remembered that Columbus was not a man to +cultivate the love of leisure. He had no love of leisure to cultivate. +His life had been an active one. He had attempted the solution of a +certain problem which he had not solved, and every day of leisure, even +every occasion of effort and every word of flattery, must have quickened +in him new wishes to take the prize which seemed so near, and to achieve +the possibility which had thus far eluded him. + +From time to time, therefore, he had addressed new memorials to the +sovereigns proposing a new expedition; and at last, by an instruction +which is dated on the fourteenth of March, in the year 1502, a fourth +voyage was set on foot at the charge of the king and queen,--an +instruction not to stop at Hispaniola, but, for the saving of time, to +pass by that island. This is a graceful way of intimating to him that +he is not to mix himself up with the rights and wrongs of the new +settlement. + +The letter goes on to say, that the sovereigns have communicated with +the King of Portugal, and that they have explained to him that Columbus +is pressing his discoveries at the west and will not interfere with +those of the Portuguese in the east. He is instructed to regard the +Portuguese explorers as his friends, and to make no quarrel with them. +He is instructed to take with him his sons, Fernando and Diego. This is +probably at his request. + +The prime object of the instruction is still to strike the mainland of +the Indies. All the instructions are, “You will make a direct voyage, +if the weather does not prevent you, for discovering the islands and the +mainland of the Indies in that part which belongs to us.” He is to take +possession of these islands and of this mainland, and to inform the +sovereigns in regard to his discoveries, and the experience of former +voyages has taught them that great care must be taken to avoid private +speculation in “gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, spices and other +things of different quality.” For this purpose special instructions are +given. + +Of this voyage we have Columbus’s own official account. + +There were four vessels, three of which were rated as caravels. The +fourth was very small. The chief vessel was commanded by Diego Tristan; +the second, the Santiago, by Francisco de Porras; the third, the +Viscaina (Biscayan), by Bartholomew de Fiesco; and the little Gallician +by Pedro de Torreros. None of these vessels, as the reader will see, was +ever to return to Spain. From de Porras and his brother, Columbus and +the expedition were to receive disastrous blows. + +It must be observed that he is once more in his proper position of a +discoverer. He has no government or other charge of colonies entrusted +to him. His brother Bartholomew and his youngest son Fernando, sail with +him. + +The little squadron sailed from the bay of Cadiz on the eleventh of +May, 1502. They touched at Sicilla,--a little port on the coast of +Morocco,--to relieve its people, a Portuguese garrison, who had been +besieged by the Moors. But finding them out of danger, Columbus went at +once to the Grand Canary island, and had a favorable passage. + +From the Grand Canary to the island which he calls “the first island of +the Indies,” and which he named Martinino, his voyage was only seventeen +days long. This island was either the St. Lucia or the Martinique of +today. Hence he passed to Dominica, and thence crossed to San Domingo, +to make repairs, as he said. For, as has been said, he had been +especially ordered not to interfere in the affairs of the settlement. + +He did not disobey his orders. He says distinctly that he intended +to pass along the southern shore of San Domingo, and thence take a +departure for the continent. But he says, that his principal vessel +sailed very ill--could not carry much canvas, and delayed the rest of +the squadron. This weakness must have increased after the voyage across +the ocean. For this reason he hoped to exchange it for another ship at +San Domingo. + +But he did not enter the harbor. He sent a letter to Ovando, now the +governor, and asked his permission. He added, to the request he made, +a statement that a tempest was at hand which he did not like to meet in +the offing. Ovando, however, refused any permission to enter. He was, in +fact, just dispatching a fleet to Spain, with Bobadilla, Columbus’s old +enemy, whom Ovando had replaced in his turn. + +Columbus, in an eager wish to be of use, by a returning messenger begged +Ovando to delay this fleet till the gale had passed. But the seamen +ridiculed him and his gale, and begged Ovando to send the fleet home. + +He did so. Bobadilla and his fleet put to sea. In ten days a West India +hurricane struck them. The ship on which Columbus’s enemies, Bobadilla +and Roldan, sailed, was sunk with them and the gold accumulated for +years. Of the whole fleet, only one vessel, called the weakest of all, +reached Spain. This ship carried four thousand pieces of gold, which +were the property of the Admiral. Columbus’s own little squadron, +meanwhile--thanks probably to the seamanship of himself and his +brother--weathered the storm, and he found refuge in the harbor which +he had himself named “the beautiful,” El Hermoso, in the western part of +San Domingo. + +Another storm delayed him at a port which he called Port Brasil. The +word Brasil was the name which the Spaniards gave to the red log-wood, +so valuable in dyeing, and various places received that name, where this +wood was found. The name is derived from “Brasas,”--coals,--in allusion, +probably, to the bright red color of the dye. + +Sailing from this place, on Saturday, the sixteenth of June, they made +sight of the island of Jamaica, but he pressed on without making any +examination of the country, for four days sailing west and south-west. +He then changed his course, and sailed for two days to the northwest and +again two days to the north. + +On Sunday, the twenty fourth of July, they saw land. This was the key +now known as Cuyago, and they were at last close upon the mainland. +After exploring this island they sailed again on Wednesday, the +twenty-seventh, southwest and quarter southwest about ninety miles, and +again they saw land, which is supposed to be the island of Guanaja or +Bonacca, near the coast of Honduras. + +The Indians on this island had some gold and some pearls. They had seen +whites before. Columbus calls them men of good stature. Sailing from +this island, he struck the mainland near Truxillo, about ten leagues +from the island of Guanaja. He soon found the harbor, which we still +know as the harbor of Truxillo, and from this point Columbus began a +careful investigation of the coast. + +He observed, what all navigators have since observed, the lack of +harbors. He passed along as far as the river now known as the Tinto, +where he took possession in the name of the sovereigns, calling this +river the River of Possession. He found the natives savage, and the +country of little account for his purposes. Still passing southward, he +passed what we call the Mosquito Coast, to which he found the natives +gave the name of Cariay. + +These people were well disposed and willing to treat with them. They +had some cotton, they had some gold. They wore very little clothing, +and they painted their bodies, as most of the natives of the islands had +done. He saw what he thought to be pigs and large mountain cats. + +Still passing southward, running into such bays or other harbors as they +found, he entered the “Admiral’s Bay,” in a country which had the name +of Cerabaro, or Zerabora. Here an Indian brought a plate of gold and +some other pieces of gold, and Columbus was, encouraged in his hopes of +finding more. + +The natives told him that if he would keep on he would find another +bay which they called Arburarno, which is supposed to be the Laguna +Chiriqui. They said the people, of that country, lived in the mountains. +Here Columbus noticed the fact,--one which has given to philologists one +of their central difficulties for four hundred years since,--that as he +passed from one point to another of the American shores, the Indians did +not understand each other’s language. “Every ten or twenty leagues +they did not understand each other.” In entering the river Veragua, the +Indians appeared armed with lances and arrows, some of them having gold +also. Here, also, the people did not live upon the shore, but two or +three leagues back in the interior, and they only came to the sea by +their canoes upon the rivers. + +The next province was then called Cobraba, but Columbus made no landing +for want of a proper harbor. All his courses since he struck the +continent had been in a southeasterly direction. That an expedition +for westward discovery should be sailing eastward, seemed in itself a +contradiction. What irritated the crews still more was, that the wind +seemed always against them. + +From the second to the ninth of November, 1502, the little fleet lay +at anchor in the spacious harbor, which he called Puerto Bello, “the +beautiful harbor.” It is still known by that name. A considerable +Spanish city grew up there, which became well known to the world in the +last century by the attack upon it by the English in the years 1739 and +1742. + +The formation of the coast compelled them to pass eastward as they went +on. But the currents of the Gulf flow in the opposite direction. Here +there were steady winds from the east and the northeast. The ships +were pierced by the teredo, which eats through thick timbers, and is so +destructive that the seamen of later times have learned to sheath the +hulls of their vessels with copper. + +The seamen thought that they were under the malign influence of +some adverse spell. And after a month Columbus gave way to their +remonstrances, and abandoned his search for a channel to India. He was +the more ready to do this because he was satisfied that the land by +which he lay was connected with the coast which other Spaniards had +already discovered. He therefore sailed westward again, retracing his +course to explore the gold mines of Veragua. + +But the winds could change as quickly as his purposes, and now for +nearly a fortnight they had to fight a tropical tempest. At one moment +they met with a water-spout, which seemed to advance to them directly. +The sailors, despairing of human help, shouted passages from St. John, +and to their efficacy ascribed their escape. It was not until the +seventeenth that they found themselves safely in harbor. He gave to the +whole coast the name of “the coast of contrasts,” to preserve the memory +of his disappointments. + +The natives proved friendly, as he had found them before; but they told +him that he would find no more gold upon the coast; that the mines were +in the country of the Veragua. It was, on the tenth day of January that, +after some delay, Columbus entered again the river of that name. + +The people told him where he should find the mines, and were all ready +to send guides with his own people to point them out. He gave to this +river, the name of the River of Belen, and to the port in which he +anchored he gave the name of Santa Maria de Belen, or Bethlehem. + +His men discovered the mines, so called, at a distance of eight leagues +from the port. The country between was difficult, being mountainous and +crossed by many streams. They were obliged to pass the river of Veragua +thirty-nine times. The Indians themselves were dexterous in taking out +gold. Columbus added to their number seventy-five men. + +In one day’s work, they obtained “two or three castellianos” without +much difficulty. A castelliano was a gold coin of the time, and the +meaning of the text is probably that each man obtained this amount. It +was one of the “placers,” such as have since proved so productive in +different parts of the world. + +Columbus satisfied himself that there was a much larger population +inland. He learned from the Indians that the cacique, as he always calls +the chief of these tribes, was a most important monarch in that region. +His houses were larger than others, built handsomely of wood, covered +with palm leaves. + +The product of all the gold collected thus far is stated precisely in +the official register. There were two hundred and twenty pieces of +gold, large and small. Altogether they weighed seventy-two ounces, +seven-eighths of an ounce and one grain. Besides these were twelve +pieces, great and small, of an inferior grade of gold, which weighed +fourteen ounces, three-eighths of an ounce, and six tomienes, a tomiene +weighing one-third part of our drachm. In round numbers then, we will +say that the result in gold of this cruising would be now worth $1,500. + +Columbus collected gold in this way, to make his expedition popular at +home, and he had, indeed, mortgaged the voyage, so to speak, by pledging +the pecuniary results, as a fund to bear the expense of a new crusade. +But, for himself, the prime desire was always discovery. + +Eventually the Spaniards spent two months in that region, pressing their +explorations in search of gold. And so promising did the tokens seem to +him, that he determined to leave his brother, to secure the country and +work the mines, while he should return to Spain, with the gold he had +collected, and obtain reinforcements and supplies. But all these fond +hopes were disappointed. + +The natives, under a leader named Quibian, rallied in large numbers, +probably intending to drive the colonists away. It was only by the +boldest measures that their plans were met. When Columbus supposed that +he had suppressed their enterprise, he took leave of his brother, as he +had intended, leaving him but one of the four vessels. + +Fortunately, as it proved, the wind did not serve. He sent back a boat +to communicate with the settlement, but it fell into the hands of the +savages. Doubtful as to the issue, a seaman, named Ledesma, volunteered +to swim through the surf, and communicate with the settlement. The brave +fellow succeeded. By passing through the surf again, he brought back the +news that the little colony was closely besieged by the savages. + +It seemed clear that the settlement must be abandoned, that Columbus’s +brother and his people must be taken back to Spain. This course was +adopted. With infinite difficulty, the guns and stores which had been +left with the colony were embarked on the vessels of the Admiral. The +caravel which had been left for the colony could not be taken from the +river. She was completely dismantled, and was left as the only memorial +of this unfortunate colony. + +At Puerto Bello he was obliged to leave another vessel, for she had been +riddled by the teredo. The two which he had were in wretched condition. +“They were as full of holes as a honey-comb.” On the southern coast of +Cuba, Columbus was obliged to supply them with cassava bread. The leaks +increased. The ships’ pumps were insufficient, and the men bailed out +the water with buckets and kettles. On the twentieth of June, they were +thankful to put into a harbor, called Puerto Bueno, on the coast of +Jamaica, where, as it proved, they eventually left their worthless +vessels, and where they were in exile from the world of civilization for +twelve months. + +Nothing in history is more pathetic than the memory that such a waste of +a year, in the closing life of such a man as Columbus, should have +been permitted by the jealousy, the cruelty, or the selfish ambition of +inferior men. + +He was not far from the colony at San Domingo. As the reader will +see, he was able to send a message to his countrymen there. But those +countrymen left him to take his chances against a strong tribe of +savages. Indeed, they would not have been sorry to know that he was +dead. + +At first, however, he and his men welcomed the refuge of the harbor. It +was the port which he had called Santa Gloria, on his first visit there. +He was at once surrounded by Indians, ready to barter with them and +bring them provisions. The poor Spaniards were hungry enough to be glad +of this relief. + +Mendez, a spirited sailor, had the oversight of this trade, and in one +negotiation, at some distance from the vessels, he bought a good canoe +of a friendly chief. For this he gave a brass basin, one of his two +shirts, and a short jacket. On this canoe turned their after fortunes. +Columbus refitted her, put on a false keel, furnished her with a mast +and sail. + +With six Indians, whom the chief had lent him, Diego Mendez, accompanied +by only one Spanish companion, set sail in this little craft for San +Domingo. Columbus sent by them a letter to the sovereigns, which gives +the account of the voyage which the reader has been following. + +When Mendez was a hundred miles advanced on his journey, he met a band +of hostile savages. They had affected friendship until they had the +adventurers in their power, when they seized them all. But while the +savages were quarreling about the spoils, Mendez succeeded in escaping +to his canoe, and returned alone to his master after fifteen days. + +It was determined that the voyage should be renewed. But this time, +another canoe was sent with that under the command of Mendez. He sailed +again, storing his boats with cassava bread and calabashes of water. +Bartholomew Columbus, with his armed band, marched along the coast, as +the two canoes sailed along the shore. + +Waiting then for a clear day, Mendez struck northward, on the passage, +which was long for such frail craft, to San Domingo. It was eight months +before Columbus heard of them. Of those eight months, the history is +of dismal waiting, mutiny and civil war. It is pathetic, indeed, that +a little body of men, who had been, once and again, saved from death +in the most remarkable way, could not live on a fertile island, in a +beautiful climate, without quarrelling with each other. + +Two officers of Columbus, Porras and his brother, led the sedition. They +told the rest of the crew that the Admiral’s hope of relief from Mendez +was a mere delusion. They said that he was an exile from Spain, and that +he did not dare return to Hispaniola. In such ways they sought to rouse +his people against him and his brother. As for Columbus, he was sick on +board his vessel, while the two brothers Porras were working against him +among his men. + +On the second of January, 1504, Francesco de Porras broke into the +cabin. He complained bitterly that they were kept to die in that +desolate place, and accused the Admiral as if it were his fault. He +told Columbus, that they had determined to go back to Spain; and then, +lifting his voice, he shouted, “I am for Castile; who will follow me?” + The mutinous crew instantly replied that they would do so. Voices were +heard which threatened Columbus’s life. + +His brother, the Adelantado, persuaded Columbus to retire from the crowd +and himself assumed the whole weight of the assault. The loyal part +of the crew, however, persuaded him to put down his weapon, and on the +other hand, entreated Porras and his companions to depart. It was clear +enough that they had the power, and they tried to carry out their plans. + +They embarked in ten canoes, and thus the Admiral was abandoned by +forty-eight of his men. They followed, to the eastward, the route which +Mendez had taken. In their lawless way they robbed the Indians of their +provisions and of anything else that they needed. As Mendez had done, +they waited at the eastern extremity of Jamaica for calm weather. They +knew they could not manage the canoes, and they had several Indians to +help them. + +When the sea was smooth they started; but they had hardly gone four +leagues from the land, when the waves began to rise under a contrary +wind. Immediately they turned for shore, the canoes were overfreighted, +and as the sea rose, frequently shipped water. + +The frightened Spaniards threw overboard everything they could spare, +retaining their arms only, and a part of their provisions. They even +compelled the Indians to leap into the sea to lighten the boats, but, +though they were skillful swimmers, they could not pretend to make land +by swimming. They kept to the canoes, therefore, and would occasionally +seize them to recover breath. The cruel Spaniards cut off their hands +and stabbed them with their swords. Thus eighteen of their Indian +comrades died, and they had none left, but such as were of most help in +managing the canoes. Once on land, they doubted whether to make another +effort or to return to Columbus. + +Eventually they waited a month, for another opportunity to go to +Hispaniola; but this failed as before, and losing all patience, they +returned westward, to the commander whom they had insulted, living on +the island “by fair means or foul,” according as they found the natives +friendly or unfriendly. + +Columbus, meanwhile, with his half the crew, was waiting. He had +established as good order as he could between his men and the natives, +but he was obliged to keep a strict watch over such European food as he +still had, knowing how necessary it was for the sick men in his number. +On the other hand, the Indians, wholly unused to regular work, found it +difficult to supply the food which so many men demanded. + +The supplies fell off from day to day; the natives no longer pressed +down to the harbor; the trinkets, with which food had been bought, had +lost their charm; the Spaniards began to fear that they should starve on +the shore of an island which, when Columbus discovered it, appeared to +be the abode of plenty. It was at this juncture, when the natives were +becoming more and more unfriendly, that Columbus justified himself +by the tyrant’s plea of necessity, and made use of his astronomical +science, to obtain a supernatural power over his unfriendly allies. + +He sent his interpreter to summon the principal caciques to a +conference. For this conference he appointed a day when he knew that a +total eclipse of the moon would take place. The chiefs met as they were +requested. He told them that he and his followers worshipped a God +who lived in the heavens; that that God favored such as did well, but +punished all who displeased him. + +He asked them to remember how this God had protected Mendez and his +companions in their voyage, because they went obedient to the orders +which had been given them by their chief. He asked them to remember that +the same God had punished Porras and his companions with all sorts of +affliction, because they were rebels. He said that now this great God +was angry with the Indians, because they refused to furnish food to his +faithful worshippers; that he proposed to chastise them with famine and +pestilence. + +He said that, lest they should disbelieve the warning which he gave, +a sign would be given, in the heavens that night, of the anger of the +great God. They would see that the moon would change its color and would +lose its light. They might take this as a token of the punishment which +awaited them. + +The Indians had not that confidence in Columbus which they once had. +Some derided what he said, some were alarmed, all waited with anxiety +and curiosity. When the night came they saw a dark shadow begin to steal +over the moon. As the eclipse went forward, their fears increased. At +last the mysterious darkness covered the face of the sky and of the +world, when they knew that they had a right to expect the glory of the +full moon. + +There were then no bounds to their terror. They, seized on all +the provisions that they had, they rushed to the ships, they threw +themselves at the feet of Columbus and begged him to intercede with his +God, to withhold the calamity which he had threatened. Columbus would +not receive them; he shut himself up in his cabin and remained there +while the eclipse increased, hearing from within, as the narrator says, +the howls and prayers of the savages. + +It was not until he knew the eclipse was about to diminish, that he +condescended to come forth, and told them that he had interceded with +God, who would pardon them if they would fulfil their promises. In token +of pardon, the darkness would be withdrawn from the moon. + +The Indians saw the fulfilment of the promise, as they had seen the +fulfilment of the threat. The moon reappeared in its brilliancy. They +thanked the Admiral eagerly for his intercession, and repaired to their +homes. From this time forward, having proved that he knew on earth what +was passing in the heavens, they propitiated him with their gifts. The +supplies came in regularly, and from this time there was no longer any +want of provisions. + +But no tales of eclipses would keep the Spaniards quiet. Another +conspiracy was formed, as the eight remaining months of exile passed by, +among the survivors. They meant to seize the remaining canoes, and +with them make their way to Hispaniola. But, at the very point of the +outbreak of the new mutiny, a sail was seen standing toward the harbor. + +The Spaniards could see that the vessel was small. She kept the offing, +but sent a boat on shore. As the boat drew near, those who waited +so eagerly recognized Escobar, who had been condemned to death, in +Isabella, when Columbus was in administration, and was pardoned by his +successor Bobadilla. To see this man approaching for their relief was +not hopeful, though he were called a Christian, and was a countryman of +their own. + +Escobar drew up to the ships, on which the Spaniards still lived, and +gave them a letter from Ovando, the new governor of Hispaniola, with +some bacon and a barrel of wine, which were sent as presents to the +Admiral. He told Columbus, in a private interview, that the governor had +sent him to express his concern at his misfortune, and his regret that +he had not a vessel of sufficient size to bring off all the people, +but that he would send one as soon as possible. He assured him that his +concerns in Hispaniola were attended to faithfully in his absence; he +asked him to write to the governor in reply, as he wished to return at +once. + +This was but scant comfort for men who had been eight months waiting to +be relieved. But Escobar was master of the position. Columbus wrote +a reply at once to Ovando, pointed out that the difficulties of his +situation had been increased by the rebellion of the brothers Porras. +He, however, expressed his reliance on his promise, and said he would +remain patiently on his ships until relief came. Escobar took the +letter, returned to his vessel, and she made sail at once, leaving the +starving Spaniards in dismay, to the same fate which hung over them +before. + +Columbus tried to reassure them. He professed himself satisfied with the +communications from Ovando, and told them that vessels large enough for +them would soon arrive. He said that they could see that he believed +this, because he had not himself taken passage with Escobar, preferring +to share their lot with them. He had sent back the little vessel at +once, so that no time might be lost in sending the necessary ships. + +With these assurances he cheered their hearts. In truth, however, he was +very indignant at Ovando’s cool behavior. That he should have left them +for months in danger and uncertainty, with a mere tantalizing message +and a scanty present of food--all this naturally made the great leader +indignant. He believed that Ovando hoped that he might perish on the +island. + +He supposed that Ovando thought that this would be favorable for his own +political prospects, and he believed that Escobar was sent merely as a +spy. This same impression is given by Las Casas, the historian, who was +then at San Domingo. He says that Escobar was chosen simply because of +his enmity to Columbus, and that he was ordered not to land, nor to +hold conversation with any of the crew, nor to receive letters from any +except the Admiral. + +After Escobar’s departure, Columbus sent an embassy on shore to +communicate with the rebel party, who were living on the island. He +offered to them free pardon, kind treatment, and a passage with him in +the ships which he expected from Ovando, and, as a token of good will, +he sent them a part of the bacon which Escobar had brought them. + +Francesco de Porras met these ambassadors, and replied that they had no +wish to return to the ships, but preferred living at large. They offered +to engage that they would be peaceable, if the Admiral would promise +them solemnly, that, in case two vessels arrived, they should have one +to depart in; that if only one vessel arrived they should have half +of it, and that the Admiral would now share with them the stores and +articles of traffic, which he had left in the ship. But these demands +Columbus refused to accept. + +Porras had spoken for the rebels, but they were not so well satisfied +with the answer. The incident gave occasion for what was almost an +outbreak among them. Porras attempted to hold them in hand, by assuring +them that there had been no real arrival of Escobar. He told them that +there had been no vessel in port; that what had been seen was a mere +phantasm conjured up by Columbus, who was deeply versed in necromancy. + +He reminded them that the vessel arrived just in the edge of the +evening; that it communicated with Columbus only, and then disappeared +in the night. Had it been a real vessel would he not have embarked, with +his brother and his son? Was it not clear that it was only a phantom, +which appeared for a moment and then vanished? + +Not satisfied, however, with his control over his men, he marched them +to a point near the ships, hoping to plunder the stores and to take the +Admiral prisoner. Columbus, however, had notice of the approach of this +marauding party, and his brother and fifty followers, of whose loyalty +he was sure, armed themselves and marched to meet them. The Adelantado +again sent ambassadors, the same whom he had sent before with the +offer of pardon, but Porras and his companions would not permit them to +approach. + +They determined to offer battle to the fifty loyal men, thinking to +attack and kill the Adelantado himself. They rushed upon him and his +party, but at the first shock four or five of them were killed. + +The Adelantado, with his own hand, killed Sanchez, one of the most +powerful men among the rebels. Porras attacked him in turn, and with +his sword cut his buckler and wounded his hand. The sword, however, +was wedged in the shield, and before Porras could withdraw it, the +Adelantado closed upon him and made him prisoner. When the rebels saw +this result of the conflict, they fled in confusion. + +The Indians, meanwhile, amazed at this conflict among men who had +descended from heaven, gazed with wonder at the battle. When it was +over, they approached the field, and looked with amazement on the +dead bodies of the beings whom they had thought immortal. It is said, +however, that at the mere sound of a groan from one of the wounded they +fled in dismay. + +The Adelantado returned in triumph to the ships. He brought with him +his prisoners. Only two of his party had been wounded, himself and his +steward. The next day the remaining fugitives sent in a petition to the +Admiral, confessing their misdeeds and asking for pardon. + +He saw that their union was broken; he granted their prayer, on the +single condition that Francesco de Porras should remain a prisoner. He +did not receive them on board the ships, but put them under the command +of a loyal officer, to whom he gave a sufficient number of articles for +trade, to purchase food of the natives. + +This battle, for it was such, was the last critical incident in the long +exile of the Spaniards, for, after a year of hope and fear, two vessels +were seen standing into the harbor. One of them was a ship equipped, +at Columbus’s own expense, by the faithful Mendez; the other had been +fitted out afterwards by Ovando, but had sailed in company with the +first vessel of relief. + +It would seem that the little public of Isabella had been made indignant +by Ovando’s neglect, and that he had been compelled, by public opinion +to send another vessel as a companion to that sent by Mendez. Mendez +himself, having seen the ships depart, went to Spain in the interest of +the Admiral. + +With the arrival at Puerto Bueno, in Jamaica, of the two relief vessels, +Columbus’s chief sufferings and anxiety were over. The responsibility, +at least, was in other hands. But the passage to San Domingo consumed +six tedious weeks. When he arrived, however, it was to meet one of his +triumphs. He could hardly have expected it. + +But his sufferings, and the sense of wrong that he had suffered, had, in +truth, awakened the regard of the people of the colony. Ovando took him +as a guest to his house. The people received him with distinction. + +He found little to gratify him, however. Ovando, had ruled the poor +natives with a rod of iron, and they were wretched. Columbus’s own +affairs had been neglected, and he could gain no relief from the +governor. He spent only a month on the island, trying, as best he could, +to bring some order into the administration of his own property; and +then, on the twelfth of September, 1504, sailed for Spain. + +Scarcely had the ship left harbor when she was dismasted in a squall. He +was obliged to cross to another ship, under command of his brother, +the Adelantado. She also was unfortunate. Her mainmast was sprung in a +storm, and she could not go on until the mast was shortened. + +In another gale the foremast was sprung, and it was only on the seventh +of November that the shattered and storm-pursued vessel arrived at San +Lucar. Columbus himself had been suffering, through the voyage, from +gout and his other maladies. The voyage was, indeed, a harsh experience +for a sick man, almost seventy years old. + +He went at once to Seville, to find such rest as he might, for body and +mind. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- TWO SAD YEARS + +--ISABELLA’S DEATH--COLUMBUS AT SEVILLE--HIS ILLNESS--LETTERS TO +THE KING--JOURNEYS TO SEGOVIA, SALAMANCA, AND VALLADOLID--HIS SUIT +THERE--PHILIP AND JUANA--COLUMBUS EXECUTES HIS WILL--DIES--HIS BURIAL +AND THE REMOVAL OF HIS BODY--HIS PORTRAITS--HIS CHARACTER. + +Columbus had been absent from Spain two years and six months. He +returned broken in health, and the remaining two years of his life are +only the sad history of his effort to relieve his name from dishonor and +to leave to his sons a fair opportunity to carry forward his work in the +world. + +Isabella, alas, died on the twenty-sixth day of November, only a short +time after his arrival. Ferdinand, at the least, was cold and hard +toward him, and Ferdinand was now engaged in many affairs other than +those of discovery. He was satisfied that Columbus did not know how to +bring gold home from the colonies, and the promises of the last voyage, +that they should strike the East, had not been fulfilled. + +Isabella had testified her kindly memory of Columbus, even while he was +in exile at Jamaica, by making him one of the body-guard of her oldest +son, an honorary appointment which carried with it a handsome annual +salary. After the return to Spain of Diego Mendez, the loyal friend who +had cared for his interests so well in San Domingo, she had raised him +to noble rank. + +It is clear, therefore, that among her last thoughts came in the wish +to do justice to him whom she had served so well. She had well done her +duty which had been given her to do. She had never forgotten the new +world to which it was her good fortune to send the discoverer, and in +her death that discoverer lost his best friend. + +On his arrival in Seville, where one might say he had a right to rest +himself and do nothing else, Columbus engaged at once in efforts to see +that the seamen who had accompanied him in this last adventure should be +properly paid. Many of these men had been disloyal to him and unfaithful +to their sovereign, but Columbus, with his own magnanimity, represented +eagerly at court that they had endured great peril, that they brought +great news, and that the king ought to repay them all that they had +earned. + +He says, in a letter to his son written at this period, “I have not +a roof over my head in Castile. I have no place to eat nor to sleep +excepting a tavern, and there I am often too poor to pay my scot.” This +passage has been quoted as if he were living as a beggar at this time, +and the world has been asked to believe that a man who had a tenth +of the revenue of the Indies due to him in some fashion, was actually +living from hand to mouth from day to day. But this is a mere absurdity +of exaggeration. + +Undoubtedly, he was frequently pressed for ready money. He says to his +son, in another letter, “I only live by borrowing.” Still he had good +credit with the Genoese bankers established in Andalusia. In writing to +his son he begs him to economize, but at the same time he acknowledges +the receipt of bills of exchange and considerable sums of money. + +In the month of December, there is a single transaction in Hispaniola +which amounts to five thousand dollars of our money. We must not, +therefore, take literally his statement that he was too poor to pay +for a night’s lodging. On the other hand, it is observed in the +correspondence that, on the fifteenth of April, 1505, the king ordered +that everything which belonged to Columbus on account of his ten per +cent should be carried to the royal treasury as a security for certain +debts contracted by the Admiral. + +The king had also given an order to the royal agent in Hispaniola that +everything which he owned there should be sold. All these details have +been carefully brought together by Mr. Harrisse, who says truly that we +cannot understand the last order. + +When at last the official proceedings relating to the affairs in Jamaica +arrived in Europe, Columbus made an effort to go to court. A litter was +provided for him, and all the preparations for his journey made. But he +was obliged once more by his weakness to give up this plan, and he could +only write letters pressing his claim. Of such letters the misfortune +is, that the longer they are, and the more of the detail they give, the +less likely are they to be read. Columbus could only write at night; in +the daytime he could not use his hands. + +He took care to show Ferdinand that his interests had not been properly +attended to in the islands. He said that Ovando had been careless as +to the king’s service, and he was not unwilling to let it be understood +that his own administration had been based on a more intelligent policy +than that of either of the men who followed him. + +But he was now an old man. He was unable to go to court in person. He +had not succeeded in that which he had sailed for--a strait opening to +the Southern Sea. He had discovered new gold mines on the continent, +but he had brought home but little treasure. His answers from the court +seemed to him formal and unsatisfactory. At court, the stories of +the Porras brothers were told on the one side, while Diego Mendez and +Carvajal represented Columbus. + +In this period of the fading life of Columbus, we have eleven letters +addressed by him to his son. These show that he was in Seville as late +as February, 1505. From the authority of Las Casas, we know that he left +that part of Spain to go to Segovia in the next May, and from that place +he followed the court to Salamanca and Valladolid, although he was so +weak and ill. + +He was received, as he had always been, with professions of kindness; +but nothing followed important enough to show that there was anything +genuine in this cordiality. After a few days Columbus begged that some +action might be taken to indemnify him for his losses, and to confirm +the promises which had been made to him before. The king replied that he +was willing to refer all points which had been discussed between them to +an arbitration. Columbus assented, and proposed the Archbishop Diego de +Deza as an arbiter. + +The reader must remember that it was he who had assisted Columbus in +early days when the inquiry was made at Salamanca. The king assented +to the arbitration, but proposed that it should include questions +which Columbus would not consider as doubtful. One of these was his +restoration to his office of viceroy. + +Now on the subject of his dignities Columbus was tenacious. He regarded +everything else as unimportant in comparison. He would not admit that +there was any question that he was the viceroy of the Indies, and all +this discussion ended in the postponement of all consideration of his +claims till, after his death, it was too late for them to be considered. + +All the documents, when read with the interest which we take in his +character and fortunes, are indeed pathetic; but they did not seem so to +the king, if indeed they ever met his eye. + +In despair of obtaining justice for himself, Columbus asked that his son +Diego might be sent to Hispaniola in his place. The king would promise +nothing, but seems to have attempted to make Columbus exchange the +privileges which he enjoyed by the royal promise for a seignory in a +little town in the kingdom of Leon, which is named not improperly “The +Counts’ Carrion.” + +It is interesting to see that one of the persons whom he employed, in +pressing his claim at the court and in the management of his affairs, +was Vespucci, the Florentine merchant, who in early life had been known +as Alberigo, but had now taken the name of Americo. + +The king was still engaged in the affairs of the islands. He appointed +bishops to take charge of the churches in the colonies, but Columbus +was not so much as consulted as to the persons who should be sent. When +Philip arrived from Flanders, with his wife Juana, who was the heir of +Isabella’s fortunes and crown, Columbus wished to pay his court to them, +but was too weak to do so in person. + +There is a manly letter, written with dignity and pathos, in which +he presses his claims upon them. He commissioned his brother, the +Adelantado, to take this letter, and with it he went to wait upon the +young couple. They received him most cordially, and gave flattering +hopes that they would attend favorably to the suit. But this was too +late for Columbus himself. Immediately after he had sent his brother +away, his illness increased in violence. + +The time for petitions and for answers to petitions had come to an end. +His health failed steadily, and in the month of May he knew that he was +approaching his death. The king and the court had gone to Villafranca de +Valcacar. + +On the nineteenth of May Columbus executed his will, which had been +prepared at Segovia a year before. In this will he directs his son and +his successors, acting as administrators, always to maintain “in the +city of Genoa, some person of our line, who shall have a house and +a wife in that place, who shall receive a sufficient income to live +honorably, as being one of our relatives, having foot and root in the +said city, as a native; since he will be able to receive from this city +aid in favor of the things of his service; because from that city I came +forth and in that city I was born.” This clause became the subject of +much litigation as the century went on. + +Another clause which was much contested was his direction to his son +Diego to take care of Beatriz Enriquez, the mother of Fernando. Diego +is instructed to provide for her an honorable subsistence “as being a +person to whom I have great obligation. What I do in this matter is to +relieve my conscience, for this weighs much upon my mind. The reason of +this cannot be written here.” + +The history of the litigation which followed upon this will and upon +other documents which bear upon the fortunes of Columbus is curious, +but scarcely interesting. The present representative of Columbus is Don +Cristobal Colon de la Cerda, Duke of Veragua and of La Vega, a grandee +of Spain of the first class, Marquis of Jamaica, Admiral and Seneschal +Major of the Indies, who lives at Madrid. + +Two days after the authentication of the will he died, on the twenty +first of May, 1506, which was the day of Ascension. His last words were +those of his Saviour, expressed in the language of the Latin Testament, +“In manus tuas, Pater, commendo spiritum meum,”--“Father, into thy hands +I commend my spirit.” The absence of the court from Valladolid took with +it, perhaps, the historians and annalists. For this or for some other +reason, there is no mention whatever of Columbus’s funeral in any of the +documents of the time. + +The body was laid in the convent of San Francisco at Valladolid. Such +at least is the supposition of Navarrete, who has collected the original +documents relating to Columbus. He supposes that the funeral services +were conducted in the church of the parish of Santa Maria de la Antigua. +From the church of Saint Francis, not many months after, the body was +removed to Seville. A new chapel had lately been built there, called +Santa Maria de las Cuevas. In this chapel was the body of Columbus +entombed. In a curious discussion of the subject, which has occupied +much more space than it is worth, it is supposed that this was in the +year 1513, but Mr. Harrisse has proved that this date is not accurate. + +For at least twenty-eight years, the body was permitted to remain under +the vaults of this chapel. Then a petition was sent to Charles V, for +leave to carry the coffin and the body to San Domingo, that it might be +buried in the larger chapel of the cathedral of that city. To this the +emperor consented, in a decree signed June 2, 1537. It is not known +how soon the removal to San Domingo was really made, but it took place +before many years. + +Mr. Harrisse quotes from a manuscript authority to show, that when +William Penn besieged the city of San Domingo in 1655, all the bodies +buried under the cathedral were withdrawn from view, lest the heretics +should profane them, and that “the old Admiral’s” body was treated like +the rest. + +Mr. Harrisse calls to mind the fact that the earthquake of the +nineteenth of May, 1673, demolished the cathedral in part, and the +tombs which it contained. He says, “the ruin of the colony, the climate, +weather, and carelessness all contributed to the loss from sight and +the forgetfulness of the bones of Columbus, mingled with the dust of his +descendants”; and Mr. Harrisse does not believe that any vestige of them +was ever found afterwards, in San Domingo or anywhere else. This remark, +from the person who has given such large attention to the subject, is +interesting. For it is generally stated and believed that the bones were +afterwards removed to Havana in the island of Cuba. The opinion of Mr. +Harrisse, as it has been quoted, is entitled to very great respect and +authority. + +A very curious question has arisen in later times as to the actual place +where the remains now are. On this question there is great discussion +among historians, and many reports, official and unofficial, have been +published with regard to it. + +In the year 1867, the proposal was made to the Holy Father at Rome, that +Columbus should receive the honors known in the Roman Catholic Church +as the honors of beatification. In 1877, De Lorgues, the enthusiastic +biographer of Columbus, represents that the inquiry had gone so far that +these honors had been determined on. One who reads his book would be led +to suppose that Columbus had already been recognized as on the way to be +made a saint of the Church. But, in truth, though some such inquiry was +set on foot, he never received the formal honors of beatification. + +***** + +We have one account by a contemporary of the appearance of Columbus.(*) +We are told that he was a “robust man, quite tall, of florid complexion, +with a long face.” + + (*) In the first Decade of Peter Martyr. + +In the next generation, Oviedo says Columbus was “of good aspect, and +above the middle stature. His limbs were strong, his eyes quick, and all +the parts of his body well proportioned. His hair was decidedly reddish, +and the complexion of his face quite florid and marked with spots of +red.” + +Bishop Las Casas knew the admiral personally, and describes him in these +terms: “He was above the middle stature, his face was long and striking, +his nose was aquiline, his eyes clear blue, his complexion light, +tending towards a distinct florid expression, his beard and hair blonde +in his youth, but they were blanched at an early age by care.” + +Las Casas says in another place, “he was rude in bearing, and careless as +to his language. He was, however, gracious when he chose to be, but he +was angry when he was annoyed.” + +Mr. Harrisse, who has collected these particulars from the different +writers, says that this physical type may be frequently met now in the +city and neighborhood of Genoa. He adds, “as for the portraits, whether +painted, engraved, or in sculpture, which appear in collections, in +private places, or as prints, there is not one which is authentic. They +are all purely imaginary.” + +For the purpose of the illustration of this volume, we have used that +which is best known, and for many reasons most interesting. It is +preserved in the city of Florence, but neither the name of the artist +nor the date of the picture is known. It is generally spoken of as the +“Florentine portrait.” The engraving follows an excellent copy, made +by the order of Thomas Jefferson, and now in the possession of the +Massachusetts Historical Society. We are indebted to the government of +this society for permission to use it.(*) + + (*) The whole subject of the portraits of Columbus is + carefully discussed in a learned paper presented to the + Wisconsin Historical Society by Dr. James Davie Butler, and + published in the Collections of that Society, Vol. IX, pp. + 79-96. + +A picture ascribed to Titian, and engraved and circulated by the +geographer, Jomard, resembles closely the portraits of Philip III. The +costume is one which Columbus never wore. + +In his youth Columbus was affiliated with a religious brotherhood, that +of Saint Catherine, in Genoa. In after times, on many occasions when it +would have been supposed that he would be richly clothed, he appeared +in a grave dress which recalled the recollections of the frock of the +religious order of Saint Francis. According to Diego Columbus, he +died, “dressed in the frock of this order, to which he had always been +attached.” + +***** + +The reader who has carefully followed the fortunes of the great +discoverer understands from the history the character of the man. He +would not have succeeded in his long suit at the court of Ferdinand and +Isabella, had he not been a person of single purpose and iron will. + +From the moment when he was in command of the first expedition, that +expedition went prosperously to its great success, in precisely the way +which he had foreseen and determined. True, he did not discover Asia, as +he had hoped, but this was because America was in the way. He showed in +that voyage all the attributes of a great discoverer; he deserved the +honors which were paid to him on his return. + +As has been said, however, this does not mean that he was a great +organizer of cities, or that he was the right person to put in charge of +a newly founded colony. It has happened more than once in the history +of nations that a great general, who can conquer armies and can obtain +peace, has not succeeded in establishing a colony or in governing a +city. + +On the other hand, it is fair to say that Columbus never had a chance to +show what he would have been in the direction of his colonies had they +been really left in his charge. This is true, that his heart was always +on discovery; all the time that he spent in the wretched detail of the +arrangement of a new-built town was time which really seemed to him +wasted. + +The great problem was always before him, how he should connect his +discoveries with the knowledge which Europe had before of the coast of +Asia. Always it seemed to him that the dominions of the Great Khan were +within his reach. Always he was eager for that happy moment when he +should find himself in personal communication with that great monarch, +who had been so long the monarch of the East--who, as he thought, would +prove to be the monarch of the West. + +Columbus died with the idea that he had come close to Asia. Even +a generation after his death, the companions of Cortes gave to the +peninsula of California that name because it was the name given in +romance to the farthest island of the eastern Indies. + +Columbus met with many reverses, and died, one might almost say, a +broken-hearted man. But history has been just to him, and has placed +him in the foremost rank of the men who have set the world forward. And, +outside of the technical study of history, those who like to trace the +laws on which human progress advances have been proud and glad to see +that here is a noble example of the triumph of faith. + +The life of Columbus is an illustration constantly brought forward of +the success which God gives to those who, having conceived of a great +idea, bravely determine to carry it through. + +His singleness of purpose, his unselfishness, his determination to +succeed, have been cited for four centuries, and will be cited for +centuries more, among the noblest illustrations which history has given, +of success wrought out by the courage of one man. + + + +APPENDIX A. + +(The following passages, from Admiral Fox’s report, give his reasons +for believing that Samana, or Atwood’s Key, is the island where Columbus +first touched land. The interest which attaches to this subject at the +moment of the centennial, when many voyages will be made by persons +following Columbus, induces me to copy Admiral Fox’s reasonings in +detail. I believe his conclusion to be correct.) + +This method of applying Columbus’s words in detail to refute each of the +alleged tracks, and the study that I gave to the subject in the winter +of 1878-79 in the Bahamas, which has been familiar cruising ground to +me, has resulted in the selection of Samana or Atwood’s Key for the +first landing place. + +It is a little island 8.8 miles east and west; 1.6 extreme breadth, and +averaging 1.2 north and south. It has 8.6 square miles. The east end +is in latitude 23 degrees 5’ N.; longitude 73 degrees 37’ west of +Greenwich. The reef on which it lies is 15 by 2 1/2 miles. + +On the southeast this reef stretches half a mile from the land, on the +east four miles, on the west two, along the north shore one-quarter +to one-half mile, and on the southwest scarcely one-quarter. Turk is +smaller than Samana, and Cat very much larger. + +The selection of two so unlike in size show that dimension has not been +considered essential in choosing an island for the first landfall.(*) + + (*) I am indebted to T. J. McLain, Esq., United States + consul at Nassau, for the following information given to him + by the captains of this port, who visit Samana or Atwood’s + Key. The sub-sketch on this chart is substantially correct: + Good water is only obtained by sinking wells. The two keys + to the east are covered with guano; white boobies hold the + larger one, and black boobies the other; neither + intermingles. + +The island is now uninhabited, but arrow heads and stone hatchets are +sometimes found; and in places there are piles of stones supposed to +have been made by the aborigines. Most of the growth is scrubby, with a +few scattered trees. + +The Nassau vessels enter an opening through the reef on the south side +of the island and find a very comfortable little harbor with from two +to two and a half fathoms of water. From here they send their boats on +shore to “strip” guano, and cut satin, dye woods and bark. + + +When Columbus discovered Guanahani, the journal called it a “little +island.” After landing he speaks of it as “bien grande,” “very large,” + which some translate, tolerably, or pretty large. November 20, 1492 +(Navarette, first edition, p. 61), the journal refers to Isabella, +a larger island than Guanahani, as “little island,” and the fifth of +January following (p. 125) San Salvador is again called “little island.” + +The Bahamas have an area of about 37,000 square miles, six per cent of +which may be land, enumerated as 36 islands, 687 keys, and 2,414 rocks. +The submarine bank upon which these rest underlies Florida also. But +this peninsula is wave-formed upon living corals, whose growth and +gradual stretch toward the south has been made known by Agassiz. + +I had an unsuccessful search for a similar story of the Bahamas, to +learn whether there were any probable changes within so recent a period +as four hundred years. + +The common mind can see that all the rock there is coral, none of which +is in position. The surface, the caves, the chinks, and the numerous +pot-holes are compact limestone, often quite crystalline, while beneath +it is oolitic, either friable or hard enough to be used for buildings. +The hills are sand-blown, not upheaved. On a majority of the maps of the +sixteenth century there were islands on Mouchoir, and on Silver Banks, +where now are rocks “awash;” and the Dutch and the Severn Shoals, which +lay to the east, have disappeared. + +It is difficult to resist the impression that the shoal banks, and the +reefs of the Bahamas, were formerly covered with land; and that for a +geological age waste has been going on, and, perhaps, subsidence. The +coral polyp seems to be doing only desultory work, and that mostly on +the northeast or Atlantic side of the islands; everywhere else it has +abandoned the field to the erosive action of the waves. + +Columbus said that Guanahani had abundance of water and a very large +lagoon in the middle of it. He used the word laguna--lagoon, not +lago--lake. His arrival in the Bahamas was at the height of the rainy +season. Governor Rawson’s Report on the Bahamas, 1864, page 92, Appendix +4, gives the annual rainfall at Nassau for ten years, 1855--‘64, as +sixty-four inches. From May 1, to November 1 is the wet season, during +which 44.7 inches fall; the other six months 19.3 only. The most is in +October, 8.5 inches. + +Andros, the largest island, 1,600 square miles, is the only one that has +a stream of water. The subdivision of the land into so many islands +and keys, the absence of mountains, the showery characteristic of the +rainfall, the porosity of the rock, and the great heat reflected from +the white coral, are the chief causes for the want of running water. +During the rainy season the “abundance of water” collects in the low +places, making ponds and lagoons, that afterward are soaked up by the +rock and evaporated by the sun. + +Turk and Watling have lagoons of a more permanent condition, because +they are maintained from the ocean by permeation. The lagoon which +Columbus found at Guanahani had certainly undrinkable water, or he would +have gotten some for his vessels, instead of putting it off until he +reached the third island. + +There is nothing in the journal to indicate that the lagoon at Guanahani +was aught but the flooding of the low grounds by excessive rains; and +even if it was one communicating with the ocean, its absence now may be +referred to the effect of those agencies which are working incessantly +to reshape the soft structure of the Bahamas. + +Samana has a range of hills on the southwest side about one hundred feet +high, and on the northeast another, lower. Between them, and also along +the north shore, the land is low, and during the season of rains there +is a row of ponds parallel to the shore. On the south side a conspicuous +white bluff looks to the southward and eastward. + +The two keys, lying respectively half a mile and three miles east of the +island, and possibly the outer breaker, which is four miles, all might +have been connected with each other, and with the island, four hundred +years ago. In that event the most convenient place for Columbus to +anchor in the strong northeast trade-wind, was where I have put an +anchor on the sub-sketch of Samana. + +(In a subsequent passage Admiral Fox says:--) + +There is a common belief that the first landing place is settled by +one or another of the authors cited here. Nevertheless, I trust to have +shown, paragraph by paragraph, wherein their several tracks are +contrary to the journal, inconsistent with the true cartography of the +neighborhood, and to the discredit, measurably, both of Columbus and of +Las Casas. The obscurity and the carelessness which appear in part of +the diary through the Bahamas offer no obstacle to this demonstration, +provided that they do not extend to the “log,” or nautical part. + +Columbus went to sea when he was fourteen years of age, and served there +almost continuously for twenty-three years. The strain of a sea-faring +life, from so tender an age, is not conducive to literary exactness. +Still, for the very reason of this sea experience, the “log” should be +correct. + +This is composed of the courses steered, distances sailed over, bearings +of islands from one another, trend of shores, etc. The recording of +these is the daily business of seamen, and here the entries were by +Columbus himself, chiefly to enable him, on his return to Spain, to +construct that nautical map, which is promised in the prologue of the +first voyage. + +In crossing the Atlantic the Admiral understated to the crew each day’s +run, so that they should not know how far they had gone into an unknown +ocean. Las Casas was aware of this counterfeit “log,” but his abridgment +is from that one which Columbus kept for his own use. + +If the complicated courses and distances in this were originally wrong, +or if the copy of them is false, it is obvious that they cannot be +“plotted” upon a correct chart. Conversely, if they ARE made to conform +to a succession of islands among which he is known to have sailed, it +is evident that this is a genuine transcript of the authentic “log” of +Columbus, and, reciprocally, that we have the true track, the beginning +of which is the eventful landfall of October 12, 1492. + +The student or critical reader, and the seaman, will have to determine +whether the writer has established this conformity. The public, +probably, desires to have the question settled, but it will hardly take +any interest in a discussion that has no practical bearing, and which, +for its elucidation, leans so much upon the jargon or the sea. + +It is not flattering to the English or Spanish speaking peoples that the +four hundredth anniversary of this great event draws nigh, and is likely +to catch us still floundering, touching the first landing place. + + +SUMMARY. + +First. There is no objection to Samana in respect to size, position or +shape. That it is a little island, lying east and west, is in its favor. +The erosion at the east end, by which islets have been formed, recalls +the assertion of Columbus that there it could be cut off in two days and +made into an island. + +The Nassau vessels still find a snug anchorage here during the northeast +trades. These blew half a gale of wind at the time of the landfall; yet +Navarette, Varnhagen, and Captain Becher anchored the squadron on the +windward sides of the coral reefs of their respective islands, a “lee +shore.” + +The absence of permanent lagoons at Samana I have tried to explain. + +Second. The course from Samana to Crooked is to the southwest, which is +the direction that the Admiral said he should steer “tomorrow evening.” + The distance given by him corresponds with the chart. + +Third. The second island, Santa Maria, is described as having two sides +which made a right angle, and the length of each is given. This points +directly to Crooked and Acklin. Both form one island, so fitted to +the words of the journal as cannot be done with any other land of the +Bahamas. + +Fourth. The course and distance from Crooked to Long Island is that +which the Admiral gives from Santa Maria to Fernandina. + +Fifth. Long Island, the third, is accurately described. The trend of the +shores, “north-northwest and south-southeast;” the “marvelous port” and +the “coast which runs east (and) west,” can nowhere be found except at +the southeast part of Long Island. + +Sixth. The journal is obscure in regard to the fourth island. The best +way to find it is to “plot” the courses FORWARD from the third island +and the courses and distances BACKWARD from the fifth. These lead to +Fortune for the fourth. + +Seventh. The Ragged Islands are the fifth. These he named las islas de +Arena--Sand Islands. + +They lie west-southwest from the fourth, and this is the course the +Admiral adhered to. He did not “log” all the run made between these +islands; in consequence the “log” falls short of the true distance, as +it ought to. These “seven or eight islands, all extending from north to +south,” and having shoal water “six leagues to the south” of them, are +seen on the chart at a glance. + +Eighth. The course and distance from these to Port Padre, in Cuba, is +reasonable. The westerly current, the depth of water at the entrance of +Padre, and the general description, are free of difficulties. The true +distance is greater than the “logged,” because Columbus again omits part +of his run. It would be awkward if the true distances from the fourth to +the fifth islands, and from the latter to Padre, had fallen short of the +“log,” since it would make the unexplainable situation which occurs in +Irving’s course and distance from Mucaras Reef to Boca de Caravela. + +From end to end of the Samana track there are but three discrepancies. +At the third island, two leagues ought to be two miles. At the fourth +island twelve leagues ought to be twelve miles. The bearing between the +third and fourth islands is not quite as the chart has it, nor does it +agree with the courses he steered. These three are fairly explained, and +I think that no others can be mustered to disturb the concord between +this track and the journal. + +Rev. Mr. Cronan, in his recent voyage, discovered a cave at Watling’s +island, where were many skeletons of the natives. It is thought that a +study of the bones in these skeletons will give some new ethnological +information as to the race which Columbus found, which is now, thanks to +Spanish cruelty, entirely extinct. + + + +APPENDIX B. + +The letter to the Lady Juana, which gives Columbus’s own statement of +the indignities put upon him in San Domingo, is written in his most +crabbed Spanish. He never wrote the Spanish language accurately, and +the letter, as printed from his own manuscript, is even curious in its +infelicities. It is so striking an illustration of the character of the +man that we print here an abstract of it, with some passages translated +directly from his own language. + +Columbus writes, towards the end of the year 1500, to the former +nurse of Don Juan, an account of the treatment he has received. “If +my complaint of the world is new, its method of abuse is very old,” he +says. “God has made me a messenger of the new heaven and the new earth +which is spoken of in the Apocalypse by the mouth of St. John, after +having been spoken of by Isaiah, and he showed me the place where it +was.” Everybody was incredulous, but the queen alone gave the spirit +of intelligence and zeal to the undertaking. Then the people talked of +obstacles and expense. Columbus says “seven years passed in talk, and +nine in executing some noted acts which are worthy of remembrance,” but +he returned reviled by all. + +“If I had stolen the Indies and had given them to the Moors I could not +have had greater enmity shown to me in Spain.” Columbus would have liked +then to give up the business if he could have come before the queen. +However he persisted, and he says he “undertook a new voyage to the new +heaven and the new earth which before had been hidden, and if it is not +appreciated in Spain as much as the other countries of India it is not +surprising, because it is all owing to my industry.” He “had believed +that the voyage to Paria would reconcile all because of the pearls and +gold in the islands of Espanola.” He says, “I caused those of our people +whom I had left there to come together and fish for pearls, and arranged +that I should return and take from them what had been collected, as I +understood, in measure a fanega (about a bushel). If I have not written +this to their Highnesses it is because I wished also to have as much +of gold. But that fled before me, as all other things; I would not have +lost them and with them my honor, if I could have busied myself with my +own affairs. + +“When I went to San Domingo I found almost half of the colony uprising, +and they made war upon me as a Moor, and the Indians on the other side +were no less cruel. + +“Hojida came and he tried to make order, and he said that their +Highnesses had sent him with promises of gifts and grants and money. He +made up a large company, for in all Espanola there were few men who were +not vagabonds, and no one lived there who had wife or children.” Hojida +retired with threats. + +“Then Vincente Ganez came with four ships. There were outbreaks and +suspicions but no damage.” He reported that six other ships under a +brother of the Alcalde would arrive, and also the death of the queen, +but these were rumors without foundation. + +“Adrian (Mogica) attempted to go away as before, but our Lord did not +permit him to carry out his bad plan.” Here Columbus regrets that he was +obliged to use force or ill-treat Adrian, but says he would have done +the same had his brother wished to kill him or wrest from him the +government which the king and queen had given him to guard. + +“For six months I was ready to leave to take to their Highnesses the +good news of the gold and to stop governing a dissolute people who +feared neither king nor queen, full of meanness and malice. I would have +been able to pay all the people with six hundred thousand maravedis and +for that there were more than four millions of tithes without counting +the third part of the gold.” + +Columbus says that he begged before his departure that they would send +some one at his expense to take command, and yet again a subject with +letters, for he says bitterly that he has such a singular reputation +that if he “were building churches and hospitals they would say they +were cells for stolen goods.” + +Then Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo while Columbus was at La Vega and +the Adelantado at Jaragua. “The second day of his arrival he declared +himself governor, created magistrates, made offices, published grants +for gold and tithes, and everything else for a term of twenty years.” He +said he had come to pay the people, and declared he would send Columbus +home in irons. Columbus was away. Letters with favors were sent to +others, but none to him. Columbus resorted to methods to gain time so +that their Highnesses could understand the state of things. But he was +constantly maligned and persecuted by those who were jealous of him. He +says: + +“I think that you will remember that when the tempest threw me into the +port of Lisbon, after having lost my sails, I was accused of having the +intention to give India to that country. Afterwards their Highnesses +knew to the contrary. Although I know but little, I cannot conceive +that any one would suppose me so stupid as not to know that though +India might belong to me, yet I could not keep it without the help of a +prince.” + +Columbus complains that he has been judged as a governor who has been +sent to a peaceful, well-regulated province. He says, “I ought to be +judged as a captain sent from Spain to the Indies to conquer a warlike +people, whose custom and religion are all opposed to ours, where the +people live in the mountains without regular houses for themselves, and +where, by the will of God, I have placed under the rule of the king and +queen another world, and by which Spain, which calls itself poor, is +today the richest empire. I ought to be judged as a captain who for many +years bears arms incessantly. + +“I know well that the errors that I have committed have not been with +bad intentions, and I think that their Highnesses will believe what I +say; but I know and see that they use pity for those who work against +them.” + +“If, nevertheless, their Highnesses order that another shall judge me, +which I hope will not be, and this ought to be on an examination made +in India, I humbly beg of them to send there two conscientious and +respectable people, at my expense, which may know easily that one +finds five marcs of gold in four hours. However that may be, it is very +necessary that they should go there.” + + +APPENDIX C. + +It would have been so natural to give the name of Columbus to the new +world which he gave to Castile and Leon, that much wonder has been +expressed that America was not called Columbia, and many efforts have +been made to give to the continent this name. The District of Columbia +was so named at a time when American writers of poetry, were determined +that “Columbia” should be the name of the continent. The ship Columbia, +from which the great river of the West takes that name, had received +this name under the same circumstances about the same time. The city +of Columbia, which is the capital of South Carolina, was named with the +same wish to do justice to the great navigator. + +Side by side with the discussion as to the name, and sometimes making +a part of it, is the question whether Columbus himself was really the +first discoverer of the mainland. The reader has seen that he first saw +the mainland of South America in the beginning of August, 1498. It was +on the fifth, sixth or seventh day, according to Mr. Harrisse’s accurate +study of the letters. Was this the first discovery by a European of the +mainland? + +It is known that Ojeda, with whom the reader is familiar, also saw this +coast. With him, as passenger on his vessel, was Alberico Vespucci, and +at one time it was supposed that Vespucci had made some claim to be the +discoverer of the continent, on account of this voyage. But in truth +Ojeda himself says that before he sailed he had seen the map of the Gulf +of Paria which Columbus had sent home to the sovereigns after he made +that discovery. It also seems to be proved that Alberico Vespucci, as +he was then called, never made for himself any claim to the great +discovery. + +Another question, of a certain interest to people proud of English +maritime science, is the question whether the Cabots did not see the +mainland before Columbus. It is admitted on all hands that they did not +make their first voyage till they knew of Columbus’s first discoveries; +but it is supposed that in the first or second voyage of the Cabots, +they saw the mainland of North America. The dates of the Cabots’ voyages +are unfortunately badly entangled. One of them is as early as 1494, but +this is generally rejected. It is more probable that the king’s letters +patent, authorizing John Cabot and his three sons to go, with five +vessels, under the English flag, for the discovery of islands and +countries yet unknown, was dated the fifth of March, 1496. Whether, +however, they sailed in that year or in the next year is a question. The +first record of a discovery is in the account-book of the privy purse of +Henry VII, in the words, “August 10th, 1497. To him who discovered +the new island, ten pounds.” This is clearly not a claim on which the +discovery of the mainland can be based. + +A manuscript known as the Cotton Manuscript says that John Cabot had +sailed, but had not returned, at the moment when the manuscript was +written. This period was “the thirteenth year of Henry VII.” The +thirteenth year of Henry began on the twenty-second of August, 1497, +and ended in 1498. On the third of February, 1498, Henry VII granted +permission to Cabot to take six English ships “to the lands and islands +recently found by the said Cabot, in the name of the king and by his +orders.” Strictly speaking, this would mean that the mainland had then +been discovered; but it is impossible to establish the claim of England +on these terms. + +What is, however, more to the point, is a letter from Pasqualigo, a +Venetian merchant, who says, writing to Venice, on the twenty-third of +August, 1497, that Cabot had discovered the mainland at seven hundred +leagues to the west, and had sailed along it for a coast of three +hundred leagues. He says the voyage was three months in length. It was +made, then, between May and August, 1497. The evidence of this letter +seems to show that the mainland of North America was really first +discovered by Cabot. The discussion, however, does not in the least +detract from the merit due to Columbus for the great discovery. Whether +he saw an island or whether he saw the mainland, was a mere matter of +what has been called landfall by the seamen. It is admitted on all hands +that he was the leader in all these enterprises, and that it was on his +success in the first voyage that all such enterprises followed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Christopher Columbus from +his own Letters and Journals, by Edward Everett Hale + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF COLUMBUS *** + +***** This file should be named 1492-0.txt or 1492-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/9/1492/ + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of Christopher Columbus from his own Letters and Journals + +Author: Edward Everett Hale + +Release Date: February 15, 2006 [EBook #1492] +Last Updated: November 7, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF COLUMBUS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE LIFE OF <br /> CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS <br /> <br /> FROM HIS OWN LETTERS + AND JOURNALS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + AND <br /> OTHER DOCUMENTS OF HIS TIME. + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by EDWARD EVERETT HALE, + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + [This was originally done on the 400th Anniversary<br /> of 1492, as was + the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago.<br /> Interesting how our heroes + have all been de-canonized in the<br /> interest of Political Correctitude]<br /> + <br /> —Comments by Michael S. Hart + </h4> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + This book contains a life of Columbus, written with the hope of + interesting all classes of readers. + </p> + <p> + His life has often been written, and it has sometimes been well written. + The great book of our countryman, Washington Irving, is a noble model of + diligent work given to a very difficult subject. And I think every person + who has dealt with the life of Columbus since Irving’s time, has expressed + his gratitude and respect for the author. + </p> + <p> + According to the custom of biographers, in that time and since, he + includes in those volumes the whole history of the West India islands, for + the period after Columbus discovered them till his death. He also thinks + it his duty to include much of the history of Spain and of the Spanish + court. I do not myself believe that it is wise to attempt, in a book of + biography, so considerable a study of the history of the time. Whether it + be wise or not, I have not attempted it in this book. I have rather + attempted to follow closely the personal fortunes of Christopher Columbus, + and, to the history around him, I have given only such space as seemed + absolutely necessary for the illustration of those fortunes. + </p> + <p> + I have followed on the lines of his own personal narrative wherever we + have it. And where this is lost I have used the absolutely contemporary + authorities. I have also consulted the later writers, those of the next + generation and the generation which followed it. But the more one studies + the life of Columbus the more one feels sure that, after the greatness of + his discovery was really known, the accounts of the time were overlaid by + what modern criticism calls myths, which had grown up in the enthusiasm of + those who honored him, and which form no part of real history. If then the + reader fails to find some stories with which he is quite familiar in the + history, he must not suppose that they are omitted by accident, but must + give to the author of the book the credit of having used some discretion + in the choice of his authorities. + </p> + <p> + When I visited Spain in 1882, I was favored by the officers of the Spanish + government with every facility for carrying my inquiry as far as a short + visit would permit. Since that time Mr. Harrisse has published his + invaluable volumes on the life of Columbus. It certainly seems as if every + document now existing, which bears upon the history, had been collated by + him. The reader will see that I have made full use of this treasure-house. + </p> + <p> + The Congress of Americanistas, which meets every year, brings forward many + curious studies on the history of the continent, but it can scarcely be + said to have done much to advance our knowledge of the personal life of + Columbus. + </p> + <p> + The determination of the people of the United States to celebrate fitly + the great discovery which has advanced civilization and changed the face + of the world, makes it certain that a new interest has arisen in the life + of the great man to whom, in the providence of God, that discovery was + due. The author and publishers of this book offer it as their contribution + in the great celebration, with the hope that it may be of use, especially + in the direction of the studies of the young. + </p> + <p> + EDWARD E. HALE. + </p> + <p> + ROXBURY, MASS., June 1st, 1891. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_TOC"> DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> + EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. + </a> HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> THE GREAT VOYAGE. + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> THE + LANDING ON THE TWELFTH OF OCTOBER <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> + CHAPTER V. </a> LANDING ON CUBA <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> DISCOVERY OF HAYTI OR + HISPANIOLA <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + COLUMBUS IS CALLED TO MEET THE KING AND QUEEN <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> THE SECOND + EXPEDITION SAILS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + THE NEW COLONY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> + THE THIRD VOYAGE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> + SPAIN, 1500, 1501. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + FOURTH VOYAGE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> + TWO SAD YEARS <br /><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_APPEa"> APPENDIX A.</a> + <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2H_SUMM"> SUMMARY.</a> <br /> <br /> <a + href="#link2H_APPEb"> APPENDIX B.</a> <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2H_APPEc"> + APPENDIX C.</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS. + </h2> + <blockquote> + <p> + CHAPTER 1. EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. <br /> His Birth and Birth-place—His + Early Education—His <br /> experience at Sea-His Marriage and + Residence in Lisbon— <br /> His Plans for the Discovery of a + Westward <br /> Passage to the Indies <br /> <br />CHAPTER II. HIS PLANS + FOR DISCOVERY. <br /> Columbus Leaves Lisbon, and Visits Genoa—Visits + Great <br /> Spanish Dukes—For Six Years is at the Court of + Ferdinand <br /> and Isabella—The Council of Salamanca—His + <br /> Petition is at Last Granted—Squadron Made Ready <br /> <br />CHAPTER + III. THE GREAT VOYAGE. <br /> The Squadron Sails—Refits at Canary + Islands—Hopes <br /> and Fears of the Voyage—The Doubts of + the Crew— <br /> Land Discovered <br /> <br />CHAPTER IV. <br /> The + Landing on the Twelfth of October—The Natives and <br /> their + Neighbors—Search for Gold-Cuba Discovered <br /> Columbus Coasts + Along its Shores <br /> <br />CHAPTER V. <br /> Landing on Cuba—The + Cigar and Tobacco—Cipango and <br /> the Great Khan—From Cuba + to Hayti—Its Shores and <br /> Harbors <br /> <br />CHAPTER VI. <br /> + Discovery of Hayti or Hispaniola—The Search for Gold— <br /> + Hospitality and Intelligence of the Natives—Christmas <br /> Day—A + Shipwreck—Colony to be Founded—Columbus <br /> Sails East and + Meets Martin Pinzon-The Two <br /> Vessels Return to Europe—Storm—The + Azores— <br /> Portugal—Home <br /> <br />CHAPTER VII. <br /> + Columbus is Called to Meet the King and Queen—His <br /> + Magnificent Reception—Negotiations with the Pope and <br /> with + the King of Portugal—Second Expedition Ordered <br /> —Fonseca—The + Preparations at Cadiz <br /> <br />CHAPTER VIII. <br /> The Second + Expedition Sails From Cadiz—Touches at <br /> Canary Islands—Discovery + of Dominica and Guadeloupe <br /> —Skirmishes with the Caribs—Porto + Rico Discovered <br /> —Hispaniola—The Fate of the Colony at + La Navidad <br /> <br />CHAPTER IX. <br /> The New Colony—Expeditions + of Discovery—Guacanagari— <br /> Search for Gold—Mutiny + in the Colony—The <br /> Vessels Sent Home—Columbus Marches + Inland— <br /> Collection of Gold—Fortress of St. Thomas—A + New Voyage <br /> of Discovery—Jamaica Visited—The South + Shore <br /> of Cuba Explored—Return—Evangelista Discovered + <br /> —Columbus Falls Sick—Return to Isabella <br /> <br />CHAPTER + X. THE THIRD VOYAGE. <br /> Letter to the King and Queen—Discovery + of Trinidad and <br /> Paria—Curious Speculation as to the Earthly + Paradise <br /> —Arrival at San Domingo—Rebellions and + Mutinies in <br /> that Island-Roldan and His Followers—Ojeda and + <br /> His Expedition—Arrival of Bobadilla—Columbus a <br /> + Prisoner <br /> <br />CHAPTER XI. SPAIN, 1500, 1502. <br /> A Cordial + Reception in Spain—Columbus Favorably <br /> Received at Court—New + Interest in Geographical <br /> Discovery—His Plans for the + Redemption of the Holy <br /> Sepulchre—Preparations for a Fourth + Expedition <br /> <br />CHAPTER XII. FOURTH VOYAGE. <br /> The Instructions + Given for the Voyage—He is to go to <br /> the Mainland of the + Indies—A Short Passage—Ovando <br /> Forbids the Entrance of + Columbus into Harbor <br /> Bobadilla’s Squadron and Its Fate—Columbus + Sails Westward <br /> —Discovers Honduras, and Coasts Along Its + Shores <br /> —The Search for Gold—Colony Attempted and + Abandoned <br /> —The Vessels Become Unseaworthy—Refuge at + <br /> Jamaica—Mutiny Led by the Brothers Porras—Messages + <br /> to San Domingo—The Eclipse—Arrival of Relief <br /> + —Columbus Returns to San Domingo, and to Spain <br /> <br />CHAPTER + XIII. <br /> Two Sad Years—Isabella’s Death—Columbus at + Seville— <br /> His Illness—Letters to the King—journeys + to Segovia <br /> —Salamanca and Valladolid—His Suit There—Philip + <br /> and Juana—Columbus Executes His Will—Dies—His + <br /> Burial and the Removal of His Body—His Portraits— + <br /> His Character + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE LIFE OF <br /> <br /> CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. — EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. + </h2> + <p> + HIS BIRTH AND BIRTH-PLACE—HIS EARLY EDUCATION—HIS EXPERIENCE + AT SEA—HIS MARRIAGE AND RESIDENCE IN LISBON—HIS PLANS FOR THE + DISCOVERY OF A WESTWARD PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. + </p> + <p> + Christopher Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa. The honor of his + birth-place has been claimed by many villages in that Republic, and the + house in which he was born cannot be now pointed out with certainty. But + the best authorities agree that the children and the grown people of the + world have never been mistaken when they have said: “America was + discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa.” + </p> + <p> + His name, and that of his family, is always written Colombo, in the + Italian papers which refer to them, for more than one hundred years before + his time. In Spain it was always written Colon; in France it is written as + Colomb; while in England it has always kept its Latin form, Columbus. It + has frequently been said that he himself assumed this form, because + Columba is the Latin word for “Dove,” with a fanciful feeling that, in + carrying Christian light to the West, he had taken the mission of the + dove. Thus, he had first found land where men thought there was ocean, and + he was the messenger of the Holy Spirit to those who sat in darkness. It + has also been assumed that he took the name of Christopher, “the + Christ-bearer,” for similar reasons. But there is no doubt that he was + baptized “Christopher,” and that the family name had long been Columbo. + The coincidences of name are but two more in a calendar in which poetry + delights, and of which history is full. + </p> + <p> + Christopher Columbus was the oldest son of Dominico Colombo and Suzanna + Fontanarossa. This name means Red-fountain. He bad two brothers, + Bartholomew and Diego, whom we shall meet again. Diego is the Spanish way + of writing the name which we call James. + </p> + <p> + It seems probable that Christopher was born in the year 1436, though some + writers have said that he was older than this, and some that he was + younger. The record of his birth and that of his baptism have not been + found. + </p> + <p> + His father was not a rich man, but he was able to send Christopher, as a + boy, to the University of Pavia, and here he studied grammar, geometry, + geography and navigation, astronomy and the Latin language. But this was + as a boy studies, for in his fourteenth year he left the university and + entered, in hard work, on “the larger college of the world.” If the date + given above, of his birth, is correct, this was in the year 1450, a few + years before the Turks took Constantinople, and, in their invasion of + Europe, affected the daily life of everyone, young or old, who lived in + the Mediterranean countries. From this time, for fifteen years, it is hard + to trace along the life of Columbus. It was the life of an intelligent + young seaman, going wherever there was a voyage for him. He says himself, + “I passed twenty-three years on the sea. I have seen all the Levant, all + the western coasts, and the North. I have seen England; I have often made + the voyage from Lisbon to the Guinea coast.” This he wrote in a letter to + Ferdinand and Isabella. Again he says, “I went to sea from the most tender + age and have continued in a sea life to this day. Whoever gives himself up + to this art wants to know the secrets of Nature here below. It is more + than forty years that I have been thus engaged. Wherever any one has + sailed, there I have sailed.” + </p> + <p> + Whoever goes into the detail of the history of that century will come upon + the names of two relatives of his—Colon el Mozo (the Boy, or the + Younger) and his uncle, Francesco Colon, both celebrated sailors. The + latter of the two was a captain in the fleets of Louis XI of France, and + imaginative students may represent him as meeting Quentin Durward at + court. Christopher Columbus seems to have made several voyages under the + command of the younger of these relatives. He commanded the Genoese + galleys near Cyprus in a war which the Genoese had with the Venetians. + Between the years 1461 and 1463 the Genoese were acting as allies with + King John of Calabria, and Columbus had a command as captain in their navy + at that time. + </p> + <p> + “In 1477,” he says, in one of his letters, “in the month of February, I + sailed more than a hundred leagues beyond Tile.” By this he means Thule, + or Iceland. “Of this island the southern part is seventy-three degrees + from the equator, not sixty-three degrees, as some geographers pretend.” + But here he was wrong. The Southern part of Iceland is in the latitude of + sixty-three and a half degrees. “The English, chiefly those of Bristol, + carry their merchandise, to this island, which is as large as England. + When I was there the sea was not frozen, but the tides there are so strong + that they rise and fall twenty-six cubits.” + </p> + <p> + The order of his life, after his visit to Iceland, is better known. He was + no longer an adventurous sailor-boy, glad of any voyage which offered; he + was a man thirty years of age or more. He married in the city of Lisbon + and settled himself there. His wife was named Philippa. She was the + daughter of an Italian gentleman named Bartolomeo Muniz de Perestrello, + who was, like Columbus, a sailor, and was alive to all the new interests + which geography then presented to all inquiring minds. This was in the + year 1477, and the King of Portugal was pressing the expeditions which, + before the end of the century, resulted in the discovery of the route to + the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. + </p> + <p> + The young couple had to live. Neither the bride nor her husband had any + fortune, and Columbus occupied himself as a draftsman, illustrating books, + making terrestrial globes, which must have been curiously inaccurate, + since they had no Cape of Good Hope and no American Continent, drawing + charts for sale, and collecting, where he could, the material for such + study. Such charts and maps were beginning to assume new importance in + those days of geographical discovery. The value attached to them may be + judged from the statement that Vespucius paid one hundred and thirty + ducats for one map. This sum would be more than five hundred dollars of + our time. + </p> + <p> + Columbus did not give up his maritime enterprises. He made voyages to the + coast of Guinea and in other directions. + </p> + <p> + It is said that he was in command of one of the vessels of his relative + Colon el Mozo, when, in the Portuguese seas, this admiral, with his + squadron, engaged four Venetian galleys returning from Flanders. A bloody + battle followed. The ship which Christopher Columbus commanded was engaged + with a Venetian vessel, to which it set fire. There was danger of an + explosion, and Columbus himself, seeing this danger, flung himself into + the sea, seized a floating oar, and thus gained the shore. He was not far + from Lisbon, and from this time made Lisbon his home for many years.(*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) The critics challenge these dates, but there seems to be + good foundation for the story. +</pre> + <p> + It seems clear that, from the time when he arrived in Lisbon, for more + than twenty years, he was at work trying to interest people in his “great + design,” of western discovery. He says himself, “I was constantly + corresponding with learned men, some ecclesiastics and some laymen, some + Latin and some Greek, some Jews and some Moors.” The astronomer Toscanelli + was one of these correspondents. + </p> + <p> + We must not suppose that the idea of the roundness of the earth was + invented by Columbus. Although there were other theories about its shape, + many intelligent men well understood that the earth was a globe, and that + the Indies, though they were always reached from Europe by going to the + East, must be on the west of Europe also. There is a very funny story in + the travels of Mandeville, in which a traveler is represented as having + gone, mostly on foot, through all the countries of Asia, but finally + determines to return to Norway, his home. In his farthest eastern + investigation, he hears some people calling their cattle by a peculiar + cry, which he had never heard before. After he returned home, it was + necessary for him to take a day’s journey westward to look after some + cattle he had lost. Finding these cattle, he also heard the same cry of + people calling cattle, which he had heard in the extreme East, and now + learned, for the first time, that he had gone round the world on foot, to + turn and come back by the same route, when he was only a day’s journey + from home, Columbus was acquainted with such stories as this, and also had + the astronomical knowledge which almost made him know that the world was + round, “and, like a ball, goes spinning in the air.” The difficulty was to + persuade other people that, because of this roundness, it would be + possible to attain Asia by sailing to the West. + </p> + <p> + Now all the geographers of repute supposed that there was not nearly so + large a distance as there proved to be, in truth, between Europe and Asia. + Thus, in the geography of Ptolemy, which was the standard book at that + time, one hundred and thirty-five degrees, a little more than one-third of + the earth’s circumference, is given to the space between the extreme + eastern part of the Indies and the Canary Islands. In fact, as we now + know, the distance is one hundred and eighty degrees, half the world’s + circumference. Had Columbus believed there was any such immense distance, + he would never have undertaken his voyage. + </p> + <p> + Almost all the detailed knowledge of the Indies which the people of his + time had, was given by the explorations of Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler + of the thirteenth century, whose book had long been in the possession of + European readers. It is a very entertaining book now, and may well be + recommended to young people who like stories of adventure. Marco Polo had + visited the court of the Great Khan of Tartary at Pekin, the prince who + brought the Chinese Empire into very much the condition in which it now + is. He had, also, given accounts of Japan or Cipango, which he had himself + never visited. Columbus knew, therefore, that, well east of the Indies, + was the island of Cipango, and he aimed at that island, because he + supposed that that was the nearest point to Europe, as in fact it is. And + when finally he arrived at Cuba, as the reader will see, he thought he was + in Japan. + </p> + <p> + Columbus’s father-in-law had himself been the Portuguese governor of the + island of Porto Santo, where he had founded a colony. He, therefore, was + interested in western explorations, and probably from him Columbus + collected some of the statements which are known to have influenced him, + with regard to floating matters from the West, which are constantly borne + upon that island by the great currents of the sea. + </p> + <p> + The historians are fond of bringing together all the intimations which are + given in the Greek and Latin classics, and in later authors, with regard + to a land beyond Asia. Perhaps the most famous of them is that of Seneca, + “In the later years there shall come days in which Ocean shall loose his + chains, and a great land shall appear . . . and Thule shall not be the + last of the worlds.” + </p> + <p> + In a letter which Toscanelli wrote to Columbus in 1474, he inclosed a copy + of a letter which he had already sent to an officer of Alphonso V, the + King of Portugal. In writing to Columbus, he says, “I see that you have a + great and noble desire to go into that country (of the East) where the + spices come from, and in reply to your letter I send you a copy of that + which I addressed some years ago to my attached friend in the service of + the most serene King of Portugal. He had an order from his Highness to + write me on this subject. . . . If I had a globe in my hand, I could show + you what is needed. But I prefer to mark out the route on a chart like a + marine chart, which will be an assistance to your intelligence and + enterprise. On this chart I have myself drawn the whole extremity of our + western shore from Ireland as far down as the coast of Guinea toward the + South, with all the islands which are to be found on this route. Opposite + this (that is, the shores of Ireland and Africa) I have placed directly at + the West the beginning of the Indies with the islands and places where you + will land. You will see for yourself how many miles you must keep from the + arctic pole toward the equator, and at what distance you will arrive at + these regions so fertile and productive of spices and precious stones.” In + Toscanelli’s letter, he not only indicates Japan, but, in the middle of + the ocean, he places the island of Antilia. This old name afterwards gave + the name by which the French still call the West Indies, Les Antilles. + Toscanelli gives the exact distance which Columbus will have to sail: + “From Lisbon to the famous city of Quisay (Hang-tcheou-fou, then the + capital of China) if you take the direct route toward the West, the + distance will be thirty-nine hundred miles. And from Antilia to Japan it + will be two hundred and twenty-five leagues.” Toscanelli says again, “You + see that the voyage that you wish to attempt is much legs difficult than + would be thought. You would be sure of this if you met as many people as I + do who have been in the country of spices.” + </p> + <p> + While there were so many suggestions made that it would be possible to + cross the Atlantic, there was one man who determined to do this. This man + was Christopher Columbus. But he knew well that he could not do it alone. + He must have money enough for an expedition, he must have authority to + enlist crews for that expedition, and he must have power to govern those + crews when they should arrive in the Indies. In our times such adventures + have been conducted by mercantile corporations, but in those times no one + thought of doing any such thing without the direct assistance and support + of some monarch. + </p> + <p> + It is easy now to see and to say that Columbus himself was singularly well + fitted to take the charge of the expedition of discovery. He was an + excellent sailor and at the same time he was a learned geographer and a + good mathematician. He was living in Portugal, the kings of which country + had, for many years, fostered the exploration of the coast of Africa, and + were pushing expeditions farther and farther South. + </p> + <p> + In doing this, they were, in a fashion, making new discoveries. For Europe + was wholly ignorant of the western coast of Africa, beyond the Canaries, + when their expeditions began. But all men of learning knew that, five + hundred years before the Christian era, Hanno, a Carthaginian, had sailed + round Africa under the direction of the senate of Carthage. The efforts of + the King of Portugal were to repeat the voyage made by Hanno. In 1441, + Gonzales and Tristam sailed as far as Sierra Leone. They brought back some + blacks as slaves, and this was the beginning of the slave trade. + </p> + <p> + In 1446 the Portuguese took possession of the Azores, the most western + points of the Old World. Step by step they advanced southward, and became + familiar with the African coast. Bold navigators were eager to find the + East, and at last success came. Under the king’s orders, in August, 1477, + three caravels sailed from the Tagus, under Bartolomeo Diaz, for southern + discovery. Diaz was himself brave enough to be willing to go on to the Red + Sea, after he made the great discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, but his + crews mutinied, after he had gone much farther than his predecessors, and + compelled him to return. He passed the southern cape of Africa and went + forty miles farther. He called it the Cape of Torments, “Cabo Tormentoso,” + so terrible were the storms he met there. But when King John heard his + report he gave it that name of good omen which it has borne ever since, + the name of the “Cape of Good Hope.” + </p> + <p> + In the midst of such endeavors to reach the East Indies by the long voyage + down the coast of Africa and across an unknown ocean, Columbus was urging + all people who cared, to try the route directly west. If the world was + round, as the sun and moon were, and as so many men of learning believed, + India or the Indies must be to the west of Portugal. The value of direct + trade with the Indies would be enormous. Europe had already acquired a + taste for the spices of India and had confidence in the drugs of India. + The silks and other articles of clothing made in India, and the carpets of + India, were well known and prized. Marco Polo and others had given an + impression that there was much gold in India; and the pearls and precious + stones of India excited the imagination of all who read his travels. + </p> + <p> + The immense value of such a commerce may be estimated from one fact. When, + a generation after this time, one ship only of all the squadron of + Magellan returned to Cadiz, after the first voyage round the world, she + was loaded with spices from the Moluccas. These spices were sold by the + Spanish government for so large a sum of money that the king was + remunerated for the whole cost of the expedition, and even made a very + large profit from a transaction which had cost a great deal in its outfit. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was able, therefore, to offer mercantile adventurers the promise + of great profit in case of success; and at this time kings were willing to + take their share of such profits as might accrue. + </p> + <p> + The letter of Toscanelli, the Italian geographer, which has been spoken + of, was addressed to Alphonso V, the King of Portugal. To him and his + successor, John the Second, Columbus explained the probability of success, + and each of them, as it would seem, had confidence in it. But King John + made the great mistake of intrusting Columbus’s plan to another person for + experiment. He was selfish enough, and mean enough, to fit out a ship + privately and intrust its command to another seaman, bidding him sail west + in search of the Indies, while he pretended that he was on a voyage to the + Cape de Verde Islands. He was, in fact, to follow the route indicated by + Columbus. The vessel sailed. But, fortunately for the fame of Columbus, + she met a terrible storm, and her officers, in terror, turned from the + unknown ocean and returned to Lisbon. Columbus himself tells this story. + It was in disgust with the bad faith the king showed in this transaction + that he left Lisbon to offer his great project to the King and Queen of + Spain. + </p> + <p> + In a similar way, a generation afterward, Magellan, who was in the service + of the King of Portugal, was disgusted by insults which he received at his + court, and exiled himself to Spain. He offered to the Spanish king his + plan for sailing round the world and it was accepted. He sailed in a + Spanish fleet, and to his discoveries Spain owes the possession of the + Philippine Islands. Twice, therefore, did kings of Portugal lose for + themselves, their children and their kingdom, the fame and the recompense + which belong to such great discoveries. + </p> + <p> + The wife of Columbus had died and he was without a home. He left Lisbon + with his only son, Diego, in or near the end of the year 1484. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. — HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. + </h2> + <p> + COLUMBUS LEAVES LISBON, AND VISITS GENOA—VISITS GREAT SPANISH DUKES—FOR + SIX YEARS IS AT THE COURT OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA—THE COUNCIL OF + SALAMANCA—HIS PETITION IS AT LAST GRANTED—SQUADRON MADE READY. + </p> + <p> + It has been supposed that when Columbus left Lisbon he was oppressed by + debts. At a subsequent period, when King John wanted to recall him, he + offered to protect him against any creditors. But on the other hand, it is + thought that at this time he visited Genoa, and made some provision for + the comfort of his father, who was now an old man. Christopher Columbus, + himself, according to the usual opinion regarding his birth, was now + almost fifty years old. + </p> + <p> + It is probable that at this time he urged on his countrymen, the Genoese, + the importance of his great plan; and tried to interest them to make the + great endeavor, for the purpose of reaching the Indies by a western route. + As it proved, the discovery of the route by the Cape of Good Hope was, + commercially, a great injury to Genoa and the other maritime cities of + Italy. Before this time, the eastern trade of Europe came by the ports of + the eastern Mediterranean, and the Italian cities. Columbus’s offer to + Genoa was therefore one which, if her statesmen could have foreseen the + future, they would have considered eagerly. + </p> + <p> + But Genoa was greatly depressed at this period. In her wars with the Turks + she had been, on the whole, not successful. She had lost Caffa, her + station in the Crimea, and her possessions in the Archipelago were + threatened. The government did not accept Columbus’s proposals, and he was + obliged to return with them to Spain. He went first to distinguished + noblemen, in the South of Spain, who were of liberal and adventurous + disposition. One was the Duke of Medina Celi, and one the Duke of Medina + Sidonia. Each of these grandees entertained him at their courts, and heard + his proposals. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Medina Celi was so much interested in them, that at one time + he proposed to give Columbus the direction of four vessels which he had in + the harbor of Cadiz. But, of a sudden, he changed his mind. The enterprise + was so vast, he said, that it should be under the direction of the crown. + And, without losing confidence in it, he gave to Columbus an introduction + to the king and queen, in which he cordially recommended him to their + patronage. + </p> + <p> + This king and queen were King Ferdinand of Aragon, and Queen Isabella of + Castile. The marriage of these two had united Spain. Their affection for + each other made the union real, and the energy, courage and wisdom of both + made their reign successful and glorious. Of all its glories the greatest, + as it has proved, was connected with the life and discoveries of the + sailor who was now to approach them. He had been disloyally treated by + Portugal, he had been dismissed by Genoa. He had not succeeded with the + great dukes. Now he was to press his adventure upon a king and queen who + were engaged in a difficult war with the Moors, who still held a + considerable part of the peninsula of Spain. + </p> + <p> + The king and queen were residing at Cordova, a rich and beautiful city, + which they had taken from the Moors. Under their rule Cordova had been the + most important seat of learning in Europe. Here Columbus tarried at the + house of Alonso de Quintinilla, who became an ardent convert to his + theory, and introduced him to important friends. By their agency, + arrangements were made, in which Columbus should present his views to the + king. The time was not such as he could have wished. All Cordova was alive + with the preparation for a great campaign against the enemy. But King + Ferdinand made arrangements to hear Columbus; it does not appear that, at + the first hearing, Isabella was present at the interview. But Ferdinand, + although in the midst of his military cares, was interested in the + proposals made by Columbus. He liked the man. He was pleased by the + modesty and dignity with which he brought forward his proposals. Columbus + spoke, as he tells us, as one specially appointed by God Himself to carry + out this discovery. The king did not, however, at once adopt the scheme, + but gave out that a council of men of learning should be called together + to consider it. + </p> + <p> + Columbus himself says that he entered the service of the sovereigns + January 26, 1486. The council to which he was referred was held in the + university city of Salamanca, in that year. It gave to him a full + opportunity to explain his theory. It consisted of a fair representation + of the learning of the time. But most of the men who met had formed their + opinions on the subjects involved, and were too old to change them. A part + of them were priests of the church, in the habit of looking to sacred + Scripture as their only authority, when the pope had given no instruction + in detail. Of these some took literally expressions in the Old Testament, + which they supposed to be fatal to the plans of Columbus. Such was the + phrase in the 104th Psalm, that God stretches out the heavens like a + curtain. The expression in the book of Hebrews, that the heavens are + extended as a tent, was also quoted, in the same view. + </p> + <p> + Quotations from the early Fathers of the church were more fatal to the new + plan than those from the Scripture. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand there were men who cordially supported Columbus’s + wishes, and there were more when the congress parted than when it met. Its + sessions occupied a considerable part of the summer, but it was not for + years that it rendered any decision. + </p> + <p> + The king, queen and court, meanwhile, were occupied in war with the Moors. + Columbus was once and again summoned to attend the court, and more than + once money was advanced to him to enable him to do so. Once he began new + negotiations with King John, and from him he received a letter inviting + him to return to Portugal. He received a similar letter from King Henry + VII of England inviting him to his court. Nothing was determined on in + Spain. To this day, the people of that country are thought to have a habit + of postponement to tomorrow of that which perplexes them. In 1489, + according to Ortiz de Zuniga, Columbus fought in battle in the king’s + army. + </p> + <p> + When, however, in the winter of 1490, it was announced that the army was + to take the field again, never to leave its camp till Grenada had fallen, + Columbus felt that he must make one last endeavor. He insisted that he + must have an answer regarding his plans of discovery. The confessor of the + queen, Fernando da Talavera, was commanded to obtain the definite answer + of the men of learning. Alas! it was fatal to Columbus’s hopes. They said + that it was not right that great princes should undertake such enterprises + on grounds as weak as those which he relied upon. + </p> + <p> + The sovereigns themselves, however, were more favorable; so was a minority + of the council of Salamanca. And the confessor was instructed to tell him + that their expenses in the war forbade them from sending him out as a + discoverer, but that, when that was well over, they had hopes that they + might commission him. This was the end of five years of solicitation, in + which he had put his trust in princes. Columbus regarded the answer, as + well he might, as only a courtly measure of refusal. And he retired in + disgust from the court at Seville. + </p> + <p> + He determined to lay his plans before the King of France. He was traveling + with this purpose, with his son, Diego, now a boy of ten or twelve years + of age, when he arrived at night at the hospitable convent of Saint Mary + of Rabida, which has been made celebrated by that incident. It is about + three miles south of what was then the seaport of Palos, one of the active + ports of commercial Spain. The convent stands on level ground high above + the sea; but a steep road runs down to the shore of the ocean. Some of its + windows and corridors look out upon the ocean on the west and south, and + the inmates still show the room in which Columbus used to write, and the + inkstand which served his purposes while he lived there. It is maintained + as a monument of history by the Spanish government. + </p> + <p> + At the door of this convent he asked for bread and water for his boy. The + prior of the convent was named Juan Perez de Marchena. He was attracted by + the appearance of Columbus, still more by his conversation, and invited + him to remain as their guest. + </p> + <p> + When he learned that his new friend was about to offer to France the + advantages of a discovery so great as that proposed, he begged him to make + one effort more at home. He sent for some friends, Fernandos, a physician + at Palos, and for the brothers Pinzon, who now appear for the first time + in a story where their part is distinguished. Together they all persuaded + Columbus to send one messenger more to wait upon their sovereigns. The man + sent was Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, who found access to the queen because + Juan Perez, the prior, had formerly been her confessor. She had confidence + in him, as she had, indeed, in Columbus. And in fourteen days the friendly + pilot came back from Santa Fe with a kind letter from the queen to her + friend, bidding him return at once to court. Perez de Marchena saddled his + mule at once and before midnight was on his way to see his royal mistress. + </p> + <p> + Santa Fe was half camp, half city. It had been built in what is called the + Vega, the great fruitful plain which extends for many miles to the + westward of Grenada. The court and army were here as they pressed their + attack on that city. Perez de Marchena had ready access to Queen Isabella, + and pressed his suit well. He was supported by one of her favorites, the + Marquesa de Moya. In reply to their solicitations, she asked that Columbus + should return to her, and ordered that twenty thousand maravedis should be + sent to him for his traveling expenses. + </p> + <p> + This sum was immediately sent by Perez to his friend. Columbus bought a + mule, exchanged his worn clothes for better ones, and started, as he was + bidden, for the camp. + </p> + <p> + He arrived there just after the great victory, by which the king and queen + had obtained their wish—had taken the noble city of Grenada and + ended Moorish rule in Spain. King, queen, court and army were preparing to + enter the Alhambra in triumph. Whoever tries to imagine the scene, in + which the great procession entered through the gates, so long sealed, or + of the moment when the royal banner of Spain was first flying out upon the + Tower of the Vela, must remember that Columbus, elate, at last, with hopes + for his own great discovery, saw the triumph and joined in the display. + </p> + <p> + But his success was not immediate, even now. Fernando de Talavera, who had + had the direction of the wise council of Salamanca, was now Archbishop of + Grenada, whose see had been conferred on him after the victory. He was not + the friend of Columbus. And when, at what seemed the final interview with + king and queen, he heard Columbus claim the right to one-tenth of all the + profits of the enterprise, he protested against such lavish recompense of + an adventurer. He was now the confessor of Isabella, as Juan Perez, the + friendly prior, had been before. Columbus, however, was proud and firm. He + would not yield to the terms prepared by the archbishop. He preferred to + break off the negotiation, and again retired from court. He determined, as + he had before, to lay his plans before the King of France. + </p> + <p> + Spain would have lost the honor and the reward of the great discovery, as + Portugal and Genoa had lost them, but for Luis de St. Angel, and the queen + herself. St. Angel had been the friend of Columbus. He was an important + officer, the treasurer of the church revenues of Aragon. He now insisted + upon an audience from the queen. It would seem that Ferdinand, though King + of Aragon, was not present. St. Angel spoke eloquently. The friendly + Marchioness of Moya spoke eagerly and persuasively. Isabella was at last + fired with zeal. Columbus should go, and the enterprise should be hers. + </p> + <p> + It is here that the incident belongs, represented in the statue by Mr. + Mead, and that of Miss Hosmer. The sum required for the discovery of a + world was only three thousand crowns. Two vessels were all that Columbus + asked for, with the pay of their crews. But where were three thousand + crowns? The treasury was empty, and the king was now averse to any action. + It was at this moment that Isabella said, “The enterprise is mine, for the + Crown of Castile. I pledge my jewels for the funds.” + </p> + <p> + The funds were in fact advanced by St. Angel, from the ecclesiastical + revenues under his control. They were repaid from the gold brought in the + first voyage. But, always afterward, Isabella regarded the Indies as a + Castilian possession. The most important officers in its administration, + indeed most of the emigrants, were always from Castile. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, meanwhile, was on his way back to Palos, on his mule, alone. But + at a bridge, still pointed out, a royal courier overtook him, bidding him + return. The spot has been made the scene of more than one picture, which + represents the crisis, in which the despair of one moment changed to the + glad hope which was to lead to certainty. + </p> + <p> + He returned to Isabella for the last time, before that great return in + which he came as a conqueror, to display to her the riches of the New + World. The king yielded a slow and doubtful assent. Isabella took the + enterprise in her own hands. She and Columbus agreed at once, and articles + were drawn up which gave him the place of admiral for life on all lands he + might discover; gave him one-tenth of all pearls, precious stones, gold, + silver, spices and other merchandise to be obtained in his admiralty, and + gave him the right to nominate three candidates from whom the governor of + each province should be selected by the crown. He was to be the judge of + all disputes arising from such traffic as was proposed; and he was to have + one-eighth part of the profit, and bear one-eighth part of the cost of it. + </p> + <p> + With this glad news he returned at once to Palos. The Pinzons, who had + been such loyal friends, were to take part in the enterprise. He carried + with him a royal order, commanding the people of Palos to fit out two + caravels within ten days, and to place them and their crews at the + disposal of Columbus. The third vessel proposed was to be fitted out by + him and his friends. The crews were to be paid four months’ wages in + advance, and Columbus was to have full command, to do what he chose, if he + did not interfere with the Portuguese discoveries. + </p> + <p> + On the 23rd of May, Columbus went to the church of San Giorgio in Palos, + with his friend, the prior of St. Mary’s convent, and other important + people, and the royal order was read with great solemnity: + </p> + <p> + But it excited at first only indignation or dismay. The expedition was + most unpopular. Sailors refused to enlist, and the authorities, who had + already offended the crown, so that they had to furnish these vessels, as + it were, as a fine, refused to do what they were bidden. Other orders from + Court were necessary. But it seems to have been the courage and + determination of the Pinzons which carried the preparations through. After + weeks had been lost, Martin Alonso Pinzon and his brothers said they would + go in person on the expedition. They were well-known merchants and seamen, + and were much respected. Sailors were impressed, by the royal authority, + and the needful stores were taken in the same way. It seems now strange + that so much difficulty should have surrounded an expedition in itself so + small. But the plan met then all the superstition, terror and other + prejudice of the time. + </p> + <p> + All that Columbus asked or needed was three small vessels and their stores + and crews. The largest ships engaged were little larger than the large + yachts, whose races every summer delight the people of America. The + Gallega and the Pinta were the two largest. They were called caravels, a + name then given to the smallest three-masted vessels. Columbus once uses + it for a vessel of forty tons; but it generally applied in Portuguese or + Spanish use to a vessel, ranging one hundred and twenty to one hundred and + forty Spanish “toneles.” This word represents a capacity about one-tenth + larger than that expressed by our English “ton.” + </p> + <p> + The reader should remember that most of the commerce of the time was the + coasting commerce of the Mediterranean, and that it was not well that the + ships should draw much water. The fleet of Columbus, as it sailed, + consisted of the Gallega (the Galician), of which he changed the name to + the Santa Maria, and of the Pinta and the Nina. Of these the first two + were of a tonnage which we should rate as about one hundred and thirty + tons. The Nina was much smaller, not more than fifty tons. One writer says + that they were all without full decks, that is, that such decks as they + had did not extend from stem to stern. But the other authorities speak as + if the Nina only was an open vessel, and the two larger were decked. + Columbus himself took command of the Santa Maria, Martin Alonso Pinzon of + the Pinta, and his brothers, Francis Martin and Vicente Yanez, of the + Nina. The whole company in all three ships numbered one hundred and twenty + men. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harrisse shows that the expense to the crown amounted to 1,140,000 + maravedis. This, as he counts it, is about sixty-four thousand dollars of + our money. To this Columbus was to add one-eighth of the cost. His + friends, the Pinzons, seem to have advanced this, and to have been + afterwards repaid. Las Casas and Herrera both say that the sum thus added + was much more than one-eighth of the cost and amounted to half a million + maravedis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. — THE GREAT VOYAGE. + </h2> + <p> + THE SQUADRON SAILS—REFITS AT CANARY ISLANDS—HOPES AND FEARS OF + THE VOYAGE—THE DOUBTS OF THE CREW—LAND DISCOVERED. + </p> + <p> + At last all was ready. That is to say, the fleet was so far ready that + Columbus was ready to start. The vessels were small, as we think of + vessels, but he was not dissatisfied. He says in the beginning of his + journal, “I armed three vessels very fit for such an enterprise.” He had + left Grenada as late as the twelfth of May. He had crossed Spain to + Palos,(*) and in less than three months had fitted out the ships and was + ready for sea. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) Palos is now so insignificant a place that on some + important maps of Spain it will not be found. It is on the + east side of the Tinto river; and Huelva, on the west side, + has taken its place. +</pre> + <p> + The harbor of Palos is now ruined. Mud and gravel, brought down by the + River Tinto, have filled up the bay, so that even small boats cannot + approach the shore. The traveler finds, however, the island of Saltes, + quite outside the bay, much as Columbus left it. It is a small spit of + sand, covered with shells and with a few seashore herbs. His own account + of the great voyage begins with the words: + </p> + <p> + “Friday, August 3, 1492. Set sail from the bar of Saltes at 8 o’clock, and + proceeded with a strong breeze till sunset sixty miles, or fifteen leagues + south, afterward southwest and south by west, which is in the direction of + the Canaries.” + </p> + <p> + It appears, therefore, that the great voyage, the most important and + successful ever made, began on Friday, the day which is said to be so much + disliked by sailors. Columbus never alludes to this superstition. + </p> + <p> + He had always meant to sail first for the Canaries, which were the most + western land then known in the latitude of his voyage. From Lisbon to the + famous city of “Quisay,” or “Quinsay,” in Asia, Toscanelli, his learned + correspondent, supposed the distance to be less than one thousand leagues + westward. From the Canary islands, on that supposition, the distance would + be ten degrees less. The distance to Cipango, or Japan, would be much + less. + </p> + <p> + As it proved, the squadron had to make some stay at the Canaries. The + rudder of the Pinta was disabled, and she proved leaky. It was suspected + that the owners, from whom she had been forcibly taken, had intentionally + disabled her, or that possibly the crew had injured her. But Columbus says + in his journal that Martin Alonso Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, was a man + of capacity and courage, and that this quieted his apprehensions. From the + ninth of August to the second of September, nearly four weeks were spent + by the Pinta and her crew at the Grand Canary island, and she was + repaired. She proved afterwards a serviceable vessel, the fastest of the + fleet. At the Canaries they heard stories of lands seen to the westward, + to which Columbus refers in his journal. On the sixth of September they + sailed from Gomera and on the eighth they lost sight of land. Nor did they + see land again for thirty-three days. Such was the length of the great + voyage. All the time, most naturally, they were wishing for signs, not of + land perhaps, but which might show whether this great ocean were really + different from other seas. On the whole the voyage was not a dangerous + one. + </p> + <p> + According to the Admiral’s reckoning—and in his own journal Columbus + always calls himself the Admiral—its length was one thousand and + eighty-nine leagues. This was not far from right, the real distance being, + in a direct line, three thousand one hundred and forty nautical miles, or + three thousand six hundred and twenty statute miles.(*) It would not be + considered a very long voyage for small vessels now. In general the course + was west. Sometimes, for special reasons, they sailed south of west. If + they had sailed precisely west they would have struck the shore of the + United States a little north of the spot where St. Augustine now is, about + the northern line of Florida. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) The computations from Santa Cruz, in the Canaries, to + San Salvador give this result, as kindly made for us by + Lieutenant Mozer, of the United States navy. +</pre> + <p> + Had the coast of Asia been, indeed, as near as Toscanelli and Columbus + supposed, this latitude of the Canary islands would have been quite near + the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang river, in China, which was what Columbus + was seeking. For nearly a generation afterwards he and his followers + supposed that the coast of that region was what they had found. + </p> + <p> + It was on Saturday, the eighth of September, that they lost sight of + Teneriffe. On the eleventh they saw a large piece of the mast of a ship + afloat. On the fourteenth they saw a “tropic-bird,” which the sailors + thought was never seen more than twenty-five leagues from land; but it + must be remembered, that, outside of the Mediterranean, few of the sailors + had ever been farther themselves. On the sixteenth they began to meet + “large patches of weeds, very green, which appeared to have been recently + washed away from land.” This was their first knowledge of the “Sargasso + sea,” a curious tract in mid-Atlantic which is always green with floating + seaweeds. “The continent we shall find farther on,” wrote the confident + Admiral. + </p> + <p> + An observation of the sun on the seventeenth proved what had been + suspected before, that the needles of the compasses were not pointing + precisely to the north. The variation of the needle, since that time, has + been a recognized fact. But this observation at so critical a time first + disclosed it. The crew were naturally alarmed. Here was evidence that, in + the great ocean, common laws were not to be relied upon. But they had + great respect for Columbus’s knowledge of such subjects. He told them that + it was not the north which had changed, nor the needle, which was true to + the north, but the polar star revolved, like other stars, and for the time + they were satisfied. + </p> + <p> + The same day they saw weeds which he was sure were land weeds. From them + he took a living crab, whose unintentional voyage eastward was a great + encouragement to the bolder adventurer westward. Columbus kept the crab, + saying that such were never found eighty leagues from land. In fact this + poor crab was at least nine hundred and seventy leagues from the Bahamas, + as this same journal proves. On the eighteenth the Pinta ran ahead of the + other vessels, Martin Alonso was so sure that he should reach land that + night. But it was not to come so soon. + </p> + <p> + Columbus every day announced to his crew a less distance as the result of + the day than they had really sailed. For he was afraid of their distrust, + and did not dare let them know how far they were from home. The private + journal, therefore, has such entries as this, “Sailed more than fifty-five + leagues, wrote down only forty-eight.” That is, he wrote on the daily log, + which was open to inspection, a distance some leagues less than they had + really made. + </p> + <p> + On the twentieth pelicans are spoken of, on the twenty-first “such + abundance of weeds that the ocean seemed covered with them,” “the sea + smooth as a river, and the finest air in the world. Saw a whale, an + indication of land, as they always keep near the coast.” To later times, + this note, also, shows how ignorant Columbus then was of mid-ocean. + </p> + <p> + On the twenty-second, to the Admiral’s relief, there was a head wind; for + the crew began to think that with perpetual east winds they would never + return to Spain. They had been in what are known as the trade winds. On + the twenty-third the smoother water gave place to a rough sea, and he + writes that this “was favorable to me, as it happened formerly to Moses + when he led the Jews from Egypt.” + </p> + <p> + The next day, thanks to the headwinds, their progress was less. On the + twenty-fifth, Pinzon, of the Pinta, felt sure that they were near the + outer islands of Asia as they appeared on the Toscanelli map, and at + sunset called out with joy that he saw land, claiming a reward for such + news. The crews of both vessels sang “Glory to God in the highest,” and + the crew of the little Nina were sure that the bank was land. On this + occasion they changed from a western course to the southwest. But alas! + the land was a fog-bank and the reward never came to Martin Pinzon. On the + twenty-sixth, again “the sea was like a river.” This was Wednesday. In + three days they sailed sixty-nine leagues. Saturday was calm. They saw a + bird called “‘Rabihorcado,’ which never alights at sea, nor goes twenty + leagues from land,” wrote the confident Columbus; “Nothing is wanting but + the singing of the nightingale,” he says. + </p> + <p> + Sunday, the thirtieth, brought “tropic-birds” again, “a very clear sign of + land.” Monday the journal shows them seven hundred and seven leagues from + Ferro. Tuesday a white gull was the only visitor. Wednesday they had + pardelas and great quantities of seaweed. Columbus began to be sure that + they had passed “the islands” and were nearing the continent of Asia. + Thursday they had a flock of pardelas, two pelicans, a rabihorcado and a + gull. Friday, the fifth of October, brought pardelas and flying-fishes. + </p> + <p> + We have copied these simple intimations from the journal to show how + constantly Columbus supposed that he was near the coast of Asia. On the + sixth of October Pinzon asked that the course might be changed to the + southwest. But Columbus held on. On the seventh the Nina was ahead, and + fired a gun and hoisted her flag in token that she saw land. But again + they were disappointed. Columbus gave directions to keep close order at + sunrise and sunset. The next day he did change the course to west + southwest, following flights of birds from the north which went in that + direction. On the eighth “the sea was like the river at Seville,” the + weeds were very few and they took land birds on board the ships. On the + ninth they sailed southwest five leagues, and then with a change of wind + went west by north. All night they heard the birds of passage passing. + </p> + <p> + On the tenth of October the men made remonstrance, which has been + exaggerated in history into a revolt. It is said, in books of authority, + that Columbus begged them to sail west only three days more. But in the + private journal of the tenth he says simply: “The seamen complained of the + length of the voyage. They did not wish to go any farther. The Admiral did + his best to renew their courage, and reminded them of the profits which + would come to them. He added, boldly, that no complaints would change his + purpose, that he had set out to go to the Indies, and that with the Lord’s + assistance he should keep on until he came there.” This is the only + passage in the journal which has any resemblance to the account of the + mutiny. + </p> + <p> + If it happened, as Oviedo says, three days before the discovery, it would + have been on the eighth of October. On that day the entry is, “Steered + west southwest, and sailed day and night eleven or twelve leagues—at + times, during the night, fifteen miles an hour—if the log can be + relied upon. Found the sea like the river at Seville, thanks to God. The + air was as soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was + delicious to breathe it. The weeds appeared very fresh. Many land birds, + one of which they took, flying towards the southwest, also grajaos, ducks + and a pelican were seen.” + </p> + <p> + This is not the account of a mutiny. And the discovery of Columbus’s own + journal makes that certain, which was probable before, that the romantic + account of the despair of the crews was embroidered on the narrative after + the event, and by people who wanted to improve the story. It was, perhaps, + borrowed from a story of Diaz’s voyage. We have followed the daily record + to show how constantly they supposed, on the other hand, that they were + always nearing land. + </p> + <p> + With the eleventh of October, came certainty. The eleventh is sometimes + spoken of as the day of discovery, and sometimes the twelfth, when they + landed on the first island of the new world. + </p> + <p> + The whole original record of the discovery is this: “Oct. 11, course to + west and southwest. Heavier sea than they had known, pardelas and a green + branch near the caravel of the Admiral. From the Pinta they see a branch + of a tree, a stake and a smaller stake, which they draw in, and which + appears to have been cut with iron, and a piece of cane. Besides these, + there is a land shrub and a little bit of board. The crew of the Nina saw + other signs of land and a branch covered with thorns and flowers. With + these tokens every-one breathes again and is delighted. They sail + twenty-seven leagues on this course. + </p> + <p> + “The Admiral orders that they shall resume a westerly course at sunset. + They make twelve miles each hour; up till two hours after midnight they + made ninety miles. + </p> + <p> + “The Pinta, the best sailer of the three, was ahead. She makes signals, + already agreed upon, that she has discovered land. A sailor named Rodrigo + de Triana was the first to see this land. For the Admiral being on the + castle of the poop of the ship at ten at night really saw a light, but it + was so shut in by darkness that he did not like to say that it was a sign + of land. Still he called up Pedro Gutierrez, the king’s chamberlain, and + said to him that there seemed to be a light, and asked him to look. He did + so and saw it. He said the same to Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, who had + been sent by the king and queen as inspector in the fleet, but he saw + nothing, being indeed in a place where he could see nothing. + </p> + <p> + “After the Admiral spoke of it, the light was seen once or twice. It was + like a wax candle, raised and lowered, which would appear to few to be a + sign of land. But the Admiral was certain that it was a sign of land. + Therefore when they said the ‘Salve,’ which all the sailors are used to + say and sing in their fashion, the Admiral ordered them to look out well + from the forecastle, and he would give at once a silk jacket to the man + who first saw land, besides the other rewards which the sovereigns had + ordered, which were 10,000 maravedis, to be paid as an annuity forever to + the man who saw it first. + </p> + <p> + “At two hours after midnight land appeared, from which they were about two + leagues off.” + </p> + <p> + This is the one account of the discovery written at the time. It is worth + copying and reading at full in its little details, for it contrasts + curiously with the embellished accounts which appear in the next + generation. Thus the historian Oviedo says, in a dramatic way: + </p> + <p> + “One of the ship boys on the largest ship, a native of Lepe, cried ‘Fire!’ + ‘Land!’ Immediately a servant of Columbus replied, ‘The Admiral had said + that already.’ Soon after, Columbus said, ‘I said so some time ago, and + that I saw that fire on the land.’” And so indeed it happened that + Thursday, at two hours after midnight, the Admiral called a gentleman + named Escobedos, officer of the wardrobe of the king, and told him that he + saw fire. And at the break of day, at the time Columbus had predicted the + day before, they saw from the largest ship the island which the Indians + call Guanahani to the north of them. + </p> + <p> + “And the first man to see the land, when day came, was Rodrigo of Triana, + on the eleventh day of October, 1492.” Nothing is more certain than that + this was really on the twelfth. + </p> + <p> + The reward for first seeing land was eventually awarded to Columbus, and + it was regularly paid him through his life. It was the annual payment of + 10,000 maravedis. A maravedi was then a little less than six cents of our + currency. The annuity was, therefore, about six hundred dollars a year. + </p> + <p> + The worth of a maravedi varied, from time to time, so that the + calculations of the value of any number of maravedis are very confusing. + Before the coin went out of use it was worth only half a cent. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. — THE LANDING ON THE TWELFTH OF OCTOBER + </h2> + <p> + —THE NATIVES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS—SEARCH FOR GOLD—CUBA + DISCOVERED—COLUMBUS COASTS ALONG ITS SHORES. + </p> + <p> + It was on Friday, the twelfth of October, that they saw this island, which + was an island of the Lucayos group, called, says Las Casas, “in the tongue + of the Indians, Guanahani.” Soon they saw people naked, and the Admiral + went ashore in the armed boat, with Martin Alonzo Pinzon and, Vicente + Yanez, his brother, who was captain of the Nina. The Admiral unfurled the + Royal Standard, and the captain’s two standards of the Greek Cross, which + the Admiral raised on all the ships as a sign, with an F. and a Y.; over + each letter a crown; one on one side of the {“iron cross symbol”} and the + other on the other. When they were ashore they saw very green trees and + much water, and fruits of different kinds. + </p> + <p> + “The Admiral called the two captains and the others who went ashore, and + Rodrigo Descovedo, Notary of the whole fleet, and Rodrigo Sanchez of + Segovia, and he said that they must give him their faith and witness how + he took possession before all others, as in fact he did take possession of + the said island for the king and the queen, his lord and lady. . . . Soon + many people of the island assembled. These which follow are the very words + of the Admiral, in his book of his first navigation and discovery of these + Indies.” + </p> + <p> + October 11-12. “So that they may feel great friendship for us, and because + I knew that they were a people who would be better delivered and converted + to our Holy Faith by love than by force, I gave to some of them red caps + and glass bells which they put round their necks, and many other things of + little value, in which they took much pleasure, and they remained so + friendly to us that it was wonderful. + </p> + <p> + “Afterwards they came swimming to the ship’s boats where we were. And they + brought us parrots and cotton-thread in skeins, and javelins and many + other things. And they bartered them with us for other things, which we + gave them, such as little glass beads and little bells. In short, they + took everything, and gave of what they had with good will. But it seemed + to me that they were a people very destitute of everything. + </p> + <p> + “They all went as naked as their mothers bore them, and the women as well, + although I only saw one who was really young. And all the men I saw were + young, for I saw none more than thirty years of age; very well made, with + very handsome persons, and very good faces; their hair thick like the + hairs of horses’ tails, and cut short. They bring their hair above their + eyebrows, except a little behind, which they wear long, and never cut. + Some of them paint themselves blackish (and they are of the color of the + inhabitants of the Canaries, neither black nor white), and some paint + themselves white, and some red, and some with whatever they can get. And + some of them paint their faces, and some all their bodies, and some only + the eyes, and some only the nose. + </p> + <p> + “They do not bear arms nor do they know them, for I showed them swords and + they took them by the edge, and they cut themselves through ignorance. + They have no iron at all; their javelins are rods without iron, and some + of them have a fish’s tooth at the end, and some of them other things. + They are all of good stature, and good graceful appearance, well made. I + saw some who had scars of wounds in their bodies, and I made signs to them + (to ask) what that was, and they showed me how people came there from + other islands which lay around, and tried to take them captive and they + defended themselves. And I believed, and I (still) believe, that they came + there from the mainland to take them for captives. + </p> + <p> + “They would be good servants, and of good disposition, for I see that they + repeat very quickly everything which is said to them. And I believe that + they could easily be made Christians, for it seems to me that they have no + belief. I, if it please our Lord, will take six of them to your Highnesses + at the time of my departure, so that they may learn to talk. No wild + creature of any sort have I seen, except parrots, in this island.” + </p> + <p> + All these are the words of the Admiral, says Las Casas. The journal of the + next day is in these words: + </p> + <p> + Saturday, October 13. “As soon as the day broke, many of these men came to + the beach, all young, as I have said, and all of good stature, a very + handsome race. Their hair is not woolly, but straight and coarse, like + horse hair, and all with much wider foreheads and heads than any other + people I have seen up to this time. And their eyes are very fine and not + small, and they are not black at all, but of the color of the Canary + Islanders. And nothing else could be expected, since it is on one line of + latitude with the Island of Ferro, in the Canaries. + </p> + <p> + “They came to the ship with almadias,(*) which are made of the trunk of a + tree, like a long boat, and all of one piece—and made in a very + wonderful manner in the fashion of the country—and large enough for + some of them to hold forty or forty-five men. And others are smaller, down + to such as hold one man alone. They row with a shovel like a baker’s, and + it goes wonderfully well. And if it overturns, immediately they all go to + swimming and they right it, and bale it with calabashes which they carry. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) Arabic word for raft or float; here it means canoes. +</pre> + <p> + “They brought skeins of spun cotton, and parrots, and javelins, and other + little things which it would be wearisome to write down, and they gave + everything for whatever was given to them. + </p> + <p> + “And I strove attentively to learn whether there were gold. And I saw that + some of them had a little piece of gold hung in a hole which they have in + their noses. And by signs I was able to understand that going to the + south, or going round the island to the southward, there was a king there + who had great vessels of it, and had very much of it. I tried to persuade + them to go there; and afterward I saw that they did not understand about + going.(*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) To this first found land, called by the natives + Guanahani, Columbus gave the name of San Salvador. There is, + however, great doubt whether this is the island known by + that name on the maps. Of late years the impression has + generally been that the island thus discovered is that now + known as Watling’s island. In 1860 Admiral Fox, of the + United States navy, visited all these islands, and studied + the whole question anew, visiting the islands himself and + working backwards to the account of Columbus’s subsequent + voyage, so as to fix the spot from which that voyage began. + Admiral Fox decides that the island of discovery was neither + San Salvador nor Watling’s island, but the Samana island of + the same group. The subject is so curious that we copy his + results at more length in the appendix. +</pre> + <p> + “I determined to wait till the next afternoon, and then to start for the + southwest, for many of them told me that there was land to the south and + southwest and northwest, and that those from the northwest came often to + fight with them, and so to go on to the southwest to seek gold and + precious stones. + </p> + <p> + “This island is very large and very flat and with very green trees, and + many waters, and a very large lake in the midst, without any mountain. And + all of it is green, so that it is a pleasure to see it. And these people + are so gentle, and desirous to have our articles and thinking that nothing + can be given them unless they give something and do not keep it back. They + take what they can, and at once jump (into the water) and swim (away). But + all that they have they give for whatever is given them. For they barter + even for pieces of porringus, and of broken glass cups, so that I saw + sixteen skeins of cotton given for three Portuguese centis, that is a + blanca of Castile, and there was more than twenty-five pounds of spun + cotton in them. This I shall forbid, and not let anyone take (it); but I + shall have it all taken for your Highnesses, if there is any quantity of + it. + </p> + <p> + “It grows here in this island, but for a short time I could not believe it + at all. And there is found here also the gold which they wear hanging to + their noses; but so as not to lose time I mean to go to see whether I can + reach the island of Cipango. + </p> + <p> + “Now as it was night they all went ashore with their almadias.” + </p> + <p> + Sunday, October 14. “At daybreak I had the ship’s boat and the boats of + the caravels made ready, and I sailed along the island, toward the + north-northeast, to see the other port, * * * * what there was (there), + and also to see the towns, and I soon saw two or three, and the people, + who all were coming to the shore, calling us and giving thanks to God. + Some brought us water, others things to eat. Others, when they saw that I + did not care to go ashore, threw themselves into the sea and came + swimming, and we understood that they asked us if we had come from heaven. + And an old man came into the boat, and others called all (the rest) men + and women, with a loud voice: ‘Come and see the men who have come from + heaven; bring them food and drink.’ + </p> + <p> + “There came many of them and many women, each one with something, giving + thanks to God, casting themselves on the ground, and raising their heads + toward heaven. And afterwards they called us with shouts to come ashore. + </p> + <p> + “But I feared (to do so), for I saw a great reef of rocks which encircles + all that island. And in it there is bottom and harbor for as many ships as + there are in all Christendom, and its entrance very narrow. It is true + that there are some shallows inside this ring, but the sea is no rougher + than in a well. + </p> + <p> + “And I was moved to see all this, this morning, so that I might be able to + give an account of it all to your Highnesses, and also (to find out) where + I might make a fortress. And I saw a piece of land formed like an island, + although it is not one, in which there were six houses, which could be cut + off in two days so as to become an island; although I do not see that it + is necessary, as this people is very ignorant of arms, as your Highnesses + will see from seven whom I had taken, to carry them off to learn our + speech and to bring them back again. But your Highnesses, when you direct, + can take them all to Castile, or keep them captives in this same island, + for with fifty men you can keep them all subjected, and make them do + whatever you like. + </p> + <p> + “And close to the said islet are groves of trees, the most beautiful I + have seen, and as green and full of leaves as those of Castile in the + months of April and May, and much water. + </p> + <p> + “I looked at all that harbor and then I returned to the ship and set sail, + and I saw so many islands that I could not decide to which I should go + first. And those men whom I had taken said to me by signs that there were + so very many that they were without number, and they repeated by name more + than a hundred. At last I set sail for the largest one, and there I + determined to go. And so I am doing, and it will be five leagues from the + island of San Salvador, and farther from some of the rest, nearer to + others. They all are very flat, without mountains and very fertile, and + all inhabited. And they make war upon each other although they are very + simple, and (they are) very beautifully formed.” + </p> + <p> + Monday, October 15, Columbus, on arriving at the island for which he had + set sail, went on to a cape, near which he anchored at about sunset. He + gave the island the name of Santa Maria de la Concepcion.(*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) This is supposed to be Caico del Norte. +</pre> + <p> + “At about sunset I anchored near the said cape to know if there were gold + there, for the men whom I had taken at the Island of San Salvador told me + that there they wore very large rings of gold on their legs and arms. I + think that all they said was for a trick, in order to make their escape. + However, I did not wish to pass by any island without taking possession of + it. + </p> + <p> + “And I anchored, and was there till today, Tuesday, when at the break of + day I went ashore with the armed boats, and landed. + </p> + <p> + “They (the inhabitants), who were many, as naked and in the same condition + as those of San Salvador, let us land on the island, and gave us what we + asked of them. * * * + </p> + <p> + “I set out for the ship. And there was a large almadia which had come to + board the caravel Nina, and one of the men from we Island of San Salvador + threw himself into the sea, took this boat, and made off; and the night + before, at midnight, another jumped out. And the almadia went back so fast + that there never was a boat which could come up with her, although we had + a considerable advantage. It reached the shore, and they left the almadia, + and some of my company landed after them, and they all fled like hens. + </p> + <p> + “And the almadia, which they had left, we took to the caravel Nina, to + which from another headland there was coming another little almadia, with + a man who came to barter a skein of cotton. And some of the sailors threw + themselves into the sea, because he did not wish to enter the caravel, and + took him. And I, who was on the stern of the ship, and saw it all, sent + for him and gave him a red cap and some little green glass beads which I + put on his arm, and two small bells which I put at his ears, and I had his + almadia returned, * * * and sent him ashore. + </p> + <p> + “And I set sail at once to go to the other large island which I saw at the + west, and commanded the other almadia to be set adrift, which the caravel + Nina was towing astern. And then I saw on land, when the man landed, to + whom I had given the above mentioned things (and I had not consented to + take the skein of cotton, though he wished to give it to me), all the + others went to him and thought it a great wonder, and it seemed to them + that we were good people, and that the other man, who had fled, had done + us some harm, and that therefore we were carrying him off. And this was + why I treated the other man as I did, commanding him to be released, and + gave him the said things, so that they might have this opinion of us, and + so that another time, when your Highnesses send here again, they may be + well disposed. And all that I gave him was not worth four maravedis.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus had set sail at ten o’clock for a “large island” he mentions, + which he called Fernandina, where, from the tales of the Indian captives, + he expected to find gold. Half way between this island and Santa Maria, he + met with “a man alone in an almadia which was passing” (from one island to + the other), “and he was carrying a little of their bread, as big as one’s + fist, and a calabash of water and a piece of red earth made into dust, and + then kneaded, and some dry leaves, which must be a thing much valued among + them, since at San Salvador they brought them to me as a present.(*) And + he had a little basket of their sort, in which he had a string of little + glass bells and two blancas, by which I knew that he came from the Island + of San Salvador. * * * He came to the ship; I took him on board, for so he + asked, and made him put his almadia in the ship, and keep all he was + carrying. And I commanded to give him bread and honey to eat, and + something to drink. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) Was this perhaps tobacco? +</pre> + <p> + “And thus I will take him over to Fernandina, and I will give him all his + property so that he may give good accounts of us, so that, if it please + our Lord, when your Highnesses send there, those who come may receive + honor, and they may give us of all they have.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus continued sailing for the island he named Fernandina, now called + Inagua Chica. There was a calm all day and he did not arrive in time to + anchor safely before dark. He therefore waited till morning, and anchored + near a town. Here the man had gone, who had been picked up the day before, + and he had given such good accounts that all night long the ship had been + boarded by almadias, bringing supplies. Columbus directed some trifle to + be given to each of the islanders, and that they should be given “honey of + sugar” to eat. He sent the ship’s boat ashore for water and the + inhabitants not only pointed it out but helped to put the water-casks on + board. + </p> + <p> + “This people,” he says, “is like those of the aforesaid islands, and has + the same speech and the same customs, except that these seem to me a + somewhat more domestic race, and more intelligent. * * * And I saw also in + this island cotton cloths made like mantles. * * * + </p> + <p> + “It is a very green island and flat and very fertile, and I have no doubt + that all the year through they sow panizo (panic-grass) and harvest it, + and so with everything else. And I saw many trees, of very different form + from ours, and many of them which had branches of many sorts, and all on + one trunk. And one branch is of one sort and one of another, and so + different that it is the greatest wonder in the world. * * * One branch + has its leaves like canes, and another like the lentisk; and so on one + tree five or six of these kinds; and all so different. Nor are they + grafted, for it might be said that grafting does it, but they grow on the + mountains, nor do these people care for them. * * * + </p> + <p> + “Here the fishes are so different from ours that it is wonderful. There + are some like cocks of the finest colors in the world, blue, yellow, red + and of all colors, and others painted in a thousand ways. And the colors + are so fine that there is no man who does not wonder at them and take + great pleasure in seeing them. Also, there are whales. As for wild + creatures on shore, I saw none of any sort, except parrots and lizards; a + boy told me that he saw a great snake. Neither sheep nor goats nor any + other animal did I see; although I have been here a very short time, that + is, half a day, but if there had been any I could not have failed to see + some of them.” * * * + </p> + <p> + Wednesday, October 17. He left the town at noon and prepared to sail round + the island. He had meant to go by the south and southeast. But as Martin + Alonzo Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, had heard, from one of the Indians he + had on board, that it would be quicker to start by the northwest, and as + the wind was favorable for this course, Columbus took it. He found a fine + harbor two leagues further on, where he found some friendly Indians, and + sent a party ashore for water. “During this time,” he says, “I went (to + look at) these trees, which were the most beautiful things to see which + have been seen; there was as much verdure in the same degree as in the + month of May in Andalusia, and all the trees were as different from ours + as the day from the night. And so (were) the fruits, and the herbs, and + the stones and everything. The truth is that some trees had a resemblance + to others which there are in Castile, but there was a very great + difference. And other trees of other sorts were such that there is no one + who could * * * liken them to others of Castile. * * * + </p> + <p> + “The others who went for water told me how they had been in their houses, + and that they were very well swept and clean, and their beds and furniture + (made) of things which are like nets of cotton.(*) Their houses are all + like pavilions, and very high and good chimneys.(**) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) They are called Hamacas. + + (**) Las Casas says they were not meant for smoke but as a + crown, for they have no opening below for the smoke. +</pre> + <p> + “But I did not see, among many towns which I saw, any of more than twelve + or fifteen houses. * * * And there they had dogs. * * * And there they + found one man who had on his nose a piece of gold which was like half a + castellano, on which there were cut letters.(*) I blamed them for not + bargaining for it, and giving as much as was asked, to see what it was, + and whose coin it was; and they answered me that they did not dare to + barter it.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) A castellano was a piece of gold, money, weighing about + one-sixth of an ounce. +</pre> + <p> + He continued towards the northwest, then turned his course to the + east-southeast, east and southeast. The weather being thick and heavy, and + “threatening immediate rain. So all these days since I have been in these + Indies it has rained little or much.” + </p> + <p> + Friday, October 19. Columbus, who had not landed the day before, now sent + two caravels, one to the east and southeast and the other to the + south-southeast, while he himself, with the Santa Maria, the SHIP, as he + calls it, went to the southeast. He ordered the caravels to keep their + courses till noon, and then join him. This they did, at an island to the + east, which he named Isabella, the Indians whom he had with him calling it + Saomete. It has been supposed to be the island now called Inagua Grande. + </p> + <p> + “All this coast,” says the Admiral, “and the part of the island which I + saw, is all nearly flat, and the island the most beautiful thing I ever + saw, for if the others are very beautiful this one is more so.” He + anchored at a cape which was so beautiful that he named it Cabo Fermoso, + the Beautiful Cape, “so green and so beautiful,” he says, “like all the + other things and lands of these islands, that I do not know where to go + first, nor can I weary my eyes with seeing such beautiful verdure and so + different from ours. And I believe that there are in them many herbs and + many trees, which are of great value in Spain for dyes (or tinctures) and + for medicines of spicery. But I do not know them, which I greatly regret. + And as I came here to this cape there came such a good and sweet odor of + flowers or trees from the land that it was the sweetest thing in the + world.” + </p> + <p> + He heard that there was a king in the interior who wore clothes and much + gold, and though, as he says, the Indians had so little gold that whatever + small quantity of it the king wore it would appear large to them, he + decided to visit him the next day. He did not do so, however, as he found + the water too shallow in his immediate neighborhood, and then had not + enough wind to go on, except at night. + </p> + <p> + Sunday morning, October 21, he anchored, apparently more to the west, and + after having dined, landed. He found but one house, from which the + inhabitants were absent; he directed that nothing in it should be touched. + He speaks again of the great beauty of the island, even greater than that + of the others he had seen. “The singing of the birds,” he says, “seems as + if a man would never seek to leave this place, and the flocks of parrots + which darken the sun, and fowls and birds of so many kinds and so + different from ours that it is wonderful. And then there are trees of a + thousand sorts, and all with fruit of their kinds. And all have such an + odor that it is wonderful, so that I am the most afflicted man in the + world not to know them.” + </p> + <p> + They killed a serpent in one of the lakes upon this island, which Las + Casas says is the Guana, or what we call the Iguana. + </p> + <p> + In seeking for good water, the Spaniards found a town, from which the + inhabitants were going to fly. But some of them rallied, and one of them + approached the visitors. Columbus gave him some little bells and glass + beads, with which he was much pleased. The Admiral asked him for water, + and they brought it gladly to the shore in calabashes. + </p> + <p> + He still wished to see the king of whom the Indians had spoken, but meant + afterward to go to “another very great island, which I believe must be + Cipango, which they call Colba.” This is probably a mistake in the + manuscript for Cuba, which is what is meant. It continues, “and to that + other island which they call Bosio” (probably Bohio) “and the others which + are on the way, I will see these in passing. * * * But still, I am + determined to go to the mainland and to the city of Quisay and to give + your Highnesses’ letters to the Grand Khan, and seek a reply and come back + with it.” + </p> + <p> + He remained at this island during the twenty-second and twenty-third of + October, waiting first for the king, who did not appear, and then for a + favorable wind. “To sail round these islands,” he says, “one needs many + sorts of wind, and it does not blow as men would like.” At midnight, + between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth, he weighed anchor in order to + start for Cuba. + </p> + <p> + “I have heard these people say that it was very large and of great + traffic,” he says, “and that there were in it gold and spices, and great + ships and merchants. And they showed me that I should go to it by the + west-southwest, and I think so. For I think that if I may trust the signs + which all the Indians of these islands have made me, and those whom I am + carrying in the ships, for by the tongue I do not understand them, it + (Cuba) is the Island of Cipango,(*) of which wonderful things are told, + and on the globes which I have seen and in the painted maps, it is in this + district.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) This was the name the old geographers gave to Japan. +</pre> + <p> + The next day they saw seven or eight islands, which are supposed to be the + eastern and southern keys of the Grand Bank of Bahama. He anchored to the + south of them on the twenty-sixth of October, and on the next day sailed + once more for Cuba. + </p> + <p> + On Sunday, October 28, he arrived there, in what is now called the Puerto + de Nipe; he named it the Puerto de San Salvador. Here, as he went on, he + was again charmed by the beautiful country. He found palms “of another + sort,” says Las Casas, “from those of Guinea, and from ours.” He found the + island the “most beautiful which eyes have seen, full of very good ports + and deep rivers,” and that apparently the sea is never rough there, as the + grass grows down to the water’s edge. This greenness to the sea’s edge is + still observed there. “Up till that time,” says Las Casas, “he had not + experienced in all these islands that the sea was rough.” He had occasion + to learn about it later. He mentions also that the island is mountainous. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. — LANDING ON CUBA + </h2> + <p> + —THE CIGAR AND TOBACCO—CIPANGO AND THE GREAT KHAN—FROM + CUBA TO HAYTI—ITS SHORES AND HARBORS. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus landed, at some distance farther along the coast, he found + the best houses he had yet seen, very large, like pavilions, and very neat + within; not in streets but set about here and there. They were all built + of palm branches. Here were dogs which never barked (supposed to be the + almiqui), wild birds tamed in the houses and “wonderful arrangements of + nets,(*) and fish-hooks and fishing apparatus. There were also carved + masks and other images. Not a thing was touched.” The inhabitants had + fled. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) These were probably hammocks. +</pre> + <p> + He went on to the northwest, and saw a cape which he named Cabo de Palmas. + The Indians on board the Pinta said that beyond this cape was a river and + that at four days’ journey from this was what they called “Cuba.” Now they + had been coasting along the Island of Cuba for two or three days. But + Martin Pinzon, the captain of the Pinta, understood this Cuba to be a + city, and that this land was the mainland, running far to the north. + Columbus until he died believed that it was the mainland. + </p> + <p> + Martin Pinzon also understood that the king of that land was at war with + the Grand Khan, whom they called Cami. The Admiral determined to go to the + river the Indians mentioned, and to send to the king the letter of the + sovereigns. He meant to send with it a sailor who had been to Guinea, and + some of the Guanahani Indians. He was encouraged, probably, by the name of + Carni, in thinking that he was really near the Grand Khan. + </p> + <p> + He did not, however, send off these messengers at once, as the wind and + the nature of the coast proved unfit for his going up the river the + Indians had spoken of. He went back to the town where he had been two days + before. + </p> + <p> + Once more he found that the people had fled, but “after a good while a man + appeared,” and the Admiral sent ashore one of the Indians he had with him. + This man shouted to the Indians on shore that they must not be afraid, as + these were good people, and did harm to no man, nor did they belong to the + Grand Khan, but they gave, of what they had, in many islands where they + had been. He now jumped into the sea and swam ashore, and two of the + inhabitants took him in their arms and brought him to a house where they + asked him questions. When he had reassured them, they began to come out to + the ships in their canoes, with “spun cotton and others of their little + things.” But the Admiral commanded that nothing should be taken from them, + so that they might know that he was seeking nothing but gold, or, as they + called it, nucay. + </p> + <p> + He saw no gold here, but one of them had a piece of wrought silver hanging + to his nose. They made signs, that before three days many merchants would + come from the inland country to trade with the Spaniards, and that they + would bring news from the king, who, according to their signs, was four + days’ journey away. “And it is certain” says the Admiral, “that this is + the mainland, and that I am before Zayto and Quinsay, a hundred leagues + more or less from both of them, and this is clearly shown by the tide, + which comes in a different manner from that in which it has done up to + this time; and yesterday when I went to the northwest I found that it was + cold.” + </p> + <p> + Always supposing that he was near Japan, which they called Cipango, + Columbus continued to sail along the northern coast of Cuba and explored + about half that shore. He then returned to the east, governed by the + assurances of the natives that on an island named Babegue he would find + men who used hammers with which to beat gold into ingots. This gold, as he + understood them, was collected on the shore at night, while the people + lighted up the darkness with candles. + </p> + <p> + At the point where he turned back, he had hauled his ships up on the shore + to repair them. From this point, on the second of November, he sent two + officers inland, one of whom was a Jew, who knew Chaldee, Hebrew and a + little Arabic, in the hope that they should find some one who could speak + these languages. With them went one of the Guanahani Indians, and one from + the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + They returned on the night between the fifth and sixth of November. Twelve + leagues off they had found a village of about fifty large houses, made in + the form of tents. This village had about a thousand inhabitants, + according to the explorers. They had received the ambassadors with cordial + kindness, believing that they had descended from heaven. + </p> + <p> + They even took them in their arms and thus carried them to the finest + house of all. They gave them seats, and then sat round them on the ground + in a circle. They kissed their feet and hands, and touched them, to make + sure whether they were really men of flesh and bone. + </p> + <p> + It was on this expedition that the first observation was made of that gift + of America to the world, which has worked its way so deep and far into + general use. They met men and women who “carried live coals, so as to draw + into their mouths the smoke of burning herbs.” This was the account of the + first observers. But Las Casas says that the dry herbs were wrapped in + another leaf as dry. He says that “they lighted one end of the little + stick thus formed, and sucked in or absorbed the smoke by the other, with + which,” he says, “they put their flesh to sleep, and it nearly intoxicates + them, and thus they say that they feel no fatigue. These mosquetes, as we + should call them, they call tobacos. I knew Spaniards on this Island of + Hispaniola who were accustomed to take them, who, on being reproved for it + as a vice, replied that it was not in their power (in their hand) to leave + off taking them. I do not know what savour or profit they found in them.” + This is clearly a cigar. + </p> + <p> + The third or fourth of November, then, 1892, with the addition of nine + days to change the style from old to new, may be taken by lovers of + tobacco as the fourth centennial of the day when Europeans first learned + the use of the cigar. + </p> + <p> + On the eleventh of November the repairs were completed. + </p> + <p> + He says that the Sunday before, November 11 it had seemed to him that it + would be good to take some persons, from those of that river, to carry to + the sovereigns, so that “they might learn our tongue, so as to know what + there is in the country, and so that when they come back they may be + tongues to the Christians, and receive our customs and the things of the + faith. Because I saw and know,” says the Admiral, “that this people has no + religion (secta) nor are they idolaters, but very mild and without knowing + what evil is, nor how to kill others, nor how to take them, and without + arms, and so timorous that from one of our men ten of them fly, although + they do sport with them, and ready to believe and knowing that there is a + God in heaven, and sure that we have come from heaven; and very ready at + any prayer which we tell them to repeat, and they make the sign of the + cross. + </p> + <p> + “So your Highnesses should determine to make them Christians, for I + believe that if they begin, in a short time they will have accomplished + converting to our holy faith a multitude of towns.” “Without doubt there + are in these lands the greatest quantities of gold, for not without cause + do these Indians whom I am bringing say that there are places in these + isles where they dig out gold and wear it on their necks, in their ears + and on their arms and legs, and the bracelets are very thick. + </p> + <p> + “And also there are stones and precious pearls, and unnumbered spices. And + in this Rio de Mares, from which I departed last night, without doubt + there is the greatest quantity of mastic, and there might be more if more + were desired. For the trees, if planted, take root, and there are many of + them and very great and they have the leaf like a lentisk, and their + fruit, except that the trees and the fruit are larger, is such as Pliny + describes, and I have seen in the Island of Chios in the Archipelago. + </p> + <p> + “And I had many of these trees tapped to see if they would send out resin, + so as to draw it out. And as it rained all the time I was at the said + river, I could not get any of it, except a very little which I am bringing + to your Highnesses. And besides, it may be that it is not the time to tap + them, for I believe that this should be done at the time when the trees + begin to leave out from the winter and seek to send out their flowers, and + now they have the fruit nearly ripe. + </p> + <p> + “And also here there might be had a great store of cotton, and I believe + that it might be sold very well here without taking it to Spain, in the + great cities of the Great Khan, which will doubtless be discovered, and + many others of other lords, who will then have to serve your Highnesses. + And here will be given them other things from Spain, from the lands of the + East, since these are ours in the West. + </p> + <p> + “And here there is also aloes everywhere, although this is not a thing to + make great account of, but the mastic should be well considered, because + it is not found except in the said island of Chios, and I believe that + they get from it quite 50,000 ducats if I remember aright. And this is the + best harbor which I have seen thus far—deep and easy of access, so + that this would be a good place for a large town.” + </p> + <p> + The notes in Columbus’s journals are of the more interest and value, + because they show his impressions at the moment when he wrote. However + mistaken those impressions, he never corrects them afterwards. Although, + while he was in Cuba, he never found the Grand Khan, he never recalls the + hopes which he has expressed. + </p> + <p> + He had discovered the island on its northern side by sailing southwest + from the Lucayos or Bahamas. From the eleventh of November until the sixth + of December he was occupied in coasting along the northern shore, + eventually returning eastward, when he crossed the channel which parts + Cuba from Hayti. + </p> + <p> + The first course was east, a quarter southeast, and on the sixteenth, they + entered Port-au-Prince, and took possession, raising a cross there. At + Port-au-Prince, to his surprise, he found on a point of rock two large + logs, mortised into each other in the shape of a cross, so “that you would + have said a carpenter could not have proportioned them better.” + </p> + <p> + On the nineteenth the course was north-northeast; on the twenty-first they + took a course south, a quarter southwest, seeking in these changes the + island of “Babeque,” which the Indians had spoken of as rich with gold. On + the day last named Pinzon left the Admiral in the Pinta, and they did not + meet again for more than a month. + </p> + <p> + Columbus touched at various points on Cuba and the neighboring islands. He + sought, without success, for pearls, and always pressed his inquiries for + gold. He was determined to find the island of Bohio, greatly to the terror + of the poor Indians, whom he had on board: they said that its natives had + but one eye, in the middle of their foreheads, and that they were well + armed and ate their prisoners. + </p> + <p> + He landed in the bay of Moa, and then, keeping near the coast, sailed + towards the Capo del Pico, now called Cape Vacz. At Puerto Santo he was + detained some days by bad weather. On the fourth of December he continued + his eastward voyage, and on the next day saw far off the mountains of + Hayti, which was the Bohio he sought for. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. — DISCOVERY OF HAYTI OR HISPANIOLA + </h2> + <p> + —THE SEARCH FOR GOLD—HOSPITALITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE + NATIVES—CHRISTMAS DAY—A SHIPWRECK—COLONY TO BE FOUNDED—COLUMBUS + SAILS EAST AND MEETS MARTIN PINZON—THE TWO VESSELS RETURN TO EUROPE + —STORM—THE AZORES—PORTUGAL—HOME. + </p> + <p> + On the sixth of December they crossed from the eastern cape of Cuba to the + northwestern point of the island, which we call Hayti or San Domingo. He + says he gave it this name because “the plains appeared to him almost + exactly like those of Castile, but yet more beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + He coasted eastward along the northern side of the island, hoping that it + might be the continent, and always inquiring for gold when he landed; but + the Indians, as before, referred him to yet another land, still further + south, which they still called Bohio. It was not surrounded by water, they + said. The word “caniba,” which is the origin of our word “cannibal,” and + refers to the fierce Caribs, came often into their talk. The sound of the + syllable can made Columbus more sure that he was now approaching the + dominions of the Grand Khan of eastern Asia, of whom Marco Polo had + informed Europe so fully. + </p> + <p> + On the twelfth of the month, after a landing in which a cross had been + erected, three sailors went inland, pursuing the Indians. They captured a + young woman whom they brought to the fleet. She wore a large ring of gold + in her nose. She was able to understand the other Indians whom they had on + board. Columbus dressed her, gave her some imitation pearls, rings and + other finery, and then put her on shore with three Indians and three of + his own men. + </p> + <p> + The men returned the next day without going to the Indian village. + Columbus then sent out nine men, with an Indian, who found a town of a + thousand huts about four and a half leagues from the ship. They thought + the population was three thousand. The village in Cuba is spoken of as + having twenty people to a house. Here the houses were smaller or the count + of the numbers extravagant. The people approached the explorers carefully, + and with tokens of respect. Soon they gained confidence and brought out + food for them: fish, and bread made from roots, “which tasted exactly as + if it were made of chestnuts.” + </p> + <p> + In the midst of this festival, the woman, who had been sent back from the + ship so graciously, appeared borne on the shoulders of men who were led by + her husband. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards thought these natives of St. Domingo much whiter than those + of the other islands. Columbus says that two of the women, if dressed in + Castilian costume, would be counted to be Spaniards. He says that the heat + of the country is intense, and that if these people lived in a cooler + region they would be of lighter color. + </p> + <p> + On the fourteenth of December he continued his voyage eastward, and on the + fifteenth landed on the little island north of Hayti, which he called + Tortuga, or Turtle island. At midnight on the sixteenth he sailed, and + landed on Hispaniola again. Five hundred Indians met him, accompanied by + their king, a fine young man of about twenty years of age. He had around + him several counselors, one of whom appeared to be his tutor. To the + steady questions where gold could be found, the reply as steady was made + that it was in “the Island of Babeque.” This island, they said, was only + two days off, and they pointed out the route. The interview ended in an + offer by the king to the Admiral of all that he had. The explorers never + found this mysterious Babeque, unless, as Bishop Las Casas guessed, + Babeque and Jamaica be the same. + </p> + <p> + The king visited Columbus on his ship in the evening, and Columbus + entertained him with European food. With so cordial a beginning of + intimacy, it was natural that the visitors should spend two or three days + with these people. The king would not believe that any sovereigns of + Castile could be more powerful than the men he saw. He and those around + him all believed that they came direct from heaven. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was always asking for gold. He gave strict orders that it should + always be paid for, when it was taken. To the islanders it was merely a + matter of ornament, and they gladly exchanged it for the glass beads, the + rings or the bells, which seemed to them more ornamental. One of the + caciques or chiefs, evidently a man of distinction and authority, had + little bits of gold which he exchanged for pieces of glass. It proved that + he had clipped them off from a larger piece, and he went back into his + cabin, cut that to pieces, and then exchanged all those in trade for the + white man’s commodities. Well pleased with his bargain, he then told the + Spaniards that he would go and get much more and would come and trade with + them again. + </p> + <p> + On the eighteenth of December, the wind not serving well, they waited the + return of the chief whom they had first seen. In the afternoon he + appeared, seated in a palanquin, which was carried by four men, and + escorted by more than two hundred of his people. He was accompanied by a + counselor and preceptor who did not leave him. He came on board the ship + when Columbus was at table. He would not permit him to leave his place, + and readily took a seat at his side, when it was offered. Columbus offered + him European food and drink; he tasted of each, and then gave what was + offered to his attendants. The ceremonious Spaniards found a remarkable + dignity in his air and gestures. After the repast, one of his servants + brought a handsome belt, elegantly wrought, which he presented to + Columbus, with two small pieces of gold, also delicately wrought. + </p> + <p> + Columbus observed that this cacique looked with interest on the hangings + of his ship-bed, and made a present of them to him, in return for his + offering, with some amber beads from his own neck, some red shoes and a + flask of orange flower water. + </p> + <p> + On the nineteenth, after these agreeable hospitalities, the squadron + sailed again, and on the twentieth arrived at a harbor which Columbus + pronounced the finest he had ever seen. The reception he met here and the + impressions he formed of Hispaniola determined him to make a colony on + that island. It may be said that on this determination the course of his + after life turned. This harbor is now known as the Bay of Azul. + </p> + <p> + The men, whom he sent on shore, found a large village not far from the + shore, where they were most cordially received. The natives begged the + Europeans to stay with them, and as it proved, Columbus accepted the + invitation for a part of his crew. On the first day three different chiefs + came to visit him, in a friendly way, with their retinues. The next day + more than a hundred and twenty canoes visited the ship, bringing with them + such presents as the people thought would be acceptable. Among these were + bread from the cassava root, fish, water in earthen jars, and the seeds of + spices. These spices they would stir in with water to make a drink which + they thought healthful. + </p> + <p> + On the same day Columbus sent an embassy of six men to a large town in the + interior. The chief by giving his hand “to the secretary” pledged himself + for their safe return. + </p> + <p> + The twenty-third was Sunday. It was spent as the day before had been, in + mutual civilities. The natives would offer their presents, and say “take, + take,” in their own language. Five chiefs were among the visitors of the + day. From their accounts Columbus was satisfied that there was much gold + in the island, as indeed, to the misery and destruction of its + inhabitants, there proved to be. He thought it was larger than England. + But he was mistaken. In his journal of the next day he mentions Civao, a + land to the west, where they told him that there was gold, and again he + thought he was approaching Cipango, or Japan. + </p> + <p> + The next day he left these hospitable people, raising anchor in the + morning, and with a light land wind continued towards the west. At eleven + in the evening Columbus retired to rest. While he slept, on Christmas Day, + there occurred an accident which changed all plans for the expedition so + far as any had been formed, and from which there followed the + establishment of the ill-fated first colony. The evening was calm when + Columbus himself retired to sleep, and the master of the vessel followed + his example, entrusting the helm to one of the boys. Every person on the + ship, excepting this boy, was asleep, and he seems to have been awake to + little purpose. + </p> + <p> + The young steersman let the ship drift upon a ridge of rock, although, as + Columbus says, indignantly, there were breakers abundant to show the + danger. So soon as she struck, the boy cried out, and Columbus was the + first to wake. He says, by way of apology for himself, that for thirty-six + hours he had not slept until now. The master of the ship followed him. But + it was too late. The tide, such as there was, was ebbing, and the Santa + Maria was hopelessly aground. Columbus ordered the masts cut away, but + this did not relieve her. + </p> + <p> + He sent out his boat with directions to carry aft an anchor and cable, but + its crew escaped to the Nina with their tale of disaster. The Nina’s + people would not receive them, reproached them as traitors, and in their + own vessel came to the scene of danger. Columbus was obliged to transfer + to her the crew of the Santa Maria. + </p> + <p> + So soon as it was day, their friendly ally, Guacanagari, came on board. + With tears in his eyes, he made the kindest and most judicious offers of + assistance. He saw Columbus’s dejection, and tried to relieve him by + expressions of his sympathy. He set aside on shore two large houses to + receive the stores that were on the Santa Maria, and appointed as many + large canoes as could be used to remove these stores to the land. He + assured Columbus that not a bit of the cargo or stores should be lost, and + this loyal promise was fulfilled to the letter. + </p> + <p> + The weather continued favorable. The sea was so light that everything on + board the Santa Maria was removed safely. Then it was that Columbus, + tempted by the beauty of the place, by the friendship of the natives, and + by the evident wishes of his men, determined to leave a colony, which + should be supported by the stores of the Santa Maria, until the rest of + the party could go back to Spain and bring or send reinforcements. The + king was well pleased with this suggestion, and promised all assistance + for the plan. A vault was dug and built, in which the stores could be + placed, and on this a house was built for the home of the colonists, so + far as they cared to live within doors. + </p> + <p> + The chief sent a canoe in search of Martin Pinzon and the Pinta, to tell + them of the disaster. But the messengers returned without finding them. At + the camp, which was to be a city, all was industriously pressed, with the + assistance of the friendly natives. Columbus, having no vessel but the + little Nina left, determined to return to Europe with the news of his + discovery, and to leave nearly forty men ashore. + </p> + <p> + It would appear that the men, themselves, were eager to stay. The luxury + of the climate and the friendly overtures of the people delighted them, + They had no need to build substantial houses. So far as houses were + needed, those of the natives were sufficient. All the preparations which + Columbus thought necessary were made in the week between the twenty-sixth + of December and the second of January. On that day he expected to sail + eastward, but unfavorable winds prevented. + </p> + <p> + He landed his men again, and by the exhibition of a pretended battle with + European arms, he showed the natives the military force of their new + neighbors. He fired a shot from an arquebuse against the wreck of the + Santa Maria, so that the Indians might see the power of his artillery. The + Indian chief expressed his regret at the approaching departure, and the + Spaniards thought that one of his courtiers said that the chief had + ordered him to make a statue of pure gold as large as the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + Columbus explained to the friendly chief that with such arms as the + sovereigns of Castile commanded they could readily destroy the dreaded + Caribs. And he thought he had made such an impression that the islanders + would be the firm friends of the colonists. + </p> + <p> + “I have bidden them build a solid tower and defense, over a vault. Not + that I think this necessary against the natives, for I am satisfied that + with a handful of people I could conquer the whole island, were it + necessary, although it is, as far as I can judge, larger than Portugal, + and twice as thickly peopled.” In this cheerful estimate of the people + Columbus was wholly wrong, as the sad events proved before the year had + gone by. + </p> + <p> + He left thirty-nine men to be the garrison of this fort; and the colony + which was to discover the mine of gold. In command he placed Diego da + Arana, Pedro Gutierres and Rodrigo de Segovia. To us, who have more + experience of colonies and colonists than he had had, it does not seem to + promise well that Rodrigo was “the king’s chamberlain and an officer of + the first lord of the household.” Of these three, Diego da Arana was to be + the governor, and the other two his lieutenants. The rest were all + sailors, but among them there were Columbus’s secretary, an alguazil, or + person commissioned in the civil service at home, an “arquebusier,” who + was also a good engineer, a tailor, a ship carpenter, a cooper and a + physician. So the little colony had its share of artificers and men of + practical skill. They all staid willingly, delighted with the prospects of + their new home. + </p> + <p> + On the third of January Columbus sailed for Europe in the little Nina. + With her own crew and the addition she received from the Santa Maria, she + must have been badly crowded. Fortunately for all parties, on Sunday, the + third day of the voyage, while they were still in sight of land, the Pinta + came in sight. Martin Pinzon came on board the Nina and offered excuses + for his absence. Columbus was not really satisfied with them, but he + affected to be, as this was no moment for a quarrel. He believed that + Pinzon had left him, that, in the Pinta, he might be alone when he + discovered the rich gold-bearing island of Babeque or Baneque. Although + the determination was made to return, another week was spent in slow + coasting, or in waiting for wind. It brought frequent opportunities for + meeting the natives, in one of which they showed a desire to take some of + their visitors captive. This would only have been a return for a capture + made by Pinzon of several of their number, whom Columbus, on his meeting + Pinzon, had freed. In this encounter two of the Indians were wounded, one + by a sword, one by an arrow. It would seem that he did not show them the + power of firearms. + </p> + <p> + This was in the Bay of Samana, which Columbus called “The Bay of Arrows,” + from the skirmish or quarrel which took place there. They then sailed + sixty-four miles cast, a quarter northeast, and thought they saw the land + of the Caribs, which he was seeking. But here, at length, his authority + over his crew failed. The men were eager to go home;—did not, + perhaps, like the idea of fight with the man-eating Caribs. There was a + good western wind, and on the evening of the sixteenth of January Columbus + gave way and they bore away for home. + </p> + <p> + Columbus had satisfied himself in this week that there were many islands + east of him which he had not hit upon, and that to the easternmost of + these, from the Canaries, the distance would prove not more than four + hundred leagues. In this supposition he was wholly wrong, though a chain + of islands does extend to the southeast. + </p> + <p> + He seems to have observed the singular regularity by which the trade winds + bore him steadily westward as he came over. He had no wish to visit the + Canary Islands again, and with more wisdom than could have been expected, + from his slight knowledge of the Atlantic winds, he bore north. Until the + fourteenth of February the voyage was prosperous and uneventful. One day + the captive Indians amused the sailors by swimming. There is frequent + mention of the green growth of the Sargasso sea. But on the fourteenth all + this changed. The simple journal thus describes the terrible tempest which + endangered the two vessels, and seemed, at the moment, to cut off the hope + of their return to Europe. + </p> + <p> + “Monday, February 14.—This night the wind increased still more; the + waves were terrible. Coming from two opposite directions, they crossed + each other, and stopped the progress of the vessel, which could neither + proceed nor get out from among them; and as they began continually to + break over the ship, the Admiral caused the main-sail to be lowered. She + proceeded thus during three hours, and made twenty miles. The sea became + heavier and heavier, and the wind more and more violent. Seeing the danger + imminent, he allowed himself to drift in whatever direction the wind took + him, because he could do nothing else. Then the Pinta, of which Martin + Alonzo Pinzon was the commander, began to drift also; but she disappeared + very soon, although all through the night the Admiral made signals with + lights to her, and she answered as long as she could, till she was + prevented, probably by the force of the tempest, and by her deviation from + the course which the Admiral followed.” Columbus did not see the Pinta + again until she arrived at Palos. He was himself driven fifty-four miles + towards the northeast. + </p> + <p> + The journal continues. “After sunrise the strength of the wind increased, + and the sea became still more terrible. The Admiral all this time kept his + mainsail lowered, so that the vessel might rise from among the waves which + washed over it, and which threatened to sink it. The Admiral followed, at + first, the direction of east-northeast, and afterwards due northeast. He + sailed about six hours in this direction, and thus made seven leagues and + a half. He gave orders that every sailor should draw lots as to who should + make a pilgrimage to Santa Maria of Guadeloupe, to carry her a five-pound + wax candle. And each one took a vow that he to whom the lot fell should + make the pilgrimage. + </p> + <p> + “For this purpose, he gave orders to take as many dry peas as there were + persons in the ship, and to cut, with a knife, a cross upon one of them, + and to put them all into a cap, and to shake them up well. The first who + put his hand in was the Admiral. He drew out the dry pea marked with the + cross; so it was upon him that the lot fell, and he regarded himself, + after that, as a pilgrim, obliged to carry into effect the vow which he + had thus taken. They drew lots a second time, to select a person to go as + pilgrim to Our Lady of Lorette, which is within the boundaries of Ancona, + making a part of the States of the Church: it is a place where the Holy + Virgin has worked and continues to work many and great miracles. The lot + having fallen this time upon a sailor of the harbor of Santa Maria, named + Pedro de Villa, the Admiral promised to give him all the money necessary + for the expenses. He decided that a third pilgrim should be sent to watch + one night at Santa Clara of Moguer, and to have a mass said there. For + this purpose, they again shook up the dry peas, not forgetting that one + which was marked with the cross, and the lot fell once again to the + Admiral himself. He then took, as did all his crew, the vow that, on the + first shore which they might reach, they would go in their shirts, in a + procession, to make a prayer in some church in invocation of Our Lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Besides the general vows, or those taken by all in common, each man made + his own special vow, because nobody expected to escape. The storm which + they experienced was so terrible, that all regarded themselves as lost; + what increased the danger was the circumstance that the vessel lacked + ballast, because the consumption of food, water and wine had greatly + diminished her load. The hope of the continuance of weather as fine as + that which they had experienced in all the islands, was the reason why the + Admiral had not provided his vessel with the proper amount of ballast. + Moreover, his plan had been to ballast it in the Women’s Island, whither + he had from the first determined to go. The remedy which the Admiral + employed was to fill with sea water, as soon as possible, all the empty + barrels which had previously held either wine or fresh water. In this way + the difficulty was remedied. + </p> + <p> + “The Admiral tells here the reasons for fearing that our Saviour would + allow him to become the victim of this tempest, and other reasons which + made him hope that God would come to his assistance, and cause him to + arrive safe and sound, so that intelligence such as that which he was + conveying to the king and queen would not perish with him. The strong + desire which he had to be the bearer of intelligence so important, and to + prove the truth of all which he had said, and that all which he had tried + to discover had really been discovered, seemed to contribute precisely to + inspire him with the greatest fear that he could not succeed. He + confessed, himself, that every mosquito that passed before his eyes was + enough to annoy and trouble him. He attributed this to his little faith, + and his lack of confidence in Divine Providence. On the other hand, he was + re-animated by the favors which God had shown him in granting to him so + great a triumph as that which he had achieved, in all his discoveries, in + fulfilling all his wishes, and in granting that, after having experienced + in Castile so many rebuffs and disappointments, all his hopes should at + last be more than surpassed. In one word, as the sovereign master of the + universe, had, in the outset, distinguished him in granting all his + requests, before he had carried out his expedition for God’s greatest + glory, and before it had succeeded, he was compelled to believe now that + God would preserve him to complete the work which he had begun.” Such is + Las Casas’s abridgment of Columbus’s words. + </p> + <p> + “For which reasons he said he ought to have had no fear of the tempest + that was raging. But his weakness and anguish did not leave him a moment’s + calm. He also said that his greatest grief was the thought of leaving his + two boys orphans. They were at Cordova, at their studies. What would + become of them in a strange land, without father or mother? for the king + and queen, being ignorant of the services he had rendered them in this + voyage, and of the good news which he was bringing to them, would not be + bound by any consideration to serve as their protectors. + </p> + <p> + “Full of this thought, he sought, even in the storm, some means of + apprising their highnesses of the victory which the Lord had granted him, + in permitting him to discover in the Indies all which he had sought in his + voyage, and to let them know that these coasts were free from storms, + which is proved, he said, by the growth of herbage and trees even to the + edge of the sea. With this purpose, that, if he perished in this tempest, + the king and queen might have some news of his voyage, he took a parchment + and wrote on it all that he could of his discoveries, and urgently begged + that whoever found it would carry it to the king and queen. He rolled up + this parchment in a piece of waxed linen, closed this parcel tightly, and + tied it up securely; he had brought to him a large wooden barrel, within + which he placed it, without anybody’s knowing what it was. Everybody + thought the proceeding was some act of devotion. He then caused it to be + thrown into the sea.” (*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) Within a few months, in the summer of 1890, a well known + English publisher has issued an interesting and ingenious + edition, of what pretended to be a facsimile of this + document. The reader is asked to believe that the lost + barrel has just now been found on the western coast of + England. But publishers and purchasers know alike that this + is only an amusing suggestion of what might have been. +</pre> + <p> + The sudden and heavy showers, and the squalls which followed some time + afterwards, changed the wind, which turned to the west. They had the wind + thus abaft, and he sailed thus during five hours with the foresail only, + having always the troubled sea, and made at once two leagues and a half + towards the northeast. He had lowered the main topmast lest a wave might + carry it away. + </p> + <p> + With a heavy wind astern, so that the sea frequently broke over the little + Nina, she made eastward rapidly, and at daybreak on the fifteenth they saw + land. The Admiral knew that he had made the Azores, he had been steadily + directing the course that way; some of the seamen thought they were at + Madeira, and some hopeful ones thought they saw the rock of Cintra in + Portugal. Columbus did not land till the eighteenth, when he sent some men + on shore, upon the island of Santa Maria. His news of discovery was at + first received with enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + But there followed a period of disagreeable negotiation with Castaneda, + the governor of the Azores. Pretending great courtesy and hospitality, but + really acting upon the orders of the king of Portugal, he did his best to + disable Columbus and even seized some of his crew and kept them prisoners + for some days. When Columbus once had them on board again, he gave up his + plans for taking ballast and water on these inhospitable islands, and + sailed for Europe. + </p> + <p> + He had again a stormy passage. Again they were in imminent danger. “But + God was good enough to save him. He caused the crew to draw lots to send + to Notre Dame de la Cintra, at the island of Huelva, a pilgrim who should + come there in his shirt. The lot fell upon himself. All the crew, + including the Admiral, vowed to fast on bread and water on the first + Saturday which should come after the arrival of the vessel. He had + proceeded sixty miles before the sails were torn; then they went under + masts and shrouds on account of the unusual strength of the wind, and the + roughness of the sea, which pressed them almost on all sides. They saw + indications of the nearness of the land; they were in fact, very near + Lisbon.” + </p> + <p> + At Lisbon, after a reception which was at first cordial, the Portuguese + officers showed an inhospitality like that of Castaneda at the Azores. But + the king himself showed more dignity and courtesy. He received the + storm-tossed Admiral with distinction, and permitted him to refit his + shattered vessel with all he needed. Columbus took this occasion to write + to his own sovereigns. + </p> + <p> + On the thirteenth he sailed again, and on the fifteenth entered the bay + and harbor of Palos, which he had left six months and a half before. He + had sailed on Friday. He had discovered America on Friday. And on Friday + he safely returned to his home. + </p> + <p> + His journal of the voyage ends with these words: “I see by this voyage + that God has wonderfully proved what I say, as anybody may convince + himself, by reading this narrative, by the signal wonders which he has + worked during the course of my voyage, and in favor of myself, who have + been for so long a time at the court of your Highnesses in opposition and + contrary to the opinions of so many distinguished personages of your + household, who all opposed me, treating my project as a dream, and my + undertaking as a chimera. And I hope still, nevertheless, in our Lord, + this voyage will bring the greatest honor to Christianity, although it has + been performed with so much ease.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. — COLUMBUS IS CALLED TO MEET THE KING AND QUEEN + </h2> + <p> + —HIS MAGNIFICENT RECEPTION—NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POPE AND WITH + THE KING OF PORTUGAL—SECOND EXPEDITION ORDERED—FONSECA—THE + PREPARATIONS AT CADIZ. + </p> + <p> + The letter which Columbus sent from Lisbon to the king and queen was + everywhere published. It excited the enthusiasm first of Spain and then of + the world. This letter found in the earlier editions is now one of the + most choice curiosities of libraries. Well it may be, for it is the first + public announcement of the greatest event of modern history. + </p> + <p> + Ferdinand and Isabella directed him to wait upon them at once at court. It + happened that they were then residing at Barcelona, on the eastern coast + of Spain, so that the journey required to fulfill their wishes carried him + quite across the kingdom. It was a journey of triumph. The people came + together in throngs to meet this peaceful conqueror who brought with him + such amazing illustrations of his discovery. + </p> + <p> + The letter bearing instructions for him to proceed to Barcelona was + addressed “To Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of the Ocean Sea, + Viceroy and Governor of the islands discovered in the Indies.” So far was + he now raised above the rank of a poor adventurer, who had for seven years + attended the court in its movements, seeking an opportunity to explain his + proposals. + </p> + <p> + As he approached Barcelona he was met by a large company of people, + including many persons of rank. A little procession was formed of the + party of the Admiral. Six Indians of the islands who had survived the + voyage, led the way. They were painted according to their custom in + various colors, and ornamented with the fatal gold of their countries, + which had given to the discovery such interest in the eyes of those who + looked on. + </p> + <p> + Columbus had brought ten Indians away with him, but one had died on the + voyage and he had left three sick at Palos. Those whom he brought to + Barcelona, were baptized in presence of the king and queen. + </p> + <p> + After the Indians, were brought many curious objects which had come from + the islands, such as stuffed birds and beasts and living paroquets, which + perhaps spoke in the language of their own country, and rare plants, so + different from those of Spain. Ornaments of gold were displayed, which + would give the people some idea of the wealth of the islands. Last of all + came Columbus, elegantly mounted and surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade + of young Spaniards. The crowd of wondering people pressed around them. + Balconies and windows were crowded with women looking on. Even the roofs + were crowded with spectators. + </p> + <p> + The king and queen awaited Columbus in a large hall, where they were + seated on a rich dais covered with gold brocade. It was in the palace + known as the “Casa de la Deputacion” which the kings of Aragon made their + residence when they were in Barcelona. A body of the most distinguished + lords and ladies of Spain were in attendance. As Columbus entered the hall + the king and queen arose. He fell on his knee that he might kiss their + hands but they bade him rise and then sit and give an account of his + voyage. + </p> + <p> + Columbus spoke with dignity and simplicity which commanded respect, while + all listened with sympathy. He showed some of the treasures he had + brought, and spoke with certainty of the discoveries which had been made, + as only precursors of those yet to come. When his short narrative was + ended, all the company knelt and united in chanting the “Te Deum,” “We + Praise Thee, O God.” Las Casas, describing the joy and hope of that + occasion says, “it seems as if they had a foretaste of the joys of + paradise.” + </p> + <p> + It would seem as if those whose duty it is to prepare fit celebrations of + the periods of the great discovery, could hardly do better than to produce + on the twenty-fourth of April, 1893, a reproduction of the solemn pageant + in which, in Barcelona, four centuries before, the Spanish court + commemorated the great discovery. + </p> + <p> + From this time, for several weeks, a series of pageants and festivities + surrounded him. At no other period of his life were such honors paid to + him. It was at one of the banquets, at which he was present, that the + incident of the egg, so often told in connection with the great discovery, + took place. A flippant courtier—of that large class of people who + stay at home when great deeds are done, and afterwards depreciate the + doers of them—had the impertinence to ask Columbus, if the adventure + so much praised was not, after all, a very simple matter. He probably said + “a short voyage of four or five weeks; was it anything more?” Columbus + replied by giving him an egg which was on the table, and asking him if he + could stand it on one end. He said he could not, and the other guests said + that they could not. Columbus tapped it on the table so as to break the + end of the shell, and the egg stood erect. “It is easy enough,” he said, + “when any one has shown you how.” + </p> + <p> + It is well to remember, that if after years showed that the ruler of Spain + wearied in his gratitude, Columbus was, at the time, welcomed with the + enthusiasm which he deserved. From the very grains of gold brought home in + this first triumph, the queen, Isabella, had the golden illumination + wrought of a most beautiful missal-book. + </p> + <p> + Distinguished artists decorated the book, and the portraits of sovereigns + then on the throne appear as the representations of King David, King + Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and other royal personages. This book she gave + afterwards to her grandson, Charles V, of whom it has been said that + perhaps no man in modern times has done the world more harm. + </p> + <p> + This precious book, bearing on its gilded leaves the first fruits of + America, is now preserved in the Royal Library at Madrid. + </p> + <p> + The time was not occupied merely in shows and banquets. There was no + difficulty now, about funds for a second expedition. Directions were given + that it might be set forward as quickly as possible, and on an imposing + scale. For it was feared at court that King John of Portugal, the + successful rival of Spain, thus far, in maritime adventure, might + anticipate further discovery. The sovereigns at once sent an embassy to + the pope, not simply to announce the discovery, but to obtain from him a + decree confirming similar discoveries in the same direction. There was at + least one precedent for such action. A former pope had granted to Portugal + all the lands it might discover in Africa, south of Cape Bojador, and the + Spanish crown had assented by treaty to this arrangement. Ferdinand and + Isabella could now refer to this precedent, in asking for a grant to them + of their discoveries on the western side of the Atlantic. The pope now + reigning was Alexander II. He had not long filled the papal chair. He was + an ambitious and prudent sovereign—a native of Spain—and, + although he would gladly have pleased the king of Portugal, he was quite + unwilling to displease the Spanish sovereigns. The Roman court received + with respect the request made to them. The pope expressed his joy at the + hopes thrown out for the conversion of the heathen, which the Spanish + sovereigns had expressed, as Columbus had always done. And so prompt were + the Spanish requests, and so ready the pope’s answer, that as early as May + 3, 1493, a papal bull was issued to meet the wishes of Spain. + </p> + <p> + This bull determined for Spain and for Portugal, that all discoveries made + west of a meridian line one hundred leagues west of the Azores should + belong to Spain. All discoveries east of that line should belong to + Portugal. No reference was made to other maritime powers, and it does not + seem to have been supposed that other states had any rights in such + matters. The line thus arranged for the two nations was changed by their + own agreement, in 1494, for a north and south line three hundred and fifty + leagues west of the Cape de Verde Islands. The difference between the two + lines was not supposed to be important. + </p> + <p> + The decision thus made was long respected. Under a mistaken impression as + to the longitude of the Philippine Islands in the East Indies, Spain has + held those islands, under this line of division, ever since their + discovery by Magellan. She considered herself entitled to all the islands + and lands between the meridian thus drawn in the Atlantic and the similar + meridian one hundred and eighty degrees away, on exactly the other side of + the world. + </p> + <p> + Under the same line of division, Portugal held, for three centuries and + more, Brazil, which projects so far eastward into the Atlantic as to cross + this line of division. + </p> + <p> + Fearful, all the time, that neither the pope’s decree, nor any diplomacy + would prevent the king of Portugal from attempting to seize lands at the + west, the Spanish court pressed with eagerness arrangements for a second + expedition. It was to be on a large and generous scale and to take out a + thousand men. For this was the first plan, though the number afterwards + was increased to fifteen hundred. To give efficiency to all the measures + of colonization, what we should call a new department of administration + was formed, and at the head of it was placed Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca. + </p> + <p> + Fonseca held this high and responsible position for thirty years. He early + conceived a great dislike of Columbus, who, in some transactions before + this expedition sailed, appealed to the sovereigns to set aside a decision + of Fonseca’s, and succeeded. For all the period while he managed the + Indian affairs of Spain, Fonseca kept his own interests in sight more + closely than those of Spain or of the colonists; and not Columbus only, + but every other official of Spain in the West Indies, had reason to regret + the appointment. + </p> + <p> + The king of Portugal and the sovereigns of Spain began complicated and + suspicious negotiations with each other regarding the new discoveries. + Eventually, as has been said, they acceded to the pope’s proposal and + decree. But, at first, distrusting each other, and concealing their real + purposes, in the worst style of the diplomacy of that time, they attempted + treaties for the adjustment between themselves of the right to lands not + yet discovered by either. Of these negotiations, the important result was + that which has been named,—the change of the meridian of division + from that proposed by the pope. It is curious now to see that the king of + Portugal proposed a line of division, which would run east and west, so + that Spain should have the new territories north of the latitude of the + Grand Canary, and Portugal all to the south. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of negotiation, the king and queen and Columbus knew that + whoever was first on the ground of discovery would have the great + advantage. There was a rumor in Spain that Portugal had already sent out + vessels to the west. Everything was pressed with alacrity at Cadiz. The + expedition was to be under Columbus’s absolute command. Seamen of + reputation were engaged to serve under him. Seventeen vessels were to take + out a colony. Horses as well as cattle and other domestic animals were + provided. Seeds and plants of different kinds were sent out, and to this + first colonization by Spain, America owes the sugar-cane, and perhaps some + other of her tropical productions. + </p> + <p> + Columbus remained in Barcelona until the twenty-third of May. But before + that time, the important orders for the expedition had been given. He then + went to Cadiz himself, and gave his personal attention to the + preparations. Applications were eagerly pressed, from all quarters, for + permission to go. Young men of high family were eager to try the great + adventure. It was necessary to enlarge the number from that at first + proposed. The increase of expense, ordered as the plans enlarged, did not + please Fonseca. To quarrels between him and Columbus at this time have + been referred the persecutions which Columbus afterwards suffered. In this + case the king sustained Columbus in all his requisitions, and Fonseca was + obliged to answer them. + </p> + <p> + So rapidly were all these preparations made, that, in a little more than a + year from the sailing of the first expedition, the second, on a scale so + much larger, was ready for sea. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. — THE SECOND EXPEDITION SAILS + </h2> + <p> + —FROM CADIZ AT CANARY ISLANDS—DISCOVERY OF DOMINICA AND + GUADELOUPE—SKIRMISHES WITH THE CARIBS—PORTO RICO DISCOVERED—HISPANIOLA—THE + FATE OF THE COLONY AT LA NAVIDAD. + </p> + <p> + There is not in history a sharper contrast, or one more dramatic, than + that between the first voyage of Columbus and the second. In the first + voyage, three little ships left the port of Palos, most of the men of + their crews unwilling, after infinite difficulty in preparation, and in + the midst of the fears of all who stayed behind. + </p> + <p> + In the second voyage, a magnificent fleet, equipped with all that the + royal service could command, crowded with eager adventurers who are + excited by expectations of romance and of success, goes on the very same + adventure. + </p> + <p> + In the first voyage, Columbus has but just turned the corner after the + struggles and failures of eight years. He is a penniless adventurer who + has staked all his reputation on a scheme in which he has hardly any + support. In the second case, Columbus is the governor-general, for aught + he knows, of half the world, of all the countries he is to discover; and + he knows enough, and all men around him know enough, to see that his + domain may be a principality indeed. + </p> + <p> + Success brings with it its disadvantages. The world has learned since, if + it did not know it then, that one hundred and fifty sailors, used to the + hard work and deprivations of a seafaring life, would be a much more + efficient force for purposes of discovery, than a thousand and more + courtiers who have left the presence of the king and queen in the hope of + personal advancement or of romantic adventure. Those dainty people, who + would have been soldiers if there were no gunpowder, are not men to found + states; and the men who have lived in the ante-chambers of courts are not + people who co-operate sympathetically with an experienced man of affairs + like Columbus. + </p> + <p> + From this time forward this is to be but a sad history, and the sadness, + nay, the cruelty of the story, results largely from the composition of the + body of men whom Columbus took with him on this occasion. It is no longer + coopers and blacksmiths and boatswains and sailmakers who surround him. + These were officers of court, whose titles even cannot be translated into + modern language, so artificial were their habits and so conventional the + duties to which they had been accustomed. Such men it was, who made poor + Columbus endless trouble. Such men it was, who, at the last, dragged him + down from his noble position, so that he died unhonored, dispirited and + poor. To the same misfortune, probably, do we owe it that, for a history + of this voyage, we have no longer authority so charming as the simple, + gossipy journal which Columbus kept through the first voyage, of which the + greater part has happily been preserved. It may be that he was too much + pressed by his varied duties to keep up such a journal. For it is alas! an + unfortunate condition of human life, that men are most apt to write + journals when they have nothing to tell, and that in the midst of high + activity, the record of that activity is not made by the actor. In the + present case, a certain Doctor Chanca, a native of Seville, had been taken + on board Columbus’s ship, perhaps with the wish that he should be the + historian of the expedition. It may be that in the fact that his journal + was sent home is the reason why the Admiral’s, if he kept one, has never + been preserved. Doctor Chanca’s narrative is our principal contemporary + account of the voyage. From later authorities much can be added to it, but + all of them put together are not, for the purposes of history, equal to + the simple contemporaneous statement which we could have had, had + Columbus’s own journal been preserved. + </p> + <p> + The great fleet sailed from Cadiz on the twenty-fifth day of September, in + the year 1493, rather more than thirteen months after the sailing of the + little fleet from Palos of the year before. They touched at the Grand + Canary as before, but at this time their vessels were in good condition + and there was no dissatisfaction among the crews. From this time the + voyage across the ocean was short. On the third day of November, 11 the + Sunday after All Saints Day had dawned, a pilot on the ship cried out to + the captain that he saw land. “So great was the joy among the people, that + it was marvellous to hear the shouts of pleasure on all hands. And for + this there was much reason because the people were so much fatigued by the + hard life and by the water which they drank that they all hoped for land + with much desire.” + </p> + <p> + The reader will see that this is the ejaculation of a tired landsman; one + might say, of a tired scholar, who was glad that even the short voyage was + at an end. Some of the pilots supposed that the distance which they had + run was eight hundred leagues from Ferro; others thought it was seven + hundred and eighty. As the light increased, there were two islands in + sight the first was mountainous, being the island of “Dominica,” which + still retains that name, of the Sunday when it was discovered; the other, + the island of Maria Galante, is more level, but like the first, as it is + described by Dr. Chanca, it was well wooded. The island received its name + from the ship that Columbus commanded. In all, they discovered six islands + on this day. + </p> + <p> + Finding no harbor which satisfied him in Dominica, Columbus landed on the + island of Maria Galante, and took possession of it in the name of the king + and queen. Dr. Chanca expresses the amazement which everyone had felt on + the other voyage, at the immense variety of trees, of fruits and of + flowers, which to this hour is the joy of the traveller in the West + Indies. + </p> + <p> + “In this island was such thickness of forest that it was wonderful, and + such a variety of trees, unknown to anyone, that it was terrible, some + with fruit, some with flowers, so that everything was green. * * * There + were wild fruits of different sorts, which some not very wise men tried, + and, on merely tasting them, touching them with their tongues, their faces + swelled and they had such great burning and pain that they seemed to rage + (or to have hydrophobia). They were cured with cold things.” This fruit is + supposed to have been the manchireel, which is known to produce such + effects. + </p> + <p> + They found no inhabitants on this island and went on to another, now + called Guadeloupe. It received this name from its resemblance to a + province of the same name in Spain. They drew near a mountain upon it + which “seemed to be trying to reach the sky,” upon which was a beautiful + waterfall, so white with foam that at a distance some of the sailors + thought it was not water, but white rocks. The Admiral sent a light + caravel to coast along and find harbor. This vessel discovered some + houses, and the captain went ashore and found the inhabitants in them. + They fled at once, and he entered the houses. There he found that they had + taken nothing away. There was much cotton, “spun and to be spun,” and + other goods of theirs, and he took a little of everything, among other + things, two parrots, larger and different from what had been seen before. + He also took four or five bones of the legs and arms of men. This last + discovery made the Spaniards suppose that these islands were those of + Caribs, inhabited by the cannibals of whom they had heard in the first + voyage. + </p> + <p> + They went on along the coast, passing by some little villages, from which + the inhabitants fled, “as soon as they saw the sails.” The Admiral decided + to send ashore to make investigations, and next morning “certain captains” + landed. At dinnertime some of them returned, bringing with them a boy of + fourteen, who said that he was one of the captives of the people of the + island. The others divided, and one party “took a little boy and brought + him on board.” Another party took a number of women, some of them natives + of the island, and others captives, who came of their own accord. One + captain, Diego Marquez, with his men, went off from the others and lost + his way with his party. After four days he came out on the coast, and by + following that, he succeeded in coming to the fleet. Their friends + supposed them to have been killed and eaten by the Caribs, as, since some + of them were pilots and able to set their course by the pole-star, it + seemed impossible that they should lose themselves. + </p> + <p> + During the first day Columbus spent here, many men and women came to the + water’s edge, “looking at the fleet and wondering at such a new thing; and + when any boat came ashore to talk with them, saying, ‘tayno, tayno,’ which + means good. But they were all ready to run when they seemed in danger, so + that of the men only two could be taken by force or free-will. There were + taken more than twenty women of the captives, and of their free-will came + other women, born in other islands, who were stolen away and taken by + force. Certain captive boys came to us. In this harbor we were eight days + on account of the loss of the said captain.” + </p> + <p> + They found great quantities of human bones on shore, and skulls hanging + like pots or cups about the houses. They saw few men. The women said that + this was because ten canoes had gone on a robbing or kidnapping expedition + to other islands. “This people,” says Doctor Chanca, “appeared to us more + polite than those who live in the other islands we have seen, though they + all have straw houses.” But he goes on to say that these houses are better + made and provided, and that more of both men’s and women’s work appeared + in them. They had not only plenty of spun and unspun cotton, but many + cotton mantles, “so well woven that they yield in nothing (or owe nothing) + to those of our country.” + </p> + <p> + When the women, who had been found captives, were asked who the people of + the island were, they replied that they were Caribs. “When they heard that + we abhorred such people for their evil use of eating men’s flesh, they + rejoiced much.” But even in the captivity which all shared, they showed + fear of their old masters. + </p> + <p> + “The customs of this people, the Caribs,” says Dr. Chanca, “are beastly;” + and it would be difficult not to agree with him, in spite of the + “politeness” and comparative civilization he has spoken of. + </p> + <p> + They occupied three islands, and lived in harmony with each other, but + made war in their canoes on all the other islands in the neighborhood. + They used arrows in warfare, but had no iron. Some of them used + arrow-heads of tortoise shell, others sharply toothed fish-bones, which + could do a good deal of damage among unarmed men. “But for people of our + nation, they are not arms to be feared much.” + </p> + <p> + These Caribs carried off both men and women on their robbing expeditions. + They slaughtered and ate the men, and kept the women as slaves; they were, + in short, incredibly cruel. Three of the captive boys ran away and joined + the Spaniards. + </p> + <p> + They had twice sent out expeditions after the lost captain, Diego Marquez, + and another party had returned without news of him, on the very day on + which he and his men came in. They brought with them ten captives, boys + and women. They were received with great joy. “He and those that were with + him, arrived so DESTROYED BY THE MOUNTAIN, that it was pitiful to see + them. When they were asked how they had lost themselves, they said that it + was the thickness of the trees, so great that they could not see the sky, + and that some of them, who were mariners, had climbed up the trees to look + at the star (the Pole-star) and that they never could see it.” + </p> + <p> + One of the accounts of this voyage(*) relates that the captive women, who + had taken refuge with the Spaniards, were persuaded by them to entice some + of the Caribs to the beach. “But these men, when they had seen our people, + all struck by terror, or the consciousness of their evil deeds, looking at + each other, suddenly drew together, and very lightly, like a flight of + birds, fled away to the valleys of the woods. Our men then, not having + succeeded in taking any cannibals, retired to the ships and broke the + Indians’ canoes.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) That of Peter Martyr. +</pre> + <p> + They left Guadeloupe on Sunday, the tenth of November. They passed several + islands, but stopped at none of them, as they were in haste to arrive at + the settlement of La Navidad in Hispaniola, made on the first voyage. They + did, however, make some stay at an island which seemed well populated. + This was that of San Martin. The Admiral sent a boat ashore to ask what + people lived on the island, and to ask his way, although, as he afterwards + found, his own calculations were so correct that he did not need any help. + The boat’s crew took some captives, and as it was going back to the ships, + a canoe came up in which were four men, two women and a boy. They were so + astonished at seeing the fleet, that they remained, wondering what it + could be, “two Lombard-shot from the ship,” and did not see the boat till + it was close to them. They now tried to get off, but were so pressed by + the boat that they could not. “The Caribs, as soon as they saw that flight + did not profit them, with much boldness laid hands on their bows, the + women as well as the men. And I say with much boldness, because they were + no more than four men and two women, and ours more than twenty-five, of + whom they wounded two. To one they gave two arrow-shots in the breast, and + to the other one in the ribs. And if we had not had shields and + tablachutas, and had not come up quickly with the boat and overturned + their canoe, they would have shot the most of our men with their arrows. + And after their canoe was overturned, they remained in the water swimming, + and at times getting foothold, for there were some shallow places there. + And our men had much ado to take them, for they still kept on shooting as + they could. And with all this, not one of them could be taken, except one + badly wounded with a lance-thrust, who died, whom thus wounded they + carried to the ships.” + </p> + <p> + Another account of this fight says that the canoe was commanded by one of + the women, who seemed to be a queen, who had a son “of cruel look, robust, + with a lion’s face, who followed her.” This account represents the queen’s + son to have been wounded, as well as the man who died. “The Caribs + differed from the other Indians in having long hair; the others wore + theirs braided and a hundred thousand differences made in their heads, + with crosses and other paintings of different sorts, each one as he + desires, which they do with sharp canes.” The Indians, both the Caribs and + the others, were beardless, unless by a great exception. The Caribs, who + had been taken prisoners here, had their eyes and eyebrows blackened, + “which, it seems to me, they do as an ornament, and with that they appear + more frightful.” They heard from these prisoners of much gold at an island + called Cayre. + </p> + <p> + They left San Martin on the same day, and passed the island of Santa Cruz, + and the next day (November 15) they saw a great number of islands, which + the Admiral named Santa Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. This + seemed “a country fit for metals,” but the fleet made no stay there. They + did stop for two days at an island called Burenquen. The Admiral named it + San Juan Bautista (Saint John Baptist). It is what we now call Porto Rico. + He was not able to communicate with any of the inhabitants, as they lived + in such fear of the Caribs that they all fled. All these islands were new + to the Admiral and all “very beautiful and of very good land, but this one + seemed better than all of them.” + </p> + <p> + On Friday, the twenty-second of November, they landed at the island of + Hispaniola or Hayti which they so much desired. None of the party who had + made the first voyage were acquainted with this part of the island; but + they conjectured what it was, from what the Indian captive women told + them. + </p> + <p> + The part of the island where they arrived was called Hayti, another part + Xamana, and the third Bohio. “It is a very singular country,” says Dr. + Chanca, “where there are numberless great rivers and great mountain ridges + and great level valleys. I think the grass never dries in the whole year. + I do not think that there is any winter in this (island) nor in the + others, for at Christmas are found many birds’ nests, some with birds, and + some with eggs.” The only four-footed animals found in these islands were + what Dr. Chanca calls dogs of various colors, and one animal like a young + rabbit, which climbed trees. Many persons ate these last and said they + were very good. There were many small snakes, and few lizards, because the + Indians were so fond of eating them. “They made as much of a feast of them + as we would do of pheasants.” + </p> + <p> + “There are in this island and the others numberless birds, of those of our + country, and many others which never were seen there. Of our domestic + birds, none have ever been seen here, except that in Zuruquia there were + some ducks in the houses, most of them white as snow, and others black.” + </p> + <p> + They coasted along this island for several days, to the place where the + Admiral had left his settlement. While passing the region of Xamana, they + set ashore one of the Indians whom they had carried off on the first + voyage. They “gave him some little things which the Admiral had commanded + him to give away.” Another account adds that of the ten Indian men who had + been carried off on the first voyage, seven had already died on account of + the change of air and food. Two of the three whom the Admiral was bringing + back, swam ashore at night. “The Admiral cared for this but little, + thinking that he should have enough interpreters among those whom he had + left in the island, and whom he hoped to find there again.” It seems + certain that one Indian remained faithful to the Spaniards; he was named + Diego Colon, after the Admiral’s brother. + </p> + <p> + On the day that the captive Indian was set ashore, a Biscayan sailor died, + who had been wounded by the Caribs in the fight between the boat’s crew + and the canoe. A boat’s crew was sent ashore to bury him, and as they came + to land there came out “many Indians, of whom some wore gold at the neck + and at the ears. They sought to come with the christians to the ships, and + they did not like to bring them, because they had not had permission from + the Admiral.” The Indians then sent two of their number in a little canoe + to one of the caravels, where they were received kindly, and sent to speak + with the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + “They said, through an interpreter, that a certain king sent them to know + what people we were, and to ask that we might be kind enough to land, as + they had much gold and would give it to him, and of what they had to eat. + The Admiral commanded silken shirts and caps and other little things to be + given them, and told them that as he was going where Guacanagari was, he + could not stop, that another time he would be able to see him. And with + that, they (the Indians) went away.” + </p> + <p> + They stopped two days at a harbor which they called Monte Christi, to see + if it were a suitable place for a town, for the Admiral did not feel + altogether satisfied with the place where the settlement of La Navidad had + been made on the first voyage. This Monte Christi was near “a great river + of very good water” (the Santiago). But it is all an inundated region, and + very unfit to live in. + </p> + <p> + “As they were going along, viewing the river and land, some of our men + found, in a place close by the river, two dead men, one with: a cord + (lazo) around his neck, and the other with one around his foot. This was + the first day. On the next day following, they found two other dead men + farther on than these others. One of these was in such a position that it + could be known that he had a plentiful beard. Some of our men suspected + more ill than good, and with reason, as the Indians are all beardless, as + I have said.” + </p> + <p> + This port was not far from the port where the Spanish settlement had been + made on the first voyage, so that there was great reason for these + anxieties. They set sail once more for the settlement, and arrived + opposite the harbor of La Navidad on the twenty-seventh of November. As + they were approaching the harbor, a canoe came towards them, with five or + six Indians on board, but, as the Admiral kept on his course without + waiting for them, they went back. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards arrived outside the port of La Navidad so late that they did + not dare to enter it that night. “The Admiral commanded two Lombards to be + fired, to see if the christians replied, who had been left with the said + Guacanagari, (this was the friendly cacique Guacanagari of the first + voyage), for they too had Lombards,” “They never replied, nor did fires + nor signs of houses appear in that place, at which the people were much + discouraged, and they had the suspicion that was natural in such a case.” + </p> + <p> + “Being thus all very sad, when four or five hours of the night had passed, + there came the same canoe which they had seen the evening before. The + Indians in it asked for the Admiral and the captain of one of the caravels + of the first voyage. They were taken to the Admiral’s ship, but would not + come on board until they had spoken with him and seen him.” They asked for + a light, and as soon as they knew him, they entered the ship. They came + from Guacanagari, and one of them was his cousin. + </p> + <p> + They brought with them golden masks, one for the Admiral and another for + one of the captains who had been with him on the first voyage, probably + Vicente Yanez Pinzon. Such masks were much valued among the Indians, and + are thought to have been meant to put upon idols, so that they were given + to the Spaniards as tokens of great respect. The Indian party remained on + board for three hours, conversing with the Admiral and apparently very + glad to see him again. When they were asked about the colonists of La + Navidad, they said that they were all well, but that some of them had died + from sickness, and that others had been killed in quarrels among + themselves. Their own cacique, Guacanagari, had been attacked by two other + chiefs, Caonabo and Mayreni. They had burned his village, and he had been + wounded in the leg, so that he could not come to meet the Spaniards that + night. As the Indians went away, however, they promised that they would + bring him to visit them the next day. So the explorers remained “consoled + for that night.” + </p> + <p> + Next day, however, events were less reassuring. None of last night’s party + came back and nothing was seen of the cacique. The Spaniards, however, + thought that the Indians might have been accidentally overturned in their + canoe, as it was a small one, and as wine had been given them several + times during their visit. + </p> + <p> + While he was still waiting for them, the Admiral sent some of his men to + the place where La Navidad had stood. They found that the strong fort with + a palisade was burned down and demolished. They also found some cloaks and + other clothes which had been carried off by the Indians, who seemed + uneasy, and at first would not come near the party. + </p> + <p> + “This did not appear well” to the Spaniards, as the Admiral had told them + how many canoes had come out to visit him in that very place on the other + voyage. They tried to make friends, however, threw out to them some bells, + beads and other presents, and finally a relation of the cacique and three + others ventured to the boat, and were taken on board ship. + </p> + <p> + These men frankly admitted that the “christians” were all dead. The + Spaniards had been told so the night before by their Indian interpreter, + but they had refused to believe him. They were now told that the King of + Canoaboa(*) and the King Mayreni had killed them and burned the village. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) “Canoaboa” was thought to mean “Land of Gold.” + </pre> + <p> + They said, as the others had done, that Guacanagari was wounded in the + thigh and they, like the others, said they would go and summon him. The + Spaniards made them some presents, and they, too, disappeared. + </p> + <p> + Early the next morning the Admiral himself, with a party, including Dr. + Chanca, went ashore. + </p> + <p> + “And we went where the town used to be, which we saw all burnt, and the + clothes of the christians were found on the grass there. At that time we + saw no dead body. There were among us many different opinions, some + suspecting that Guacanagari himself was (concerned) in the betrayal or + death of the christians, and to others it did not appear so, as his town + was burnt, so that the thing was very doubtful.” + </p> + <p> + The Admiral directed the whole place to be searched for gold, as he had + left orders that if any quantity of it were found, it should be buried. + While this search was being made, he and a few others went to look for a + suitable place for a new settlement. They arrived at a village of seven or + eight houses, which the inhabitants deserted at once. Here they found many + things belonging to the christians, such as stockings, pieces of cloth, + and “a very pretty mantle which had not been unfolded since it was brought + from Castile.” These, the Spaniards thought, could not have been obtained + by barter. There was also one of the anchors of the ship which had gone + ashore on the first voyage. + </p> + <p> + When they returned to the site of La Navidad they found many Indians, who + had become bold enough to come to barter gold. They had shown the place + where the bodies of eleven Spaniards lay “covered already by the grass + which had grown over them.” They all “with one voice” said that Canoaboa + and Mayreni had killed them. But as, at the same time, they complained + that some of the christians had taken three Indian wives, and some four, + it seemed likely that a just resentment on the part of the islanders had + had something to do with their death. + </p> + <p> + The next day the Admiral sent out a caravel to seek for a suitable place + for a town, and he himself went out to look for one in a different + direction. He found a secure harbor and a good place for a settlement, But + he thought it too far from the place where he expected to find a gold + mine. On his return, he found the caravel he had sent out. As it was + coasting along the island, a canoe had come out to it, with two Indians on + board, one of whom was a brother of Guacanagari. This man begged the party + to come and visit the cacique. The “principal men” accordingly went on + shore, and found him in bed, apparently suffering from his wounded thigh, + which he showed them in bandages. They judged from appearances that he was + telling them the truth. + </p> + <p> + He said to them, “by signs as best he could,” that since he was thus + wounded, they were to invite the Admiral to come to visit him. As they + were going away, he gave each of them a golden jewel, as each “appeared to + him to deserve it.” “This gold,” says Dr. Chanca, “is made in very + delicate sheets, like our gold leaf, because they use it for making masks + and to plate upon bitumen. They also wear it on the head and for earrings + and nose-rings, and therefore they beat it very thin as they only wear it + for its beauty and not for its value.” + </p> + <p> + The Admiral decided to go to the cacique on the next day. He was visited + early in the day by his brother, who hurried on the visit. + </p> + <p> + The Admiral went on shore and all the best people (gente de pro) with him, + “handsomely dressed, as would be suitable in a capital city.” They carried + presents with them, as they had already received gold from him. + </p> + <p> + “When we arrived, we found him lying in his bed, according to their + custom, hanging in the air, the bed being made of cotton like a net. He + did not rise, but from the bed made a semblance of courtesy, as best he + knew how. He showed much feeling, with tears in his eyes, at the death of + the Christians, and began to talk of it, showing, as best he could, how + some died of sickness, and how others had gone to Canoaboa to seek for the + gold mine, and that they had been killed there, and how the others had + been killed in their town.” + </p> + <p> + He presented to the Admiral some gold and precious stones. One of the + accounts says that there were eight hundred beads of a stone called ciba, + one hundred of gold, a golden coronet, and three small calabashes filled + with gold dust. Columbus, in return, made him a present. + </p> + <p> + “I and a navy surgeon were there,” says Dr. Chanca. “The Admiral now said + that we were learned in the infirmities of men, and asked if he would show + us the wound. He replied that it pleased him to do so. I said that it + would be necessary, if he could, for him to go out of the house, since + with the multitudes of people it was dark, and we could not see well. He + did it immediately, as I believe, more from timidity than from choice. The + surgeon came to him and began to take off the bandage. Then he said to the + Admiral that the injury was caused by ciba, that is, by a stone. When it + was unbandaged we managed to examine it. It is certain that he was no more + injured in that leg than in the other, although he pretended that it was + very painful.” + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards did not know what to believe. But it seemed certain that an + attack of some enemy upon these Indians had taken place, and the Admiral + determined to continue upon good terms with them. Nor did he change this + policy toward Guacanagari. How far that chief had tried to prevent the + massacre will never be known. The detail of the story was never fully + drawn from the natives. The Spaniards had been cruel and licentious in + their dealing with the Indians. They had quarrelled among themselves, and + the indignant natives, in revenge, had destroyed them all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. — THE NEW COLONY + </h2> + <p> + —EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY—GUACANAGARI—SEARCH FOR GOLD—MUTINY + IN THE COLONY—THE VESSELS SENT HOME—COLUMBUS MARCHES INLAND—COLLECTION + OF GOLD—FORTRESS OF ST. THOMAS—A NEW VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY—JAMAICA + VISITED—THE SOUTH SHORE OF CUBA EXPLORED—RETURN—EVANGELISTA + DISCOVERED—COLUMBUS FALLS SICK—RETURN TO ISABELLA. + </p> + <p> + Columbus had hoped, with reason, to send back a part of the vessels which + made up his large squadron, with gold collected in the year by the + colonists at La Navidad. In truth, when, in 1501, the system of + gold-washing-had been developed, the colony yielded twelve hundred pounds + of gold in one year. The search for gold, from the beginning, broke up all + intelligent plans for geographical discovery or for colonization. In this + case, it was almost too clear that there was nothing but bad news to send + back to Spain. Columbus went forward, however, as well as he could, with + the establishment of a new colony, and with the search for gold. + </p> + <p> + He sent out expeditions of discovery to open relations with the natives, + and to find the best places for washing and mining for gold. Melchior + Meldonado commanded three hundred men, in the first of these expeditions. + They came to a good harbor at the mouth of a river, where they saw a fine + house, which they supposed might be the home of Guacanagari. They met an + armed party of one hundred Indians; but these men put away their weapons + when signals of peace were made, and brought presents in token of + good-will. + </p> + <p> + The house to which they went was round, with a hemispherical roof or dome. + It was thirty-two paces in diameter, divided by wicker work into different + rooms. Smaller houses, for persons of rank lower than the chiefs, + surrounded it. The natives told the explorers that Guacanagari himself had + retired to the hills. + </p> + <p> + On receiving the report of these explorers Columbus sent out Ojeda with a + hundred men, and Corvalan with a similar party in different directions. + These officers, in their report, described the operation of gold-washing, + much as it is known to explorers in mining regions to-day. The natives + made a deep ditch into which the gold bearing sand should settle. For more + important work they had flat baskets in which they shook the sand and + parted it from the gold. With the left hand they dipped up sand, handled + this skilfully or “dextrously” with the right hand, so that in a few + minutes they could give grains of gold to the gratified explorers. Ojeda + brought home to Columbus one nugget which weighed nine ounces. + </p> + <p> + They also brought tidings of the King of Canoaboa, of whom they had heard + before, and he is called by the name of Caunebo himself.(*) He was + afterwards carried, as a prisoner or as a hostage, on the way to Spain; + but died on the passage. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) The name is spelled in many different ways. +</pre> + <p> + Columbus was able to dispatch the returning ships, with the encouraging + reports brought in by Meldonado and Ojeda, but with very little gold. But + he was obliged to ask for fresh supplies of food for the colony—even + in the midst of the plenty which he described; for he had found already + what all such leaders find, the difficulty of training men to use food to + which they were not accustomed. He sent also his Carib prisoners, begging + that they might be trained to a knowledge of the christian religion and of + the Spanish language. He saw, already, how much he should need + interpreters. The fleet sailed on the second of February, and its reports + were, on the whole, favorably received. + </p> + <p> + Columbus chose for the new city an elevation, ten leagues east of Monte + Christi, and at first gave to his colony the name of Martha. It is the + Isabella of the subsequent history. + </p> + <p> + The colonists were delighted with the fertility of the soil under the + tropical climate. Andalusia itself had not prepared them for it. They + planted seeds of peas, beans, lettuces, cabbages and other vegetables, and + declared that they grew more in eight days than they would have grown in + twenty at home. They had fresh vegetables in sixteen days after they + planted them; but for melons, pumpkins and other fruits of that sort, they + are generous enough to allow thirty days. + </p> + <p> + They had carried out roots and suckers of the sugar-cane. In fifteen days + the shoots were a cubit high. A farmer who had planted wheat in the + beginning of February had ripe grain in the beginning of April; so that + they were sure of, at least, two crops in a year. + </p> + <p> + But the fertility of the soil was the only favorable token which the + island first exhibited. The climate was enervating and sickly. The labor + on the new city was hard and discouraging. Columbus found that his + colonists were badly fitted for their duty, or not fitted for it at all. + Court gentlemen did not want to work. Priests expected to be put on better + diet than any other people. Columbus—though he lost his own + popularity—insisted on putting all on equal fare, in sharing the + supplies he had brought from Spain. It did not require a long time to + prove that the selection of the site of the colony was unfortunate. + Columbus himself gave way to the general disease. While he was ill, a + mutiny broke out which he had to suppress by strong measures. + </p> + <p> + Bornal Diaz, who ranked as comptroller of the expedition, and Fermin Cedo, + an assayer, made a plot for seizing the remaining ships and sailing for + Europe. News of the mutiny was brought to Columbus. He found a document in + the writing of Diaz, drawn as a memorial, accusing Columbus himself of + grave crimes. He confined Diaz on board a ship to be sent to Spain with + the memorial. He punished the mutineers of lower rank. He took the guns + and naval munitions from four of the vessels, and entrusted them all to a + person in whom he had absolute confidence. + </p> + <p> + On the report of the exploring parties, four names were given to as many + divisions of the island. Junna was the most western, Attibunia the most + eastern, Jachen the northern and Naiba the southern. Columbus himself, + seeing the fortifications of the city well begun, undertook, in March, an + exploration, of the island, with a force of five hundred men. + </p> + <p> + It was in the course of this exploration that one of the natives brought + in a gold-bearing stone which weighed an ounce. He was satisfied with a + little bell in exchange. He was surprised at the wonder expressed by the + Spaniards, and showing a stone as large as a pomegranate, he said that he + had nuggets of gold as large as this at his home. Other Indians brought in + gold-bearing stones which weighed more than an ounce. At their homes, + also, but not in sight, alas, was a block of gold as large as an infant’s + head. + </p> + <p> + Columbus himself thought it best to take as many men as he could into the + mountain region. He left the new city under the care of his brother, + Diego, and with all the force of healthy men which he could muster, making + a little army of nearly five hundred men, he marched away from the sickly + seaboard into the interior. The simple natives were astonished by the + display of cavalry and other men in armor. After a few days of a + delightful march, in the beauty of spring in that country, he entered upon + the long sought Cibao. He relinquished his first idea of founding another + city here, but did build a fortress called St. Thomas, in joking reference + to Cedo and others, who had asserted that these regions produced no gold. + While building this fortress, as it was proudly called, he sent a young + cavalier named Luxan for further exploration. + </p> + <p> + Luxan returned with stories even greater than they had heard of before, + but with no gold, “because he had no orders to do so.” He had found ripe + grapes. And at last they had found a region called Cipangi, cipan + signifying stone. This name recalled the memory of Cipango, or Japan. With + tidings as encouraging as this, Columbus returned to his city. He + appointed his brother and Pedro Margarita governors of the city, and left + with three ships for the further exploration of Cuba, which he had left + only partly examined in his first voyage. He believed that it was the + mainland of Asia. And as has been said, such was his belief till he died, + and that of his countrymen. Cuba was not known to be an island for many + years afterwards. He was now again in the career which pleased him, and + for which he was fitted. He was always ill at ease in administering a + colony, or ruling the men who were engaged in it. He was happy and + contented when he was discovering. He had been eager to follow the + southern coast of Cuba, as he had followed the north in his first voyage. + And now he had his opportunity. Having commissioned his brother Diego and + Margarita and appointed also a council of four other gentlemen, he sailed + to explore new coasts, on the twenty-fourth of April. + </p> + <p> + He was soon tempted from his western course that he might examine Jamaica, + of which he saw the distant lines on the south. “This island,” says the + account of the time, “is larger than Sicily. It has only one mountain, + which rises from the coast on every side, little by little, until you come + to the middle of the island and the ascent is so gradual that, whether you + rise or descend, you hardly know whether you are rising or descending.” + Columbus found the island well peopled, and from what he saw of the + natives, thought them more ingenious, and better artificers, than any + Indians he had seen before. But when he proposed to land, they generally + showed themselves prepared to resist him. He therefore deferred a full + examination of the island to his return, and, with the first favorable + wind, pressed on toward the southern coast of Cuba. He insisted on calling + this the “Golden Chersonesus” of the East. This name had been given by the + old geographers to the peninsula now known as Malacca. + </p> + <p> + Crossing the narrow channel between Jamaica and Cuba, he began coasting + that island westward. If the reader will examine the map, he will find + many small keys and islands south of Cuba, which, before any survey had + been made, seriously retarded his westward course. In every case he was + obliged to make a separate examination to be sure where the real coast of + the island was, all the time believing it was the continent of Asia. One + of the narratives says, with a pardonable exaggeration, that in all this + voyage he thus discovered seven hundred islands. His own estimate was that + he sailed two hundred and twenty-two leagues westward in the exploration + which now engaged him. + </p> + <p> + The month of May and the beginning of June were occupied with such + explorations. The natives proved friendly, as the natives of the northern + side of Cuba had proved two years before. They had, in general, heard of + the visit of the Spaniards; but their wonder and admiration seem to have + been none the less now that they saw the reality. + </p> + <p> + On one occasion the hopes of all the party, that they should find + themselves at the court of the Grand Khan, were greatly quickened. A + Spaniard had gone into a forest alone, hunting. Suddenly he saw a man + clothed in white, or thought he did, whom he supposed to be a friar of the + order of Saint Mary de Mercedes, who was with the expedition. But, almost + immediately, ten other friars dressed in the same costume, appeared, and + then as many as thirty. The Spaniard was frightened at the multiplication + of their number, it hardly appears why, as they were all men of peace, or + should have been, whatever their number. He called out to his companions, + and bade them escape. But the men in white called out to him, and waved + their hands, as if to assure him that there was no danger. He did not + trust them, however, but rushed back to the shore and the ship, as fast as + he could, to report what he had seen to the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + Here, at last, was reason for hope that they had found one of the Asiatic + missions of the Church. Columbus at once landed a party, instructing them + to go forty miles inland, if necessary, to find people. But this party + found neither path nor roadway, although the country was rich and fertile. + Another party brought back rich bunches of grapes, and other native + fruits. But neither party saw any friars of the order of Saint Mary. And + it is now supposed that the Spaniard saw a peaceful flock of white cranes. + The traveller Humboldt describes one occasion, in which the town of + Angostura was put to alarm by the appearance of a flock of cranes known as + soldados, or “soldiers,” which were, as people supposed, a band of + Indians. + </p> + <p> + In his interviews with the natives at one point and another, upon the + coast, Columbus was delighted with their simplicity, their hospitality, + and their kindly dealing with each other. On one occasion, when the Mass + was celebrated, a large number of them were present, and joined in the + service, as well as they could, with respect and devotion. An old man as + much as eighty years old, as the Spaniards thought, brought to the Admiral + a basket full of fruit, as a present. Then he said, by an interpreter: + </p> + <p> + “We have heard how you have enveloped, by your power, all these countries, + and how much afraid of you the people have been. But I have to exhort you, + and to tell you that there are two ways when men leave this body. One is + dark and dismal; it is for those who have injured the race of men. The + other is delightful and pleasant; it is for those who, while alive, have + loved peace and the repose of mankind. If, then, you remember that you are + mortal, and what these retributions are, you will do no harm to any one.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus told him in reply that he had known of the two roads after death, + and that he was well pleased to find that the natives of these lands knew + of them; for he had not expected this. He said that the king and queen of + Spain had sent him with the express mission of bringing these tidings to + them. In particular, that he was charged with the duty of punishing the + Caribs and all other men of impure life, and of rewarding and honoring all + pure and innocent men. This statement so delighted the old prophet that he + was eager to accompany Columbus on a mission so noble, and it was only by + the urgent entreaty of his wife and children that he stayed with them. He + found it hard to believe that Columbus was inferior in rank or command to + any other sovereign. + </p> + <p> + The beauty of the island and the hospitality of the natives, however, were + not enough to dispose the crews to continue this exploration further. They + were all convinced that they were on the coast of Asia. Columbus did not + mean that afterwards any one should accuse him of abandoning the discovery + of that coast too soon. Calling to their attention the distance they had + sailed, he sent round a written declaration for the signature of every + person on the ships. Every man and boy put his name to it. It expressed + their certainty that they were on the cape which made the end of the + eastern Indies, and that any one who chose could proceed thence westward + to Spain by land. This extraordinary declaration was attested officially + by a notary, and still exists. + </p> + <p> + It was executed in a bay at the extreme southwestern corner of Cuba. It + has been remarked by Munoz, that at that moment, in that place, a ship boy + at the masthead could have looked over the group of low islands and seen + the open sea, which would have shown that Cuba was an island. + </p> + <p> + The facts, which were controlling, were these, that the vessels were leaky + and the crews sick and discontented. On the thirteenth of June, Columbus + stood to the southeast. He discovered the island now known as the Island + of Pines. He called it Evangelista. He anchored here and took in water. In + an interview, not unlike that described, in which the old Cuban expressed + his desire to return with Columbus, it is said that an Evangelistan chief + made the same offer, but was withheld by the remonstrances, of his wife + and children. A similar incident is reported in the visit to Jamaica, + which soon followed. Columbus made a careful examination of that island. + Then he crossed to Hispaniola, where, from the Indians, he received such + accounts from the new town of Isabella as assured him that all was well + there. + </p> + <p> + With his own indomitable zeal, he determined now to go to the Carib + islands and administer to them the vengeance he had ready. But his own + frame was not strong enough for his will. He sank exhausted, in a sort of + lethargy. The officers of his ship, supposing he was dying, put about the + vessels and the little squadron arrived, none too soon as it proved, at + Isabella. + </p> + <p> + He was as resolute as ever in his determination to crush the Caribs, and + prevent their incursions upon those innocent islanders to whom he had made + so many promises of protection. But he fell ill, and for a short time at + least was wholly unconscious. The officers in command took occasion of his + illness, and of their right to manage the vessels, to turn back to the + city of Isabella. He arrived there “as one half dead,” and his + explorations and discoveries for this voyage were thus brought to an end. + To his great delight he found there his brother Bartholomew, whom he had + not seen for eight years. Bartholomew had accompanied Diaz in the famous + voyage in which he discovered the Cape of Good Hope. Returning to Europe + in 1488 he had gone to England, with a message from Christopher Columbus, + asking King Henry the Seventh to interest himself in the great adventure + he proposed. + </p> + <p> + The authorities differ as to the reception which Henry gave to this great + proposal. Up to the present time, no notice has been found of his visit in + the English archives. The earliest notice of America, in the papers + preserved there, is a note of a present of ten pounds “to hym that found + the new land,” who was Cabot, after his first voyage. Bartholomew Columbus + was in England on the tenth of February, 1488; how much later is not + known. Returning from England he staid in France, in the service of Madama + de Bourbon. This was either Anne of Beaujeu, or the widow of the Admiral + Louis de Bourbon. Bartholomew was living in Paris when he heard of his + brother’s great discovery. + </p> + <p> + He had now been appointed by the Spanish sovereigns to command a fleet of + three vessels, which had been sent out to provision the new colony. He had + sailed from Cadiz on the thirtieth of April, 1494, and he arrived at + Isabella on St. John’s Day of the same year. + </p> + <p> + Columbus welcomed him with delight, and immediately made him his + first-lieutenant in command of the colony. There needed a strong hand for + the management of the colony, for the quarrels which had existed before + Columbus went on his Cuban voyage had not diminished in his absence. Pedro + Margarita and Father Boil are spoken of as those who had made the most + trouble. They had come determined to make a fortune rapidly, and they did + not propose to give up such a hope to the slow processes of ordinary + colonization. Columbus knew very well that those who had returned to Spain + had carried with them complaints as to his own course. He would have been + glad on some accounts to return, himself, at once; but he did not think + that the natives of the islands were sufficiently under the power of the + new colony to be left in safety. + </p> + <p> + First of all he sent back four caravels, which had recently arrived from + Europe, with five hundred Indians whom he had taken as slaves. He + consigned them to Juan de Fonseca’s care. He was eager himself to say that + he sent them out that they might be converted, to Christianity, and that + they might learn the Spanish language and be of use as interpreters. But, + at the same time, he pointed out how easy it would be to make a source of + revenue to the Crown from such involuntary emigration. To Isabella’s + credit it is to be said, that she protested against the whole thing + immediately; and so far as appears, no further shipments were made in + exactly the same way. But these poor wretches were not sent back to the + islands, as she perhaps thought they were. Fonseca did not hesitate to + sell them, or apprentice them, to use our modern phrase, and it is said by + Bernaldez that they all died. His bitter phrase is that Fonseca took no + more care of them than if they had been wild animals. + </p> + <p> + Columbus did not recover his health, so as to take a very active part in + affairs for five months after his arrival at San Domingo. He was well + aware that the Indians were vigorously organized, with the intention of + driving his people from the island, or treating the colony as they had + treated the colony of Navidad. He called the chief of the Cipangi, named + Guarionexius, for consultation. The interpreter Didacus, who had served + them so faithfully, married the king’s sister, and it was hoped that this + would be a bond of amity between the two nations. + </p> + <p> + Columbus sent Ojeda into the gold mountains with fifty armed men to make + an alliance with Canabao. Canabao met this party with a good deal of + perplexity. He undoubtedly knew that he had given the Spaniards good + reason for doubting him. It is said that he had put to death twenty + Spaniards by treasonable means, but it is to be remembered that this is + the statement of his enemies. He, however, came to Columbus with a large + body of his people, all armed. When he was asked why he brought so large a + force with him, he said that so great a king as he, could not go anywhere + without a fitting military escort. But Ojeda did not hesitate to take him + prisoner and carry him into Isabella, bound. As has been said, he was + eventually sent to Spain, but he died on the passage. + </p> + <p> + Columbus made another fortress, or tower, on the border of King + Guarionexius’s country, between his kingdom and Cipango. He gave to this + post the name of the “Tower of the Conception,” and meant it to be a + rallying point for the miners and others, in case of any uprising of the + natives against them. This proved to be an important centre for mining + operations. From this place, what we should call a nugget of gold, which + one of the chiefs brought in, was sent to Spain. It weighed twenty ounces. + A good deal of interest attached also to the discovery of amber, one mass + of which weighed three hundred pounds. Such discoveries renewed the + interest and hope which had been excited in Spain by the first accounts of + Hispaniola. + </p> + <p> + Columbus satisfied himself that he left the island really subdued; and in + this impression he was not mistaken. Certain that his presence in Spain + was needed, if he would maintain his own character against the attacks of + the disaffected Spaniards who had gone before him, he set sail on the Nina + on the tenth of March, taking with him as a consort a caravel which had + been built at Isabella. He did not arrive in Cadiz till the eleventh of + June, having been absent from Spain two years and nine months. + </p> + <p> + His return to Spain at this time gave Isabella another opportunity to show + the firmness of her character, and the determination to which alone + belongs success. + </p> + <p> + The excitement and popularity which attended the return from the first + voyage had come to an end. Spain was in the period of reaction. The + disappointment which naturally follows undue expectations and extravagant + prophecies, was, in this instance, confirmed by the return of discontented + adventurers. Four hundred years have accustomed the world to this reflex + flow of disappointed colonists, unable or unwilling to work, who come back + from a new land to say that its resources have been exaggerated. In this + case, where everything was measured by the standard of gold, it was + certainly true that the supply of gold received from the islands was very + small as compared with the expenses of the expedition which had been sent + out. + </p> + <p> + Five hundred Indians, who came to be taught the language, entering Spain + as slaves, were but a poor return for the expenses in which the nation, + not to say individuals, had been involved. The people of Spain, therefore, + so far as they could show their feeling, were prejudiced against Columbus + and those who surrounded him. They heard with incredulity the accounts of + Cuba which he gave, and were quite indifferent to the geographical + theories by which he wanted to prove that it was a part of Asia. He + believed that the rich mines, which he had really found in Hispaniola, + were the same as those of Ophir. But after five years of waiting, the + Spanish public cared but little for such conjectures. + </p> + <p> + As he arrived in Cadiz, he found three vessels, under Nino, about to sail + with supplies. These were much needed, for the relief of the preceding + year, sent out in four vessels, had been lost by shipwreck. Columbus was + able to add a letter of his own to the governor of Isabella, begging him + to conform to the wishes expressed by the king and queen in the dispatches + taken by Nino. He recommended diligence in exploring the new mines, and + that a seaport should be founded in their neighborhood. At the same time + he received a gracious letter from the king and queen, congratulating him + on his return, and asking him to court as soon as he should recover from + his fatigue. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was encouraged by the tone of this letter. He had chosen to act + as if he were in disgrace, and dressed himself in humble garb, as if he + were a Franciscan monk, wearing his beard as the brethren of those orders + do. Perhaps this was in fulfillment of one of those vows which, as we + know, he frequently made in periods of despondency. + </p> + <p> + He went to Burgos, where Ferdinand and Isabella were residing, and on the + way made such a display of treasure as he had done on the celebrated march + to Barcelona. Canabao, the fierce cacique of Hispaniola, had died on the + voyage, but his brother and nephew still lived, and he took them to the + king and queen, glittering on state occasions with golden ornaments. One + chain of gold which the brother wore, is said to have been worth more than + three thousand dollars of our time. In the procession Columbus carried + various masks and other images, made by the Indians in fantastic shapes, + which attracted the curiosity which in all nations surrounds the idols of + a foreign creed. + </p> + <p> + The sovereigns received him cordially. No reference was made to the + complaints of the adventurers who had returned. However the sovereigns may + have been impressed by these, they were still confident in Columbus and in + his merits, and do not seem to have wished to receive the partial accounts + of his accusers. On his part, he pressed the importance of a new + expedition, in order that they might annex to their dominions the eastern + part of Asia. He wanted for this purpose eight ships. He was willing to + leave two in the island of Hispaniola, and he hoped that he might have six + for a voyage of discovery. The sovereigns assented readily to his + proposal, and at the time probably intended to carry out his wishes. + </p> + <p> + But Spain had something else to do than to annex Asia or to discover + America; and the fulfillment of the promises made so cordially in 1496, + was destined to await the exigencies of European war and diplomacy. In + fact, he did not sail upon the third expedition for nearly two years after + his arrival in Cadiz. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1496, an order was given for a sum amounting to nearly a + hundred thousand dollars of our time, for the equipment of the promised + squadron. At the same time Columbus was relieved from the necessity by + which he was bound in his original contract, to furnish at least + one-eighth of the money necessary in any of these expeditions. This burden + was becoming too heavy for him to bear. It was agreed, however, that in + the event of any profit resulting to the crown, he should be entitled to + one-eighth of it for three ensuing years. This concession must be + considered as an evidence that he was still in favor. At the end of three + years both parties were to fall back upon the original contract. + </p> + <p> + But these noble promises, which must have been so encouraging to him, + could not be fulfilled, as it proved. For the exigencies of war, the + particular money which was to be advanced to Columbus was used for the + repair of a fortress upon the frontier. Instead of this, Columbus was to + receive his money from the gold brought by Nino on his return. Alas, it + proved that a report that he had returned with so much gold, meant that he + had Indian prisoners, from the sale of whom he expected to realize this + money. And poor Columbus was virtually consigned to building and fitting + out his ship from the result of a slave-trade, which was condemned by + Isabella, and which he knew was wretchedly unprofitable. + </p> + <p> + A difficulty almost equally great resulted from the unpopularity of the + expedition. People did not volunteer eagerly, as they had done, the minds + of men being poisoned by the reports of emigrants, who had gone out in + high hope, and had returned disappointed. It even became necessary to + commute the sentences of criminals who had been sentenced to banishment, + so that they might be transported into the new settlements, where they + were to work without pay. Even these expedients did not much hasten the + progress of the expedition. + </p> + <p> + Fonseca, the steady enemy of Columbus, was placed in command again at this + time. The queen was overwhelmed with affliction by the death of Prince + Juan; and it seemed to Columbus and his friends that every petty + difficulty was placed in the way of preparation. When at length six + vessels were fitted for sea, it was only after the wear and tear of + constant opposition from officials in command; and the expedition, as it + proved, was not what Columbus had hoped for, for his purposes. + </p> + <p> + On the thirtieth of May, however, in 1498, he was able to sail. As this + was the period when the Catholic church celebrates the mystery of the + Trinity, he determined and promised that the first land which he + discovered should receive that sacred name. He was well convinced of the + existence of a continent farther south than the islands among which he had + cruised, and intended to strike that continent, as in fact he did, in the + outset of his voyage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. — THE THIRD VOYAGE. + </h2> + <p> + LETTER TO THE KING AND QUEEN—DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD AND PARIA—CURIOUS + SPECULATION AS TO THE EARTHLY PARADISE—ARRIVAL AT SAN DOMINGO—REBELLIONS + AND MUTINIES IN THAT ISLAND—ROLDAN AND HIS FOLLOWERS—OJEDA AND + HIS EXPEDITION—ARRIVAL OF BOBADILLA—COLUMBUS A PRISONER. + </p> + <p> + For the narrative of the third voyage, we are fortunate in having once + more a contemporary account by Columbus himself. The more important part + of his expedition was partly over when he was able to write a careful + letter to the king and queen, which is still preserved. It is lighted up + by bursts of the religious enthusiasm which governed him from the + beginning. All the more does it show the character of the man, and it + impresses upon us, what is never to be forgotten, the mixture in his + motive of the enthusiasm of a discoverer, the eager religious feeling + which might have quickened a crusader, and the prospects of what we should + call business adventure, by which he tries to conciliate persons whose + views are less exalted than his own. + </p> + <p> + In addressing the king and queen, who are called “very high and very + powerful princes,” he reminds them that his undertaking to discover the + West Indies began in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which appointed + him as a messenger for this enterprise. He asks them to remember that he + has always addressed them as with that intention. + </p> + <p> + He reminds them of the seven or eight years in which he was urging his + cause and that it was not enough that he should have showed the religious + side of it, that he was obliged to argue for the temporal view as well. + But their decision, for which he praises them indirectly, was made, he + says, in the face of the ridicule of all, excepting the two priests, + Marcheza and the Archbishop of Segovia. “And everything will pass away + excepting the word of God, who spoke so clearly of these lands by the + voice of Isaiah in so many places, affirming that His name should be + divulged to the nations from Spain.” He goes on in a review of the earlier + voyages, and after this preface gives his account of the voyage of 1498. + </p> + <p> + They sailed from Santa Lucca the thirtieth of May, and went down to + Madeira to avoid the hostile squadron of the French who were awaiting him + at Cape St. Vincent. In the history by Herrara, of another generation, + this squadron is said to be Portuguese. From Maderia, they passed to the + Canary Islands, from which, with one ship and two caravels, he makes his + voyage, sending the other three vessels to Hispaniola. After making the + Cape de Verde Islands, he sailed southwest. He had very hot weather for + eight days, and in the hope of finding cooler weather changed his course + to the westward. + </p> + <p> + On the thirty-first of July, they made land, which proved to be the cape + now known as Galeota, the southeastern cape of the island of Trinidad. The + country was as green at this season as the orchards of Valencia in March. + Passing five leagues farther on, he lands to refit his vessels and take on + board wood and water. The next day a large canoe from the east, with + twenty-four men, well armed, appeared. + </p> + <p> + The Admiral wished to communicate with them, but they refused, although he + showed them basins and other things which he thought would attract them. + Failing in this effort, he directed some of the boys of the crew to dance + and play a tambourine on the poop of the ship. But this conciliatory + measure had as little success as the other. The natives strung their bows, + took up their shields and began to shoot the dancers. Columbus stopped the + entertainment, therefore, and ordered some balls shot at them, upon which + they left him. With the other vessel they opened more friendly + communication, but when the pilot went to Columbus and asked leave to land + with them, they went off, nor were any of them or theirs seen again. + </p> + <p> + On his arrival at Punta de Icacocos, at the southern point of Trinidad, he + observes the very strong currents which are always noticed by voyagers, + running with as much fury as the Guadalquiver in time of flood. In the + night a terrible wave came from the south, “a hill as high as a ship,” so + that even in writing of it he feels fear. But no misfortune came from it. + </p> + <p> + Sailing the next day, he found the water comparatively fresh. He is, in + fact, in the current produced by the great river Orinoco, which affects, + in a remarkable way, all the tide-flow of those seas. Sailing north, he + passes different points of the Island of Trinidad, and makes out the Punta + de la Pena and the mainland. He still observes the freshness of the water + and the severity of the currents. + </p> + <p> + As he sails farther westward, he observes fleets, and he sends his people + ashore. They find no inhabitants at first, but eventually meet people who + tell him the enemy of this country is Paria. Of these he took on board + four. The king sent him an invitation to land, and numbers of the people + came in canoes, many of whom wore gold and pearls. These pearls came to + them from the north. Columbus did not venture to land here because the + provisions of his vessels were already failing him. + </p> + <p> + He describes the people, as of much the same color as those who have been + observed before, and were ready for intercourse, and of good appearance. + Two prominent persons came to meet them, whom he thought to be father and + son. The house to which the Spaniards were led was large, with many seats. + An entertainment was brought forward, in which there were many sorts of + fruits, and wine of many kinds. It was not made from grapes, however, and + he supposed it must be made of different sorts of fruits. + </p> + <p> + A part of the entertainment was of maize, “which is a sort of corn which + grows here, with a spike like a spindle.” The Indians and their guests + parted with regret that they could not understand each other’s + conversation. All this passed in the house of the elder Indian. The + younger then took them to his house, where a similar collation was served, + and they then returned to the ship, Columbus being in haste to press on, + both on account of his want of supplies and the failure of his own health. + He says he was still suffering from diseases which he had contracted on + the last voyage, and with blindness. “That then his eyes did not give him + as much pain, nor were they bloodshot as much as they are now.” + </p> + <p> + He describes the people whom they at first visited as of fine stature, + easy bearing, with long straight hair, and wearing worked handkerchiefs on + their heads. At a little distance it seemed as if these were made of silk, + like the gauze veil with which the Spaniards were familiar, from Moorish + usage. + </p> + <p> + “Others,” he says, “wore larger handkerchiefs round their waists, like the + panete of the Spaniards.” By this phrase he means a full garment hanging + over the knees, either trousers or petticoats. These people were whiter in + color than the Indians he had seen before. They all wore something at the + neck and arms, with many pieces of gold at the neck. The canoes were much + larger than he had seen, better in build and lighter; they had a cabin in + the middle for the princes and their women. + </p> + <p> + He made many inquiries for gold, but was told he must go farther on, but + he was advised not to go there, because his men would be in danger of + being eaten. At first, Columbus supposed that this meant that the + inhabitants of the gold-bearing countries were cannibals, but he satisfied + himself afterwards that the natives meant that they would be eaten by + beasts. With regard to pearls, also, he got some information that he + should find them when he had gone farther west and farther north. + </p> + <p> + After these agreeable courtesies, the little fleet raised its anchors and + sailed west. Columbus sent one caravel to investigate the river. Finding + that he should not succeed in that direction, and that he had no available + way either north or south, he leaves by the same entrance by which he had + entered. The water is still very fresh, and he is satisfied, correctly as + we know, that these currents were caused by the entrance of the great + river of water. + </p> + <p> + On the thirteenth of August he leaves the island by what he calls the + northern mouth of the river (Boca Grande), and begins to strike salt water + again. + </p> + <p> + At this part of Columbus’s letter there is a very curious discussion of + temperature, which shows that this careful observer, even at that time, + made out the difference between what are called isothermal curves and the + curves of latitude. He observes that he cannot make any estimate of what + his temperature will be on the American coast from what he has observed on + the coast of Africa. + </p> + <p> + He begins now to doubt whether the world is spherical, and is disposed to + believe that it is shaped like a pear, and he tries to make a theory of + the difference of temperature from this suggestion. We hardly need to + follow this now. We know he was entirely wrong in his conjecture. “Pliny + and others,” he says, “thought the world spherical, because on their part + of it it was a hemisphere.” They were ignorant of the section over which + he was sailing, which he considers to be that of a pear cut in the wrong + way. His demonstration is, that in similar latitudes to the eastward it is + very hot and the people are black, while at Trinidad or on the mainland it + is comfortable and the people are a fine race of men, whiter than any + others whom he has seen in the Indies. The sun in the constellation of the + Virgin is over their heads, and all this comes from their being higher up, + nearer the air than they would have been had they been on the African + coast. + </p> + <p> + With this curious speculation he unites some inferences from Scripture, + and goes back to the account in the Book of Genesis and concludes that the + earthly Paradise was in the distant east. He says, however, that if he + could go on, on the equinoctial line, the air would grow more temperate, + with greater changes in the stars and in the water. He does not think it + possible that anyone can go to the extreme height of the mountain where + the earthly Paradise is to be found, for no one is to be permitted to + enter there but by the will of God, but he believes that in this voyage he + is approaching it. + </p> + <p> + Any reader who is interested in this curious speculation of Columbus + should refer to the “Divina Comedia” of Dante, where Dante himself held a + somewhat similar view, and describes his entrance into the terrestrial + paradise under the guidance of Beatrice. It is a rather curious fact, + which discoverers of the last three centuries have established, that the + point, on this world, which is opposite the city of Jerusalem, where all + these enthusiasts supposed the terrestrial Paradise would be found, is in + truth in the Pacific Ocean not far from Pitcairn’s Island, in the very + region where so many voyagers have thought that they found the climate and + soil which to the terrestrial Paradise belong. + </p> + <p> + Columbus expresses his dissent from the recent theory, which was that of + Dante, supposing that the earthly Paradise was at the top of a sharp + mountain. On the other hand, he supposes that this mountain rises gently, + but yet that no person can go to the top. + </p> + <p> + This is his curious “excursion,” made, perhaps, because Columbus had the + time to write it. + </p> + <p> + The journal now recurs to more earthly affairs. Passing out from the mouth + of the “Dragon,” he found the sea running westward and the wind gentle. He + notices that the waters are swept westward as the trade winds are. In this + way he accounts for there being so many islands in that part of the earth, + the mainland having been eaten away by the constant flow of the waves. He + thinks their very shape indicates this, they being narrow from north to + south and longer from east to west. Although some of the islands differ in + this, special reasons maybe given for the difference. He brings in many of + the old authorities to show, what we now know to be entirely false, that + there is much more land than water on the surface of the globe. + </p> + <p> + All this curious speculation as to the make-up of the world encourages him + to beg their Highnesses to go on with the noble work which they have + begun. He explains to them that he plants the cross on every cape and + proclaims the sovereignty of their Majesties and of the Christian + religion. He prays that this may continue. The only objection to it is the + expense, but Columbus begs their Highnesses to remember how much more + money is spent for the mere formalities of the elegancies of the court. He + begs them to consider the credit attaching to plans of discovery and + quickens their ambition by reference to the efforts of the princes of + Portugal. + </p> + <p> + This letter closes by the expression of his determination to go on with + his three ships for further discoveries. + </p> + <p> + This letter was written from San Domingo on the eighth of October. He had + already made the great discovery of the mainland of South America, though + he did not yet know that he had touched the continent. He had + intentionally gone farther south than before, and had therefore struck the + island of Trinidad, to which, as he had promised, he gave the name which + it still bears. A sailor first saw the summits of three mountains, and + gave the cry of land. As the ships approached, it was seen that these + three mountains were united at the base. Columbus was delighted by the + omen, as he regarded it, which thus connected his discovery with the vow + which he had made on Trinity Sunday. + </p> + <p> + As the reader has seen, he first passed between this great island and the + mainland. The open gulf there described is now known as the Gulf of Paria. + The observation which he made as to the freshness of the water caused by + the flow of the Orinoco, has been made by all navigators since. It may be + said that he was then really in the mouth of the Orinoco. + </p> + <p> + Young readers, at least, will be specially interested to remember that it + was in this region that Robinson Crusoe’s island was placed by Defoe; and + if they will carefully read his life they will find discussions there of + the flow of the “great River Orinoco.” Crossing this gulf, Columbus had + touched upon the coast of Paria, and thus became the first discoverer of + South America. It is determined, by careful geographers, that the + discovery of the continent of North America, had been made before this + time by the Cabots, sailing under the orders of England. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was greatly encouraged by the discovery of fine pearls among the + natives of Paria. Here he found one more proof that he was on the eastern + coast of Asia, from which coast pearls had been brought by the caravans on + which, till now, Europe had depended for its Asiatic supplies. He gave the + name “Gulf of Pearls” to the estuary which makes the mouth of the River + Paria. + </p> + <p> + He would gladly have spent more time in exploring this region; but the + sea-stores of his vessel were exhausted, he was suffering from a + difficulty with his eyes, caused by overwatching, and was also a cripple + from gout. He resisted the temptation, therefore, to make further + explorations on the coast of Paria, and passed westward and northwestward. + He made many discoveries of islands in the Caribbean Sea as he went + northwest, and he arrived at the colony of San Domingo, on the thirtieth + of August. He had hoped for rest after his difficult voyage; but he found + the island in confusion which seemed hopeless. + </p> + <p> + His brother Bartholomew, from all the accounts we have, would seem to have + administered its affairs with justice and decision; but the problem he had + in hand was one which could not be solved so as to satisfy all the + critics. Close around him he had a body of adventurers, almost all of whom + were nothing but adventurers. With the help of these adventurers, he had + to repress Indian hostilities, and to keep in order the natives who had + been insulted and injured in every conceivable way by the settlers. + </p> + <p> + He was expected to send home gold to Spain with every vessel; he knew + perfectly well that Spain was clamoring with indignation because he did + not succeed in doing so. But on the island itself he had to meet, from day + to day, conspiracies of Spaniards and what are called insurrections of + natives. These insurrections consisted simply in their assertion of such + rights as they had to the beautiful land which the Spaniards were taking + away from them. + </p> + <p> + At the moment when Columbus landed, there was an instant of tranquility. + But the natives, whom he remembered only six years ago as so happy and + cheerful and hospitable, had fled as far as they could. They showed in + every way their distrust of those who were trying to become their masters. + On the other hand, soldiers and emigrants were eager to leave the island + if they could. They were near starvation, or if they did not starve they + were using food to which they were not accustomed. The eagerness with + which, in 1493, men had wished to rush to this land of promise, was + succeeded by an equal eagerness, in 1498, to go home from it. + </p> + <p> + As soon as he arrived, Columbus issued a proclamation, approving of the + measures of his brother in his absence, and denouncing the rebels with + whom Bartholomew had been contending. He found the difficulties which + surrounded him were of the most serious character. He had not force enough + to take up arms against the rebels of different names. He offered pardon + to them in the name of the sovereigns, and that they refused. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was obliged, in order to maintain any show of authority, to + propose to the sovereigns that they should arbitrate between his brother + and Roldan, who was the chief of the rebel party. He called to the minds + of Ferdinand and Isabella his own eager desire to return to San Domingo + sooner, and ascribed the difficulties which had arisen, in large measure, + to his long delay. He said he should send home the more worthless men by + every ship. + </p> + <p> + He asked that preachers might be sent out to convert the Indians and to + reform the dissolute Spaniards. He asked for officers of revenue, and for + a learned judge. He begged at the same time that, for two years longer, + the colony might be permitted to employ the Indians as slaves, but he + promised they would only use such as they captured in war and + insurrections. + </p> + <p> + By the same vessel the rebels sent out letters charging Columbus and his + brother with the grossest oppression and injustice. All these letters came + to court by one messenger. Columbus was then left to manage as best he + could, in the months which must pass, before he could receive an answer. + </p> + <p> + He was not wholly without success. That is to say, no actual battles took + place between the parties before the answer returned. But when it + returned, it proved to be written by his worst enemy, Fonseca. It was a + genuine Spanish answer to a letter which required immediate decision. That + is to say, Columbus was simply told that the whole matter must be left in + suspense till the sovereigns could make such an investigation as they + wished. The hope, therefore, of some help from home was wholly + disappointed. + </p> + <p> + Roldan, the chief of the rebels, was encouraged by this news to take + higher ground than even he had ventured on before. He now proposed that he + should send fifteen of his company to Spain, also that those who remained + should not only be pardoned, but should have lands granted them; third, + that a public proclamation should be made that all charges against him had + been false; and fourth, that he should hold the office of chief judge, + which he had held before the rebellion. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was obliged to accede to terms as insolent as these, and the + rebels even added a stipulation, that if he should fail in fulfilling + either of these articles, they might compel him to comply, by force or any + other means. Thus was he hampered in the very position where, by the + king’s orders, and indeed, one would say, by the right of discovery, he + was the supreme master. + </p> + <p> + For himself, he determined to return with Bartholomew to Spain, and he + made some preparations to do so. But at this time he learned, from the + western part of the island, that four strange ships had arrived there. He + could not feel that it was safe to leave the colony in such a condition of + latent rebellion as he knew it to be in; he wrote again to the sovereigns, + and said directly that his capitulation with the rebels had been extorted + by force, and that he did not consider that the sovereigns, or that he + himself, were bound by it. He pressed some of the requests which he had + made before, and asked that his son Diego, who was no longer a boy, might + be sent out to him. + </p> + <p> + It proved that the ships which had arrived at the west of the island were + under the command of Ojeda, who will be remembered as a bold cavalier in + the adventures of the second voyage. Acting under a general permission + which had been given for private adventurers, Ojeda had brought out this + squadron, and, when Columbus communicated with him, was engaged in cutting + dye-woods and shipping slaves. + </p> + <p> + Columbus sent Roldan, who had been the head of the rebels, to inquire on + what ground he was there. Ojeda produced a license signed by Fonseca, + authorizing him to sail on a voyage of discovery. It proved that + Columbus’s letters describing the pearls of Paria had awakened curiosity + and enthusiasm, and, while the crown had passed them by so coldly, Ojeda + and a body of adventurers had obtained a license and had fitted out four + ships for adventure. The special interest of this voyage for us, is that + it is supposed that Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, made at this time his + first expedition to America. + </p> + <p> + Vespucci was not a professional seaman, but he was interested in + geography, and had made many voyages before this time. So soon as it was + announced that Ojeda was on the coast, the rebels of San Domingo selected + him as a new leader. He announced to Columbus, rather coolly, that he + could probably redress the grievances which these men had. He undoubtedly + knew that he had the protection of Fonseca at home. Fortunately for + Columbus, Roldan did not mean to give up his place as “leader of the + opposition;” and it may be said that the difficulty between the two was a + certain advantage to Columbus in maintaining his authority. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, all wishes on his part to continue his discoveries were futile, + while he was engaged in the almost hopeless duty of reconciling various + adventurers and conciliating people who had no interests but their own. In + Spain, his enemies were doing everything in their power to undermine his + reputation. His statements were read more and more coldly, and at last, on + the twenty-first and twenty-sixth of May, 1499, letters were written to + him instructing him to deliver into the hands of Bobadilla, a new + commandant, all the fortresses any ships, houses and other royal property + which he held, and to give faith and obedience to any instructions given + by Bobadilla. That is to say, Bobadilla was sent out as a commander who + was to take precedence of every one on the spot. He was an officer of the + royal household, probably a favorite at court, and was selected for the + difficult task of reconciling all difficulties, and bringing the new + colony into loyal allegiance to the crown. He sailed for San Domingo in + the middle of July, 1500, and arrived on the twenty-third of August. + </p> + <p> + On his arrival, he found that Columbus and his brother Bartholomew were + both absent from the city, being in fact engaged in efforts to set what + may be called the provinces in order. The young Diego Columbus was + commander in their absence. The morning after he arrived, Bobadilla + attended mass, and then, with the people assembled around the door of the + church, he directed that his commission should be read. He was to + investigate the rebellion, he was to seize the persons of delinquents and + punish them with rigor, and he was to command the Admiral to assist him in + these duties. + </p> + <p> + He then bade Diego surrender to him certain prisoners, and ordered that + their accusers should appear before him. To this Diego replied that his + brother held superior powers to any which Bobadilla could possess; he + asked for a copy of the commission, which was declined, until Columbus + himself should arrive. Bobadilla then took the oath of office, and + produced, for the first time, the order which has been described above, + ordering Columbus to deliver up all the royal property. He won the popular + favor by reading an order which directed him to pay all arrears of wages + due to all persons in the royal service. + </p> + <p> + But when he came before the fortress, he found that the commander declined + to surrender it. He said he held the fortress for the king by the command + of the Admiral, and would not deliver it until he should arrive. + Bobadilla, however, “assailed the portal;” that is to say, he broke open + the gate. No one offered any opposition, and the commander and his + first-lieutenant were taken prisoners. He went farther, taking up his + residence in Columbus’s house, and seizing his papers. So soon as Columbus + received account of Bobadilla’s arrival, he wrote to him in careful terms, + welcoming him to the island. He cautioned him against precipitate + measures, told him that he himself was on the point of going to Spain, and + that he would soon leave him in command, with everything explained. + Bobadilla gave no answer to these letters; and when Columbus received from + the sovereigns the letter of the twenty-sixth of May, he made no longer + any hesitation, but reported in person at the city of San Domingo. + </p> + <p> + He traveled without guards or retinue, but Bobadilla had made hostile + preparations, as if Columbus meant to come with military force. Columbus + preferred to show his own loyalty to the crown and to remove suspicion. + But no sooner did he arrive in the city than Bobadilla gave orders that he + should be put in irons and confined in the fortress. Up to this moment, + Bobadilla had been sustained by the popular favor of those around him; but + the indignity, of placing chains upon Columbus, seems to have made a + change in the fickle impressions of the little town. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, himself, behaved with magnanimity, and made no complaint. + Bobadilla asked him to bid his brother return to San Domingo, and he + complied. He begged his brother to submit to the authority of the + sovereigns, and Bartholomew immediately did so. On his arrival in San + Domingo he was also put in irons, as his brother Diego had been, and was + confined on board a caravel. As soon as a set of charges could be made up + to send to Spain with Columbus, the vessels, with the prisoners, set sail. + </p> + <p> + The master of the caravel, Martin, was profoundly grieved by the severe + treatment to which the great navigator was subjected. He would gladly have + taken off his irons, but Columbus would not consent. “I was commanded by + the king and queen,” he said, “to submit to whatever Bobadilla should + order in their name. He has put these chains on me by their authority. I + will wear them until the king and queen bid me take them off. I will + preserve them afterwards as relics and memorials of the reward of my + services.” His son, Fernando, who tells this story, says that he did so, + that they were always hanging in his cabinet, and that he asked that they + might be buried with him when he died. + </p> + <p> + From this expression of Fernando Columbus, there has arisen, what Mr. + Harrisse calls, a “pure legend,” that the chains were placed in the coffin + of Columbus. Mr. Harrisse shows good reason for thinking that this was not + so. “Although disposed to believe that, in a moment of just indignation, + Columbus expressed the wish that these tokens of the ingratitude of which + he had been the victim should be buried, with him, I do not believe that + they were ever placed in his coffin.” + </p> + <p> + It will thus be seen that the third voyage added to the knowledge of the + civilized world the information which Columbus had gained regarding Paria + and the island of Trinidad. For other purposes of discovery, it was + fruitless. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. — SPAIN, 1500, 1501. + </h2> + <p> + A CORDIAL RECEPTION IN SPAIN—COLUMBUS FAVORABLY RECEIVED AT COURT—NEW + INTEREST IN GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY—HIS PLANS FOR THE REDEMPTION OF + THE HOLY SEPULCHRE—PREPARATIONS FOR A FOURTH EXPEDITION. + </p> + <p> + Columbus was right in insisting on wearing his chains. They became rather + an ornament than a disgrace. So soon as it was announced in Spain that the + great discoverer had been so treated by Bobadilla, a wave of popular + indignation swept through the people and reached the court. Ferdinand and + Isabella, themselves, had never intended to give such powers to their + favorite, that he should disgrace a man so much his superior. + </p> + <p> + They instantly sent orders to Cadiz that Columbus should be received with + all honor. So soon as he arrived he had been able to send, to Dona Juana + de la Torre, a lady high in favor at court, a private letter, in which he + made a proud defense of himself. This letter is still preserved, and it is + of the first interest, as showing his own character, and as showing what + were the real hardships which he had undergone. + </p> + <p> + The Lady Juana read this letter to Isabella. Her own indignation, which + probably had been kindled by the general news that Columbus had been + chained, rose to the highest. She received him, therefore, when he arrived + at court, with all the more cordiality. Ferdinand was either obliged to + pretend to join with her in her indignation, or he had really felt + distressed by the behavior of his subordinate. + </p> + <p> + They did not wait for any documents from Bobadilla. As has been said, they + wrote cordially to Columbus; they also ordered that two thousand ducats + should be paid him for his expenses, and they bade him appear at Grenada + at court. He did appear there on the seventeenth of December, attended by + an honorable retinue, and in the proper costume of a gentleman in favor + with the king and queen. + </p> + <p> + When the queen met him she was moved to tears, and Columbus, finding + himself so kindly received, threw himself upon his knees. For some time he + could not express himself except by tears and sobs. His sovereigns raised + him from the ground and encouraged him by gracious words. + </p> + <p> + So soon as he recovered his self-possession he made such an address as he + had occasion to make more than once in his life, and showed the eloquence + which is possible to a man of affairs. He could well boast of his loyalty + to the Spanish crown; and he might well say that, whether he were or were + not experienced in government, he had been surrounded by such difficulties + in administration as hardly any other man had had to go through. But + really, it was hardly necessary that he should vindicate himself. + </p> + <p> + The stupidity of his enemies, had injured their cause more than any + carelessness of Columbus could have done. The sovereigns expressed their + indignation at Bobadilla’s proceedings, and, indeed, declared at once that + he should be dismissed from command. They never took any public notice of + the charges which he had sent home; on the other hand, they received + Columbus with dignity and favor, and assured him that he should be + reinstated in all his privileges. + </p> + <p> + The time at which he arrived was, in a certain sense, favorable for his + future plans, so far as he had formed any. On the other hand, the + condition of affairs was wholly changed from what it was when he began his + great discoveries, and the changes were in some degree unfavorable. Vasco + da Gama had succeeded in the great enterprise by which he had doubled the + Cape of Good Hope, had arrived at the Indies by the route of the Indian + ocean, and his squadron had successfully returned. + </p> + <p> + This great adventure, with the commercial and other results which would + certainly follow it, had quickened the mind of all Europe, as the + discovery by Columbus had quickened it eight years before. So far, any + plan for the discoveries over which Columbus was always brooding, would be + favorably received. But, on the other hand, in eight years since the first + voyage, a large body of skillful adventurers had entered upon the career + which then no one chose to share with him. The Pinzon brothers were among + these; Ojeda, already known to the reader, was another; and Vespucci, as + the reader knows, an intelligent and wise student, had engaged himself in + such discoveries. + </p> + <p> + The rumors of the voyages of the Cabots, much farther north than those + made by Columbus, had gone through all Europe. In a word, Columbus was now + only one of several skilful pilots and voyagers, and his plans were to be + considered side by side with those which were coming forward almost every + day, for new discoveries, either by the eastern route, of which Vasco da + Gama had shown the practicability, or by the western route, which Columbus + himself had first essayed. + </p> + <p> + It is to be remembered, as well, that Columbus was now an old man, and, + whatever were his successes as a discoverer, he had not succeeded as a + commander. There might have been reasons for his failure; but failure is + failure, and men do not accord to an unsuccessful leader the honors which + they are ready to give to a successful discoverer. When, therefore, he + offered his new plans at court, he should have been well aware that they + could not be received, as if he were the only one who could make + suggestions. Probably he was aware of this. He was also obliged, whether + he would or would not, to give up the idea that he was to be the commander + of the regions which he discovered. + </p> + <p> + It had been easy enough to grant him this command before there was so much + as an inch of land known, over which it would make him the master. But now + that it was known that large islands, and probably a part of the continent + of Asia, were to be submitted to his sway if he had it, there was every + reason why the sovereigns should be unwilling to maintain for him the + broad rights which they had been willing to give when a scratch of the pen + was all that was needful to give them. + </p> + <p> + Bobadilla was recalled; so far well. But neither Ferdinand nor Isabella + chose to place Columbus again in his command. They did choose Don Nicola + Ovando, a younger man, to take the place of Bobadilla, to send him home, + and to take the charge of the colony. + </p> + <p> + From the colony itself, the worst accounts were received. If Columbus and + his brother had failed, Bobadilla had failed more disgracefully. Indeed, + he had begun by the policy of King Log, as an improvement on the policy of + King Stork. He had favored all rebels, he had pardoned them, he had even + paid them for the time which they had spent in rebellion; and the natural + result was utter disorder and license. + </p> + <p> + It does not appear that he was a bad man; he was a man wholly unused to + command; he was an imprudent man, and was weak. He had compromised the + crown by the easy terms on which he had rented and sold estates; he had + been obliged, in order to maintain the revenue, to work the natives with + more severity than ever. He knew very well that the system, under which he + was working could not last long. One of his maxims was, “Do the best with + your time,” and he was constantly sacrificing future advantages for such + present results as he could achieve. + </p> + <p> + The Indians, who had been treated badly enough before, were worse treated + now. And during his short administration, if it may be called an + administration,—during the time when he was nominally at the head of + affairs—he was reducing the island to lower and lower depths. He did + succeed in obtaining a large product of gold, but the abuses of his + government were not atoned for by such remittances. Worst of all, the + wrongs of the natives touched the sensitiveness of Isabella, and she was + eager that his successor should be appointed, and should sail, to put an + end to these calamities. + </p> + <p> + The preparations which were made for Ovando’s expedition, for the recall + of Bobadilla, and for a reform, if it were possible, in the administration + of the colony, all set back any preparations for a new expedition of + discovery on the part of Columbus. He was not forgotten; his accounts were + to be examined and any deficiencies made up to him; he was to receive the + arrears of his revenue; he was permitted to have an agent who should see + that he received his share in future. To this agency he appointed Alonzo + Sanchez de Carvajal, and the sovereigns gave orders that this agent should + be treated with respect. + </p> + <p> + Other preparations were made, so that Ovando might arrive with a strong + reinforcement for the colony. He sailed with thirty ships, the size of + these vessels ranging from one hundred and fifty Spanish toneles to one + bark of twenty-five. It will be remembered that the Spanish tonele is + larger by about ten per cent than our English ton. Twenty-five hundred + persons embarked as colonists in the vessels, and, for the first time, men + took their families with them. + </p> + <p> + Everything was done to give dignity to the appointment of Ovando, and it + was hoped that by sending out families of respectable character, who were + to be distributed in four towns, there might be a better basis given to + the settlement. This measure had been insisted upon by Columbus. + </p> + <p> + This fleet put to sea on the thirteenth of February, 1502. It met, at the + very outset, a terrible storm, and one hundred and twenty of the + passengers were lost by the foundering of a ship. The impression was at + first given in Spain that the whole fleet had been lost; but this proved + to be a mistake. The others assembled at the Canaries, and arrived in San + Domingo on the fifteenth of April. + </p> + <p> + Columbus himself never lost confidence in his own star. He was sure that + he was divinely sent, and that his mission was to open the way to the + Indies, for the religious advancement of mankind. If Vasco de Gama had + discovered a shorter way than men knew before, Christopher Columbus should + discover one shorter still, and this discovery should tend to the glory of + God. It seemed to him that the simplest way in which he could make men + understand this, was to show that the Holy Sepulchre might, now and thus, + be recovered from the infidel. + </p> + <p> + Far from urging geographical curiosity as an object, he proposed rather + the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. That is, there was to be a new and + last crusade, and the money for this enterprise was to be furnished from + the gold of the farthest East. He was close at the door of this farthest + East; and as has been said, he believed that Cuba was the Ophir of + Solomon, and he supposed, that a very little farther voyaging would open + all the treasures which Marco Polo had described, and would bring the + territory, which had made the Great Khan so rich, into the possession of + the king of Spain. + </p> + <p> + He showed to Ferdinand and Isabella that, if they would once more let him + go forward, on the adventure which had been checked untimely by the + cruelty of Bobadilla, this time they would have wealth which would place + them at the head of the Christian sovereigns of the world. + </p> + <p> + While he was inactive at Seville, and the great squadron was being + prepared which Ovando was to command, he wrote what is known as the “Book + of Prophecies,” in which he attempted to convince the Catholic kings of + the necessity of carrying forward the enterprise which he proposed. He + urged haste, because he believed the world was only to last a hundred and + fifty-five years longer; and, with so much before them to be done, it was + necessary that they should begin. + </p> + <p> + He remembered an old vow that he had undertaken, that, within seven years + of the time of his discovery, he would furnish fifty thousand foot + soldiers and five thousand horsemen for the recovery of the Holy + Sepulchre. He now arranged in order prophecies from the Holy Scripture, + passages from the writings of the Fathers, and whatever else suggested + itself, mystical and hopeful, as to the success of an enterprise by which + the new world could be used for the conversion of the Gentiles and for the + improvement of the Christianity of the old world. + </p> + <p> + He had the assistance of a Carthusian monk, who seems to have been skilled + in literary work, and the two arranged these passages in order, + illustrated them with poetry, and collected them into a manuscript volume + which was sent to the sovereigns. + </p> + <p> + Columbus accompanied the Book of Prophecies with one of his own long + letters, written with the utmost fervor. In this letter he begins, as + Peter the Hermit might do, by urging the sovereigns to set on foot a + crusade. If they are tempted to consider his advice extravagant, he asks + them how his first scheme of discovery was treated. He shows that, as + heaven had chosen him to discover the new world, heaven has also chosen + him to discover the Holy Sepulchre. God himself had opened his eyes that + he might make the great discovery, which has reflected such honor upon + them and theirs. + </p> + <p> + “If his hopes had been answered,” says a Catholic writer, “the modern + question of holy places, which is the Gordian knot of the religious + politics of the future, would have been solved long ago by the gold of the + new world, or would have been cut by the sword of its discoverer. We + should not have seen nations which are separated from the Roman communion, + both Protestant and Pantheistic governments, coming audaciously into + contest for privileges, which, by the rights of old possession, by the + rights of martyrdom and chivalry, belong to the Holy Catholic Church, the + Apostolic Church, the Roman Church, and after her to France, her oldest + daughter.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus now supposed that the share of the western wealth which would + belong to him would be sufficient for him to equip and arm a hundred + thousand infantry and ten thousand horsemen. + </p> + <p> + At the moment when the Christian hero made this pious calculation he had + not enough of this revenue with which “to buy a cloak,” This is the remark + of the enthusiastic biographer from whom we have already quoted. + </p> + <p> + It is not literally true, but it is true that Columbus was living in the + most modest way at the time when he was pressing his ambitious schemes + upon the court. At the same time, he wrote a poem with which he undertook + to press the same great enterprise upon his readers. It was called “The + End of Man,” “Memorare novissima tua, et non peccabis in eternum.” + </p> + <p> + In his letter to the king and queen he says, “Animated as by a heavenly + fire, I came to your Highnesses; all who heard of my enterprise mocked it; + all the sciences I had acquired profited me as nothing; seven years did I + pass in your royal court, disputing the case with persons of great + authority and learned in all the arts, and in the end they decided that + all was vain. In your Highnesses alone remained faith and constancy. Who + will doubt that this light was from the Holy Scriptures, illumining you, + as well as myself, with rays of marvellous brightness.” + </p> + <p> + It is probable that the king and queen were, to a certain extent, + influenced by his enthusiasm. It is certain that they knew that something + was due to their reputation and to his success. By whatever motive led, + they encouraged him with hopes that he might be sent forward again, this + time, not as commander of a colony, but as a discoverer. Discovery was + indeed the business which he understood, and to which alone he should ever + have been commissioned. + </p> + <p> + It is to be remembered that the language of crusaders was not then a + matter of antiquity, and was not used as if it alluded to bygone affairs. + It was but a few years since the Saracens had been driven out of Spain, + and all men regarded them as being the enemies of Christianity and of + Europe, who could not be neglected. More than this, Spain was beginning to + receive very large and important revenues from the islands. + </p> + <p> + It is said that the annual revenues from Hispaniola already amounted to + twelve millions of our dollars. It was not unnatural that the king and + queen, willing to throw off the disgrace which they had incurred from + Bobadilla’s cruelty, should not only send Ovando to replace him, but + should, though in an humble fashion, give to Columbus an opportunity to + show that his plans were not chimerical. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — FOURTH VOYAGE. + </h2> + <p> + THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN FOR THE VOYAGE—HE IS TO GO TO THE MAINLAND OF + THE INDIES—A SHORT PASSAGE—OVANDO FORBIDS THE ENTRANCE OF + COLUMBUS INTO HARBOR—BOBADILLA’S SQUADRON AND ITS FATE—COLUMBUS + SAILS WESTWARD—DISCOVERS HONDURAS, AND COASTS ALONG ITS SHORES—THE + SEARCH FOR GOLD—COLONY ATTEMPTED AND ABANDONED—THE VESSELS + BECOME UNSEAWORTHY—REFUGE AT JAMAICA—MUTINY LED BY THE + BROTHERS PORRAS—MESSAGES TO SAN DOMINGO—THE ECLIPSE—ARRIVAL + OF RELIEF—COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SAN DOMINGO, AND TO SPAIN. + </p> + <p> + It seems a pity now that, after his third voyage, Columbus did not remain + in Spain and enjoy, as an old man could, the honors which he had earned + and the respect which now waited upon him. Had this been so, the world + would have been spared the mortification which attends the thought that + the old man to whom it owes so much suffered almost everything in one last + effort, failed in that effort, and died with the mortification of failure. + But it is to be remembered that Columbus was not a man to cultivate the + love of leisure. He had no love of leisure to cultivate. His life had been + an active one. He had attempted the solution of a certain problem which he + had not solved, and every day of leisure, even every occasion of effort + and every word of flattery, must have quickened in him new wishes to take + the prize which seemed so near, and to achieve the possibility which had + thus far eluded him. + </p> + <p> + From time to time, therefore, he had addressed new memorials to the + sovereigns proposing a new expedition; and at last, by an instruction + which is dated on the fourteenth of March, in the year 1502, a fourth + voyage was set on foot at the charge of the king and queen,—an + instruction not to stop at Hispaniola, but, for the saving of time, to + pass by that island. This is a graceful way of intimating to him that he + is not to mix himself up with the rights and wrongs of the new settlement. + </p> + <p> + The letter goes on to say, that the sovereigns have communicated with the + King of Portugal, and that they have explained to him that Columbus is + pressing his discoveries at the west and will not interfere with those of + the Portuguese in the east. He is instructed to regard the Portuguese + explorers as his friends, and to make no quarrel with them. He is + instructed to take with him his sons, Fernando and Diego. This is probably + at his request. + </p> + <p> + The prime object of the instruction is still to strike the mainland of the + Indies. All the instructions are, “You will make a direct voyage, if the + weather does not prevent you, for discovering the islands and the mainland + of the Indies in that part which belongs to us.” He is to take possession + of these islands and of this mainland, and to inform the sovereigns in + regard to his discoveries, and the experience of former voyages has taught + them that great care must be taken to avoid private speculation in “gold, + silver, pearls, precious stones, spices and other things of different + quality.” For this purpose special instructions are given. + </p> + <p> + Of this voyage we have Columbus’s own official account. + </p> + <p> + There were four vessels, three of which were rated as caravels. The fourth + was very small. The chief vessel was commanded by Diego Tristan; the + second, the Santiago, by Francisco de Porras; the third, the Viscaina + (Biscayan), by Bartholomew de Fiesco; and the little Gallician by Pedro de + Torreros. None of these vessels, as the reader will see, was ever to + return to Spain. From de Porras and his brother, Columbus and the + expedition were to receive disastrous blows. + </p> + <p> + It must be observed that he is once more in his proper position of a + discoverer. He has no government or other charge of colonies entrusted to + him. His brother Bartholomew and his youngest son Fernando, sail with him. + </p> + <p> + The little squadron sailed from the bay of Cadiz on the eleventh of May, + 1502. They touched at Sicilla,—a little port on the coast of + Morocco,—to relieve its people, a Portuguese garrison, who had been + besieged by the Moors. But finding them out of danger, Columbus went at + once to the Grand Canary island, and had a favorable passage. + </p> + <p> + From the Grand Canary to the island which he calls “the first island of + the Indies,” and which he named Martinino, his voyage was only seventeen + days long. This island was either the St. Lucia or the Martinique of + today. Hence he passed to Dominica, and thence crossed to San Domingo, to + make repairs, as he said. For, as has been said, he had been especially + ordered not to interfere in the affairs of the settlement. + </p> + <p> + He did not disobey his orders. He says distinctly that he intended to pass + along the southern shore of San Domingo, and thence take a departure for + the continent. But he says, that his principal vessel sailed very ill—could + not carry much canvas, and delayed the rest of the squadron. This weakness + must have increased after the voyage across the ocean. For this reason he + hoped to exchange it for another ship at San Domingo. + </p> + <p> + But he did not enter the harbor. He sent a letter to Ovando, now the + governor, and asked his permission. He added, to the request he made, a + statement that a tempest was at hand which he did not like to meet in the + offing. Ovando, however, refused any permission to enter. He was, in fact, + just dispatching a fleet to Spain, with Bobadilla, Columbus’s old enemy, + whom Ovando had replaced in his turn. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, in an eager wish to be of use, by a returning messenger begged + Ovando to delay this fleet till the gale had passed. But the seamen + ridiculed him and his gale, and begged Ovando to send the fleet home. + </p> + <p> + He did so. Bobadilla and his fleet put to sea. In ten days a West India + hurricane struck them. The ship on which Columbus’s enemies, Bobadilla and + Roldan, sailed, was sunk with them and the gold accumulated for years. Of + the whole fleet, only one vessel, called the weakest of all, reached + Spain. This ship carried four thousand pieces of gold, which were the + property of the Admiral. Columbus’s own little squadron, meanwhile—thanks + probably to the seamanship of himself and his brother—weathered the + storm, and he found refuge in the harbor which he had himself named “the + beautiful,” El Hermoso, in the western part of San Domingo. + </p> + <p> + Another storm delayed him at a port which he called Port Brasil. The word + Brasil was the name which the Spaniards gave to the red log-wood, so + valuable in dyeing, and various places received that name, where this wood + was found. The name is derived from “Brasas,”—coals,—in + allusion, probably, to the bright red color of the dye. + </p> + <p> + Sailing from this place, on Saturday, the sixteenth of June, they made + sight of the island of Jamaica, but he pressed on without making any + examination of the country, for four days sailing west and south-west. He + then changed his course, and sailed for two days to the northwest and + again two days to the north. + </p> + <p> + On Sunday, the twenty fourth of July, they saw land. This was the key now + known as Cuyago, and they were at last close upon the mainland. After + exploring this island they sailed again on Wednesday, the twenty-seventh, + southwest and quarter southwest about ninety miles, and again they saw + land, which is supposed to be the island of Guanaja or Bonacca, near the + coast of Honduras. + </p> + <p> + The Indians on this island had some gold and some pearls. They had seen + whites before. Columbus calls them men of good stature. Sailing from this + island, he struck the mainland near Truxillo, about ten leagues from the + island of Guanaja. He soon found the harbor, which we still know as the + harbor of Truxillo, and from this point Columbus began a careful + investigation of the coast. + </p> + <p> + He observed, what all navigators have since observed, the lack of harbors. + He passed along as far as the river now known as the Tinto, where he took + possession in the name of the sovereigns, calling this river the River of + Possession. He found the natives savage, and the country of little account + for his purposes. Still passing southward, he passed what we call the + Mosquito Coast, to which he found the natives gave the name of Cariay. + </p> + <p> + These people were well disposed and willing to treat with them. They had + some cotton, they had some gold. They wore very little clothing, and they + painted their bodies, as most of the natives of the islands had done. He + saw what he thought to be pigs and large mountain cats. + </p> + <p> + Still passing southward, running into such bays or other harbors as they + found, he entered the “Admiral’s Bay,” in a country which had the name of + Cerabaro, or Zerabora. Here an Indian brought a plate of gold and some + other pieces of gold, and Columbus was, encouraged in his hopes of finding + more. + </p> + <p> + The natives told him that if he would keep on he would find another bay + which they called Arburarno, which is supposed to be the Laguna Chiriqui. + They said the people, of that country, lived in the mountains. Here + Columbus noticed the fact,—one which has given to philologists one + of their central difficulties for four hundred years since,—that as + he passed from one point to another of the American shores, the Indians + did not understand each other’s language. “Every ten or twenty leagues + they did not understand each other.” In entering the river Veragua, the + Indians appeared armed with lances and arrows, some of them having gold + also. Here, also, the people did not live upon the shore, but two or three + leagues back in the interior, and they only came to the sea by their + canoes upon the rivers. + </p> + <p> + The next province was then called Cobraba, but Columbus made no landing + for want of a proper harbor. All his courses since he struck the continent + had been in a southeasterly direction. That an expedition for westward + discovery should be sailing eastward, seemed in itself a contradiction. + What irritated the crews still more was, that the wind seemed always + against them. + </p> + <p> + From the second to the ninth of November, 1502, the little fleet lay at + anchor in the spacious harbor, which he called Puerto Bello, “the + beautiful harbor.” It is still known by that name. A considerable Spanish + city grew up there, which became well known to the world in the last + century by the attack upon it by the English in the years 1739 and 1742. + </p> + <p> + The formation of the coast compelled them to pass eastward as they went + on. But the currents of the Gulf flow in the opposite direction. Here + there were steady winds from the east and the northeast. The ships were + pierced by the teredo, which eats through thick timbers, and is so + destructive that the seamen of later times have learned to sheath the + hulls of their vessels with copper. + </p> + <p> + The seamen thought that they were under the malign influence of some + adverse spell. And after a month Columbus gave way to their remonstrances, + and abandoned his search for a channel to India. He was the more ready to + do this because he was satisfied that the land by which he lay was + connected with the coast which other Spaniards had already discovered. He + therefore sailed westward again, retracing his course to explore the gold + mines of Veragua. + </p> + <p> + But the winds could change as quickly as his purposes, and now for nearly + a fortnight they had to fight a tropical tempest. At one moment they met + with a water-spout, which seemed to advance to them directly. The sailors, + despairing of human help, shouted passages from St. John, and to their + efficacy ascribed their escape. It was not until the seventeenth that they + found themselves safely in harbor. He gave to the whole coast the name of + “the coast of contrasts,” to preserve the memory of his disappointments. + </p> + <p> + The natives proved friendly, as he had found them before; but they told + him that he would find no more gold upon the coast; that the mines were in + the country of the Veragua. It was, on the tenth day of January that, + after some delay, Columbus entered again the river of that name. + </p> + <p> + The people told him where he should find the mines, and were all ready to + send guides with his own people to point them out. He gave to this river, + the name of the River of Belen, and to the port in which he anchored he + gave the name of Santa Maria de Belen, or Bethlehem. + </p> + <p> + His men discovered the mines, so called, at a distance of eight leagues + from the port. The country between was difficult, being mountainous and + crossed by many streams. They were obliged to pass the river of Veragua + thirty-nine times. The Indians themselves were dexterous in taking out + gold. Columbus added to their number seventy-five men. + </p> + <p> + In one day’s work, they obtained “two or three castellianos” without much + difficulty. A castelliano was a gold coin of the time, and the meaning of + the text is probably that each man obtained this amount. It was one of the + “placers,” such as have since proved so productive in different parts of + the world. + </p> + <p> + Columbus satisfied himself that there was a much larger population inland. + He learned from the Indians that the cacique, as he always calls the chief + of these tribes, was a most important monarch in that region. His houses + were larger than others, built handsomely of wood, covered with palm + leaves. + </p> + <p> + The product of all the gold collected thus far is stated precisely in the + official register. There were two hundred and twenty pieces of gold, large + and small. Altogether they weighed seventy-two ounces, seven-eighths of an + ounce and one grain. Besides these were twelve pieces, great and small, of + an inferior grade of gold, which weighed fourteen ounces, three-eighths of + an ounce, and six tomienes, a tomiene weighing one-third part of our + drachm. In round numbers then, we will say that the result in gold of this + cruising would be now worth $1,500. + </p> + <p> + Columbus collected gold in this way, to make his expedition popular at + home, and he had, indeed, mortgaged the voyage, so to speak, by pledging + the pecuniary results, as a fund to bear the expense of a new crusade. + But, for himself, the prime desire was always discovery. + </p> + <p> + Eventually the Spaniards spent two months in that region, pressing their + explorations in search of gold. And so promising did the tokens seem to + him, that he determined to leave his brother, to secure the country and + work the mines, while he should return to Spain, with the gold he had + collected, and obtain reinforcements and supplies. But all these fond + hopes were disappointed. + </p> + <p> + The natives, under a leader named Quibian, rallied in large numbers, + probably intending to drive the colonists away. It was only by the boldest + measures that their plans were met. When Columbus supposed that he had + suppressed their enterprise, he took leave of his brother, as he had + intended, leaving him but one of the four vessels. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately, as it proved, the wind did not serve. He sent back a boat to + communicate with the settlement, but it fell into the hands of the + savages. Doubtful as to the issue, a seaman, named Ledesma, volunteered to + swim through the surf, and communicate with the settlement. The brave + fellow succeeded. By passing through the surf again, he brought back the + news that the little colony was closely besieged by the savages. + </p> + <p> + It seemed clear that the settlement must be abandoned, that Columbus’s + brother and his people must be taken back to Spain. This course was + adopted. With infinite difficulty, the guns and stores which had been left + with the colony were embarked on the vessels of the Admiral. The caravel + which had been left for the colony could not be taken from the river. She + was completely dismantled, and was left as the only memorial of this + unfortunate colony. + </p> + <p> + At Puerto Bello he was obliged to leave another vessel, for she had been + riddled by the teredo. The two which he had were in wretched condition. + “They were as full of holes as a honey-comb.” On the southern coast of + Cuba, Columbus was obliged to supply them with cassava bread. The leaks + increased. The ships’ pumps were insufficient, and the men bailed out the + water with buckets and kettles. On the twentieth of June, they were + thankful to put into a harbor, called Puerto Bueno, on the coast of + Jamaica, where, as it proved, they eventually left their worthless + vessels, and where they were in exile from the world of civilization for + twelve months. + </p> + <p> + Nothing in history is more pathetic than the memory that such a waste of a + year, in the closing life of such a man as Columbus, should have been + permitted by the jealousy, the cruelty, or the selfish ambition of + inferior men. + </p> + <p> + He was not far from the colony at San Domingo. As the reader will see, he + was able to send a message to his countrymen there. But those countrymen + left him to take his chances against a strong tribe of savages. Indeed, + they would not have been sorry to know that he was dead. + </p> + <p> + At first, however, he and his men welcomed the refuge of the harbor. It + was the port which he had called Santa Gloria, on his first visit there. + He was at once surrounded by Indians, ready to barter with them and bring + them provisions. The poor Spaniards were hungry enough to be glad of this + relief. + </p> + <p> + Mendez, a spirited sailor, had the oversight of this trade, and in one + negotiation, at some distance from the vessels, he bought a good canoe of + a friendly chief. For this he gave a brass basin, one of his two shirts, + and a short jacket. On this canoe turned their after fortunes. Columbus + refitted her, put on a false keel, furnished her with a mast and sail. + </p> + <p> + With six Indians, whom the chief had lent him, Diego Mendez, accompanied + by only one Spanish companion, set sail in this little craft for San + Domingo. Columbus sent by them a letter to the sovereigns, which gives the + account of the voyage which the reader has been following. + </p> + <p> + When Mendez was a hundred miles advanced on his journey, he met a band of + hostile savages. They had affected friendship until they had the + adventurers in their power, when they seized them all. But while the + savages were quarreling about the spoils, Mendez succeeded in escaping to + his canoe, and returned alone to his master after fifteen days. + </p> + <p> + It was determined that the voyage should be renewed. But this time, + another canoe was sent with that under the command of Mendez. He sailed + again, storing his boats with cassava bread and calabashes of water. + Bartholomew Columbus, with his armed band, marched along the coast, as the + two canoes sailed along the shore. + </p> + <p> + Waiting then for a clear day, Mendez struck northward, on the passage, + which was long for such frail craft, to San Domingo. It was eight months + before Columbus heard of them. Of those eight months, the history is of + dismal waiting, mutiny and civil war. It is pathetic, indeed, that a + little body of men, who had been, once and again, saved from death in the + most remarkable way, could not live on a fertile island, in a beautiful + climate, without quarrelling with each other. + </p> + <p> + Two officers of Columbus, Porras and his brother, led the sedition. They + told the rest of the crew that the Admiral’s hope of relief from Mendez + was a mere delusion. They said that he was an exile from Spain, and that + he did not dare return to Hispaniola. In such ways they sought to rouse + his people against him and his brother. As for Columbus, he was sick on + board his vessel, while the two brothers Porras were working against him + among his men. + </p> + <p> + On the second of January, 1504, Francesco de Porras broke into the cabin. + He complained bitterly that they were kept to die in that desolate place, + and accused the Admiral as if it were his fault. He told Columbus, that + they had determined to go back to Spain; and then, lifting his voice, he + shouted, “I am for Castile; who will follow me?” The mutinous crew + instantly replied that they would do so. Voices were heard which + threatened Columbus’s life. + </p> + <p> + His brother, the Adelantado, persuaded Columbus to retire from the crowd + and himself assumed the whole weight of the assault. The loyal part of the + crew, however, persuaded him to put down his weapon, and on the other + hand, entreated Porras and his companions to depart. It was clear enough + that they had the power, and they tried to carry out their plans. + </p> + <p> + They embarked in ten canoes, and thus the Admiral was abandoned by + forty-eight of his men. They followed, to the eastward, the route which + Mendez had taken. In their lawless way they robbed the Indians of their + provisions and of anything else that they needed. As Mendez had done, they + waited at the eastern extremity of Jamaica for calm weather. They knew + they could not manage the canoes, and they had several Indians to help + them. + </p> + <p> + When the sea was smooth they started; but they had hardly gone four + leagues from the land, when the waves began to rise under a contrary wind. + Immediately they turned for shore, the canoes were overfreighted, and as + the sea rose, frequently shipped water. + </p> + <p> + The frightened Spaniards threw overboard everything they could spare, + retaining their arms only, and a part of their provisions. They even + compelled the Indians to leap into the sea to lighten the boats, but, + though they were skillful swimmers, they could not pretend to make land by + swimming. They kept to the canoes, therefore, and would occasionally seize + them to recover breath. The cruel Spaniards cut off their hands and + stabbed them with their swords. Thus eighteen of their Indian comrades + died, and they had none left, but such as were of most help in managing + the canoes. Once on land, they doubted whether to make another effort or + to return to Columbus. + </p> + <p> + Eventually they waited a month, for another opportunity to go to + Hispaniola; but this failed as before, and losing all patience, they + returned westward, to the commander whom they had insulted, living on the + island “by fair means or foul,” according as they found the natives + friendly or unfriendly. + </p> + <p> + Columbus, meanwhile, with his half the crew, was waiting. He had + established as good order as he could between his men and the natives, but + he was obliged to keep a strict watch over such European food as he still + had, knowing how necessary it was for the sick men in his number. On the + other hand, the Indians, wholly unused to regular work, found it difficult + to supply the food which so many men demanded. + </p> + <p> + The supplies fell off from day to day; the natives no longer pressed down + to the harbor; the trinkets, with which food had been bought, had lost + their charm; the Spaniards began to fear that they should starve on the + shore of an island which, when Columbus discovered it, appeared to be the + abode of plenty. It was at this juncture, when the natives were becoming + more and more unfriendly, that Columbus justified himself by the tyrant’s + plea of necessity, and made use of his astronomical science, to obtain a + supernatural power over his unfriendly allies. + </p> + <p> + He sent his interpreter to summon the principal caciques to a conference. + For this conference he appointed a day when he knew that a total eclipse + of the moon would take place. The chiefs met as they were requested. He + told them that he and his followers worshipped a God who lived in the + heavens; that that God favored such as did well, but punished all who + displeased him. + </p> + <p> + He asked them to remember how this God had protected Mendez and his + companions in their voyage, because they went obedient to the orders which + had been given them by their chief. He asked them to remember that the + same God had punished Porras and his companions with all sorts of + affliction, because they were rebels. He said that now this great God was + angry with the Indians, because they refused to furnish food to his + faithful worshippers; that he proposed to chastise them with famine and + pestilence. + </p> + <p> + He said that, lest they should disbelieve the warning which he gave, a + sign would be given, in the heavens that night, of the anger of the great + God. They would see that the moon would change its color and would lose + its light. They might take this as a token of the punishment which awaited + them. + </p> + <p> + The Indians had not that confidence in Columbus which they once had. Some + derided what he said, some were alarmed, all waited with anxiety and + curiosity. When the night came they saw a dark shadow begin to steal over + the moon. As the eclipse went forward, their fears increased. At last the + mysterious darkness covered the face of the sky and of the world, when + they knew that they had a right to expect the glory of the full moon. + </p> + <p> + There were then no bounds to their terror. They, seized on all the + provisions that they had, they rushed to the ships, they threw themselves + at the feet of Columbus and begged him to intercede with his God, to + withhold the calamity which he had threatened. Columbus would not receive + them; he shut himself up in his cabin and remained there while the eclipse + increased, hearing from within, as the narrator says, the howls and + prayers of the savages. + </p> + <p> + It was not until he knew the eclipse was about to diminish, that he + condescended to come forth, and told them that he had interceded with God, + who would pardon them if they would fulfil their promises. In token of + pardon, the darkness would be withdrawn from the moon. + </p> + <p> + The Indians saw the fulfilment of the promise, as they had seen the + fulfilment of the threat. The moon reappeared in its brilliancy. They + thanked the Admiral eagerly for his intercession, and repaired to their + homes. From this time forward, having proved that he knew on earth what + was passing in the heavens, they propitiated him with their gifts. The + supplies came in regularly, and from this time there was no longer any + want of provisions. + </p> + <p> + But no tales of eclipses would keep the Spaniards quiet. Another + conspiracy was formed, as the eight remaining months of exile passed by, + among the survivors. They meant to seize the remaining canoes, and with + them make their way to Hispaniola. But, at the very point of the outbreak + of the new mutiny, a sail was seen standing toward the harbor. + </p> + <p> + The Spaniards could see that the vessel was small. She kept the offing, + but sent a boat on shore. As the boat drew near, those who waited so + eagerly recognized Escobar, who had been condemned to death, in Isabella, + when Columbus was in administration, and was pardoned by his successor + Bobadilla. To see this man approaching for their relief was not hopeful, + though he were called a Christian, and was a countryman of their own. + </p> + <p> + Escobar drew up to the ships, on which the Spaniards still lived, and gave + them a letter from Ovando, the new governor of Hispaniola, with some bacon + and a barrel of wine, which were sent as presents to the Admiral. He told + Columbus, in a private interview, that the governor had sent him to + express his concern at his misfortune, and his regret that he had not a + vessel of sufficient size to bring off all the people, but that he would + send one as soon as possible. He assured him that his concerns in + Hispaniola were attended to faithfully in his absence; he asked him to + write to the governor in reply, as he wished to return at once. + </p> + <p> + This was but scant comfort for men who had been eight months waiting to be + relieved. But Escobar was master of the position. Columbus wrote a reply + at once to Ovando, pointed out that the difficulties of his situation had + been increased by the rebellion of the brothers Porras. He, however, + expressed his reliance on his promise, and said he would remain patiently + on his ships until relief came. Escobar took the letter, returned to his + vessel, and she made sail at once, leaving the starving Spaniards in + dismay, to the same fate which hung over them before. + </p> + <p> + Columbus tried to reassure them. He professed himself satisfied with the + communications from Ovando, and told them that vessels large enough for + them would soon arrive. He said that they could see that he believed this, + because he had not himself taken passage with Escobar, preferring to share + their lot with them. He had sent back the little vessel at once, so that + no time might be lost in sending the necessary ships. + </p> + <p> + With these assurances he cheered their hearts. In truth, however, he was + very indignant at Ovando’s cool behavior. That he should have left them + for months in danger and uncertainty, with a mere tantalizing message and + a scanty present of food—all this naturally made the great leader + indignant. He believed that Ovando hoped that he might perish on the + island. + </p> + <p> + He supposed that Ovando thought that this would be favorable for his own + political prospects, and he believed that Escobar was sent merely as a + spy. This same impression is given by Las Casas, the historian, who was + then at San Domingo. He says that Escobar was chosen simply because of his + enmity to Columbus, and that he was ordered not to land, nor to hold + conversation with any of the crew, nor to receive letters from any except + the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + After Escobar’s departure, Columbus sent an embassy on shore to + communicate with the rebel party, who were living on the island. He + offered to them free pardon, kind treatment, and a passage with him in the + ships which he expected from Ovando, and, as a token of good will, he sent + them a part of the bacon which Escobar had brought them. + </p> + <p> + Francesco de Porras met these ambassadors, and replied that they had no + wish to return to the ships, but preferred living at large. They offered + to engage that they would be peaceable, if the Admiral would promise them + solemnly, that, in case two vessels arrived, they should have one to + depart in; that if only one vessel arrived they should have half of it, + and that the Admiral would now share with them the stores and articles of + traffic, which he had left in the ship. But these demands Columbus refused + to accept. + </p> + <p> + Porras had spoken for the rebels, but they were not so well satisfied with + the answer. The incident gave occasion for what was almost an outbreak + among them. Porras attempted to hold them in hand, by assuring them that + there had been no real arrival of Escobar. He told them that there had + been no vessel in port; that what had been seen was a mere phantasm + conjured up by Columbus, who was deeply versed in necromancy. + </p> + <p> + He reminded them that the vessel arrived just in the edge of the evening; + that it communicated with Columbus only, and then disappeared in the + night. Had it been a real vessel would he not have embarked, with his + brother and his son? Was it not clear that it was only a phantom, which + appeared for a moment and then vanished? + </p> + <p> + Not satisfied, however, with his control over his men, he marched them to + a point near the ships, hoping to plunder the stores and to take the + Admiral prisoner. Columbus, however, had notice of the approach of this + marauding party, and his brother and fifty followers, of whose loyalty he + was sure, armed themselves and marched to meet them. The Adelantado again + sent ambassadors, the same whom he had sent before with the offer of + pardon, but Porras and his companions would not permit them to approach. + </p> + <p> + They determined to offer battle to the fifty loyal men, thinking to attack + and kill the Adelantado himself. They rushed upon him and his party, but + at the first shock four or five of them were killed. + </p> + <p> + The Adelantado, with his own hand, killed Sanchez, one of the most + powerful men among the rebels. Porras attacked him in turn, and with his + sword cut his buckler and wounded his hand. The sword, however, was wedged + in the shield, and before Porras could withdraw it, the Adelantado closed + upon him and made him prisoner. When the rebels saw this result of the + conflict, they fled in confusion. + </p> + <p> + The Indians, meanwhile, amazed at this conflict among men who had + descended from heaven, gazed with wonder at the battle. When it was over, + they approached the field, and looked with amazement on the dead bodies of + the beings whom they had thought immortal. It is said, however, that at + the mere sound of a groan from one of the wounded they fled in dismay. + </p> + <p> + The Adelantado returned in triumph to the ships. He brought with him his + prisoners. Only two of his party had been wounded, himself and his + steward. The next day the remaining fugitives sent in a petition to the + Admiral, confessing their misdeeds and asking for pardon. + </p> + <p> + He saw that their union was broken; he granted their prayer, on the single + condition that Francesco de Porras should remain a prisoner. He did not + receive them on board the ships, but put them under the command of a loyal + officer, to whom he gave a sufficient number of articles for trade, to + purchase food of the natives. + </p> + <p> + This battle, for it was such, was the last critical incident in the long + exile of the Spaniards, for, after a year of hope and fear, two vessels + were seen standing into the harbor. One of them was a ship equipped, at + Columbus’s own expense, by the faithful Mendez; the other had been fitted + out afterwards by Ovando, but had sailed in company with the first vessel + of relief. + </p> + <p> + It would seem that the little public of Isabella had been made indignant + by Ovando’s neglect, and that he had been compelled, by public opinion to + send another vessel as a companion to that sent by Mendez. Mendez himself, + having seen the ships depart, went to Spain in the interest of the + Admiral. + </p> + <p> + With the arrival at Puerto Bueno, in Jamaica, of the two relief vessels, + Columbus’s chief sufferings and anxiety were over. The responsibility, at + least, was in other hands. But the passage to San Domingo consumed six + tedious weeks. When he arrived, however, it was to meet one of his + triumphs. He could hardly have expected it. + </p> + <p> + But his sufferings, and the sense of wrong that he had suffered, had, in + truth, awakened the regard of the people of the colony. Ovando took him as + a guest to his house. The people received him with distinction. + </p> + <p> + He found little to gratify him, however. Ovando, had ruled the poor + natives with a rod of iron, and they were wretched. Columbus’s own affairs + had been neglected, and he could gain no relief from the governor. He + spent only a month on the island, trying, as best he could, to bring some + order into the administration of his own property; and then, on the + twelfth of September, 1504, sailed for Spain. + </p> + <p> + Scarcely had the ship left harbor when she was dismasted in a squall. He + was obliged to cross to another ship, under command of his brother, the + Adelantado. She also was unfortunate. Her mainmast was sprung in a storm, + and she could not go on until the mast was shortened. + </p> + <p> + In another gale the foremast was sprung, and it was only on the seventh of + November that the shattered and storm-pursued vessel arrived at San Lucar. + Columbus himself had been suffering, through the voyage, from gout and his + other maladies. The voyage was, indeed, a harsh experience for a sick man, + almost seventy years old. + </p> + <p> + He went at once to Seville, to find such rest as he might, for body and + mind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. — TWO SAD YEARS + </h2> + <p> + —ISABELLA’S DEATH—COLUMBUS AT SEVILLE—HIS ILLNESS—LETTERS + TO THE KING—JOURNEYS TO SEGOVIA, SALAMANCA, AND VALLADOLID—HIS + SUIT THERE—PHILIP AND JUANA—COLUMBUS EXECUTES HIS WILL—DIES—HIS + BURIAL AND THE REMOVAL OF HIS BODY—HIS PORTRAITS—HIS + CHARACTER. + </p> + <p> + Columbus had been absent from Spain two years and six months. He returned + broken in health, and the remaining two years of his life are only the sad + history of his effort to relieve his name from dishonor and to leave to + his sons a fair opportunity to carry forward his work in the world. + </p> + <p> + Isabella, alas, died on the twenty-sixth day of November, only a short + time after his arrival. Ferdinand, at the least, was cold and hard toward + him, and Ferdinand was now engaged in many affairs other than those of + discovery. He was satisfied that Columbus did not know how to bring gold + home from the colonies, and the promises of the last voyage, that they + should strike the East, had not been fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + Isabella had testified her kindly memory of Columbus, even while he was in + exile at Jamaica, by making him one of the body-guard of her oldest son, + an honorary appointment which carried with it a handsome annual salary. + After the return to Spain of Diego Mendez, the loyal friend who had cared + for his interests so well in San Domingo, she had raised him to noble + rank. + </p> + <p> + It is clear, therefore, that among her last thoughts came in the wish to + do justice to him whom she had served so well. She had well done her duty + which had been given her to do. She had never forgotten the new world to + which it was her good fortune to send the discoverer, and in her death + that discoverer lost his best friend. + </p> + <p> + On his arrival in Seville, where one might say he had a right to rest + himself and do nothing else, Columbus engaged at once in efforts to see + that the seamen who had accompanied him in this last adventure should be + properly paid. Many of these men had been disloyal to him and unfaithful + to their sovereign, but Columbus, with his own magnanimity, represented + eagerly at court that they had endured great peril, that they brought + great news, and that the king ought to repay them all that they had + earned. + </p> + <p> + He says, in a letter to his son written at this period, “I have not a roof + over my head in Castile. I have no place to eat nor to sleep excepting a + tavern, and there I am often too poor to pay my scot.” This passage has + been quoted as if he were living as a beggar at this time, and the world + has been asked to believe that a man who had a tenth of the revenue of the + Indies due to him in some fashion, was actually living from hand to mouth + from day to day. But this is a mere absurdity of exaggeration. + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly, he was frequently pressed for ready money. He says to his + son, in another letter, “I only live by borrowing.” Still he had good + credit with the Genoese bankers established in Andalusia. In writing to + his son he begs him to economize, but at the same time he acknowledges the + receipt of bills of exchange and considerable sums of money. + </p> + <p> + In the month of December, there is a single transaction in Hispaniola + which amounts to five thousand dollars of our money. We must not, + therefore, take literally his statement that he was too poor to pay for a + night’s lodging. On the other hand, it is observed in the correspondence + that, on the fifteenth of April, 1505, the king ordered that everything + which belonged to Columbus on account of his ten per cent should be + carried to the royal treasury as a security for certain debts contracted + by the Admiral. + </p> + <p> + The king had also given an order to the royal agent in Hispaniola that + everything which he owned there should be sold. All these details have + been carefully brought together by Mr. Harrisse, who says truly that we + cannot understand the last order. + </p> + <p> + When at last the official proceedings relating to the affairs in Jamaica + arrived in Europe, Columbus made an effort to go to court. A litter was + provided for him, and all the preparations for his journey made. But he + was obliged once more by his weakness to give up this plan, and he could + only write letters pressing his claim. Of such letters the misfortune is, + that the longer they are, and the more of the detail they give, the less + likely are they to be read. Columbus could only write at night; in the + daytime he could not use his hands. + </p> + <p> + He took care to show Ferdinand that his interests had not been properly + attended to in the islands. He said that Ovando had been careless as to + the king’s service, and he was not unwilling to let it be understood that + his own administration had been based on a more intelligent policy than + that of either of the men who followed him. + </p> + <p> + But he was now an old man. He was unable to go to court in person. He had + not succeeded in that which he had sailed for—a strait opening to + the Southern Sea. He had discovered new gold mines on the continent, but + he had brought home but little treasure. His answers from the court seemed + to him formal and unsatisfactory. At court, the stories of the Porras + brothers were told on the one side, while Diego Mendez and Carvajal + represented Columbus. + </p> + <p> + In this period of the fading life of Columbus, we have eleven letters + addressed by him to his son. These show that he was in Seville as late as + February, 1505. From the authority of Las Casas, we know that he left that + part of Spain to go to Segovia in the next May, and from that place he + followed the court to Salamanca and Valladolid, although he was so weak + and ill. + </p> + <p> + He was received, as he had always been, with professions of kindness; but + nothing followed important enough to show that there was anything genuine + in this cordiality. After a few days Columbus begged that some action + might be taken to indemnify him for his losses, and to confirm the + promises which had been made to him before. The king replied that he was + willing to refer all points which had been discussed between them to an + arbitration. Columbus assented, and proposed the Archbishop Diego de Deza + as an arbiter. + </p> + <p> + The reader must remember that it was he who had assisted Columbus in early + days when the inquiry was made at Salamanca. The king assented to the + arbitration, but proposed that it should include questions which Columbus + would not consider as doubtful. One of these was his restoration to his + office of viceroy. + </p> + <p> + Now on the subject of his dignities Columbus was tenacious. He regarded + everything else as unimportant in comparison. He would not admit that + there was any question that he was the viceroy of the Indies, and all this + discussion ended in the postponement of all consideration of his claims + till, after his death, it was too late for them to be considered. + </p> + <p> + All the documents, when read with the interest which we take in his + character and fortunes, are indeed pathetic; but they did not seem so to + the king, if indeed they ever met his eye. + </p> + <p> + In despair of obtaining justice for himself, Columbus asked that his son + Diego might be sent to Hispaniola in his place. The king would promise + nothing, but seems to have attempted to make Columbus exchange the + privileges which he enjoyed by the royal promise for a seignory in a + little town in the kingdom of Leon, which is named not improperly “The + Counts’ Carrion.” + </p> + <p> + It is interesting to see that one of the persons whom he employed, in + pressing his claim at the court and in the management of his affairs, was + Vespucci, the Florentine merchant, who in early life had been known as + Alberigo, but had now taken the name of Americo. + </p> + <p> + The king was still engaged in the affairs of the islands. He appointed + bishops to take charge of the churches in the colonies, but Columbus was + not so much as consulted as to the persons who should be sent. When Philip + arrived from Flanders, with his wife Juana, who was the heir of Isabella’s + fortunes and crown, Columbus wished to pay his court to them, but was too + weak to do so in person. + </p> + <p> + There is a manly letter, written with dignity and pathos, in which he + presses his claims upon them. He commissioned his brother, the Adelantado, + to take this letter, and with it he went to wait upon the young couple. + They received him most cordially, and gave flattering hopes that they + would attend favorably to the suit. But this was too late for Columbus + himself. Immediately after he had sent his brother away, his illness + increased in violence. + </p> + <p> + The time for petitions and for answers to petitions had come to an end. + His health failed steadily, and in the month of May he knew that he was + approaching his death. The king and the court had gone to Villafranca de + Valcacar. + </p> + <p> + On the nineteenth of May Columbus executed his will, which had been + prepared at Segovia a year before. In this will he directs his son and his + successors, acting as administrators, always to maintain “in the city of + Genoa, some person of our line, who shall have a house and a wife in that + place, who shall receive a sufficient income to live honorably, as being + one of our relatives, having foot and root in the said city, as a native; + since he will be able to receive from this city aid in favor of the things + of his service; because from that city I came forth and in that city I was + born.” This clause became the subject of much litigation as the century + went on. + </p> + <p> + Another clause which was much contested was his direction to his son Diego + to take care of Beatriz Enriquez, the mother of Fernando. Diego is + instructed to provide for her an honorable subsistence “as being a person + to whom I have great obligation. What I do in this matter is to relieve my + conscience, for this weighs much upon my mind. The reason of this cannot + be written here.” + </p> + <p> + The history of the litigation which followed upon this will and upon other + documents which bear upon the fortunes of Columbus is curious, but + scarcely interesting. The present representative of Columbus is Don + Cristobal Colon de la Cerda, Duke of Veragua and of La Vega, a grandee of + Spain of the first class, Marquis of Jamaica, Admiral and Seneschal Major + of the Indies, who lives at Madrid. + </p> + <p> + Two days after the authentication of the will he died, on the twenty first + of May, 1506, which was the day of Ascension. His last words were those of + his Saviour, expressed in the language of the Latin Testament, “In manus + tuas, Pater, commendo spiritum meum,”—“Father, into thy hands I + commend my spirit.” The absence of the court from Valladolid took with it, + perhaps, the historians and annalists. For this or for some other reason, + there is no mention whatever of Columbus’s funeral in any of the documents + of the time. + </p> + <p> + The body was laid in the convent of San Francisco at Valladolid. Such at + least is the supposition of Navarrete, who has collected the original + documents relating to Columbus. He supposes that the funeral services were + conducted in the church of the parish of Santa Maria de la Antigua. From + the church of Saint Francis, not many months after, the body was removed + to Seville. A new chapel had lately been built there, called Santa Maria + de las Cuevas. In this chapel was the body of Columbus entombed. In a + curious discussion of the subject, which has occupied much more space than + it is worth, it is supposed that this was in the year 1513, but Mr. + Harrisse has proved that this date is not accurate. + </p> + <p> + For at least twenty-eight years, the body was permitted to remain under + the vaults of this chapel. Then a petition was sent to Charles V, for + leave to carry the coffin and the body to San Domingo, that it might be + buried in the larger chapel of the cathedral of that city. To this the + emperor consented, in a decree signed June 2, 1537. It is not known how + soon the removal to San Domingo was really made, but it took place before + many years. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harrisse quotes from a manuscript authority to show, that when William + Penn besieged the city of San Domingo in 1655, all the bodies buried under + the cathedral were withdrawn from view, lest the heretics should profane + them, and that “the old Admiral’s” body was treated like the rest. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harrisse calls to mind the fact that the earthquake of the nineteenth + of May, 1673, demolished the cathedral in part, and the tombs which it + contained. He says, “the ruin of the colony, the climate, weather, and + carelessness all contributed to the loss from sight and the forgetfulness + of the bones of Columbus, mingled with the dust of his descendants”; and + Mr. Harrisse does not believe that any vestige of them was ever found + afterwards, in San Domingo or anywhere else. This remark, from the person + who has given such large attention to the subject, is interesting. For it + is generally stated and believed that the bones were afterwards removed to + Havana in the island of Cuba. The opinion of Mr. Harrisse, as it has been + quoted, is entitled to very great respect and authority. + </p> + <p> + A very curious question has arisen in later times as to the actual place + where the remains now are. On this question there is great discussion + among historians, and many reports, official and unofficial, have been + published with regard to it. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1867, the proposal was made to the Holy Father at Rome, that + Columbus should receive the honors known in the Roman Catholic Church as + the honors of beatification. In 1877, De Lorgues, the enthusiastic + biographer of Columbus, represents that the inquiry had gone so far that + these honors had been determined on. One who reads his book would be led + to suppose that Columbus had already been recognized as on the way to be + made a saint of the Church. But, in truth, though some such inquiry was + set on foot, he never received the formal honors of beatification. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We have one account by a contemporary of the appearance of Columbus.(*) We + are told that he was a “robust man, quite tall, of florid complexion, with + a long face.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) In the first Decade of Peter Martyr. +</pre> + <p> + In the next generation, Oviedo says Columbus was “of good aspect, and + above the middle stature. His limbs were strong, his eyes quick, and all + the parts of his body well proportioned. His hair was decidedly reddish, + and the complexion of his face quite florid and marked with spots of red.” + </p> + <p> + Bishop Las Casas knew the admiral personally, and describes him in these + terms: “He was above the middle stature, his face was long and striking, + his nose was aquiline, his eyes clear blue, his complexion light, tending + towards a distinct florid expression, his beard and hair blonde in his + youth, but they were blanched at an early age by care.” + </p> + <p> + Las Casas says in another place, “he was rude in bearing, and careless as + to his language. He was, however, gracious when he chose to be, but he was + angry when he was annoyed.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harrisse, who has collected these particulars from the different + writers, says that this physical type may be frequently met now in the + city and neighborhood of Genoa. He adds, “as for the portraits, whether + painted, engraved, or in sculpture, which appear in collections, in + private places, or as prints, there is not one which is authentic. They + are all purely imaginary.” + </p> + <p> + For the purpose of the illustration of this volume, we have used that + which is best known, and for many reasons most interesting. It is + preserved in the city of Florence, but neither the name of the artist nor + the date of the picture is known. It is generally spoken of as the + “Florentine portrait.” The engraving follows an excellent copy, made by + the order of Thomas Jefferson, and now in the possession of the + Massachusetts Historical Society. We are indebted to the government of + this society for permission to use it.(*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) The whole subject of the portraits of Columbus is + carefully discussed in a learned paper presented to the + Wisconsin Historical Society by Dr. James Davie Butler, and + published in the Collections of that Society, Vol. IX, pp. + 79-96. +</pre> + <p> + A picture ascribed to Titian, and engraved and circulated by the + geographer, Jomard, resembles closely the portraits of Philip III. The + costume is one which Columbus never wore. + </p> + <p> + In his youth Columbus was affiliated with a religious brotherhood, that of + Saint Catherine, in Genoa. In after times, on many occasions when it would + have been supposed that he would be richly clothed, he appeared in a grave + dress which recalled the recollections of the frock of the religious order + of Saint Francis. According to Diego Columbus, he died, “dressed in the + frock of this order, to which he had always been attached.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The reader who has carefully followed the fortunes of the great discoverer + understands from the history the character of the man. He would not have + succeeded in his long suit at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, had he + not been a person of single purpose and iron will. + </p> + <p> + From the moment when he was in command of the first expedition, that + expedition went prosperously to its great success, in precisely the way + which he had foreseen and determined. True, he did not discover Asia, as + he had hoped, but this was because America was in the way. He showed in + that voyage all the attributes of a great discoverer; he deserved the + honors which were paid to him on his return. + </p> + <p> + As has been said, however, this does not mean that he was a great + organizer of cities, or that he was the right person to put in charge of a + newly founded colony. It has happened more than once in the history of + nations that a great general, who can conquer armies and can obtain peace, + has not succeeded in establishing a colony or in governing a city. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, it is fair to say that Columbus never had a chance to + show what he would have been in the direction of his colonies had they + been really left in his charge. This is true, that his heart was always on + discovery; all the time that he spent in the wretched detail of the + arrangement of a new-built town was time which really seemed to him + wasted. + </p> + <p> + The great problem was always before him, how he should connect his + discoveries with the knowledge which Europe had before of the coast of + Asia. Always it seemed to him that the dominions of the Great Khan were + within his reach. Always he was eager for that happy moment when he should + find himself in personal communication with that great monarch, who had + been so long the monarch of the East—who, as he thought, would prove + to be the monarch of the West. + </p> + <p> + Columbus died with the idea that he had come close to Asia. Even a + generation after his death, the companions of Cortes gave to the peninsula + of California that name because it was the name given in romance to the + farthest island of the eastern Indies. + </p> + <p> + Columbus met with many reverses, and died, one might almost say, a + broken-hearted man. But history has been just to him, and has placed him + in the foremost rank of the men who have set the world forward. And, + outside of the technical study of history, those who like to trace the + laws on which human progress advances have been proud and glad to see that + here is a noble example of the triumph of faith. + </p> + <p> + The life of Columbus is an illustration constantly brought forward of the + success which God gives to those who, having conceived of a great idea, + bravely determine to carry it through. + </p> + <p> + His singleness of purpose, his unselfishness, his determination to + succeed, have been cited for four centuries, and will be cited for + centuries more, among the noblest illustrations which history has given, + of success wrought out by the courage of one man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEa" id="link2H_APPEa"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX A. + </h2> + <p> + (The following passages, from Admiral Fox’s report, give his reasons for + believing that Samana, or Atwood’s Key, is the island where Columbus first + touched land. The interest which attaches to this subject at the moment of + the centennial, when many voyages will be made by persons following + Columbus, induces me to copy Admiral Fox’s reasonings in detail. I believe + his conclusion to be correct.) + </p> + <p> + This method of applying Columbus’s words in detail to refute each of the + alleged tracks, and the study that I gave to the subject in the winter of + 1878-79 in the Bahamas, which has been familiar cruising ground to me, has + resulted in the selection of Samana or Atwood’s Key for the first landing + place. + </p> + <p> + It is a little island 8.8 miles east and west; 1.6 extreme breadth, and + averaging 1.2 north and south. It has 8.6 square miles. The east end is in + latitude 23 degrees 5’ N.; longitude 73 degrees 37’ west of Greenwich. The + reef on which it lies is 15 by 2 1/2 miles. + </p> + <p> + On the southeast this reef stretches half a mile from the land, on the + east four miles, on the west two, along the north shore one-quarter to + one-half mile, and on the southwest scarcely one-quarter. Turk is smaller + than Samana, and Cat very much larger. + </p> + <p> + The selection of two so unlike in size show that dimension has not been + considered essential in choosing an island for the first landfall.(*) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (*) I am indebted to T. J. McLain, Esq., United States + consul at Nassau, for the following information given to him + by the captains of this port, who visit Samana or Atwood’s + Key. The sub-sketch on this chart is substantially correct: + Good water is only obtained by sinking wells. The two keys + to the east are covered with guano; white boobies hold the + larger one, and black boobies the other; neither + intermingles. +</pre> + <p> + The island is now uninhabited, but arrow heads and stone hatchets are + sometimes found; and in places there are piles of stones supposed to have + been made by the aborigines. Most of the growth is scrubby, with a few + scattered trees. + </p> + <p> + The Nassau vessels enter an opening through the reef on the south side of + the island and find a very comfortable little harbor with from two to two + and a half fathoms of water. From here they send their boats on shore to + “strip” guano, and cut satin, dye woods and bark. + </p> + <p> + When Columbus discovered Guanahani, the journal called it a “little + island.” After landing he speaks of it as “bien grande,” “very large,” + which some translate, tolerably, or pretty large. November 20, 1492 + (Navarette, first edition, p. 61), the journal refers to Isabella, a + larger island than Guanahani, as “little island,” and the fifth of January + following (p. 125) San Salvador is again called “little island.” + </p> + <p> + The Bahamas have an area of about 37,000 square miles, six per cent of + which may be land, enumerated as 36 islands, 687 keys, and 2,414 rocks. + The submarine bank upon which these rest underlies Florida also. But this + peninsula is wave-formed upon living corals, whose growth and gradual + stretch toward the south has been made known by Agassiz. + </p> + <p> + I had an unsuccessful search for a similar story of the Bahamas, to learn + whether there were any probable changes within so recent a period as four + hundred years. + </p> + <p> + The common mind can see that all the rock there is coral, none of which is + in position. The surface, the caves, the chinks, and the numerous + pot-holes are compact limestone, often quite crystalline, while beneath it + is oolitic, either friable or hard enough to be used for buildings. The + hills are sand-blown, not upheaved. On a majority of the maps of the + sixteenth century there were islands on Mouchoir, and on Silver Banks, + where now are rocks “awash;” and the Dutch and the Severn Shoals, which + lay to the east, have disappeared. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult to resist the impression that the shoal banks, and the + reefs of the Bahamas, were formerly covered with land; and that for a + geological age waste has been going on, and, perhaps, subsidence. The + coral polyp seems to be doing only desultory work, and that mostly on the + northeast or Atlantic side of the islands; everywhere else it has + abandoned the field to the erosive action of the waves. + </p> + <p> + Columbus said that Guanahani had abundance of water and a very large + lagoon in the middle of it. He used the word laguna—lagoon, not lago—lake. + His arrival in the Bahamas was at the height of the rainy season. Governor + Rawson’s Report on the Bahamas, 1864, page 92, Appendix 4, gives the + annual rainfall at Nassau for ten years, 1855—‘64, as sixty-four + inches. From May 1, to November 1 is the wet season, during which 44.7 + inches fall; the other six months 19.3 only. The most is in October, 8.5 + inches. + </p> + <p> + Andros, the largest island, 1,600 square miles, is the only one that has a + stream of water. The subdivision of the land into so many islands and + keys, the absence of mountains, the showery characteristic of the + rainfall, the porosity of the rock, and the great heat reflected from the + white coral, are the chief causes for the want of running water. During + the rainy season the “abundance of water” collects in the low places, + making ponds and lagoons, that afterward are soaked up by the rock and + evaporated by the sun. + </p> + <p> + Turk and Watling have lagoons of a more permanent condition, because they + are maintained from the ocean by permeation. The lagoon which Columbus + found at Guanahani had certainly undrinkable water, or he would have + gotten some for his vessels, instead of putting it off until he reached + the third island. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing in the journal to indicate that the lagoon at Guanahani + was aught but the flooding of the low grounds by excessive rains; and even + if it was one communicating with the ocean, its absence now may be + referred to the effect of those agencies which are working incessantly to + reshape the soft structure of the Bahamas. + </p> + <p> + Samana has a range of hills on the southwest side about one hundred feet + high, and on the northeast another, lower. Between them, and also along + the north shore, the land is low, and during the season of rains there is + a row of ponds parallel to the shore. On the south side a conspicuous + white bluff looks to the southward and eastward. + </p> + <p> + The two keys, lying respectively half a mile and three miles east of the + island, and possibly the outer breaker, which is four miles, all might + have been connected with each other, and with the island, four hundred + years ago. In that event the most convenient place for Columbus to anchor + in the strong northeast trade-wind, was where I have put an anchor on the + sub-sketch of Samana. + </p> + <p> + (In a subsequent passage Admiral Fox says:—) + </p> + <p> + There is a common belief that the first landing place is settled by one or + another of the authors cited here. Nevertheless, I trust to have shown, + paragraph by paragraph, wherein their several tracks are contrary to the + journal, inconsistent with the true cartography of the neighborhood, and + to the discredit, measurably, both of Columbus and of Las Casas. The + obscurity and the carelessness which appear in part of the diary through + the Bahamas offer no obstacle to this demonstration, provided that they do + not extend to the “log,” or nautical part. + </p> + <p> + Columbus went to sea when he was fourteen years of age, and served there + almost continuously for twenty-three years. The strain of a sea-faring + life, from so tender an age, is not conducive to literary exactness. + Still, for the very reason of this sea experience, the “log” should be + correct. + </p> + <p> + This is composed of the courses steered, distances sailed over, bearings + of islands from one another, trend of shores, etc. The recording of these + is the daily business of seamen, and here the entries were by Columbus + himself, chiefly to enable him, on his return to Spain, to construct that + nautical map, which is promised in the prologue of the first voyage. + </p> + <p> + In crossing the Atlantic the Admiral understated to the crew each day’s + run, so that they should not know how far they had gone into an unknown + ocean. Las Casas was aware of this counterfeit “log,” but his abridgment + is from that one which Columbus kept for his own use. + </p> + <p> + If the complicated courses and distances in this were originally wrong, or + if the copy of them is false, it is obvious that they cannot be “plotted” + upon a correct chart. Conversely, if they ARE made to conform to a + succession of islands among which he is known to have sailed, it is + evident that this is a genuine transcript of the authentic “log” of + Columbus, and, reciprocally, that we have the true track, the beginning of + which is the eventful landfall of October 12, 1492. + </p> + <p> + The student or critical reader, and the seaman, will have to determine + whether the writer has established this conformity. The public, probably, + desires to have the question settled, but it will hardly take any interest + in a discussion that has no practical bearing, and which, for its + elucidation, leans so much upon the jargon or the sea. + </p> + <p> + It is not flattering to the English or Spanish speaking peoples that the + four hundredth anniversary of this great event draws nigh, and is likely + to catch us still floundering, touching the first landing place. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_SUMM" id="link2H_SUMM"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SUMMARY. + </h2> + <p> + First. There is no objection to Samana in respect to size, position or + shape. That it is a little island, lying east and west, is in its favor. + The erosion at the east end, by which islets have been formed, recalls the + assertion of Columbus that there it could be cut off in two days and made + into an island. + </p> + <p> + The Nassau vessels still find a snug anchorage here during the northeast + trades. These blew half a gale of wind at the time of the landfall; yet + Navarette, Varnhagen, and Captain Becher anchored the squadron on the + windward sides of the coral reefs of their respective islands, a “lee + shore.” + </p> + <p> + The absence of permanent lagoons at Samana I have tried to explain. + </p> + <p> + Second. The course from Samana to Crooked is to the southwest, which is + the direction that the Admiral said he should steer “tomorrow evening.” + The distance given by him corresponds with the chart. + </p> + <p> + Third. The second island, Santa Maria, is described as having two sides + which made a right angle, and the length of each is given. This points + directly to Crooked and Acklin. Both form one island, so fitted to the + words of the journal as cannot be done with any other land of the Bahamas. + </p> + <p> + Fourth. The course and distance from Crooked to Long Island is that which + the Admiral gives from Santa Maria to Fernandina. + </p> + <p> + Fifth. Long Island, the third, is accurately described. The trend of the + shores, “north-northwest and south-southeast;” the “marvelous port” and + the “coast which runs east (and) west,” can nowhere be found except at the + southeast part of Long Island. + </p> + <p> + Sixth. The journal is obscure in regard to the fourth island. The best way + to find it is to “plot” the courses FORWARD from the third island and the + courses and distances BACKWARD from the fifth. These lead to Fortune for + the fourth. + </p> + <p> + Seventh. The Ragged Islands are the fifth. These he named las islas de + Arena—Sand Islands. + </p> + <p> + They lie west-southwest from the fourth, and this is the course the + Admiral adhered to. He did not “log” all the run made between these + islands; in consequence the “log” falls short of the true distance, as it + ought to. These “seven or eight islands, all extending from north to + south,” and having shoal water “six leagues to the south” of them, are + seen on the chart at a glance. + </p> + <p> + Eighth. The course and distance from these to Port Padre, in Cuba, is + reasonable. The westerly current, the depth of water at the entrance of + Padre, and the general description, are free of difficulties. The true + distance is greater than the “logged,” because Columbus again omits part + of his run. It would be awkward if the true distances from the fourth to + the fifth islands, and from the latter to Padre, had fallen short of the + “log,” since it would make the unexplainable situation which occurs in + Irving’s course and distance from Mucaras Reef to Boca de Caravela. + </p> + <p> + From end to end of the Samana track there are but three discrepancies. At + the third island, two leagues ought to be two miles. At the fourth island + twelve leagues ought to be twelve miles. The bearing between the third and + fourth islands is not quite as the chart has it, nor does it agree with + the courses he steered. These three are fairly explained, and I think that + no others can be mustered to disturb the concord between this track and + the journal. + </p> + <p> + Rev. Mr. Cronan, in his recent voyage, discovered a cave at Watling’s + island, where were many skeletons of the natives. It is thought that a + study of the bones in these skeletons will give some new ethnological + information as to the race which Columbus found, which is now, thanks to + Spanish cruelty, entirely extinct. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEb" id="link2H_APPEb"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX B. + </h2> + <p> + The letter to the Lady Juana, which gives Columbus’s own statement of the + indignities put upon him in San Domingo, is written in his most crabbed + Spanish. He never wrote the Spanish language accurately, and the letter, + as printed from his own manuscript, is even curious in its infelicities. + It is so striking an illustration of the character of the man that we + print here an abstract of it, with some passages translated directly from + his own language. + </p> + <p> + Columbus writes, towards the end of the year 1500, to the former nurse of + Don Juan, an account of the treatment he has received. “If my complaint of + the world is new, its method of abuse is very old,” he says. “God has made + me a messenger of the new heaven and the new earth which is spoken of in + the Apocalypse by the mouth of St. John, after having been spoken of by + Isaiah, and he showed me the place where it was.” Everybody was + incredulous, but the queen alone gave the spirit of intelligence and zeal + to the undertaking. Then the people talked of obstacles and expense. + Columbus says “seven years passed in talk, and nine in executing some + noted acts which are worthy of remembrance,” but he returned reviled by + all. + </p> + <p> + “If I had stolen the Indies and had given them to the Moors I could not + have had greater enmity shown to me in Spain.” Columbus would have liked + then to give up the business if he could have come before the queen. + However he persisted, and he says he “undertook a new voyage to the new + heaven and the new earth which before had been hidden, and if it is not + appreciated in Spain as much as the other countries of India it is not + surprising, because it is all owing to my industry.” He “had believed that + the voyage to Paria would reconcile all because of the pearls and gold in + the islands of Espanola.” He says, “I caused those of our people whom I + had left there to come together and fish for pearls, and arranged that I + should return and take from them what had been collected, as I understood, + in measure a fanega (about a bushel). If I have not written this to their + Highnesses it is because I wished also to have as much of gold. But that + fled before me, as all other things; I would not have lost them and with + them my honor, if I could have busied myself with my own affairs. + </p> + <p> + “When I went to San Domingo I found almost half of the colony uprising, + and they made war upon me as a Moor, and the Indians on the other side + were no less cruel. + </p> + <p> + “Hojida came and he tried to make order, and he said that their Highnesses + had sent him with promises of gifts and grants and money. He made up a + large company, for in all Espanola there were few men who were not + vagabonds, and no one lived there who had wife or children.” Hojida + retired with threats. + </p> + <p> + “Then Vincente Ganez came with four ships. There were outbreaks and + suspicions but no damage.” He reported that six other ships under a + brother of the Alcalde would arrive, and also the death of the queen, but + these were rumors without foundation. + </p> + <p> + “Adrian (Mogica) attempted to go away as before, but our Lord did not + permit him to carry out his bad plan.” Here Columbus regrets that he was + obliged to use force or ill-treat Adrian, but says he would have done the + same had his brother wished to kill him or wrest from him the government + which the king and queen had given him to guard. + </p> + <p> + “For six months I was ready to leave to take to their Highnesses the good + news of the gold and to stop governing a dissolute people who feared + neither king nor queen, full of meanness and malice. I would have been + able to pay all the people with six hundred thousand maravedis and for + that there were more than four millions of tithes without counting the + third part of the gold.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus says that he begged before his departure that they would send + some one at his expense to take command, and yet again a subject with + letters, for he says bitterly that he has such a singular reputation that + if he “were building churches and hospitals they would say they were cells + for stolen goods.” + </p> + <p> + Then Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo while Columbus was at La Vega and the + Adelantado at Jaragua. “The second day of his arrival he declared himself + governor, created magistrates, made offices, published grants for gold and + tithes, and everything else for a term of twenty years.” He said he had + come to pay the people, and declared he would send Columbus home in irons. + Columbus was away. Letters with favors were sent to others, but none to + him. Columbus resorted to methods to gain time so that their Highnesses + could understand the state of things. But he was constantly maligned and + persecuted by those who were jealous of him. He says: + </p> + <p> + “I think that you will remember that when the tempest threw me into the + port of Lisbon, after having lost my sails, I was accused of having the + intention to give India to that country. Afterwards their Highnesses knew + to the contrary. Although I know but little, I cannot conceive that any + one would suppose me so stupid as not to know that though India might + belong to me, yet I could not keep it without the help of a prince.” + </p> + <p> + Columbus complains that he has been judged as a governor who has been sent + to a peaceful, well-regulated province. He says, “I ought to be judged as + a captain sent from Spain to the Indies to conquer a warlike people, whose + custom and religion are all opposed to ours, where the people live in the + mountains without regular houses for themselves, and where, by the will of + God, I have placed under the rule of the king and queen another world, and + by which Spain, which calls itself poor, is today the richest empire. I + ought to be judged as a captain who for many years bears arms incessantly. + </p> + <p> + “I know well that the errors that I have committed have not been with bad + intentions, and I think that their Highnesses will believe what I say; but + I know and see that they use pity for those who work against them.” + </p> + <p> + “If, nevertheless, their Highnesses order that another shall judge me, + which I hope will not be, and this ought to be on an examination made in + India, I humbly beg of them to send there two conscientious and + respectable people, at my expense, which may know easily that one finds + five marcs of gold in four hours. However that may be, it is very + necessary that they should go there.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEc" id="link2H_APPEc"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX C. + </h2> + <p> + It would have been so natural to give the name of Columbus to the new + world which he gave to Castile and Leon, that much wonder has been + expressed that America was not called Columbia, and many efforts have been + made to give to the continent this name. The District of Columbia was so + named at a time when American writers of poetry, were determined that + “Columbia” should be the name of the continent. The ship Columbia, from + which the great river of the West takes that name, had received this name + under the same circumstances about the same time. The city of Columbia, + which is the capital of South Carolina, was named with the same wish to do + justice to the great navigator. + </p> + <p> + Side by side with the discussion as to the name, and sometimes making a + part of it, is the question whether Columbus himself was really the first + discoverer of the mainland. The reader has seen that he first saw the + mainland of South America in the beginning of August, 1498. It was on the + fifth, sixth or seventh day, according to Mr. Harrisse’s accurate study of + the letters. Was this the first discovery by a European of the mainland? + </p> + <p> + It is known that Ojeda, with whom the reader is familiar, also saw this + coast. With him, as passenger on his vessel, was Alberico Vespucci, and at + one time it was supposed that Vespucci had made some claim to be the + discoverer of the continent, on account of this voyage. But in truth Ojeda + himself says that before he sailed he had seen the map of the Gulf of + Paria which Columbus had sent home to the sovereigns after he made that + discovery. It also seems to be proved that Alberico Vespucci, as he was + then called, never made for himself any claim to the great discovery. + </p> + <p> + Another question, of a certain interest to people proud of English + maritime science, is the question whether the Cabots did not see the + mainland before Columbus. It is admitted on all hands that they did not + make their first voyage till they knew of Columbus’s first discoveries; + but it is supposed that in the first or second voyage of the Cabots, they + saw the mainland of North America. The dates of the Cabots’ voyages are + unfortunately badly entangled. One of them is as early as 1494, but this + is generally rejected. It is more probable that the king’s letters patent, + authorizing John Cabot and his three sons to go, with five vessels, under + the English flag, for the discovery of islands and countries yet unknown, + was dated the fifth of March, 1496. Whether, however, they sailed in that + year or in the next year is a question. The first record of a discovery is + in the account-book of the privy purse of Henry VII, in the words, “August + 10th, 1497. To him who discovered the new island, ten pounds.” This is + clearly not a claim on which the discovery of the mainland can be based. + </p> + <p> + A manuscript known as the Cotton Manuscript says that John Cabot had + sailed, but had not returned, at the moment when the manuscript was + written. This period was “the thirteenth year of Henry VII.” The + thirteenth year of Henry began on the twenty-second of August, 1497, and + ended in 1498. On the third of February, 1498, Henry VII granted + permission to Cabot to take six English ships “to the lands and islands + recently found by the said Cabot, in the name of the king and by his + orders.” Strictly speaking, this would mean that the mainland had then + been discovered; but it is impossible to establish the claim of England on + these terms. + </p> + <p> + What is, however, more to the point, is a letter from Pasqualigo, a + Venetian merchant, who says, writing to Venice, on the twenty-third of + August, 1497, that Cabot had discovered the mainland at seven hundred + leagues to the west, and had sailed along it for a coast of three hundred + leagues. He says the voyage was three months in length. It was made, then, + between May and August, 1497. The evidence of this letter seems to show + that the mainland of North America was really first discovered by Cabot. + The discussion, however, does not in the least detract from the merit due + to Columbus for the great discovery. Whether he saw an island or whether + he saw the mainland, was a mere matter of what has been called landfall by + the seamen. It is admitted on all hands that he was the leader in all + these enterprises, and that it was on his success in the first voyage that + all such enterprises followed. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Christopher Columbus from +his own Letters and Journals, by Edward Everett Hale + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF COLUMBUS *** + +***** This file should be named 1492-h.htm or 1492-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/9/1492/ + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + + + + +[This was orginally done on the 400th Anniversary of 1492] +[As was the great Columbian Exposition in Chicago] +[Interesting how our heroes have all be de-canizied in the +of Political Correctitude] Comments by Michael S. Hart + + + + + +THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + +FROM HIS OWN LETTERS AND JOURNALS + +--AND -- + +OTHER DOCUMENTS OF HIS TIME. + + + +by EDWARD EVERETT HALE, + + + + +PREFACE. + +This book contains a life of Columbus, written with the hope of +interesting all classes of readers. + +His life has often been written, and it has sometimes been well +written. The great book of our countryman, Washington Irving, is +a noble model of diligent work given to a very difficult subject. +And I think every person who has dealt with the life of Columbus +since Irving's time, has expressed his gratitude and respect for +the author. + +According to the custom of biographers, in that time and since, +he includes in those volumes the whole history of the West India +islands, for the period after Columbus discovered them till his +death. He also thinks it his duty to include much of the history +of Spain and of the Spanish court. I do not myself believe that +it is wise to attempt, in a book of biography, so considerable a +study of the history of the time. Whether it be wise or not, I +have not attempted it in this book. I have rather attempted to +follow closely the personal fortunes of Christopher Columbus, +and, to the history around him, I have given only such space as +seemed absolutely necessary for the illustration of those +fortunes. + +I have followed on the lines of his own personal narrative +wherever we have it. And where this is lost I have used the +absolutely contemporary authorities. I have also consulted the +later writers, those of the next generation and the generation +which followed it. But the more one studies the life of Columbus +the more one feels sure that, after the greatness of his +discovery was really known, the accounts of the time were +overlaid by what modern criticism calls myths, which had grown up +in the enthusiasm of those who honored him, and which form no +part of real history. If then the reader fails to find some +stories with which he is quite familiar in the history, he must +not suppose that they are omitted by accident, but must give to +the author of the book the credit of having used some discretion +in the choice of his authorities. + +When I visited Spain in 1882, I was favored by the officers of +the Spanish government with every facility for carrying my +inquiry as far as a short visit would permit. Since that time Mr. +Harrisse has published his invaluable volumes on the life of +Columbus. It certainly seems as if every document now existing, +which bears upon the history, had been collated by him. The +reader will see that I have made full use of this treasure-house. + +The Congress of Americanistas, which meets every year, brings +forward many curious studies on the history of the continent, but +it can scarcely be said to have done much to advance our +knowledge of the personal life of Columbus. + +The determination of the people of the United States to celebrate +fitly the great discovery which has advanced civilization and +changed the face of the world, makes it certain that a new +interest has arisen in the life of the great man to whom, in the +providence of God, that discovery was due. The author and +publishers of this book offer it as their contribution in the +great celebration, with the hope that it may be of use, +especially in the direction of the studies of the young. + EDWARD E. HALE. + ROXBURY, MASS., + June 1st, 1891. + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER 1. EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. + His Birth and Birth-place-His Early Education-His + experience at Sea-His Marriage and Residence in Lisbon-- + His Plans for the Discovery of a Westward + Passage to the Indies + +CHAPTER II. HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. + Columbus Leaves Lisbon, and Visits Genoa--Visits Great + Spanish Dukes -For Six Years is at the Court of Ferdinand + and Isabella-The Council of Salamanca-His + Petition is at Last Granted -Squadron Made Ready + +CHAPTER III. THE GREAT VOYAGE. + The Squadron Sails-Refits at Canary Islands-Hopes + and Fears of the Voyage -The Doubts of the Crew-- + Land Discovered + +CHAPTER IV. + The Landing on the Twelfth of October -The Natives and + their Neighbors -Search for Gold-Cuba Discovered + Columbus Coasts Along its Shores + +CHAPTER V. + Landing on Cuba -The Cigar and Tobacco -Cipango and + the Great Khan -From Cuba to Hayti-Its Shores and + Harbors + +CHAPTER VI. + Discovery of Hayti or Hispaniola -The Search for Gold-- + Hospitality and Intelligence of the Natives--Christmas + Day -A Shipwreck--Colony to be Founded -Columbus + Sails East and Meets Martin Pinzon-The Two + Vessels Return to Europe -Storm -The Azores-- + Portugal -Home + +CHAPTER VII. +Columbus is Called to Meet the King and Queen -His + Magnificent Reception -Negotiations with the Pope and + with the King of Portugal--Second Expedition Ordered + -Fonseca -The Preparations at Cadiz + +CHAPTER VIII. + The Second Expedition Sails From Cadiz-Touches at + Canary Islands -Discovery of Dominica and Guadeloupe + -Skirmishes with the Caribs -Porto Rico Discovered +--Hispaniola -The Fate of the Colony at La Navidad + +CHAPTER IX. + The New Colony-Expeditions of Discovery -Guacanagari-- + Search for Gold-Mutiny in the Colony-The + Vessels Sent Home--Columbus Marches Inland-- + Collection of Gold--Fortress of St. Thomas--A New Voyage + of Discovery--Jamaica Visited -The South Shore + of Cuba Explored -Return -Evangelista Discovered +--Columbus Falls Sick -Return to Isabella + +CHAPTER X. THE THIRD VOYAGE. + Letter to the King and Queen--Discovery of Trinidad and + Paria -Curious Speculation as to the Earthly Paradise + -Arrival at San Domingo -Rebellions and Mutinies in + that Island-Roldan and His Followers--Ojeda and + His Expedition--Arrival of Bobadilla -Columbus a + Prisoner + +CHAPTER XI. SPAIN, 1500, 1502. +A Cordial Reception in Spain--Columbus Favorably + Received at Court-New Interest in Geographical + Discovery-His Plans for the Redemption of the Holy + Sepulchre -Preparations for a Fourth Expedition + +CHAPTER XII. FOURTH VOYAGE. + The Instructions Given for the Voyage--He is to go to + the Mainland of the Indies--A Short Passage -Ovando + Forbids the Entrance of Columbus into Harbor + Bobadilla's Squadron and Its Fate -Columbus Sails Westward + --Discovers Honduras, and Coasts Along Its Shores + --The Search for Gold -Colony Attempted and Abandoned + --The Vessels Become Unseaworthy -Refuge at + Jamaica -Mutiny Led by the Brothers Porras -Messages + to San Domingo -The Eclipse -Arrival of Relief + --Columbus Returns to San Domingo, and to Spain + +CHAPTER XIII. + Two Sad Years -Isabella's Death -Columbus at Seville-- + His Illness -Letters to the King -journeys to Segovia + --Salamanca and Valladolid -His Suit There --Philip + and Juana -Columbus Executes His Will--Dies--His + Burial and the Removal of His Body -His Portraits-- + His Character + +APPENDIX A + +APPENDIX B + +APPENDIX C + + + + +THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + + + +CHAPTER I. EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. +HIS BIRTH AND BIRTH-PLACE--HIS EARLY EDUCATION--HIS EXPERIENCE AT +SEA--HIS MARRIAGE AND RESIDENCE IN LISBON--HIS PLANS FOR THE +DISCOVERY OF A WESTWARD PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. + +Christopher Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa. The honor +of his birth-place has been claimed by many villages in that +Republic, and the house in which he was born cannot be now +pointed out with certainty. But the best authorities agree that +the children and the grown people of the world have never been +mistaken when they have said: "America was discovered in 1492 by +Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa." + +His name, and that of his family, is always written Colombo, in +the Italian papers which refer to them, for more than one hundred +years before his time. In Spain it was always written Colon; in +France it is written as Colomb; while in England it has always +kept its Latin form, Columbus. It has frequently been said that +he himself assumed this form, because Columba is the Latin word +for "Dove," with a fanciful feeling that, in carrying Christian +light to the West, he had taken the mission of the dove. Thus, he +had first found land where men thought there was ocean, and he +was the messenger of the Holy Spirit to those who sat in +darkness. It has also been assumed that he took the name of +Christopher, "the Christ-bearer," for similar reasons. But there +is no doubt that he was baptized "Christopher," and that the +family name had long been Columbo. The coincidences of name are +but two more in a calendar in which poetry delights, and of which +history is full. + +Christopher Columbus was the oldest son of Dominico Colombo and +Suzanna Fontanarossa. This name means Red-fountain. He bad two +brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, whom we shall meet again. Diego +is the Spanish way of writing the name which we call James. + +It seems probable that Christopher was born in the year 1436, +though some writers have said that he was older than this, and +some that he was younger. The record of his birth and that of his +baptism have not been found. + +His father was not a rich man, but he was able to send +Christopher, as a boy, to the University of Pavia, and here he +studied grammar, geometry, geography and navigation, astronomy +and the Latin language. But this was as a boy studies, for in his +fourteenth year he left the university and entered, in hard work, +on "the larger college of the world." If the date given above, of +his birth, is correct, this was in the year 1450, a few years +before the Turks took Constantinople, and, in their invasion of +Europe, affected the daily life of everyone, young or old, who +lived in the Mediterranean countries. From this time, for fifteen +years, it is hard to trace along the life of Columbus. It was the +life of an intelligent young seaman, going wherever there was a +voyage for him. He says himself, "I passed twenty-three years on +the sea. I have seen all the Levant, all the western coasts, and +the North. I have seen England; I have often made the voyage from +Lisbon to the Guinea coast." This he wrote in a letter to +Ferdinand and Isabella. Again he says, "I went to sea from the +most tender age and have continued in a sea life to this day. +Whoever gives himself up to this art wants to know the secrets of +Nature here below. It is more than forty years that I have been +thus engaged. Wherever any one has sailed, there I have sailed." + +Whoever goes into the detail of the history of that century will +come upon the names of two relatives of his--Colon el Mozo (the +Boy, or the Younger) and his uncle, Francesco Colon, both +celebrated sailors. The latter of the two was a captain in the +fleets of Louis XI of France, and imaginative students may +represent him as meeting Quentin Durward at court. Christopher +Columbus seems to have made several voyages under the command of +the younger of these relatives. He commanded the Genoese galleys +near Cyprus in a war which the Genoese had with the Venetians. +Between the years 1461 and 1463 the Genoese were acting as allies +with King John of Calabria, and Columbus had a command as captain +in their navy at that time. + +"In 1477," he says, in one of his letters, "in the month of +February, I sailed more than a hundred leagues beyond Tile." By +this he means Thule, or Iceland. "Of this island the southern +part is seventy-three degrees from the equator, not sixty-three +degrees, as some geographers pretend." But here he was wrong. The +Southern part of Iceland is in the latitude of sixty-three and a +half degrees. "The English, chiefly those of Bristol, carry their +merchandise, to this island, which is as large as England. When I +was there the sea was not frozen, but the tides there are so +strong that they rise and fall twenty-six cubits." + +The order of his life, after his visit to Iceland, is better +known. He was no longer an adventurous sailor-boy, glad of any +voyage which offered; he was a man thirty years of age or more. +He married in the city of Lisbon and settled himself there. His +wife was named Philippa. She was the daughter of an Italian +gentleman named Bartolomeo Muniz de Perestrello, who was, like +Columbus, a sailor, and was alive to all the new interests which +geography then presented to all inquiring minds. This was in the +year 1477, and the King of Portugal was pressing the expeditions +which, before the end of the century, resulted in the discovery +of the route to the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. + +The young couple had to live. Neither the bride nor her husband +had any fortune, and Columbus occupied himself as a draftsman, +illustrating books, making terrestrial globes, which must have +been curiously inaccurate, since they had no Cape of Good Hope +and no American Continent, drawing charts for sale, and +collecting, where he could, the material for such study. Such +charts and maps were beginning to assume new importance in those +days of geographical discovery. The value attached to them may be +judged from the statement that Vespucius paid one hundred and +thirty ducats for one map. This sum would be more than five +hundred dollars of our time. + +Columbus did not give up his maritime enterprises. He made +voyages to the coast of Guinea and in other directions. + +It is said that he was in command of one of the vessels of his +relative Colon el Mozo, when, in the Portuguese seas, this +admiral, with his squadron, engaged four Venetian galleys +returning from Flanders. A bloody battle followed. The ship which +Christopher Columbus commanded was engaged with a Venetian +vessel, to which it set fire. There was danger of an explosion, +and Columbus himself, seeing this danger, flung himself into the +sea, seized a floating oar, and thus gained the shore. He was not +far from Lisbon, and from this time made Lisbon his home for many +years.[*] + +[*] The critics challenge these dates, but there seems to be good +foundation for the story. + + +It seems. clear that, from the time when he arrived in Lisbon, +for more than twenty years, he was at work trying to interest +people in his "great design," of western discovery. He says +himself, "I was constantly corresponding with learned men, some +ecclesiastics and some laymen, some Latin and some Greek, some +Jews and some Moors." The astronomer Toscanelli was one of these +correspondents. + +We must not suppose that the idea of the roundness of the earth +was invented by Columbus. Although there were other theories +about its shape, many intelligent men well understood that the +earth was a globe, and that the Indies, though they were always +reached from Europe by going to the East, must be on the west of +Europe also. There is a very funny story in the travels of +Mandeville, in which a traveler is represented as having gone, +mostly on foot, through all the countries of Asia, but finally +determines to return to Norway, his home. In his farthest eastern +investigation, he hears some people calling their cattle by a +peculiar cry, which he had never heard before. After he returned +home, it was necessary for him to take a day's journey westward +to look after some cattle he had lost. Finding these cattle, he +also heard the same cry of people calling cattle, which he had +heard in the extreme East, and now learned, for the first time, +that he had gone round the world on foot, to turn and come back +by the same route, when he was only a day's journey from home, +Columbus was acquainted with such stories as this, and also had +the astronomical knowledge which almost made him know that the +world was round, "and, like a ball, goes spinning in the air." +The difficulty was to persuade other people that, because of this +roundness, it would be possible to attain Asia by sailing to the +West. + +Now all the geographers of repute supposed that there was not +nearly so large a distance as there proved to be, in truth, +between Europe and Asia. Thus, in the geography of Ptolemy, which +was the standard book at that time, one hundred and thirty-five +degrees, a little more than one-third of the earth's +circumference, is given to the space between the extreme eastern +part of the Indies and the Canary Islands. In fact, as we now +know, the distance is one hundred and eighty degrees, half the +world's circumference. Had Columbus believed there was any such +immense distance, he would never have undertaken his voyage. + +Almost all the detailed knowledge of the Indies which the people +of his time had, was given by the explorations of Marco Polo, a +Venetian traveler of the thirteenth century, whose book had long +been in the possession of European readers. It is a very +entertaining book now, and may well be recommended to young +people who like stories of adventure. Marco Polo had visited the +court of the Great Khan of Tartary at Pekin, the prince who +brought the Chinese Empire into very much the condition in which +it now is. He had, also, given accounts of Japan or Cipango, +which he had himself never visited. Columbus knew, therefore, +that, well east of the Indies, was the island of Cipango, and he +aimed at that island, because he supposed that that was the +nearest point to Europe, as in fact it is. And when finally he +arrived at Cuba, as the reader will see, he thought he was in +Japan. + +Columbus's father-in-law had himself been the Portuguese governor +of the island of Porto Santo, where he had founded a colony. He, +therefore, was interested in western explorations, and probably +from him Columbus collected some of the statements which are +known to have influenced him, with regard to floating matters +from the West, which are constantly borne upon that island by the +great currents of the sea. + +The historians are fond of bringing together all the intimations +which are given in the Greek and Latin classics, and in later +authors, with regard to a land beyond Asia. Perhaps the most +famous of them is that of Seneca, "In the later years there shall +come days in which Ocean shall loose his chains, and a great land +shall appear . . . and Thule shall not be the last of the +worlds." + +In a letter which Toscanelli wrote to Columbus in 1474, he +inclosed a copy of a letter which he had already sent to an +officer of Alphonso V, the King of Portugal. In writing to +Columbus, he says, "I see that you have a great and noble desire +to go into that country (of the East) where the spices come from, +and in reply to your letter I send you a copy of that which I +addressed some years ago to my attached friend in the service of +the most serene King of Portugal. He had an order from his +Highness to write me on this subject. . . . If I had a globe in +my hand, I could show you what is needed. But I prefer to mark +out the route on a chart like a marine chart, which will be an +assistance to your intelligence and enterprise. On this chart I +have myself drawn the whole extremity of our western shore from +Ireland as far down as the coast of Guinea toward the South, with +all the islands which are to be found on this route. Opposite +this [that is, the shores of Ireland and Africa] I have placed +directly at the West the beginning of the Indies with the islands +and places where you will land. You will see for yourself how +many miles you must keep from the arctic pole toward the equator, +and at what distance you will arrive at these regions so fertile +and productive of spices and precious stones." In Toscanelli's +letter, he not only indicates Japan, but, in the middle of the +ocean, he places the island of Antilia. This old name afterwards +gave the name by which the French still call the West Indies, Les +Antilles. Toscanelli gives the exact distance which Columbus will +have to sail: "From Lisbon to the famous city of Quisay +[Hang-tcheou-fou, then the capital of China] if you take the +direct route toward the West, the distance will be thirty-nine +hundred miles. And from Antilia to Japan it will be two hundred +and twenty-five leagues." Toscanelli says again, "You see that +the voyage that you wish to attempt is much legs difficult than +would be thought. You would be sure of this if you met as many +people as I do who have been in the country of spices." + +While there were so many suggestions made that it would be +possible to cross the Atlantic, there was one man who determined +to do this. This man was Christopher Columbus. But he knew well +that he could not do it alone. He must have money enough for an +expedition, he must have authority to enlist crews for that +expedition, and he must have power to govern those crews when +they should arrive in the Indies. In our times such adventures +have been conducted by mercantile corporations, but in those +times no one thought of doing any such thing without the direct +assistance and support of some monarch. + +It is easy now to see and to say that Columbus himself was +singularly well fitted to take the charge of the expedition of +discovery. He was an excellent sailor and at the same time he was +a learned geographer and a good mathematician. He was living in +Portugal, the kings of which country had, for many years, +fostered the exploration of the coast of Africa, and were pushing +expeditions farther and farther South. + +In doing this, they were, in a fashion, making new discoveries. +For Europe was wholly ignorant of the western coast of Africa, +beyond the Canaries, when their expeditions began. But all men of +learning knew that, five hundred years before the Christian era, +Hanno, a Carthaginian, had sailed round Africa under the +direction of the senate of Carthage. The efforts of the King of +Portugal were to repeat the voyage made by Hanno. In 1441, +Gonzales and Tristam sailed as far as Sierra Leone. They brought +back some blacks as slaves, and this was the beginning of the +slave trade. + +In 1446 the Portuguese took possession of the Azores, the most +western points of the Old World. Step by step they advanced +southward, and became familiar with the African coast. Bold +navigators were eager to find the East, and at last success came. +Under the king's orders, in August, 1477, three caravels sailed +from the Tagus, under Bartolomeo Diaz, for southern discovery. +Diaz was himself brave enough to be willing to go on to the Red +Sea, after he made the great discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, +but his crews mutinied, after he had gone much farther than his +predecessors, and compelled him to return. He passed the southern +cape of Africa and went forty miles farther. He called it the +Cape of Torments, "Cabo Tormentoso," so terrible were the storms +he met there. But when King John heard his report he gave it that +name of good omen which it has borne ever since, the name of the +"Cape of Good Hope." + +In the midst of such endeavors to reach the East Indies by the +long voyage down the coast of Africa and across an unknown ocean, +Columbus was urging all people who cared, to try the route +directly west. If the world was round, as the sun and moon were, +and as so many men of learning believed, India or the Indies must +be to the west of Portugal. The value of direct trade with the +Indies would be enormous. Europe had already acquired a taste for +the spices of India and had confidence in the drugs of India. The +silks and other articles of clothing made in India, and the +carpets of India, were well known and prized. Marco Polo and +others had given an impression that there was much gold in India; +and the pearls and precious stones of India excited the +imagination of all who read his travels. + +The immense value of such a commerce may be estimated from one +fact. When, a generation after this time, one ship only of all +the squadron of Magellan returned to Cadiz, after the first +voyage round the world, she was loaded with spices from the +Moluccas. These spices were sold by the Spanish government for so +large a sum of money that the king was remunerated for the whole +cost of the expedition, and even made a very large profit from a +transaction which had cost a great deal in its outfit. + +Columbus was able, therefore, to offer mercantile adventurers the +promise of great profit in case of success; and at this time +kings were willing to take their share of such profits as might +accrue. + +The letter of Toscanelli, the Italian geographer, which has been +spoken of, was addressed to Alphonso V, the King of Portugal. To +him and his successor, John the Second, Columbus explained the +probability of success, and each of them, as it would seem, had +confidence in it. But King John made the great mistake of +intrusting Columbus's plan to another person for experiment. He +was selfish enough, and mean enough, to fit out a ship privately +and intrust its command to another seaman, bidding him sail west +in search of the Indies, while he pretended that he was on a +voyage to the Cape de Verde Islands. He was, in fact, to follow +the route indicated by Columbus. The vessel sailed. But, +fortunately for the fame of Columbus, she met a terrible storm, +and her officers, in terror, turned from the unknown ocean and +returned to Lisbon. Columbus himself tells this story. It was in +disgust with the bad faith the king showed in this transaction +that he left Lisbon to offer his great project to the King and +Queen of Spain. + +In a similar way, a generation afterward, Magellan, who was in +the service of the King of Portugal, was disgusted by insults +which he received at his court, and exiled himself to Spain. He +offered to the Spanish king his plan for sailing round the world +and it was accepted. He sailed in a Spanish fleet, and to his +discoveries Spain owes the possession of the Philippine Islands. +Twice, therefore, did kings of Portugal lose for themselves, +their children and their kingdom, the fame and the recompense +which belong to such great discoveries. + +The wife of Columbus had died and he was without a home. He left +Lisbon with his only son, Diego, in or near the end of the year +1484. + + + +CHAPTER II. HIS PLANS FOR DISCOVERY. +COLUMBUS LEAVES LISBON, AND VISITS GENOA--VISITS GREAT SPANISH +DUKES--FOR SIX YEARS IS AT THE COURT OF FERDINAND AND +ISABELLA--THE COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA--HIS PETITION IS AT LAST +GRANTED --SQUADRON MADE READY. + +It has been supposed that when Columbus left Lisbon he was +oppressed by debts. At a subsequent period, when King John wanted +to recall him, he offered to protect him against any creditors. +But on the other hand, it is thought that at this time he visited +Genoa, and made some provision for the comfort of his father, who +was now an old man. Christopher Columbus, himself, according to +the usual opinion regarding his birth, was now almost fifty years +old. + +It is probable that at this time he urged on his countrymen, the +Genoese, the importance of his great plan; and tried to interest +them to make the great endeavor, for the purpose of reaching the +Indies by a western route. As it proved, the discovery of the +route by the Cape of Good Hope was, commercially, a great injury +to Genoa and the other maritime cities of Italy. Before this +time, the eastern trade of Europe came by the ports of the +eastern Mediterranean, and the Italian cities. Columbus's offer +to Genoa was therefore one which, if her statesmen could have +foreseen the future, they would have considered eagerly. + +But Genoa was greatly depressed at this period. In her wars with +the Turks she had been, on the whole, not successful. She had +lost Caffa, her station in the Crimea, and her possessions in the +Archipelago were threatened. The government did not accept +Columbus's proposals, and he was obliged to return with them to +Spain. He went first to distinguished noblemen, in the South of +Spain, who were of liberal and adventurous disposition. One was +the Duke of Medina Celi, and one the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Each +of these grandees entertained him at their courts, and heard his +proposals. + +The Duke of Medina Celi was so much interested in them, that at +one time he proposed to give Columbus the direction of four +vessels which he had in the harbor of Cadiz. But, of a sudden, he +changed his mind. The enterprise was so vast, he said, that it +should be under the direction of the crown. And, without losing +confidence in it, he gave to Columbus an introduction to the king +and queen, in which he cordially recommended him to their +patronage. + +This king and queen were King Ferdinand of Aragon, and Queen +Isabella of Castile. The marriage of these two had united Spain. +Their affection for each other made the union real, and the +energy, courage and wisdom of both made their reign successful +and glorious. Of all its glories the greatest, as it has proved, +was connected with the life and discoveries of the sailor who was +now to approach them. He had been disloyally treated by Portugal, +he had been dismissed by Genoa. He had not succeeded with the +great dukes. Now he was to press his adventure upon a king and +queen who were engaged in a difficult war with the Moors, who +still held a considerable part of the peninsula of Spain. + +The king and queen were residing at Cordova, a rich and beautiful +city, which they had taken from the Moors. Under their rule +Cordova had been the most important seat of learning in Europe. +Here Columbus tarried at the house of Alonso de Quintinilla, who +became an ardent convert to his theory, and introduced him to +important friends. By their agency, arrangements were made, in +which Columbus should present his views to the king. The time was +not such as he could have wished. All Cordova was alive with the +preparation for a great campaign against the enemy. But King +Ferdinand made arrangements to hear Columbus; it does not appear +that, at the first hearing, Isabella was present at the +interview. But Ferdinand, although in the midst of his military +cares, was intereste in the proposals made by Columbus. He liked +the man. He was pleased by the modesty and dignity with which he +brought forward his proposals. Columbus spoke, as he tells us, as +one specially appointed by God Himself to carry out this +discovery. The king did not, however, at once adopt the scheme, +but gave out that a council of men of learning should be called +together to consider it. + +Columbus himself says that he entered the service of the +sovereigns January 26, 1486. The council to which he was referred +was held in the university city of Salamanca, in that year. It +gave to him a full opportunity to explain his theory. It +consisted of a fair representation of the learning of the time. +But most of the men who met had formed their opinions on the +subjects involved, and were too old to change them. A part of +them were priests of the church, in the habit of looking to +sacred Scripture as their only authority, when the pope had given +no instruction in detail. Of these some took literally +expressions in the Old Testament, which they supposed to be fatal +to the plans of Columbus. Such was the phrase in the 104th Psalm, +that God stretches out the heavens like a curtain. The expression +in the book of Hebrews, that the heavens are extended as a tent, +was also quoted, in the same view. + +Quotations from the early Fathers of the church were more fatal +to the new plan than those from the Scripture. + +On the other hand there were men who cordially supported +Columbus's wishes, and there were more when the congress parted +than when it met. Its sessions occupied a considerable part of +the summer, but it was not for years that it rendered any +decision. + +The king, queen and court, meanwhile, were occupied in war with +the Moors. Columbus was once and again summoned to attend the +court, and more than once money was advanced to him to enable him +to do so. Once he began new negotiations with King John, and from +him he received a letter inviting him to return to Portugal. He +received a similar letter from King Henry VII of England inviting +him to his court. Nothing was determined on in Spain. To this +day, the people of that country are thought to have a habit of +postponement to tomorrow of that which perplexes them. In 1489, +according to Ortiz de Zuniga, Columbus fought in battle in the +king's army. + +When, however, in the winter of 1490, it was announced that the +army was to take the field again, never to leave its camp till +Grenada had fallen, Columbus felt that he must make one last +endeavor. He insisted that he must have an answer regarding his +plans of discovery. The confessor of the queen, Fernando da +Talavera, was commanded to obtain the definite answer of the men +of learning. Alas! it was fatal to Columbus's hopes. They said +that it was not right that great princes should undertake such +enterprises on grounds as weak as those which he relied upon. + +The sovereigns themselves, however, were more favorable; so was a +minority of the council of Salamanca. And the confessor was +instructed to tell him that their expenses in the war forbade +them from sending him out as a discoverer, but that, when that +was well over, they had hopes that they might commission him. +This was the end of five years of solicitation, in which he had +put his trust in princes. Columbus regarded the answer, as well +he might, as only a courtly measure of refusal. And he retired in +disgust from the court at Seville. + +He determined to lay his plans before the King of France. He was +traveling with this purpose, with his son, Diego, now a boy of +ten or twelve years of age, when he arrived at night at the +hospitable convent of Saint Mary of Rabida, which has been made +celebrated by that incident. It is about three miles south of +what was then the seaport of Palos, one of the active ports of +commercial Spain. The convent stands on level ground high above +the sea; but a steep road runs down to the shore of the ocean. +Some of its windows and corridors look out upon the ocean on the +west and south, and the inmates still show the room in which +Columbus used to write, and the inkstand which served his +purposes while he lived there. It is maintained as a monument of +history by the Spanish government. + +At the door of this convent he asked for bread and water for his +boy. The prior of the convent was named Juan Perez de Marchena. +He was attracted by the appearance of Columbus, still more by his +conversation, and invited him to remain as their guest. + +When he learned that his new friend was about to offer to France +the advantages of a discovery so great as that proposed, he +begged him to make one effort more at home. He sent for some +friends, Fernandos, a physician at Palos, and for the brothers +Pinzon, who now appear for the first time in a story where their +part is distinguished. Together they all persuaded Columbus to +send one messenger more to wait upon their sovereigns. The man +sent was Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, who found access to the +queen because Juan Perez, the prior, had formerly been her +confessor. She had confidence in him, as she had, indeed, in +Columbus. And in fourteen days the friendly pilot came back from +Santa Fe with a kind letter from the queen to her friend, bidding +him return at once to court. Perez de Marchena saddled his mule +at once and before midnight was on his way to see his royal +mistress. + +Santa Fe was half camp, half city. It had been built in what is +called the Vega, the great fruitful plain which extends for many +miles to the westward of Grenada. The court and army were here as +they pressed their attack on that city. Perez de Marchena had +ready access to Queen Isabella, and pressed his suit well. He was +supported by one of her favorites, the Marquesa de Moya. In reply +to their solicitations, she asked that Columbus should return to +her, and ordered that twenty thousand maravedis should be sent to +him for his traveling expenses. + +This sum was immediately sent by Perez to his friend. Columbus +bought a mule, exchanged his worn clothes for better ones, and +started, as he was bidden, for the camp. + +He arrived there just after the great victory, by which the king +and queen had obtained their wish--had taken the noble city of +Grenada and ended Moorish rule in Spain. King, queen, court and +army were preparing to enter the Alhambra in triumph. Whoever +tries to imagine the scene, in which the great procession entered +through the gates, so long sealed, or of the moment when the +royal banner of Spain was first flying out upon the Tower of the +Vela, must remember that Columbus, elate, at last, with hopes for +his own great discovery, saw the triumph and joined in the +display. + +But his success was not immediate, even now. Fernando de +Talavera, who had had the direction of the wise council of +Salamanca, was now Archbishop of Grenada, whose see had been +conferred on him after the victory. He was not the friend of +Columbus. And when, at what seemed the final interview with king +and queen, he heard Columbus claim the right to one-tenth of all +the profits of the enterprise, he protested against such lavish +recompense of an adventurer. He was now the confessor of +Isabella, as Juan Perez, the friendly prior, had been before. +Columbus, however, was proud and firm. He would not yield to the +terms prepared by the archbishop. He preferred to break off the +negotiation, and again retired from court. He determined, as he +had before, to lay his plans before the King of France. + +Spain would have lost the honor and the reward of the great +discovery, as Portugal and Genoa had lost them, but for Luis de +St. Angel, and the queen herself. St. Angel had been the friend +of Columbus. He was an important officer, the treasurer of the +church revenues of Aragon. He now insisted upon an audience from +the queen. It would seem that Ferdinand, though King of Aragon, +was not present. St. Angel spoke eloquently. The friendly +Marchioness of Moya spoke eagerly and persuasively. Isabella was +at last fired with zeal. Columbus should go, and the enterprise +should be hers. + +It is here that the incident belongs, represented in the statue +by Mr. Mead, and that of Miss Hosmer. The sum required for the +discovery of a world was only three thousand crowns. Two vessels +were all that Columbus asked for, with the pay of their crews. +But where were three thousand crowns? The treasury was empty, and +the king was now averse to any action. It was at this moment that +Isabella said, "The enterprise is mine, for the Crown of Castile. +I pledge my jewels for the funds." + +The funds were in fact advanced by St. Angel, from the +ecclesiastical revenues under his control. They were repaid from +the gold brought in the first voyage. But, always afterward, +Isabella regarded the Indies as a Castilian possession. The most +important officers in its administration, indeed most of the +emigrants, were always from Castile. + +Columbus, meanwhile, was on his way back to Palos, on his mule, +alone. But at a bridge, still pointed out, a royal courier +overtook him, bidding him return. The spot has been made the +scene of more than one picture, which represents the crisis, in +which the despair of one moment changed to the glad hope which +was to lead to certainty. + +He returned to Isabella for the last time, before that great +return in which he came as a conqueror, to display to her the +riches of the New World. The king yielded a slow and doubtful +assent. Isabella took the enterprise in her own hands. She and +Columbus agreed at once, and articles were drawn up which gave +him the place of admiral for life on all lands he might discover; +gave him one-tenth of all pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, +spices and other merchandise to be obtained in his admiralty, and +gave him the right to nominate three candidates from whom the +governor of each province should be selected by the crown. He was +to be the judge of all disputes arising from such traffic as was +proposed; and he was to have one-eighth part of the profit, and +bear one-eighth part of the cost of it. + +With this glad news he returned at once to Palos. The Pinzons, +who had been such loyal friends, were to take part in the +enterprise. He carried with him a royal order, commanding the +people of Palos to fit out two caravels within ten days, and to +place them and their crews at the disposal of Columbus. The third +vessel proposed was to be fitted out by him and his friends. The +crews were to be paid four months' wages in advance, and Columbus +was to have full command, to do what he chose, if he did not +interfere with the Portuguese discoveries. + +On the 23rd of May, Columbus went to the church of San Giorgio in +Palos, with his friend, the prior of St. Mary's convent, and +other important people, and the royal order was read with great +solemnity: + +But it excited at first only indignation or dismay. The +expedition was most unpopular. Sailors refused to enlist, and the +authorities, who had already offended the crown, so that they had +to furnish these vessels, as it were, as a fine, refused to do +what they were bidden. Other orders from Court were necessary. +But it seems to have been the courage and determination of the +Pinzons which carried the preparations through. After weeks had +been lost, Martin Alonso Pinzon and his brothers said they would +go in person on the expedition. They were well-known merchants +and seamen, and were much respected. Sailors were impressed, by +the royal authority, and the needful stores were taken in the +same way. It seems now strange that so much difficulty should +have surrounded an expedition in itself so small. But the plan +met then all the superstition, terror and other prejudice of the +time. + +All that Columbus asked or needed was three small vessels and +their stores and crews. The largest ships engaged were little +larger than the large yachts, whose races every summer delight +the people of America. The Gallega and the Pinta were the two +largest. They were called caravels, a name then given to the +smallest three-masted vessels. Columbus once uses it for a vessel +of forty tons; but it generally applied in Portuguese or Spanish +use to a vessel, ranging one hundred and twenty to one hundred +and forty Spanish "toneles." This word represents a capacity +about one-tenth larger than that expressed by our English "ton." + +The reader should remember that most of the commerce of the time +was the coasting commerce of the Mediterranean, and that it was +not well that the ships should draw much water. The fleet of +Columbus, as it sailed, consisted of the Gallega (the Galician), +of which he changed the name to the Santa Maria, and of the Pinta +and the Nina. Of these the first two were of a tonnage which we +should rate as about one hundred and thirty tons. The Nina was +much smaller, not more than fifty tons. One writer says that they +were all without full decks, that is, that such decks as they had +did not extend from stem to stern. But the other authorities +speak as if the Nina only was an open vessel, and the two larger +were decked. Columbus himself took command of the Santa Maria, +Martin Alonso Pinzon of the Pinta, and his brothers, Francis +Martin and Vicente Yanez, of the Nina. The whole company in all +three ships numbered one hundred and twenty men. + +Mr. Harrisse shows that the expense to the crown amounted to +1,140,000 maravedis. This, as he counts it, is about sixty-four +thousand dollars of our money. To this Columbus was to add +one-eighth of the cost. His friends, the Pinzons, seem to have +advanced this, and to have been afterwards repaid. Las Casas and +Herrera both say that the sum thus added was much more than +one-eighth of the cost and amounted to half a million maravedis. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE GREAT VOYAGE. +THE SQUADRON SAILS--REFITS AT CANARY ISLANDS--HOPES AND FEARS OF +THE VOYAGE--THE DOUBTS OF THE CREW--LAND DISCOVERED. + +At last all was ready. That is to say, the fleet was so far ready +that Columbus was ready to start. The vessels were small, as we +think of vessels, but he was not dissatisfied. He says in the +beginning of his journal, "I armed three vessels very fit for +such an enterprise." He had left Grenada as late as the twelfth +of May. He had crossed Spain to Palos,[*] and in less than three +months had fitted out the ships and was ready for sea. + +[*] Palos is now so insignificant a place that on some important +maps of Spain it will not be found. It is on the east side of the +Tinto river; and Huelva, on the west side, has taken its place. + + +The harbor of Palos is now ruined. Mud and gravel, brought down +by the River Tinto, have filled up the bay, so that even small +boats cannot approach the shore. The traveler finds, however, the +island of Saltes, quite outside the bay, much as Columbus left +it. It is a small spit of sand, covered with shells and with a +few seashore herbs. His own account of the great voyage begins +with the words: + +"Friday, August 3, 1492. Set sail from the bar of Saltes at 8 +o'clock, and proceeded with a strong breeze till sunset sixty +miles, or fifteen leagues south, afterward southwest and south by +west, which is in the direction of the Canaries." + +It appears, therefore, that the great voyage, the most important +and successful ever made, began on Friday, the day which is said +to be so much disliked by sailors. Columbus never alludes to this +superstition. + +He had always meant to sail first for the Canaries, which were +the most western land then known in the latitude of his voyage. +From Lisbon to the famous city of "Quisay," or "Quinsay," in +Asia, Toscanelli, his learned correspondent, supposed the +distance to be less than one thousand leagues westward. From the +Canary islands, on that supposition, the distance would be ten +degrees less. The distance to Cipango, or Japan, would be much +less. + +As it proved, the squadron had to make some stay at the Canaries. +The rudder of the Pinta was disabled, and she proved leaky. It +was suspected that the owners, from whom she had been forcibly +taken, had intentionally disabled her, or that possibly the crew +had injured her. But Columbus says in his journal that Martin +Alonso Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, was a man of capacity and +courage, and that this quieted his apprehensions. From the ninth +of August to the second of September, nearly four weeks were +spent by the Pinta and her crew at the Grand Canary island, and +she was repaired. She proved afterwards a serviceable vessel, the +fastest of the fleet. At the Canaries they heard stories of lands +seen to the westward, to which Columbus refers in his journal. On +the sixth of September they sailed from Gomera and on the eighth +they lost sight of land. Nor did they see land again for +thirty-three days. Such was the length of the great voyage. All +the time, most naturally, they were wishing for signs, not of +land perhaps, but which might show whether this great ocean were +really different from other seas. On the whole the voyage was not +a dangerous one. + +According to the Admiral's reckoning--and in his own journal +Columbus always calls himself the Admiral--its length was one +thousand and eighty-nine leagues. This was not far from right, +the real distance being, in a direct line, three thousand one +hundred and forty nautical miles, or three thousand six hundred +and twenty statute miles.[*] It would not be considered a very +long voyage for small vessels now. In general the course was +west. Sometimes, for special reasons, they sailed south of west. +If they had sailed precisely west they would have struck the +shore of the United States a little north of the spot where St. +Augustine now is, about the northern line of Florida. + +[*] The computations from Santa Cruz, in the Canaries, to San +Salvador give this result, as kindly made for us by Lieutenant +Mozer, of the United States navy. + + +Had the coast of Asia been, indeed, as near as Toscanelli and +Columbus supposed, this latitude of the Canary islands would have +been quite near the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang river, in China, +which was what Columbus was seeking. For nearly a generation +afterwards he and his followers supposed that the coast of that +region was what they had found. + +It was on Saturday, the eighth of September, that they lost sight +of Teneriffe. On the eleventh they saw a large piece of the mast +of a ship afloat. On the fourteenth they saw a "tropic-bird," +which the sailors thought was never seen more than twenty-five +leagues from land; but it must be remembered, that, outside of +the Mediterranean, few of the sailors had ever been farther +themselves. On the sixteenth they began to meet "large patches of +weeds, very green, which appeared to have been recently washed +away from land." This was their first knowledge of the "Sargasso +sea," a curious tract in mid-Atlantic which is always green with +floating seaweeds. "The continent we shall find farther on," +wrote the confident Admiral. + +An observation of the sun on the seventeenth proved what had been +suspected before, that the needles of the compasses were not +pointing precisely to the north. The variation of the needle, +since that time, has been a recognized fact. But this observation +at so critical a time first disclosed it. The crew were naturally +alarmed. Here was evidence that, in the great ocean, common laws +were not to be relied upon. But they had great respect for +Columbus's knowledge of such subjects. He told them that it was +not the north which had changed, nor the needle, which was true +to the north, but the polar star revolved, like other stars, and +for the time they were satisfied. + +The same day they saw weeds which he was sure were land weeds. +From them he took a living crab, whose unintentional voyage +eastward was a great encouragement to the bolder adventurer +westward. Columbus kept the crab, saying that such were never +found eighty leagues from land. In fact this poor crab was at +least nine hundred and seventy leagues from the Bahamas, as this +same journal proves. On the eighteenth the Pinta ran ahead of the +other vessels, Martin Alonso was so sure that he should reach +land that night. But it was not to come so soon. + +Columbus every day announced to his crew a less distance as the +result of the day than they had really sailed. For he was afraid +of their distrust, and did not dare let them know how far they +were from home. The private journal, therefore, has such entries +as this, "Sailed more than fifty-five leagues, wrote down only +forty-eight." That is, he wrote on the daily log, which was open +to inspection, a distance some leagues less than they had really +made. + +On the twentieth pelicans are spoken of, on the twenty-first +"such abundance of weeds that the ocean seemed covered with +them," "the sea smooth as a river, and the finest air in the +world. Saw a whale, an indication of land, as they always keep +near the coast." To later times, this note, also, shows how +ignorant Columbus then was of mid-ocean. + +On the twenty-second, to the Admiral's relief, there was a head +wind; for the crew began to think that with perpetual east winds +they would never return to Spain. They had been in what are known +as the trade winds. On the twenty-third the smoother water gave +place to a rough sea, and he writes that this "was favorable to +me, as it happened formerly to Moses when he led the Jews from +Egypt." + +The next day, thanks to the headwinds, their progress was less. +On the twenty-fifth, Pinzon, of the Pinta, felt sure that they +were near the outer islands of Asia as they appeared on the +Toscanelli map, and at sunset called out with joy that he saw +land, claiming a reward for such news. The crews of both vessels +sang "Glory to God in the highest," and the crew of the little +Nina were sure that the bank was land. On this occasion they +changed from a western course to the southwest. But alas! the +land was a fog-bank and the reward never came to Martin Pinzon. +On the twenty-sixth, again "the sea was like a river." This was +Wednesday. In three days they sailed sixty-nine leagues. Saturday +was calm. They saw a bird called "Rabihorcado," which never +alights at sea, nor goes twenty leagues from land," wrote the +confident Columbus; "Nothing is wanting but the singing of the +nightingale," he says. + +Sunday, the thirtieth, brought "tropic-birds" again, "a very +clear sign of land." Monday the journal shows them seven hundred +and seven leagues from Ferro. Tuesday a white gull was the only +visitor. Wednesday they had pardelas and great quantities of +seaweed. Columbus began to be sure that they had passed "the +islands" and were nearing the continent of Asia. Thursday they +had a flock of pardelas, two pelicans, a rabihorcado and a gull. +Friday, the fifth of October, brought pardelas and flying-fishes. + +We have copied these simple intimations from the journal to show +how constantly Columbus supposed that he was near the coast of +Asia. On the sixth of October Pinzon asked that the course might +be changed to the southwest. But Columbus held on. On the seventh +the Nina was ahead, and fired a gun and hoisted her flag in token +that she saw land. But again they were disappointed. Columbus +gave directions to keep close order at sunrise and sunset. The +next day he did change the course to west southwest, following +flights of birds from the north which went in that direction. On +the eighth "the sea was like the river at Seville," the weeds +were very few and they took land birds on board the ships. On the +ninth they sailed southwest five leagues, and then with a change +of wind went west by north. All night they heard the birds of +passage passing. + +On the tenth of October the men made remonstrance, which has been +exaggerated in history into a revolt. It is said, in books of +authority, that Columbus begged them to sail west only three days +more. But in the private journal of the tenth he says simply: +"The seamen complained of the length of the voyage. They did not +wish to go any farther. The Admiral did his best to renew their +courage, and reminded them of the profits which would come to +them. He added, boldly, that no complaints would change his +purpose, that he had set out to go to the Indies, and that with +the Lord's assistance he should keep on until he came there." +This is the only passage in the journal which has any resemblance +to the account of the mutiny. + +If it happened, as Oviedo says, three days before the discovery, +it would have been on the eighth of October. On that day the +entry is, "Steered west southwest, and sailed day and night +eleven or twelve leagues--at times, during the night, fifteen +miles an hour--if the log can be relied upon. Found the sea like +the river at Seville, thanks to God. The air was as soft as that +of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to +breathe it. The weeds appeared very fresh. Many land birds, one +of which they took, flying towards the southwest, also grajaos, +ducks and a pelican were seen." + +This is not the account of a mutiny. And the discovery of +Columbus's own journal makes that certain, which was probable +before, that the romantic account of the despair of the crews was +embroidered on the narrative after the event, and by people who +wanted to improve the story. It was, perhaps, borrowed from a +story of Diaz's voyage. We have followed the daily record to show +how constantly they supposed, on the other hand, that they were +always nearing land. + +With the eleventh of October, came certainty. The eleventh is +sometimes spoken of as the day of discovery, and sometimes the +twelfth, when they landed on the first island of the new world. + +The whole original record of the discovery is this: "Oct. 11, +course to west and southwest. Heavier sea than they had known, +pardelas and a green branch near the caravel of the Admiral. From +the Pinta they see a branch of a tree, a stake and a smaller +stake, which they draw in, and which appears to have been cut +with iron, and a piece of cane. Besides these, there is a land +shrub and a little bit of board. The crew of the Nina saw other +signs of land and a branch covered with thorns and flowers. With +these tokens every-one breathes again and is delighted. They sail +twenty-seven leagues on this course. + +"The Admiral orders that they shall resume a westerly course at +sunset. They make twelve miles each hour; up till two hours after +midnight they made ninety miles. + +"The Pinta, the best sailer of the three, was ahead. She makes +signals, already agreed upon, that she has discovered land. A +sailor named Rodrigo de Triana was the first to see this land. +For the Admiral being on the castle of the poop of the ship at +ten at night really saw a light, but it was so shut in by +darkness that he did not like to say that it was a sign of land. +Still he called up Pedro Gutierrez, the king's chamberlain, and +said to him that there seemed to be a light, and asked him to +look. He did so and saw it. He said the same to Rodrigo Sanchez +of Segovia, who had been sent by the king and queen as inspector +in the fleet, but he saw nothing, being indeed in a place where +he could see nothing. + +"After the Admiral spoke of it, the light was seen once or twice. +It was like a wax candle, raised and lowered, which would appear +to few to be a sign of land. But the Admiral was certain that it +was a sign of land. Therefore when they said the "Salve," which +all the sailors are used to say and sing in their fashion, the +Admiral ordered them to look out well from the forecastle, and he +would give at once a silk jacket to the man who first saw land, +besides the other rewards which the sovereigns had ordered, which +were 10,000 maravedis, to be paid as an annuity forever to the +man who saw it first. + +"At two hours after midnight land appeared, from which they were +about two leagues off." + +This is the one account of the discovery written at the time. It +is worth copying and reading at full in its little details, for +it contrasts curiously with the embellished accounts which appear +in the next generation. Thus the historian Oviedo says, in a +dramatic way: + +"One of the ship boys on the largest ship, a native of Lepe, +cried 'Fire!' 'Land!' Immediately a servant of Columbus replied, +'The Admiral had said that already.' Soon after, Columbus said, +'I said so some time ago, and that I saw that fire on the land.' +" And so indeed it happened that Thursday, at two hours after +midnight, the Admiral called a gentleman named Escobedos, officer +of the wardrobe of the king, and told him that he saw fire. And +at the break of day, at the time Columbus had predicted the day +before, they saw from the largest ship the island which the +Indians call Guanahani to the north of them. + +"And the first man to see the land, when day came, was Rodrigo of +Triana, on the eleventh day of October, 1492." Nothing is more +certain than that this was really on the twelfth. + +The reward for first seeing land was eventually awarded to +Columbus, and it was regularly paid him through his life. It was +the annual payment of 10,000 maravedis. A maravedi was then a +little less than six cents of our currency. The annuity was, +therefore, about six hundred dollars a year. + +The worth of a maravedi varied, from time to time, so that the +calculations of the value of any number of maravedis are very +confusing. Before the coin went out of use it was worth only half +a cent. + + + +CHAPTER IV. +THE LANDING ON THE TWELFTH OF OCTOBER--THE NATIVES AND THEIR +NEIGHBORS--SEARCH FOR GOLD--CUBA DISCOVERED--COLUMBUS COASTS +ALONG ITS SHORES. + +It was on Friday, the twelfth of October, that they saw this +island, which was an island of the Lucayos group, called, says +Las Casas, "in the tongue of the Indians, Guanahani." Soon they +saw people naked, and the Admiral went ashore in the armed boat, +with Martin Alonzo Pinzon and, Vicente Yanez, his brother, who +was captain of the Nina. The Admiral unfurled the Royal Standard, +and the captain's two standards of the Greek Cross, which the +Admiral raised on all the ships as a sign, with an F. and a Y.; +over each letter a crown; one on one side of the {"iron cross +symbol"} and the other on the other. When they were ashore they +saw very green trees and much water, and fruits of different +kinds. + +"The Admiral called the two captains and the others who went +ashore, and Rodrigo Descovedo, Notary of the whole fleet, and +Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, and he said that they must give him +their faith and witness how he took possession before all others, +as in fact he did take possession of the said island for the king +and the queen, his lord and lady. . . . Soon many people of the +island assembled. These which follow are the very words of the +Admiral, in his book of his first navigation and discovery of +these Indies." + +October 11-12. "So that they may feel great friendship for us, +and because I knew that they were a people who would be better +delivered and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force, +I gave to some of them red caps and glass bells which they put +round their necks, and many other things of little value, in +which they took much pleasure, and they remained so friendly to +us that it was wonderful. + +"Afterwards they came swimming to the ship's boats where we were. +And they brought us parrots and cotton-thread in skeins, and +javelins and many other things. And they bartered them with us +for other things, which we gave them, such as little glass beads +and little bells. In short, they took everything, and gave of +what they had with good will. But it seemed to me that they were +a people very destitute of everything. + +"They all went as naked as their mothers bore them, and the women +as well, although I only saw one who was really young. And all +the men I saw were young, for I saw none more than thirty years +of age; very well made, with very handsome persons, and very good +faces; their hair thick like the hairs of horses' tails, and cut +short. They bring their hair above their eyebrows, except a +little behind, which they wear long, and never cut. Some of them +paint themselves blackish (and they are of the color of the +inhabitants of the Canaries, neither black nor white), and some +paint themselves white, and some red, and some with whatever they +can get. And some of them paint their faces, and some all their +bodies, and some only the eyes, and some only the nose. + +"They do not bear arms nor do they know them, for I showed them +swords and they took them by the edge, and they cut themselves +through ignorance. They have no iron at all; their javelins are +rods without iron, and some of them have a fish's tooth at the +end, and some of them other things. They are all of good stature, +and good graceful appearance, well made. I saw some who had scars +of wounds in their bodies, and I made signs to them [to ask] what +that was, and they showed me how people came there from other +islands which lay around, and tried to take them captive and they +defended themselves. And I believed, and I [still] believe, that +they came there from the mainland to take them for captives. + +"They would be good servants, and of good disposition, for I see +that they repeat very quickly everything which is said to them. +And I believe that they could easily be made Christians, for it +seems to me that they have no belief. I, if it please our Lord, +will take six of them to your Highnesses at the time of my +departure, so that they may learn to talk. No wild creature of +any sort have I seen, except parrots, in this island." + +All these are the words of the Admiral, says Las Casas. The +journal of the next day is in these words: + +Saturday, October 13. "As soon as the day broke, many of these +men came to the beach, all young, as I have said, and all of good +stature, a very handsome race. Their hair is not woolly, but +straight and coarse, like horse hair, and all with much wider +foreheads and heads than any other people I have seen up to this +time. And their eyes are very fine and not small, and they are +not black at all, but of the color of the Canary Islanders. And +nothing else could be expected, since it is on one line of +latitude with the Island of Ferro, in the Canaries. + +"They came to the ship with almadias,[*] which are made of the +trunk of a tree, like a long boat, and all of one piece--and made +in a very wonderful manner in the fashion of the country--and +large enough for some of them to hold forty or forty-five men. +And others are smaller, down to such as hold one man alone. They +row with a shovel like a baker's, and it goes wonderfully well. +And if it overturns, immediately they all go to swimming and they +right it, and bale it with calabashes which they carry. + +[*] Arabic word for raft or float; here it means canoes. + + +"They brought skeins of spun cotton, and parrots, and javelins, +and other little things which it would be wearisome to write +down, and they gave everything for whatever was given to them. + +"And I strove attentively to learn whether there were gold. And I +saw that some of them had a little piece of gold hung in a hole +which they have in their noses. And by signs I was able to +understand that going to the south, or going round the island to +the southward, there was a king there who had great vessels of +it, and had very much of it. I tried to persuade them to go +there; and afterward I saw that they did not understand about +going.[*] + +[*] To this first found land, called by the natives Guanahani, +Columbus gave the name of San Salvador. There is, however, great +doubt whether this is the island known by that name on the maps. +Of late years the impression has generally been that the island +thus discovered is that now known as Watling's island. In 1860 +Admiral Fox, of the United States navy, visited all these +islands, and studied the whole question anew, visiting the +islands himself and working backwards to the account of +Columbus's subsequent voyage, so as to fix the spot from which +that voyage began. Admiral Fox decides that the island of +discovery was neither San Salvador nor Watling's island, but the +Samana island of the same group. The subject is so curious that +we copy his results at more length in the appendix. + + +"I determined to wait till the next afternoon, and then to start +for the southwest, for many of them told me that there was land +to the south and southwest and northwest, and that those from the +northwest came often to fight with them, and so to go on to the +southwest to seek gold and precious stones. + +"This island is very large and very flat and with very green +trees, and many waters, and a very large lake in the midst, +without any mountain. And all of it is green, so that it is a +pleasure to see it. And these people are so gentle, and desirous +to have our articles and thinking that nothing can be given them +unless they give something and do not keep it back. They take +what they can, and at once jump [into the water] and swim [away]. +But all that they have they give for whatever is given them. For +they barter even for pieces of porringus, and of broken glass +cups, so that I saw sixteen skeins of cotton given for three +Portuguese centis, that is a blanca of Castile, and there was +more than twenty-five pounds of spun cotton in them. This I shall +forbid, and not let anyone take [it]; but I shall have it all +taken for your Highnesses, if there is any quantity of it. + +"It grows here in this island, but for a short time I could not +believe it at all. And there is found here also the gold which +they wear hanging to their noses; but so as not to lose time I +mean to go to see whether I can reach the island of Cipango. + +"Now as it was night they all went ashore with their almadias." + +Sunday, October 14. "At daybreak I had the ship's boat and the +boats of the caravels made ready, and I sailed along the island, +toward the north-northeast, to see the other port, * * * * what +there was [there], and also to see the towns, and I soon saw two +or three, and the people, who all were coming to the shore, +calling us and giving thanks to God. Some brought us water, +others things to eat. Others, when they saw that I did not care +to go ashore, threw themselves into the sea and came swimming, +and we understood that they asked us if we had come from heaven. +And an old man came into the boat, and others called all [the +rest] men and women, with a loud voice: 'Come and see the men who +have come from heaven; bring them food and drink.' + +"There came many of them and many women, each one with something, +giving thanks to God, casting themselves on the ground, and +raising their heads toward heaven. And afterwards they called us +with shouts to come ashore. + +"But I feared [to do so], for I saw a great reef of rocks which +encircles all that island. And in it there is bottom and harbor +for as many ships as there are in all Christendom, and its +entrance very narrow. It is true that there are some shallows +inside this ring, but the sea is no rougher than in a well. + +"And I was moved to see all this, this morning, so that I might +be able to give an account of it all to your Highnesses, and also +[to find out] where I might make a fortress. And I saw a piece of +land formed like an island, although it is not one, in which +there were six houses, which could be cut off in two days so as +to become an island; although I do not see that it is necessary, +as this people is very ignorant of arms, as your Highnesses will +see from seven whom I had taken, to carry them off to learn our +speech and to bring them back again. But your Highnesses, when +you direct, can take them all to Castile, or keep them captives +in this same island, for with fifty men you can keep them all +subjected, and make them do whatever you like. + +"And close to the said islet are groves of trees, the most +beautiful I have seen, and as green and full of leaves as those +of Castile in the months of April and May, and much water. + +"I looked at all that harbor and then I returned to the ship and +set sail, and I saw so many islands that I could not decide to +which I should go first. And those men whom I had taken said to +me by signs that there were so very many that they were without +number, and they repeated by name more than a hundred. At last I +set sail for the largest one, and there I determined to go. And +so I am doing, and it will be five leagues from the island of San +Salvador, and farther from some of the rest, nearer to others. +They all are very flat, without mountains and very fertile, and +all inhabited. And they make war upon each other although they +are very simple, and [they are] very beautifully formed." + +Monday, October 15, Columbus, on arriving at the island for which +he had set sail, went on to a cape, near which he anchored at +about sunset. He gave the island the name of Santa Maria de la +Concepcion.[*] + +[*] This is supposed to be Caico del Norte. + + +"At about sunset I anchored near the said cape to know if there +were gold there, for the men whom I had taken at the Island of +San Salvador told me that there they wore very large rings of +gold on their legs and arms. I think that all they said was for a +trick, in order to make their escape. However, I did not wish to +pass by any island without taking possession of it. + +"And I anchored, and was there till today, Tuesday, when at the +break of day I went ashore with the armed boats, and landed. + +"They [the inhabitants], who were many, as naked and in the same +condition as those of San Salvador, let us land on the island, +and gave us what we asked of them. + +* * * "I set out for the ship. And there was a large almadia +which had come to board the caravel Nina, and one of the men from +we Island of San Salvador threw himself into the sea, took this +boat, and made off; and the night before, at midnight, another +jumped out. And the almadia went back so fast that there never +was a boat which could come up with her, although we had a +considerable advantage. It reached the shore, and they left the +almadia, and some of my company landed after them, and they all +fled like hens. + +"And the almadia, which they had left, we took to the caravel +Nina, to which from another headland there was coming another +little almadia, with a man who came to barter a skein of cotton. +And some of the sailors threw themselves into the sea, because he +did not wish to enter the caravel, and took him. And I, who was +on the stern of the ship, and saw it all, sent for him and gave +him a red cap and some little green glass beads which I put on +his arm, and two small bells which I put at his ears, and I had +his almadia returned, * * * and sent him ashore. + +And I set sail at once to go to the other large island which I +saw at the west, and commanded the other almadia to be set +adrift, which the caravel Nina was towing astern. And then I saw +on land, when the man landed, to whom I had given the above +mentioned things (and I had not consented to take the skein of +cotton, though he wished to give it to me), all the others went +to him and thought it a great wonder, and it seemed to them that +we were good people, and that the other man, who had fled, had +done us some harm, and that therefore we were carrying him off. +And this was why I treated the other man as I did, commanding him +to be released, and gave him the said things, so that they might +have this opinion of us, and so that another time, when your +Highnesses send here again, they may be well disposed. And all +that I gave him was not worth four maravedis." + +Columbus had set sail at ten o'clock for a "large island" he +mentions, which he called Fernandina, where, from the tales of +the Indian captives, he expected to find gold. Half way between +this island and Santa Maria, he met with "a man alone in an +almadia which was passing" [from one island to the other], "and +he was carrying a little of their bread, as big as one's fist, +and a calabash of water and a piece of red earth made into dust, +and then kneaded, and some dry leaves, which must be a thing much +valued among them, since at San Salvador they brought them to me +as a present.[*] And he had a little basket of their sort, in +which he had a string of little glass bells and two blancas, by +which I knew that he came from the Island of San Salvador. * * * +He came to the ship; I took him on board, for so he asked, and +made him put his almadia in the ship, and keep all he was +carrying. And I commanded to give him bread and honey to eat, and +something to drink. + +[*] Was this perhaps tobacco? + + +"And thus I will take him over to Fernandina, and I will give him +all his property so that he may give good accounts of us, so +that, if it please our Lord, when your Highnesses send there, +those who come may receive honor, and they may give us of all +they have." + +Columbus continued sailing for the island he named Fernandina, +now called Inagua Chica. There was a calm all day and he did not +arrive in time to anchor safely before dark. He therefore waited +till morning, and anchored near a town. Here the man had gone, +who had been picked up the day before, and he had given such good +accounts that all night long the ship had been boarded by +almadias, bringing supplies. Columbus directed some trifle to be +given to each of the islanders, and that they should be given +"honey of sugar" to eat. He sent the ship's boat ashore for water +and the inhabitants not only pointed it out but helped to put the +water-casks on board. + +"This people," he says, "is like those of the aforesaid islands, +and has the same speech and the same customs, except that these +seem to me a somewhat more domestic race, and more intelligent. * +* * And I saw also in this island cotton cloths made like +mantles. * * * + +"It is a very green island and flat and very fertile, and I have +no doubt that all the year through they sow panizo (panic-grass) +and harvest it, and so with everything else. And I saw many +trees, of very different form from ours, and many of them which +had branches of many sorts, and all on one trunk. And one branch +is of one sort and one of another, and so different that it is +the greatest wonder in the world. * * * One branch has its leaves +like canes, and another like the lentisk; and so on one tree five +or six of these kinds; and all so different. Nor are they +grafted, for it might be said that grafting does it, but they +grow on the mountains, nor do these people care for them. * * * + +"Here the fishes are so different from ours that it is wonderful. +There are some like cocks of the finest colors in the world, +blue, yellow, red and of all colors, and others painted in a +thousand ways. And the colors are so fine that there is no man +who does not wonder at them and take great pleasure in seeing +them. Also, there are whales. As for wild creatures on shore, I +saw none of any sort, except parrots and lizards; a boy told me +that he saw a great snake. Neither sheep nor goats nor any other +animal did I see; although I have been here a very short time, +that is, half a day, but if there had been any I could not have +failed to see some of them." * * * + +Wednesday, October 17. He left the town at noon and prepared to +sail round the island. He had meant to go by the south and +southeast. But as Martin Alonzo Pinzon, captain of the Pinta, had +heard, from one of the Indians he had on board, that it would be +quicker to start by the northwest, and as the wind was favorable +for this course, Columbus took it. He found a fine harbor two +leagues further on, where he found some friendly Indians, and +sent a party ashore for water. "During this time," he says, "I +went [to look at] these trees, which were the most beautiful +things to see which have been seen; there was as much verdure in +the same degree as in the month of May in Andalusia, and all the +trees were as different from ours as the day from the night. And +so [were] the fruits, and the herbs, and the stones and +everything. The truth is that some trees had a resemblance to +others which there are in Castile, but there was a very great +difference. And other trees of other sorts were such that there +is no one who could * * * liken them to others of Castile. * * * + +"The others who went for water told me how they had been in their +houses, and that they were very well swept and clean, and their +beds and furniture [made] of things which are like nets of +cotton.[*] Their houses are all like pavilions, and very high and +good chimneys.[**] +[*] They are called Hamacas. + +[**] Las Casas says they were not meant for smoke but as a crown, +for they have no opening below for the smoke. + + +"But I did not see, among many towns which I saw, any of more +than twelve or fifteen houses. * * * And there they had dogs. * * +* And there they found one man who had on his nose a piece of +gold which was like half a castellano, on which there were cut +letters.[*] I blamed them for not bargaining for it, and giving +as much as was asked, to see what it was, and whose coin it was; +and they answered me that they did not dare to barter it." + +[*] A castellano was a piece of gold, money, weighing about +one-sixth of an ounce. + + +He continued towards the northwest, then turned his course to the +east-southeast, east and southeast. The weather being thick and +heavy, and "threatening immediate rain. So all these days since I +have been in these Indies it has rained little or much." + +Friday, October 19. Columbus, who had not landed the day before, +now sent two caravels, one to the east and southeast and the +other to the south-southeast, while he himself, with the Santa +Maria, the SHIP, as he calls it, went to the southeast. He +ordered the caravels to keep their courses till noon, and then +join him. This they did, at an island to the east, which he named +Isabella, the Indians whom he had with him calling it Saomete. It +has been supposed to be the island now called Inagua Grande. + +"All this coast," says the Admiral, "and the part of the island +which I saw, is all nearly flat, and the island the most +beautiful thing I ever saw, for if the others are very beautiful +this one is more so." He anchored at a cape which was so +beautiful that he named it Cabo Fermoso, the Beautiful Cape, "so +green and so beautiful," he says, "like all the other things and +lands of these islands, that I do not know where to go first, nor +can I weary my eyes with seeing such beautiful verdure and so +different from ours. And I believe that there are in them many +herbs and many trees, which are of great value in Spain for dyes +[or tinctures] and for medicines of spicery. But I do not know +them, which I greatly regret. And as I came here to this cape +there came such a good and sweet odor of flowers or trees from +the land that it was the sweetest thing in the world." + +He heard that there was a king in the interior who wore clothes +and much gold, and though, as he says, the Indians had so little +gold that whatever small quantity of it the king wore it would +appear large to them, he decided to visit him the next day. He +did not do so, however, as he found the water too shallow in his +immediate neighborhood, and then had not enough wind to go on, +except at night. + +Sunday morning, October 21, he anchored, apparently more to the +west, and after having dined, landed. He found but one house, +from which the inhabitants were absent; he directed that nothing +in it should be touched. He speaks again of the great beauty of +the island, even greater than that of the others he had seen. +"The singing of the birds," he says, "seems as if a man would +never seek to leave this place, and the flocks of parrots which +darken the sun, and fowls and birds of so many kinds and so +different from ours that it is wonderful. And then there are +trees of a thousand sorts, and all with fruit of their kinds. And +all have such an odor that it is wonderful, so that I am the most +afflicted man in the world not to know them." + +They killed a serpent in one of the lakes upon this island, which +Las Casas says is the Guana, or what we call the Iguana. + +In seeking for good water, the Spaniards found a town, from which +the inhabitants were going to fly. But some of them rallied, and +one of them approached the visitors. Columbus gave him some +little bells and glass beads, with which he was much pleased. The +Admiral asked him for water, and they brought it gladly to the +shore in calabashes. + +He still wished to see the king of whom the Indians had spoken, +but meant afterward to go to "another very great island, which I +believe must be Cipango, which they call Colba." This is probably +a mistake in the manuscript for Cuba, which is what is meant. It +continues, "and to that other island which they call Bosio" +(probably Bohio) "and the others which are on the way, I will see +these in passing. * * * But still, I am determined to go to the +mainland and to the city of Quisay and to give your Highnesses' +letters to the Grand Khan, and seek a reply and come back with +it." + +He remained at this island during the twenty-second and +twenty-third of October, waiting first for the king, who did not +appear, and then for a favorable wind. "To sail round these +islands," he says, "one needs many sorts of wind, and it does not +blow as men would like." At midnight, between the twenty-third +and twenty-fourth, he weighed anchor in order to start for Cuba. + +"I have heard these people say that it was very large and of +great traffic," he says, "and that there were in it gold and +spices, and great ships and merchants. And they showed me that I +should go to it by the west-southwest, and I think so. For I +think that if I may trust the signs which all the Indians of +these islands have made me, and those whom I am carrying in the +ships, for by the tongue I do not understand them, it (Cuba) is +the Island of Cipango,[*] of which wonderful things are told, and +on the globes which I have seen and in the painted maps, it is in +this district." + +[*] This was the name the old geographers gave to Japan. + + +The next day they saw seven or eight islands, which are supposed +to be the eastern and southern keys of the Grand Bank of Bahama. +He anchored to the south of them on the twenty-sixth of October, +and on the next day sailed once more for Cuba. + +On Sunday, October 28, he arrived there, in what is now called +the Puerto de Nipe; he named it the Puerto de San Salvador. Here, +as he went on, he was again charmed by the beautiful country. He +found palms "of another sort," says Las Casas, "from those of +Guinea, and from ours." He found the island the "most beautiful +which eyes have seen, full of very good ports and deep rivers," +and that apparently the sea is never rough there, as the grass +grows down to the water's edge. This greenness to the sea's edge +is still observed there. "Up till that time," says Las Casas, ,he +had not experienced in all these islands that the sea was rough." +He had occasion to learn about it later. He mentions also that +the island is mountainous. + + + +CHAPTER V. +LANDING ON CUBA--THE CIGAR AND TOBACCO--CIPANGO AND THE GREAT +KHAN--FROM CUBA TO HAYTI--ITS SHORES AND HARBORS. + +When Columbus landed, at some distance farther along the coast, +he found the best houses he had yet seen, very large, like +pavilions, and very neat within; not in streets but set about +here and there. They were all built of palm branches. Here were +dogs which never barked (supposed to be the almiqui), wild birds +tamed in the houses and "wonderful arrangements of nets,[*] and +fish-hooks and fishing apparatus. There were also carved masks +and other images. Not a thing was touched." The inhabitants had +fled. + +[*] These were probably hammocks. + + +He went on to the northwest, and saw a cape which he named Cabo +de Palmas. The Indians on board the Pinta said that beyond this +cape was a river and that at four days' journey from this was +what they called "Cuba." Now they had been coasting along the +Island of Cuba for two or three days. But Martin Pinzon, the +captain of the Pinta, understood this Cuba to be a city, and that +this land was the mainland, running far to the north. Columbus +until he died believed that it was the mainland. + +Martin Pinzon also understood that the king of that land was at +war with the Grand Khan, whom they called Cami. The Admiral +determined to go to the river the Indians mentioned, and to send +to the king the letter of the sovereigns. He meant to send with +it a sailor who had been to Guinea, and some of the Guanahani +Indians. He was encouraged, probably, by the name of Carni, in +thinking that he was really near the Grand Khan. + +He did not, however, send off these messengers at once, as the +wind and the nature of the coast proved unfit for his going up +the river the Indians had spoken of. He went back to the town +where he had been two days before. + +Once more he found that the people had fled, but "after a good +while a man appeared," and the Admiral sent ashore one of the +Indians he had with him. This man shouted to the Indians on shore +that they must not be afraid, as these were good people, and did +harm to no man, nor did they belong to the Grand Khan, but they +gave, of what they had, in many islands where they had been. He +now jumped into the sea and swam ashore, and two of the +inhabitants took him in their arms and brought him to a house +where they asked him questions. When he had reassured them, they +began to come out to the ships in their canoes, with "spun cotton +and others of their little things." But the Admiral commanded +that nothing should be taken from them, so that they might know +that he was seeking nothing but gold, or, as they called it, +nucay. + +He saw no gold here, but one of them had a piece of wrought +silver hanging to his nose. They made signs, that before three +days many merchants would come from the inland country to trade +with the Spaniards, and that they would bring news from the king, +who, according to their signs, was four days' journey away. "And +it is certain" says the Admiral, "that this is the mainland, and +that I am before Zayto and Quinsay, a hundred leagues more or +less from both of them, and this is clearly shown by the tide, +which comes in a different manner from that in which it has done +up to this time; and yesterday when I went to the northwest I +found that it was cold." + +Always supposing that he was near Japan, which they called +Cipango, Columbus continued to sail along the northern coast of +Cuba and explored about half that shore. He then returned to the +east, governed by the assurances of the natives that on an island +named Babegue he would find men who used hammers with which to +beat gold into ingots. This gold, as he understood them, was +collected on the shore at night, while the people lighted up the +darkness with candles. + +At the point where he turned back, he had hauled his ships up on +the shore to repair them. From this point, on the second of +November, he sent two officers inland, one of whom was a Jew, who +knew Chaldee, Hebrew and a little Arabic, in the hope that they +should find some one who could speak these languages. With them +went one of the Guanahani Indians, and one from the neighborhood. + +They returned on the night between the fifth and sixth of +November. Twelve leagues off they had found a village of about +fifty large houses, made in the form of tents. This village had +about a thousand inhabitants, according to the explorers. They +had received the ambassadors with cordial kindness, believing +that they had descended from heaven. + +They even took them in their arms and thus carried them to the +finest house of all. They gave them seats, and then sat round +them on the ground in a circle. They kissed their feet and hands, +and touched them, to make sure whether they were really men of +flesh and bone. + +It was on this expedition that the first observation was made of +that gift of America to the world, which has worked its way so +deep and far into general use. They met men and women who +"carried live coals, so as to draw into their mouths the smoke of +burning herbs." This was the account of the first observers. But +Las Casas says that the dry herbs were wrapped in another leaf as +dry. He says that "they lighted one end of the little stick thus +formed, and sucked in or absorbed the smoke by the other, with +which," he says, "they put their flesh to sleep, and it nearly +intoxicates them, and thus they say that they feel no fatigue. +These mosquetes, as we should call them, they call tobacos. I +knew Spaniards on this Island of Hispaniola who were accustomed +to take them, who, on being reproved for it as a vice, replied +that it was not in their power (in their hand) to leave off +taking them. I do not know what savour or profit they found in +them." This is clearly a cigar. + +The third or fourth of November, then, 1892, with the addition of +nine days to change the style from old to new, may be taken by +lovers of tobacco as the fourth centennial of the day when +Europeans first learned the use of the cigar. + +On the eleventh of November the repairs were completed. + +He says that the Sunday before, November 11 it had seemed to him +that it would be good to take some persons, from those of that +river, to carry to the sovereigns, so that "they might learn our +tongue, so as to know what there is in the country, and so that +when they come back they may be tongues to the Christians, and +receive our customs and the things of the faith. Because I saw +and know," says the Admiral, "that this people has no religion +(secta) nor are they idolaters, but very mild and without knowing +what evil is, nor how to kill others, nor how to take them, and +without arms, and so timorous that from one of our men ten of +them fly, although they do sport with them, and ready to believe +and knowing that there is a God in heaven, and sure that we have +come from heaven; and very ready at any prayer which we tell them +to repeat, and they make the sign of the cross. + +"So your Highnesses should determine to make them Christians, for +I believe that if they begin, in a short time they will have +accomplished converting to our holy faith a multitude of towns." +"Without doubt there are in these lands the greatest quantities +of gold, for not without cause do these Indians whom I am +bringing say that there are places in these isles where they dig +out gold and wear it on their necks, in their ears and on their +arms and legs, and the bracelets are very thick. + +"And also there are stones and precious pearls, and unnumbered +spices. And in this Rio de Mares, from which I departed last +night, without doubt there is the greatest quantity of mastic, +and there might be more if more were desired. For the trees, if +planted, take root, and there are many of them and very great and +they have the leaf like a lentisk, and their fruit, except that +the trees and the fruit are larger, is such as Pliny describes, +and I have seen in the Island of Chios in the Archipelago. + +"And I had many of these trees tapped to see if they would send +out resin, so as to draw it out. And as it rained all the time I +was at the said river, I could not get any of it, except a very +little which I am bringing to your Highnesses. And besides, it +may be that it is not the, time to tap them, for I believe that +this should be done at the time when the trees begin to leave out +from the winter and seek to send out their flowers, and now they +have the fruit nearly ripe. + +"And also here there might be had a great store of cotton, and I +believe that it might be sold very well here without taking it to +Spain, in the great cities of the Great Khan, which will +doubtless be discovered, and many others of other lords, who will +then have to serve your Highnesses. And here will be given them +other things from Spain, from the lands of the East, since these +are ours in the West. + +"And here there is also aloes everywhere, although this is not a +thing to make great account of, but the mastic should be well +considered, because it is not found except in the said island of +Chios, and I believe that they get from it quite 50,000 ducats if +I remember aright. And this is the best harbor which I have seen +thus far--deep and easy of access, so that this would be a good +place for a large town." + +The notes in Columbus's journals are of the more interest and +value, because they show his impressions at the moment when he +wrote. However mistaken those impressions, he never corrects them +afterwards. Although, while he was in Cuba, he never found the +Grand Khan, he never recalls the hopes which he has expressed. + +He had discovered the island on its northern side by sailing +southwest from the Lucayos or Bahamas. From the eleventh of +November until the sixth of December he was occupied in coasting +along the northern shore, eventually returning eastward, when he +crossed the channel which parts Cuba from Hayti. + +The first course was east, a quarter southeast, and on the +sixteenth, they entered Port-au-Prince, and took possession, +raising a cross there. At Port-au-Prince, to his surprise, he +found on a point of rock two large logs, mortised into each other +in the shape of a cross, so "that you would have said a carpenter +could not have proportioned them better." + +On the nineteenth the course was north-northeast; on the +twenty-first they took a course south, a quarter southwest, +seeking in these changes the island of "Babeque," which the +Indians had spoken of as rich with gold. On the day last named +Pinzon left the Admiral in the Pinta, and they did not meet again +for more than a month. + +Columbus touched at various points on Cuba and the neighboring +islands. He sought, without success, for pearls, and always +pressed his inquiries for gold. He was determined to find the +island of Bohio, greatly to the terror of the poor Indians, whom +he had on board: they said that its natives had but one eye, in +the middle of their foreheads, and that they were well armed and +ate their prisoners. + +He landed in the bay of Moa, and then, keeping near the coast, +sailed towards the Capo del Pico, now called Cape Vacz. At Puerto +Santo he was detained some days by bad weather. On the fourth of +December he continued his eastward voyage, and on the next day +saw far off the mountains of Hayti, which was the Bohio he sought +for. + + + +CHAPTER VI. +DISCOVERY OF HAYTI OR HISPANIOLA--THE SEARCH FOR +GOLD--HOSPITALITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE NATIVES--CHRISTMAS +DAY--A SHIPWRECK--COLONY TO BE FOUNDED--COLUMBUS SAILS EAST AND +MEETS MARTIN PINZON--THE TWO VESSELS RETURN TO EUROPE +--STORM--THE AZORES--PORTUGAL--HOME. + +On the sixth of December they crossed from the eastern cape of +Cuba to the northwestern point of the island, which we call Hayti +or San Domingo. He says he gave it this name because "the plains +appeared to him almost exactly like those of Castile, but yet +more beautiful." + +He coasted eastward along the northern side of the island, hoping +that it might be the continent, and always inquiring for gold +when he landed; but the Indians, as before, referred him to yet +another land, still further south, which they still called Bohio. +It was not surrounded by water, they said. The word "caniba," +which is the origin of our word "cannibal," and refers to the +fierce Caribs, came often into their talk. The sound of the +syllable can made Columbus more sure that he was now approaching +the dominions of the Grand Khan of eastern Asia, of whom Marco +Polo had informed Europe so fully. + +On the twelfth of the month, after a landing in which a cross had +been erected, three sailors went inland, pursuing the Indians. +They captured a young woman whom they brought to the fleet. She +wore a large ring of gold in her nose. She was able to understand +the other Indians whom they had on board. Columbus dressed her, +gave her some imitation pearls, rings and other finery, and then +put her on shore with three Indians and three of his own men. + +The men returned the next day without going to the Indian +village. Columbus then sent out nine men, with an Indian, who +found a town of a thousand huts about four and a half leagues +from the ship. They thought the population was three thousand. +The village in Cuba is spoken of as having twenty people to a +house. Here the houses were smaller or the count of the numbers +extravagant. The people approached the explorers carefully, and +with tokens of respect. Soon they gained confidence and brought +out food for them: fish, and bread made from roots, "which tasted +exactly as if it were made of chestnuts." + +In the midst of this festival, the woman, who had been sent back +from the ship so graciously, appeared borne on the shoulders of +men who were led by her husband. + +The Spaniards thought these natives of St. Domingo much whiter +than those of the other islands. Columbus says that two of the +women, if dressed in Castilian costume, would be counted to be +Spaniards. He says that the heat of the country is intense, and +that if these people lived in a cooler region they would be of +lighter color. + +On the fourteenth of December he continued his voyage eastward, +and on the fifteenth landed on the little island north of Hayti, +which he called Tortuga, or Turtle island. At midnight on the +sixteenth he sailed, and landed on Hispaniola again. Five hundred +Indians met him, accompanied by their king, a fine young man of +about twenty years of age. He had around him several counselors, +one of whom appeared to be his tutor. To the steady questions +where gold could be found, the reply as steady was made that it +was in "the Island of Babeque." This island, they said, was only +two days off, and they pointed out the route. The interview ended +in an offer by the king to the Admiral of all that he had. The +explorers never found this mysterious Babeque, unless, as Bishop +Las Casas guessed, Babeque and Jamaica be the same. + +The king visited Columbus on his ship in the evening, and +Columbus entertained him with European food. With so cordial a +beginning of intimacy, it was natural that the visitors should +spend two or three days with these people. The king would not +believe that any sovereigns of Castile could be more powerful +than the men he saw. He and those around him all believed that +they came direct from heaven. + +Columbus was always asking for gold. He gave strict orders that +it should always be paid for, when it was taken. To the islanders +it was merely a matter of ornament, and they gladly exchanged it +for the glass beads, the rings or the bells, which seemed to them +more ornamental. One of the caciques or chiefs, evidently a man +of distinction and authority, had little bits of gold which he +exchanged for pieces of glass. It proved that he had clipped them +off from a larger piece, and he went back into his cabin, cut +that to pieces, and then exchanged all those in trade for the +white man's commodities. Well pleased with his bargain, he then +told the Spaniards that he would go and get much more and would +come and trade with them again. + +On the eighteenth of December, the wind not serving well, they +waited the return of the chief whom they had first seen. In the +afternoon he appeared, seated in a palanquin, which was carried +by four men, and escorted by more than two hundred of his people. +He was accompanied by a counselor and preceptor who did not leave +him. He came on board the ship when Columbus was at table. He +would not permit him to leave his place, and readily took a seat +at his side, when it was offered. Columbus offered him European +food and drink; he tasted of each, and then gave what was offered +to his attendants. The ceremonious Spaniards found a remarkable +dignity in his air and gestures. After the repast, one of his +servants brought a handsome belt, elegantly wrought, which he +presented to Columbus, with two small pieces of gold, also +delicately wrought. + +Columbus observed that this cacique looked with interest on the +hangings of his ship-bed, and made a present of them to him, in +return for his offering, with some amber beads from his own neck, +some red shoes and a flask of orange flower water. + +On the nineteenth, after these agreeable hospitalities, the +squadron sailed again, and on the twentieth arrived at a harbor +which Columbus pronounced the finest he had ever seen. The +reception he met here and the impressions he formed of Hispaniola +determined him to make a colony on that island. It may be said +that on this determination the course of his after life turned. +This harbor is now known as the Bay of Azul. + +The men, whom he sent on shore, found a large village not far +from the shore, where they were most cordially received. The +natives begged the Europeans to stay with them, and as it proved, +Columbus accepted the invitation for a part of his crew. On the +first day three different chiefs came to visit him, in a friendly +way, with their retinues. The next day more than a hundred and +twenty canoes visited the ship, bringing with them such presents +as the people thought would be acceptable. Among these were bread +from the cassava root, fish, water in earthen jars, and the seeds +of spices. These spices they would stir in with water to make a +drink which they thought healthful. + +On the same day Columbus sent an embassy of six men to a large +town in the interior. The chief by giving his hand "to the +secretary" pledged himself for their safe return. + +The twenty-third was Sunday. It was spent as the day before had +been, in mutual civilities. The natives would offer their +presents, and say "take, take," in their own language. Five +chiefs were among the visitors of the day. From their accounts +Columbus was satisfied that there was much gold in the island, as +indeed, to the misery and destruction of its inhabitants, there +proved to be. He thought it was larger than England. But he was +mistaken. In his journal of the next day he mentions Civao, a +land to the west, where they told him that there was gold, and +again he thought he was approaching Cipango, or Japan. + +The next day he left these hospitable people, raising anchor in +the morning, and with a light land wind continued towards the +west. At eleven in the evening Columbus retired to rest. While he +slept, on Christmas Day, there occurred an accident which changed +all plans for the expedition so far as any had been formed, and +from which there followed the establishment of the ill-fated +first colony. The evening was calm when Columbus himself retired +to sleep, and the master of the vessel followed his example, +entrusting the helm to one of the boys. Every person on the ship, +excepting this boy, was asleep, and he seems to have been awake +to little purpose. + +The young steersman let the ship drift upon a ridge of rock, +although, as Columbus says, indignantly, there were breakers +abundant to show the danger. So soon as she struck, the boy cried +out, and Columbus was the first to wake. He says, by way of +apology for himself, that for thirty-six hours he had not slept +until now. The master of the ship followed him. But it was too +late. The tide, such as there was, was ebbing, and the Santa +Maria was hopelessly aground. Columbus ordered the masts cut +away, but this did not relieve her. + +He sent out his boat with directions to carry aft an anchor and +cable, but its crew escaped to the Nina with their tale of +disaster. The Nina's people would not receive them, reproached +them as traitors, and in their own vessel came to the scene of +danger. Columbus was obliged to transfer to her the crew of the +Santa Maria. + +So soon as it was day, their friendly ally, Guacanagari, came on +board. With tears in his eyes, he made the kindest and most +judicious offers of assistance. He saw Columbus's dejection, and +tried to relieve him by expressions of his sympathy. He set aside +on shore two large houses to receive the stores that were on the +Santa Maria, and appointed as many large canoes as could be used +to remove these stores to the land. He assured Columbus that not +a bit of the cargo or stores should be lost, and this loyal +promise was fulfilled to the letter. + +The weather continued favorable. The sea was so light that +everything on board the Santa Maria was removed safely. Then it +was that Columbus, tempted by the beauty of the place, by the +friendship of the natives, and by the evident wishes of his men, +determined to leave a colony, which should be supported by the +stores of the Santa Maria, until the rest of the party could go +back to Spain and bring or send reinforcements. The king was well +pleased with this suggestion, and promised all assistance for the +plan. A vault was dug and built, in which the stores could be +placed, and on this a house was built for the home of the +colonists, so far as they cared to live within doors. + +The chief sent a canoe in search of Martin Pinzon and the Pinta, +to tell them of the disaster. But the messengers returned without +finding them. At the camp, which was to be a city, all was +industriously pressed, with the assistance of the friendly +natives. Columbus, having no vessel but the little Nina left, +determined to return to Europe with the news of his discovery, +and to leave nearly forty men ashore. + +It would appear that the men, themselves, were eager to stay. The +luxury of the climate and the friendly overtures of the people +delighted them, They had no need to build substantial houses. So +far as houses were needed, those of the natives were sufficient. +All the preparations which Columbus thought necessary were made +in the week between the twenty-sixth of December and the second +of January. On that day he expected to sail eastward, but +unfavorable winds prevented. + +He landed his men again, and by the exhibition of a pretended +battle with European arms, he showed the natives the military +force of their new neighbors. He fired a shot from an arquebuse +against the wreck of the Santa Maria, so that the Indians might +see the power of his artillery. The Indian chief expressed his +regret at the approaching departure, and the Spaniards thought +that one of his courtiers said that the chief had ordered him to +make a statue of pure gold as large as the Admiral. + +Columbus explained to the friendly chief that with such arms as +the sovereigns of Castile commanded they could readily destroy +the dreaded Caribs. And he thought he had made such an impression +that the islanders would be the firm friends of the colonists. + +"I have bidden them build a solid tower and defense, over a +vault. Not that I think this necessary against the natives, for I +am satisfied that with a handful of people I could conquer the +whole island, were it necessary, although it is, as far as I can +judge, larger than Portugal, and twice as thickly peopled." In +this cheerful estimate of the people Columbus was wholly wrong, +as the sad events proved before the year had gone by. + +He left thirty-nine men to be the garrison of this fort; and the +colony which was to discover the mine of gold. In command he +placed Diego da Arana, Pedro Gutierres and Rodrigo de Segovia. To +us, who have more experience of colonies and colonists than he +had had, it does not seem to promise well that Rodrigo was "the +king's chamberlain and an officer of the first lord of the +household." Of these three, Diego da Arana was to be the +governor, and the other two his lieutenants. The rest were all +sailors, but among them there were Columbus's secretary, an +alguazil, or person commissioned in the civil service at home, an +"arquebusier," who was also a good engineer, a tailor, a ship +carpenter, a cooper and a physician. So the little colony had its +share of artificers and men of practical skill. They all staid +willingly, delighted with the prospects of their new home. + +On the third of January Columbus sailed for Europe in the little +Nina. With her own crew and the addition she received from the +Santa Maria, she must have been badly crowded. Fortunately for +all parties, on Sunday, the third day of the voyage, while they +were still in sight of land, the Pinta came in sight. Martin +Pinzon came on board the Nina and offered excuses for his +absence. Columbus was not really satisfied with them, but he +affected to be, as this was no moment for a quarrel. He believed +that Pinzon had left him, that, in the Pinta, he might be alone +when he discovered the rich gold-bearing island of Babeque or +Baneque. Although the determination was made to return, another +week was spent in slow coasting, or in waiting for wind. It +brought frequent opportunities for meeting the natives, in one of +which they showed a desire to take some of their visitors +captive. This would only have been a return for a capture made by +Pinzon of several of their number, whom Columbus, on his meeting +Pinzon, had freed. In this encounter two of the Indians were +wounded, one by a sword, one by an arrow. It would seem that he +did not show them the power of firearms. + +This was in the Bay of Samana, which Columbus called "The Bay of +Arrows," from the skirmish or quarrel which took place there. +They then sailed sixty-four miles cast, a quarter northeast, and +thought they saw the land of the Caribs, which he was seeking. +But here, at length, his authority over his crew failed. The men +were eager to go home;--did not, perhaps, like the idea of fight +with the man-eating Caribs. There was a good western wind, and on +the evening of the sixteenth of January Columbus gave way and +they bore away for home. + +Columbus had satisfied himself in this week that there were many +islands east of him which he had not hit upon, and that to the +easternmost of these, from the Canaries, the distance would prove +not more than four hundred leagues. In this supposition he was +wholly wrong, though a chain of islands does extend to the +southeast. + +He seems to have observed the singular regularity by which the +trade winds bore him steadily westward as he came over. He had no +wish to visit the Canary Islands again, and with more wisdom than +could have been expected, from his slight knowledge of the +Atlantic winds, he bore north. Until the fourteenth of February +the voyage was prosperous and uneventful. One day the captive +Indians amused the sailors by swimming. There is frequent mention +of the green growth of the Sargasso sea. But on the fourteenth +all this changed. The simple journal thus describes the terrible +tempest which endangered the two vessels, and seemed, at the +moment, to cut off the hope of their return to Europe. + +"Monday, February 14.--This night the wind increased still more; +the waves were terrible. Coming from two opposite directions, +they crossed each other, and stopped the progress of the vessel, +which could neither proceed nor get out from among them; and as +they began continually to break over the ship, the Admiral caused +the main-sail to be lowered. She proceeded thus during three +hours, and made twenty miles. The sea became heavier and heavier, +and the wind more and more violent. Seeing the danger imminent, +he allowed himself to drift in whatever direction the wind took +him, because he could do nothing else. Then the Pinta, of which +Martin Alonzo Pinzon was the commander, began to drift also; but +she disappeared very soon, although all through the night the +Admiral made signals with lights to her, and she answered as long +as she could, till she was prevented, probably by the force of +the tempest, and by her deviation from the course which the +Admiral followed." Columbus did not see the Pinta again until she +arrived at Palos. He was himself driven fifty-four miles towards +the northeast. + +The journal continues. "After sunrise the strength of the wind +increased, and the sea became still more terrible. The Admiral +all this time kept his mainsail lowered, so that the vessel might +rise from among the waves which washed over it, and which +threatened to sink it. The Admiral followed, at first, the +direction of east-northeast, and afterwards due northeast. He +sailed about six hours in this direction, and thus made seven +leagues and a half. He gave orders that every sailor should draw +lots as to who should make a pilgrimage to Santa Maria of +Guadeloupe, to carry her a five-pound wax candle. And each one +took a vow that he to whom the lot fell should make the +pilgrimage. + +"For this purpose, he gave orders to take as many dry peas as +there were persons in the ship, and to cut, with a knife, a cross +upon one of them, and to put them all into a cap, and to shake +them up well. The first who put his hand in was the Admiral. He +drew out the dry pea marked with the cross; so it was upon him +that the lot fell, and he regarded himself, after that, as a +pilgrim, obliged to carry into effect the vow which he had thus +taken. They drew lots a second time, to select a person to go as +pilgrim to Our Lady of Lorette, which is within the boundaries of +Ancona, making a part of the States of the Church: it is a place +where the Holy Virgin has worked and continues to work many and +great miracles. The lot having fallen this time upon a sailor of +the harbor of Santa Maria, named Pedro de Villa, the Admiral +promised to give him all the money necessary for the expenses. He +decided that a third pilgrim should be sent to watch one night at +Santa Clara of Moguer, and to have a mass said there. For this +purpose, they again shook up the dry peas, not forgetting that +one which was marked with the cross, and the lot fell once again +to the Admiral himself. He then took, as did all his crew, the +vow that, on the first shore which they might reach, they would +go in their shirts, in a procession, to make a prayer in some +church in invocation of Our Lady." + +"Besides the general vows, or those taken by all in common, each +man made his own special vow, because nobody expected to escape. +The storm which they experienced was so terrible, that all +regarded themselves as lost; what increased the danger was the +circumstance that the vessel lacked ballast, because the +consumption of food, water and wine had greatly diminished her +load. The hope of the continuance of weather as fine as that +which they had experienced in all the islands, was the reason why +the Admiral had not provided his vessel with the proper amount of +ballast. Moreover, his plan had been to ballast it in the Women's +Island, whither he had from the first determined to go. The +remedy which the Admiral employed was to fill with sea water, as +soon as possible, all the empty barrels which had previously held +either wine or fresh water. In this way the difficulty was +remedied. + +"The Admiral tells here the reasons for fearing that our Saviour +would allow him to become the victim of this tempest, and other +reasons which made him hope that God would come to his +assistance, and cause him to arrive safe and sound, so that +intelligence such as that which he was conveying to the king and +queen would not perish with him. The strong desire which he had +to be the bearer of intelligence so important, and to prove the +truth of all which he had said, and that all which he had tried +to discover had really been discovered, seemed to contribute +precisely to inspire him with the greatest fear that he could not +succeed. He confessed, himself, that every mosquito that passed +before his eyes was enough to annoy and trouble him. He +attributed this to his little faith, and his lack of confidence +in Divine Providence. On the other hand, he was re-animated by +the favors which God had shown him in granting to him so great a +triumph as that which he had achieved, in all his discoveries, in +fulfilling all his wishes, and in granting that, after having +experienced in Castile so many rebuffs and disappointments, all +his hopes should at last be more than surpassed. In one word, as +the sovereign master of the universe, had, in the outset, +distinguished him in granting all his requests, before he had +carried out his expedition for God's greatest glory, and before +it had succeeded, he was compelled to believe now that God would +preserve him to complete the work which he had begun." Such is +Las Casas's abridgment of Columbus's words. + +"For which reasons he said he ought to have had no fear of the +tempest that was raging. But his weakness and anguish did not +leave him a moment's calm. He also said that his greatest grief +was the thought of leaving his two boys orphans. They were at +Cordova, at their studies. What would become of them in a strange +land, without father or mother? for the king and queen, being +ignorant of the services he had rendered them in this voyage, and +of the good news which he was bringing to them, would not be +bound by any consideration to serve as their protectors. + +"Full of this thought, he sought, even in the storm, some means +of apprising their highnesses of the victory which the Lord had +granted him, in permitting him to discover in the Indies all +which he had sought in his voyage, and to let them know that +these coasts were free from storms, which is proved, he said, by +the growth of herbage and trees even to the edge of the sea. With +this purpose, that, if he perished in this tempest, the king and +queen might have some news of his voyage, he took a parchment and +wrote on it all that he could of his discoveries, and urgently +begged that whoever found it would carry it to the king and +queen. He rolled up this parchment in a piece of waxed linen, +closed this parcel tightly, and tied it up securely; he had +brought to him a large wooden barrel, within which he placed it, +without anybody's knowing what it was. Everybody thought the +proceeding was some act of devotion. He then caused it to be +thrown into the sea."[*] + +[*] Within a few months, in the summer of 1890, a well known +English publisher has issued an interesting and ingenious +edition, of what pretended to be a fac simile of this document. +The reader is asked to believe that the lost barrel has just now +been found on the western coast of England. But publishers and +purchasers know alike that this is only an amusing suggestion of +what might have been. + + +The sudden and heavy showers, and the squalls which followed some +time afterwards, changed the wind, which turned to the west. They +had the wind thus abaft, and he sailed thus during five hours +with the foresail only, having always the troubled sea, and made +at once two leagues and a half towards the northeast. He had +lowered the main topmast lest a wave might carry it away. + +With a heavy wind astern, so that the sea frequently broke over +the little Nina, she made eastward rapidly, and at daybreak on +the fifteenth they saw land. The Admiral knew that he had made +the Azores, he had been steadily directing the course that way; +some of the seamen thought they were at Madeira, and some hopeful +ones thought they saw the rock of Cintra in Portugal. Columbus +did not land till the eighteenth, when he sent some men on shore, +upon the island of Santa Maria. His news of discovery was at +first received with enthusiasm. + +But there followed a period of disagreeable negotiation with +Castaneda, the governor of the Azores. Pretending great courtesy +and hospitality, but really acting upon the orders of the king of +Portugal, he did his best to disable Columbus and even seized +some of his crew and kept them prisoners for some days. When +Columbus once had them on board again, he gave up his plans for +taking ballast and water on these inhospitable islands, and +sailed for Europe. + +He had again a stormy passage. Again they were in imminent +danger. "But God was good enough to save him. He caused the crew +to draw lots to send to Notre Dame de la Cintra, at the island of +Huelva, a pilgrim who should come there in his shirt. The lot +fell upon himself. All the crew, including the Admiral, vowed to +fast on bread and water on the first Saturday which should come +after the arrival of the vessel. He had proceeded sixty miles +before the sails were torn; then they went under masts and +shrouds on account of the unusual strength of the wind, and the +roughness of the sea, which pressed them almost on all sides. +They saw indications of the nearness of the land; they were in +fact, very near Lisbon." + +At Lisbon, after a reception which was at first cordial, the +Portuguese officers showed an inhospitality like that of +Castaneda at the Azores. But the king himself showed more dignity +and courtesy. He received the storm-tossed Admiral with +distinction, and permitted him to refit his shattered vessel with +all he needed. Columbus took this occasion to write to his own +sovereigns. + +On the thirteenth he sailed again, and on the fifteenth entered +the bay and harbor of Palos, which he had left six months and a +half before. He had sailed on Friday. He had discovered America +on Friday. And on Friday he safely returned to his home. + +His journal of the voyage ends with these words: "I see by this +voyage that God has wonderfully proved what I say, as anybody may +convince himself, by reading this narrative, by the signal +wonders which he has worked during the course of my voyage, and +in favor of myself, who have been for so long a time at the court +of your Highnesses in opposition and contrary to the opinions of +so many distinguished personages of your household, who all +opposed me, treating my project as a dream, and my undertaking as +a chimera. And I hope still, nevertheless, in our Lord, this +voyage will bring the greatest honor to Christianity, although it +has been performed with so much ease." + + + +CHAPTER VII. +COLUMBUS IS CALLED TO MEET THE KING AND QUEEN--HIS MAGNIFICENT +RECEPTION--NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POPE AND WITH THE KING OF +PORTUGAL--SECOND EXPEDITION ORDERED--FONSECA--THE PREPARATIONS AT +CADIZ. + +The letter which Columbus sent from Lisbon to the king and queen +was everywhere published. It excited the enthusiasm first of +Spain and then of the world. This letter found in the earlier +editions is now one of the most choice curiosities of libraries. +Well it may be, for it is the first public announcement of the +greatest event of modern history. + +Ferdinand and Isabella directed him to wait upon them at once at +court. It happened that they were then residing at Barcelona, on +the eastern coast of Spain, so that the journey required to +fulfill their wishes carried him quite across the kingdom. It was +a journey of triumph. The people came together in throngs to meet +this peaceful conqueror who brought with him such amazing +illustrations of his discovery. + +The letter bearing instructions for him to proceed to Barcelona +was addressed "To Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of the +Ocean Sea, Viceroy and Governor of the islands discovered in the +Indies." So far was he now raised above the rank of a poor +adventurer, who had for seven years attended the court in its +movements, seeking an opportunity to explain his proposals. + +As he approached Barcelona he was met by a large company of +people, including many persons of rank. A little procession was +formed of the party of the Admiral. Six Indians of the islands +who had survived the voyage, led the way. They were painted +according to their custom in various colors, and ornamented with +the fatal gold of their countries, which had given to the +discovery such interest in the eyes of those who looked on. + +Columbus had brought ten Indians away with him, but one had died +on the voyage and he had left three sick at Palos. Those whom he +brought to Barcelona, were baptized in presence of the king and +queen. + +After the Indians, were brought many curious objects which had +come from the islands, such as stuffed birds and beasts and +living paroquets, which perhaps spoke in the language of their +own country, and rare plants, so different from those of Spain. +Ornaments of gold were displayed, which would give the people +some idea of the wealth of the islands. Last of all came +Columbus, elegantly mounted and surrounded by a brilliant +cavalcade of young Spaniards. The crowd of wondering people +pressed around them. Balconies and windows were crowded with +women looking on. Even the roofs were crowded with spectators. + +The king and queen awaited Columbus in a large hall, where they +were seated on a rich dais covered with gold brocade. It was in +the palace known as the "Casa de la Deputacion" which the kings +of Aragon made their residence when they were in Barcelona. A +body of the most distinguished lords and ladies of Spain were in +attendance. As Columbus entered the hall the king and queen +arose. He fell on his knee that he might kiss their hands but +they bade him rise and then sit and give an account of his +voyage. + +Columbus spoke with dignity and simplicity which commanded +respect, while all listened with sympathy. He showed some of the +treasures he had brought, and spoke with certainty of the +discoveries which had been made, as only precursors of those yet +to come. When his short narrative was ended, all the company +knelt and united in chanting the "Te Deum," "We Praise Thee, O +God." Las Casas, describing the joy and hope of that occasion +says, "it seems as if they had a foretaste of the joys of +paradise." + +It would seem as if those whose duty it is to prepare fit +celebrations of the periods of the great discovery, could hardly +do better than to produce on the twenty-fourth of April, 1893, a +reproduction of the solemn pageant in which, in Barcelona, four +centuries before, the Spanish court commemorated the great +discovery. + +From this time, for several weeks, a series of pageants and +festivities surrounded him. At no other period of his life were +such honors paid to him. It was at one of the banquets, at which +he was present, that the incident of the egg, so often told in +connection with the great discovery, took place. A flippant +courtier--of that large class of people who stay at home when +great deeds are done, and afterwards depreciate the doers of +them--had the impertinence to ask Columbus, if the adventure so +much praised was not, after all, a very simple matter. He +probably said "a short voyage of four or five weeks; was it +anything more?" Columbus replied by giving him an egg which was +on the table, and asking him if he could stand it on one end. He +said he could not, and the other guests said that they could not. +Columbus tapped it on the table so as to break the end of the +shell, and the egg stood erect. "It is easy enough," he said, +"when any one has shown you how." + +It is well to remember, that if after years showed that the ruler +of Spain wearied in his gratitude, Columbus was, at the time, +welcomed with the enthusiasm which he deserved. From the very +grains of gold brought home in this first triumph, the queen, +Isabella, had the golden illumination wrought of a most beautiful +missal-book. + +Distinguished artists decorated the book, and the portraits of +sovereigns then on the throne appear as the representations of +King David, King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and other royal +personages. This book she gave afterwards to her grandson, +Charles V, of whom it has been said that perhaps no man in modern +times has done the world more harm. + +This precious book, bearing on its gilded leaves the first fruits +of America, is now preserved in the Royal Library at Madrid. + +The time was not occupied merely in shows and banquets. There was +no difficulty now, about funds for a second expedition. +Directions were given that it might be set forward as quickly as +possible, and on an imposing scale. For it was feared at court +that King John of Portugal, the successful rival of Spain, thus +far, in maritime adventure, might anticipate further discovery. +The sovereigns at once sent an embassy to the pope, not simply to +announce the discovery, but to obtain from him a decree +confirming similar discoveries in the same direction. There was +at least one precedent for such action. A former pope had granted +to Portugal all the lands it might discover in Africa, south of +Cape Bojador, and the Spanish crown had assented by treaty to +this arrangement. Ferdinand and Isabella could now refer to this +precedent, in asking for a grant to them of their discoveries on +the western side of the Atlantic. The pope now reigning was +Alexander II. He had not long filled the papal chair. He was an +ambitious and prudent sovereign--a native of Spain--and, although +he would gladly have pleased the king of Portugal, he was quite +unwilling to displease the Spanish sovereigns. The Roman court +received with respect the request made to them. The pope +expressed his joy at the hopes thrown out for the conversion of +the heathen, which the Spanish sovereigns had expressed, as +Columbus had always done. And so prompt were the Spanish +requests, and so ready the pope's answer, that as early as May 3, +1493, a papal bull was issued to meet the wishes of Spain. + +This bull determined for Spain and for Portugal, that all +discoveries made west of a meridian line one hundred leagues west +of the Azores should belong to Spain. All discoveries east of +that line should belong to Portugal. No reference was made to +other maritime powers, and it does not seem to have been supposed +that other states had any rights in such matters. The line thus +arranged for the two nations was changed by their own agreement, +in 1494, for a north and south line three hundred and fifty +leagues west of the Cape de Verde Islands. The difference between +the two lines was not supposed to be important. + +The decision thus made was long respected. Under a mistaken +impression as to the longitude of the Philippine Islands in the +East Indies, Spain has held those islands, under this line of +division, ever since their discovery by Magellan. She considered +herself entitled to all the islands and lands between the +meridian thus drawn in the Atlantic and the similar meridian one +hundred and eighty degrees away, on exactly the other side of the +world. + +Under the same line of division, Portugal held, for three +centuries and more, Brazil, which projects so far eastward into +the Atlantic as to cross this line of division. + +Fearful, all the time, that neither the pope's decree, nor any +diplomacy would prevent the king of Portugal from attempting to +seize lands at the west, the Spanish court pressed with eagerness +arrangements for a second expedition. It was to be on a large and +generous scale and to take out a thousand men. For this was the +first plan, though the number afterwards was increased to fifteen +hundred. To give efficiency to all the measures of colonization, +what we should call a new department of administration was +formed, and at the head of it was placed Juan Rodriguez de +Fonseca. + +Fonseca held this high and responsible position for thirty years. +He early conceived a great dislike of Columbus, who, in some +transactions before this expedition sailed, appealed to the +sovereigns to set aside a decision of Fonseca's, and succeeded. +For all the period while he managed the Indian affairs of Spain, +Fonseca kept his own interests in sight more closely than those +of Spain or of the colonists; and not Columbus only, but every +other official of Spain in the West Indies, had reason to regret +the appointment. + +The king of Portugal and the sovereigns of Spain began +complicated and suspicious negotiations with each other regarding +the new discoveries. Eventually, as has been said, they acceded +to the pope's proposal and decree. But, at first, distrusting +each other, and concealing their real purposes, in the worst +style of the diplomacy of that time, they attempted treaties for +the adjustment between themselves of the right to lands not yet +discovered by either. Of these negotiations, the important result +was that which has been named,--the change of the meridian of +division from that proposed by the pope. It is curious now to see +that the king of Portugal proposed a line of division, which +would run east and west, so that Spain should have the new +territories north of the latitude of the Grand Canary, and +Portugal all to the south. + +In the midst of negotiation, the king and queen and Columbus knew +that whoever was first on the ground of discovery would have the +great advantage. There was a rumor in Spain that Portugal had +already sent out vessels to the west. Everything was pressed with +alacrity at Cadiz. The expedition was to be under Columbus's +absolute command. Seamen of reputation were engaged to serve +under him. Seventeen vessels were to take out a colony. Horses as +well as cattle and other domestic animals were provided. Seeds +and plants of different kinds were sent out, and to this first +colonization by Spain, America owes the sugar-cane, and perhaps +some other of her tropical productions. + +Columbus remained in Barcelona until the twenty-third of May. But +before that time, the important orders for the expedition had +been given. He then went to Cadiz himself, and gave his personal +attention to the preparations. Applications were eagerly pressed, +from all quarters, for permission to go. Young men of high family +were eager to try the great adventure. It was necessary to +enlarge the number from that at first proposed. The increase of +expense, ordered as the plans enlarged, did not please Fonseca. +To quarrels between him and Columbus at this time have been +referred the persecutions which Columbus afterwards suffered. In +this case the king sustained Columbus in all his requisitions, +and Fonseca was obliged to answer them. + +So rapidly were all these preparations made, that, in a little +more than a year from the sailing of the first expedition, the +second, on a scale so much larger, was ready for sea. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE SECOND EXPEDITION SAILS FROM CADIZ AT CANARY +ISLANDS--DISCOVERY OF DOMINICA AND GUADELOUPE--SKIRMISHES WITH +THE CARIBS--PORTO RICO DISCOVERED--HISPANIOLA--THE FATE OF THE +COLONY AT LA NAVIDAD. + +There is not in history a sharper contrast, or one more dramatic, +than that between the first voyage of Columbus and the second. In +the first voyage, three little ships left the port of Palos, most +of the men of their crews unwilling, after infinite difficulty in +preparation, and in the midst of the fears of all who stayed +behind. + +In the second voyage, a magnificent fleet, equipped with all that +the royal service could command, crowded with eager adventurers +who are excited by expectations of romance and of success, goes +on the very same adventure. + +In the first voyage, Columbus has but just turned the corner +after the struggles and failures of eight years. He is a +penniless adventurer who has staked all his reputation on a +scheme in which he has hardly any support. In the second case, +Columbus is the governor-general, for aught he knows, of half the +world, of all the countries he is to discover; and he knows +enough, and all men around him know enough, to see that his +domain may be a principality indeed. + +Success brings with it its disadvantages. The world has learned +since, if it did not know it then, that one hundred and fifty +sailors, used to the hard work and deprivations of a seafaring +life, would be a much more efficient force for purposes of +discovery, than a thousand and more courtiers who have left the +presence of the king and queen in the hope of personal +advancement or of romantic adventure. Those dainty people, who +would have been soldiers if there were no gunpowder, are not men +to found states; and the men who have lived in the ante-chambers +of courts are not people who co-operate sympathetically with an +experienced man of affairs like Columbus. + +From this time forward this is to be but a sad history, and the +sadness, nay, the cruelty of the story, results largely from the +composition of the body of men whom Columbus took with him on +this occasion. It is no longer coopers and blacksmiths and +boatswains and sailmakers who surround him. These were officers +of court, whose titles even cannot be translated into modern +language, so artificial were their habits and so conventional the +duties to which they had been accustomed. Such men it was, who +made poor Columbus endless trouble. Such men it was, who, at the +last, dragged him down from his noble position, so that he died +unhonored, dispirited and poor. To the same misfortune, probably, +do we owe it that, for a history of this voyage, we have no +longer authority so charming as the simple, gossipy journal which +Columbus kept through the first voyage, of which the greater part +has happily been preserved. It may be that he was too much +pressed by his varied duties to keep up such a journal. For it is +alas! an unfortunate condition of human life, that men are most +apt to write journals when they have nothing to tell, and that in +the midst of high activity, the record of that activity is not +made by the actor. In the present case, a certain Doctor Chanca, +a native of Seville, had been taken on board Columbus's ship, +perhaps with the wish that he should be the historian of the +expedition. It may be that in the fact that his journal was sent +home is the reason why the Admiral's, if he kept one, has never +been preserved. Doctor Chanca's narrative is our principal +contemporary account of the voyage. From later authorities much +can be added to it, but all of them put together are not, for the +purposes of history, equal to the simple contemporaneous +statement which we could have had, had Columbus's own journal +been preserved. + +The great fleet sailed from Cadiz on the twenty-fifth day of +September, in the year 1493, rather more than thirteen months +after the sailing of the little fleet from Palos of the year +before. They touched at the Grand Canary as before, but at this +time their vessels were in good condition and there was no +dissatisfaction among the crews. From this time the voyage across +the ocean was short. On the third day of November, 11 the Sunday +after All Saints Day had dawned, a pilot on the ship cried out to +the captain that he saw land. So great was the joy among the +people, that it was marvellous to hear the shouts of pleasure on +all hands. And for this there was much reason because the people +were so much fatigued by the hard life and by the water which +they drank that they all hoped for land with much desire." + +The reader will see that this is the ejaculation of a tired +landsman; one might say, of a tired scholar, who was glad that +even the short voyage was at an end. Some of the pilots supposed +that the distance which they had run was eight hundred leagues +from Ferro; others thought it was seven hundred and eighty. As +the light increased, there were two islands in sight the first +was mountainous, being the island of "Dominica," which still +retains that name, of the Sunday when it was discovered; the +other, the island of Maria Galante, is more level, but like the +first, as it is described by Dr. Chanca, it was well wooded. The +island received its name from the ship that Columbus commanded. +In all, they discovered six islands on this day. + +Finding no harbor which satisfied him in Dominica, Columbus +landed on the island of Maria Galante, and took possession of it +in the name of the king and queen. Dr. Chanca expresses the +amazement which everyone had felt on the other voyage, at the +immense variety of trees, of fruits and of flowers, which to this +hour is the joy of the traveller in the West Indies. + +"In this island was such thickness of forest that it was +wonderful, and such a variety of trees, unknown to anyone, that +it was terrible, some with fruit, some with flowers, so that +everything was green. * * * There were wild fruits of different +sorts, which some not very wise men tried, and, on merely tasting +them, touching them with their tongues, their faces swelled and +they had such great burning and pain that they seemed to rage (or +to have hydrophobia). They were cured with cold things." This +fruit is supposed to have been the manchireel, which is known to +produce such effects. + +They found no inhabitants on this island and went on to another, +now called Guadeloupe. It received this name from its resemblance +to a province of the same name in Spain. They drew near a +mountain upon it which "seemed to be trying to reach the sky," +upon which was a beautiful waterfall, so white with foam that at +a distance some of the sailors thought it was not water, but +white rocks. The Admiral sent a light caravel to coast along and +find harbor. This vessel discovered some houses, and the captain +went ashore and found the inhabitants in them. They fled at once, +and he entered the houses. There he found that they had taken +nothing away. There was much cotton, "spun and to be spun," and +other goods of theirs, and he took a little of everything, among +other things, two parrots, larger and different from what had +been seen before. He also took four or five bones of the legs and +arms of men. This last discovery made the Spaniards suppose that +these islands were those of Caribs, inhabited by the cannibals of +whom they had heard in the first voyage. + +They went on along the coast, passing by some little villages, +from which the inhabitants fled, "as soon as they saw the sails." +The Admiral decided to send ashore to make investigations, and +next morning "certain captains" landed. At dinnertime some of +them returned, bringing with them a boy of fourteen, who said +that he was one of the captives of the people of the island. The +others divided, and one party "took a little boy and brought him +on board." Another party took a number of women, some of them +natives of the island, and others captives, who came of their own +accord. One captain, Diego Marquez, with his men, went off from +the others and lost his way with his party. After four days he +came out on the coast, and by following that, he succeeded in +coming to the fleet. Their friends supposed them to have been +killed and eaten by the Caribs, as, since some of them were +pilots and able to set their course by the pole-star, it seemed +impossible that they should lose themselves. + +During the first day Columbus spent here, many men and women came +to the water's edge, "looking at the fleet and wondering at such +a new thing; and when any boat came ashore to talk with them, +saying, 'tayno, tayno,' which means good. But they were all ready +to run when they seemed in danger, so that of the men only two +could be taken by force or free-will. There were taken more than +twenty women of the captives, and of their free-will came other +women, born in other islands, who were stolen away and taken by +force. Certain captive boys came to us. In this harbor we were +eight days on account of the loss of the said captain." + +They found great quantities of human bones on shore, and skulls +hanging like pots or cups about the houses. They saw few men. The +women said that this was because ten canoes had gone on a robbing +or kidnapping expedition to other islands. "This people," says +Doctor Chanca, "appeared to us more polite than those who live in +the other islands we have seen, though they all have straw +houses." But he goes on to say that these houses are better made +and provided, and that more of both men's and women's work +appeared in them. They had not only plenty of spun and unspun +cotton, but many cotton mantles, "so well woven that they yield +in nothing (or owe nothing) to those of our country." + +When the women, who had been found captives, were asked who the +people of the island were, they replied that they were Caribs. +When they heard that we abhorred such people for their evil use +of eating men's flesh, they rejoiced much." But even in the +captivity which all shared, they showed fear of their old +masters. + +"The customs of this people, the Caribs," says Dr. Chanca, "are +beastly;" and it would be difficult not to agree with him, in +spite of the "politeness" and comparative civilization he has +spoken of. + +They occupied three islands, and lived in harmony with each +other, but made war in their canoes on all the other islands in +the neighborhood. They used arrows in warfare, but had no iron. +Some of them used arrow-heads of tortoise shell, others sharply +toothed fish-bones, which could do a good deal of damage among +unarmed men. "But for people of our nation, they are not arms to +be feared much." + +These Caribs carried off both men and women on their robbing +expeditions. They slaughtered and ate the men, and kept the women +as slaves; they were, in short, incredibly cruel. Three of the +captive boys ran away and joined the Spaniards. + +They had twice sent out expeditions after the lost captain, Diego +Marquez, and another party had returned without news of him, on +the very day on which he and his men came in. They brought with +them ten captives, boys and women. They were received with great +joy. "He and those that were with him, arrived so DESTROYED BY +THE MOUNTAIN, that it was pitiful to see them. When they were +asked how they had lost themselves, they said that it was the +thickness of the trees, so great that they could not see the sky, +and that some of them, who were mariners, had climbed up the +trees to look at the star (the Pole-star) and that they never +could see it." + +One of the accounts of this voyage[*] relates that the captive +women, who had taken refuge with the Spaniards, were persuaded by +them to entice some of the Caribs to the beach. "But these men, +when they had seen our people, all struck by terror, or the +consciousness of their evil deeds, looking at each other, +suddenly drew together, and very lightly, like a flight of birds, +fled away to the valleys of the woods. Our men then, not having +succeeded in taking any cannibals, retired to the ships and broke +the Indians' canoes." + +[*] That of Peter Martyr. + + +They left Guadeloupe on Sunday, the tenth of November. They +passed several islands, but stopped at none of them, as they were +in haste to arrive at the settlement of La Navidad in Hispaniola, +made on the first voyage. They did, however, make some stay at an +island which seemed well populated. This was that of San Martin. +The Admiral sent a boat ashore to ask what people lived on the +island, and to ask his way, although, as he afterwards found, his +own calculations were so correct that he did not need any help. +The boat's crew took some captives, and as it was going back to +the ships, a canoe came up in which were four men, two women and +a boy. They were so astonished at seeing the fleet, that they +remained, wondering what it could be, "two Lombard-shot from the +ship," and did not see the boat till it was close to them. They +now tried to get off, but were so pressed by the boat that they +could not. "The Caribs, as soon as they saw that flight did not +profit them, with much boldness laid hands on their bows, the +women as well as the men. And I say with much boldness, because +they were no more than four men and two women, and ours more than +twenty-five, of whom they wounded two. To one they gave two +arrow-shots in the breast, and to the other one in the ribs. And +if we had not had shields and tablachutas, and had not come up +quickly with the boat and overturned their canoe, they would have +shot the most of our men with their arrows. And after their canoe +was overturned, they remained in the water swimming, and at times +getting foothold, for there were some shallow places there. And +our men had much ado to take them, for they still kept on +shooting as they could. And with all this, not one of them could +be taken, except one badly wounded with a lance-thrust, who died, +whom thus wounded they carried to the ships." + +Another account of this fight says that the canoe was commanded +by one of the women, who seemed to be a queen, who had a son "of +cruel look, robust, with a lion's face, who followed her." This +account represents the queen's son to have been wounded, as well +as the man who died. "The Caribs differed from the other Indians +in having long hair; the others wore theirs braided and a hundred +thousand differences made in their heads, with crosses and other +paintings of different sorts, each one as he desires, which they +do with sharp canes." The Indians, both the Caribs and the +others, were beardless, unless by a great exception. The Caribs, +who had been taken prisoners here, had their eyes and eyebrows +blackened, "which, it seems to me, they do as an ornament, and +with that they appear more frightful." They heard from these +prisoners of much gold at an island called Cayre. + +They left San Martin on the same day, and passed the island of +Santa Cruz, and the next day (November 15) they saw a great +number of islands, which the Admiral named Santa Ursula and the +Eleven Thousand Virgins. This seemed "a country fit for metals," +but the fleet made no stay there. They did stop for two days at +an island called Burenquen. The Admiral named it San Juan +Bautista (Saint John Baptist). It is what we now call Porto Rico. +He was not able to communicate with any of the inhabitants, as +they lived in such fear of the Caribs that they all fled. All +these islands were new to the Admiral and all "very beautiful and +of very good land, but this one seemed better than all of them." + +On Friday, the twenty-second of November, they landed at the +island of Hispaniola or Hayti which they so much desired. None of +the party who had made the first voyage were acquainted with this +part of the island; but they conjectured what it was, from what +the Indian captive women told them. + +The part of the island where they arrived was called Hayti, +another part Xamana, and the third Bohio. "It is a very singular +country," says Dr. Chanca, "where there are numberless great +rivers and great mountain ridges and great level valleys. I think +the grass never dries in the whole year. I do not think that +there is any winter in this (island) nor in the others, for at +Christmas are found many birds' nests, some with birds, and some +with eggs." The only four-footed animals found in these islands +were what Dr. Chanca calls dogs of various colors, and one animal +like a young rabbit, which climbed trees. Many persons ate these +last and said they were very good. There were many small snakes, +and few lizards, because the Indians were so fond of eating them. +"They made as much of a feast of them as we would do of +pheasants." + +"There are in this island and the others numberless birds, of +those of our country, and many others which never were seen +there. Of our domestic birds, none have ever been seen here, +except that in Zuruquia there were some ducks in the houses, most +of them white as snow, and others black." + +They coasted along this island for several days, to the place +where the Admiral had left his settlement. While passing the +region of Xamana, they set ashore one of the Indians whom they +had carried off on the first voyage. They "gave him some little +things which the Admiral had commanded him to give away." Another +account adds that of the ten Indian men who had been carried off +on the first voyage, seven had already died on account of the +change of air and food. Two of the three whom the Admiral was +bringing back, swam ashore at night. "The Admiral cared for this +but little, thinking that he should have enough interpreters +among those whom he had left in the island, and whom he hoped to +find there again." It seems certain that one Indian remained +faithful to the Spaniards; he was named Diego Colon, after the +Admiral's brother. + +On the day that the captive Indian was set ashore, a Biscayan +sailor died, who had been wounded by the Caribs in the fight +between the boat's crew and the canoe. A boat's crew was sent +ashore to bury him, and as they came to land there came out "many +Indians, of whom some wore gold at the neck and at the ears. They +sought to come with the christians to the ships, and they did not +like to bring them, because they had not had permission from the +Admiral." The Indians then sent two of their number in a little +canoe to one of the caravels, where they were received kindly, +and sent to speak with the Admiral." + +"They said, through an interpreter, that a certain king sent them +to know what people we were, and to ask that we might be kind +enough to land, as they had much gold and would give it to him, +and of what they had to eat. The Admiral commanded silken shirts +and caps and other little things to be given them, and told them +that as he was going where Guacanagari was, he could not stop, +that another time he would be able to see him. And with that, +they (the Indians) went away." + +They stopped two days at a harbor which they called Monte +Christi, to see if it were a suitable place for a town, for the +Admiral did not feel altogether satisfied with the place where +the settlement of La Navidad had been made on the first voyage. +This Monte Christi was near "a great river of very good water" +(the Santiago). But it is all an inundated region, and very unfit +to live in. + +"As they were going along, viewing the river and land, some of +our men found, in a place close by the river, two dead men, one +with: a cord (lazo) around his neck, and the other with one +around his foot. This was the first day. On the next day +following, they found two other dead men farther on than these +others. One of these was in such a position that it could be +known that he had a plentiful beard. Some of our men suspected +more ill than good, and with reason, as the Indians are all +beardless, as I have said." + +This port was not far from the port where the Spanish settlement +had been made on the first voyage, so that there was great reason +for these anxieties. They set sail once more for the settlement, +and arrived opposite the harbor of La Navidad on the +twenty-seventh of November. As they were approaching the harbor, +a canoe came towards them, with five or six Indians on board, +but, as the Admiral kept on his course without waiting for them, +they went back. + +The Spaniards arrived outside the port of La Navidad so late that +they did not dare to enter it that night. "The Admiral commanded +two Lombards to be fired, to see if the christians replied, who +had been left with the said Guacanagari, (this was the friendly +cacique Guacanagari of the first voyage), for they too had +Lombards," "They never replied, nor did fires nor signs of houses +appear in that place, at which the people were much discouraged, +and they had the suspicion that was natural in such a case." + +"Being thus all very sad, when four or five hours of the night +had passed, there came the same canoe which they had seen the +evening before. The Indians in it asked for the Admiral and the +captain of one of the caravels of the first voyage. They were +taken to the Admiral's ship, but would not come on board until +they had "spoken with him and seen him." They asked for a light, +and as soon as they knew him, they entered the ship. They came +from Guacanagari, and one of them was his cousin. + +They brought with them golden masks, one for the Admiral and +another for one of the captains who had been with him on the +first voyage, probably Vicente Yanez Pinzon. Such masks were much +valued among the Indians, and are thought to have been meant to +put upon idols, so that they were given to the Spaniards as +tokens of great respect. The Indian party remained on board for +three hours, conversing with the Admiral and apparently very glad +to see him again. When they were asked about the colonists of La +Navidad, they said that they were all well, but that some of them +had died from sickness, and that others had been killed in +quarrels among themselves. Their own cacique, Guacanagari, had +been attacked by two other chiefs, Caonabo and Mayreni. They had +burned his village, and he had been wounded in the leg, so that +he could not come to meet the Spaniards that night. As the +Indians went away, however, they promised that they would bring +him to visit them the next day. So the explorers remained +"consoled for that night." + +Next day, however, events were less reassuring. None of last +night's party came back and nothing was seen of the cacique. The +Spaniards, however, thought that the Indians might have been +accidentally overturned in their canoe, as it was a small one, +and as wine had been given them several times during their visit. + +While he was still waiting for them, the Admiral sent some of his +men to the place where La Navidad had stood. They found that the +strong fort with a palisade was burned down and demolished. They +also found some cloaks and other clothes which had been carried +off by the Indians, who seemed uneasy, and at first would not +come near the party. + +"This did not appear well" to the Spaniards, as the Admiral had +told them how many canoes had come out to visit him in that very +place on the other voyage. They tried to make friends, however, +threw out to them some bells, beads and other presents, and +finally a relation of the cacique and three others ventured to +the boat, and were taken on board ship. + +These men frankly admitted that the "christians" were all dead. +The Spaniards had been told so the night before by their Indian +interpreter, but they had refused to believe him. They were now +told that the King of Canoaboa[*] and the King Mayreni had killed +them and burned the village. + +[*] "Canoaboa" was thought to mean "Land of Gold." + + +They said, as the others had done, that Guacanagari was wounded +in the thigh and they, like the others, said they would go and +summon him. The Spaniards made them some presents, and they, too, +disappeared. + +Early the next morning the Admiral himself, with a party, +including Dr. Chanca, went ashore. + +"And we went where the town used to be, which we saw all burnt, +and the clothes of the christians were found on the grass there. +At that time we saw no dead body. There were among us many +different opinions, some suspecting that Guacanagari himself was +(concerned) in the betrayal or death of the christians, and to +others it did not appear so, as his town was burnt, so that the +thing was very doubtful." + +The Admiral directed the whole place to be searched for gold, as +he had left orders that if any quantity of it were found, it +should be buried. While this search was being made, he and a few +others went to look for a suitable place for a new settlement. +They arrived at a village of seven or eight houses, which the +inhabitants deserted at once. Here they found many things +belonging to the christians, such as stockings, pieces of cloth, +and "a very pretty mantle which had not been unfolded since it +was brought from Castile." These, the Spaniards thought, could +not have been obtained by barter. There was also one of the +anchors of the ship which had gone ashore on the first voyage. + +When they returned to the site of La Navidad they found many +Indians, who had become bold enough to come to barter gold. They +had shown the place where the bodies of eleven Spaniards lay +"covered already by the grass which had grown over them." They +all "with one voice" said that Canoaboa and Mayreni had killed +them. But as, at the same time, they complained that some of the +christians had taken three Indian wives, and some four, it seemed +likely that a just resentment on the part of the islanders had +had something to do with their death. + +The next day the Admiral sent out a caravel to seek for a +suitable place for a town, and he himself went out to look for +one in a different direction. He found a secure harbor and a good +place for a settlement, But he thought it too far from the place +where he expected to find a gold mine. On his return, he found +the caravel he had sent out. As it was coasting along the island, +a canoe had come out to it, with two Indians on board, one of +whom was a brother of Guacanagari. This man begged the party to +come and visit the cacique. The "principal men" accordingly went +on shore, and found him in bed, apparently suffering from his +wounded thigh, which he showed them in bandages. They judged from +appearances that he was telling them the truth. + +He said to them, "by signs as best be could," that since he was +thus wounded, they were to invite the Admiral to come to visit +him. As they were going away, he gave each of them a golden +jewel, as each "appeared to him to deserve it." "This gold," says +Dr. Chanca, "is made in very delicate sheets, like our gold leaf, +because they use it for making masks and to plate upon bitumen. +They also wear it on the head and for earrings and nose-rings, +and therefore they beat it very thin as they only wear it for its +beauty and not for its value." + +The Admiral decided to go to the cacique on the next day. He was +visited early in the day by his brother, who hurried on the +visit. + +The Admiral went on shore and all the best people (gente de pro) +with him, handsomely dressed, as would be suitable in a capital +city." They carried presents. with them, as they had already +received gold from him. + +"When we arrived, we found him lying in his bed, according to +their custom, hanging in the air, the bed being made of cotton +like a net. He did not rise, but from the bed made a semblance of +courtesy, as best he knew how. He showed much feeling, with tears +in his eyes, at the death of the christians, and began to talk of +it, showing, as best he could, how some died of sickness, and how +others had gone to Canoaboa to seek for the gold mine, and that +they had been killed there, and how the others had been killed in +their town." + +He presented to the Admiral some gold and precious stones. One of +the accounts says that there were eight hundred beads of a stone +called ciba, one hundred of gold, a golden coronet, and three +small calabashes filled with gold dust. Columbus, in return, made +him a present. + +"I and a navy surgeon were there," says Dr. Chanca. "The Admiral +now said that we were learned in the infirmities of men, and +asked if he would show us the wound. He replied that it pleased +him to do so. I said that it would be necessary, if he could, for +him to go out of the house, since with the multitudes of people +it was dark, and we could not see well. He did it immediately, as +I believe, more from timidity than from choice. The surgeon came +to him and began to take off the bandage. Then he said to the +Admiral that the injury was caused by ciba, that is, by a stone. +When it was unbandaged we managed to examine it. It is certain +that he was no more injured in that leg than in the other, +although he pretended that it was very painful." + +The Spaniards did not know what to believe. But it seemed certain +that an attack of some enemy upon these Indians had taken place, +and the Admiral determined to continue upon good terms with them. +Nor did he change this policy toward Guacanagari. How far that +chief had tried to prevent the massacre will never be known. The +detail of the story was never fully drawn from the natives. The +Spaniards had been cruel and licentious in their dealing with the +Indians. They had quarrelled among themselves, and the indignant +natives, in revenge, had destroyed them all. + + + +CHAPTER IX. +THE NEW COLONY--EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY--GUACANAGARI --SEARCH +FOR GOLD--MUTINY IN THE COLONY--THE VESSELS SENT HOME--COLUMBUS +MARCHES INLAND--COLLECTION OF GOLD--FORTRESS OF ST. THOMAS--A NEW +VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY--JAMAICA VISITED--THE SOUTH SHORE OF CUBA +EXPLORED--RETURN --EVANGELISTA DISCOVERED--COLUMBUS FALLS +SICK--RETURN TO ISABELLA. + +Columbus had hoped, with reason, to send back a part of the +vessels which made up his large squadron, with gold collected in +the year by the colonists at La Navidad. In truth, when, in 1501, +the system of gold-washing-had been developed, the colony yielded +twelve hundred pounds of gold in one year. The search for gold, +from the beginning, broke up all intelligent plans for +geographical discovery or for colonization. In this case, it was +almost too clear that there was nothing but bad news to send back +to Spain. Columbus went forward, however, as well as he could, +with the establishment of a new colony, and with the search for +gold. + +He sent out expeditions of discovery to open relations with the +natives, and to find the best places for washing and mining for +gold. Melchior Meldonado commanded three hundred men, in the +first of these expeditions. They came to a good harbor at the +mouth of a river, where they saw a fine house, which they +supposed might be the home of Guacanagari. They met an armed +party of one hundred Indians; but these men put away their +weapons when signals of peace were made, and brought presents in +token of good-will. + +The house to which they went was round, with a hemispherical roof +or dome. It was thirty-two paces in diameter, divided by wicker +work into different rooms. Smaller houses, for persons of rank +lower than the chiefs, surrounded it. The natives told the +explorers that Guacanagari himself had retired to the hills. + +On receiving the report of these explorers Columbus sent out +Ojeda with a hundred men, and Corvalan with a similar party in +different directions. These officers, in their report, described +the operation of gold-washing, much as it is known to explorers +in mining regions to-day. The natives made a deep ditch into +which the gold bearing sand should settle. For more important +work they had flat baskets in which they shook the sand and +parted it from the gold. With the left hand they dipped up sand, +handled this skilfully or "dextrously" with the right hand, so +that in a few minutes they could give grains of gold to the +gratified explorers. Ojeda brought home to Columbus one nugget +which weighed nine ounces. + +They also brought tidings of the King of Canoaboa, of whom they +had heard before, and he is called by the name of Caunebo +himself.[*] He was afterwards carried, as a prisoner or as a +hostage, on the way to Spain; but died on the passage. + +[*] The name is spelled in many different ways. + + +Columbus was able to dispatch the returning ships, with the +encouraging reports brought in by Meldonado and Ojeda, but with +very little gold. But he was obliged to ask for fresh supplies of +food for the colony--even in the midst of the plenty which he +described; for he had found already what all such leaders find, +the difficulty of training men to use food to which they were not +accustomed. He sent also his Carib prisoners, begging that they +might be trained to a knowledge of the christian religion and of +the Spanish language. He saw, already, how much he should need +interpreters. The fleet sailed on the second of February, and its +reports were, on the whole, favorably received. + +Columbus chose for the new city an elevation, ten leagues east of +Monte Christi, and at first gave to his colony the name of +Martha. It is the Isabella of the subsequent history. + +The colonists were delighted with the fertility of the soil under +the tropical climate. Andalusia itself had not prepared them for +it. They planted seeds of peas, beans, lettuces, cabbages and +other vegetables, and declared that they grew more in eight days +than they would have grown in twenty at home. They had fresh +vegetables in sixteen days after they planted them; but for +melons, pumpkins and other fruits of that sort, they are generous +enough to allow thirty days. + +They had carried out roots and suckers of the sugar-cane. In +fifteen days the shoots were a cubit high. A farmer who had +planted wheat in the beginning of February had ripe grain in the +beginning of April; so that they were sure of, at least, two +crops in a year. + +But the fertility of the soil was the only favorable token which +the island first exhibited. The climate was enervating and +sickly. The labor on the new city was hard and discouraging. +Columbus found that his colonists were badly fitted for their +duty, or not fitted for it at all. Court gentlemen did not want +to work. Priests expected to be put on better diet than any other +people. Columbus--though he lost his own popularity--insisted on +putting all on equal fare, in sharing the supplies he had brought +from Spain. It did not require a long time to prove that the +selection of the site of the colony was unfortunate. Columbus +himself gave way to the general disease. While he was ill, a +mutiny broke out which he had to suppress by strong measures. + +Bornal Diaz, who ranked as comptroller of the expedition, and +Fermin Cedo, an assayer, made a plot for seizing the remaining +ships and sailing for Europe. News of the mutiny was brought to +Columbus. He found a document in the writing of Diaz, drawn as a +memorial, accusing Columbus himself of grave crimes. He confined +Diaz on board a ship to be sent to Spain with the memorial. He +punished the mutineers of lower rank. He took the guns and naval +munitions from four of the vessels, and entrusted them all to a +person in whom he had absolute confidence. + +On the report of the exploring parties, four names were given to +as many divisions of the island. Junna was the most western, +Attibunia the most eastern, Jachen the northern and Naiba the +southern. Columbus himself, seeing the fortifications of the city +well begun, undertook, in March, an exploration, of the island, +with a force of five hundred men. + +It was in the course of this exploration that one of the natives +brought in a gold-bearing stone which weighed an ounce. He was +satisfied with a little bell in exchange. He was surprised at the +wonder expressed by the Spaniards, and showing a stone as large +as a pomegranate, he said that he had nuggets of gold as large as +this at his home. Other Indians brought in gold-bearing stones +which weighed more than an ounce. At their homes, also, but not +in sight, alas, was a block of gold as large as an infant's head. + +Columbus himself thought it best to take as many men as he could +into the mountain region. He left the new city under the care of +his brother, Diego, and with all the force of healthy men which +he could muster, making a little army of nearly five hundred men, +he marched away from the sickly seaboard into the interior. The +simple natives were astonished by the display of cavalry and +other men in armor. After a few days of a delightful march, in +the beauty of spring in that country, he entered upon the long +sought Cibao. He relinquished his first idea of founding another +city here, but did build a fortress called St. Thomas, in joking +reference to Cedo and others, who had asserted that these regions +produced no gold. While building this fortress, as it was proudly +called, he sent a young cavalier named Luxan for further +exploration. + +Luxan returned with stories even greater than they had heard of +before, but with no gold, "because he had no orders to do so." He +had found ripe grapes. And at last they had found a region called +Cipangi, cipan signifying stone. This name recalled the memory of +Cipango, or Japan. With tidings as encouraging as this, Columbus +returned to his city. He appointed his brother and Pedro +Margarita governors of the city, and left with three ships for +the further exploration of Cuba, which he had left only partly +examined in his first voyage. He believed that it was the +mainland of Asia. And as has been said, such was his belief till +he died, and that of his countrymen. Cuba was not known to be an +island for many years afterwards. He was now again in the career +which pleased him, and for which he was fitted. He was always ill +at ease in administering a colony, or ruling the men who were +engaged in it. He was happy and contented when he was +discovering. He had been eager to follow the southern coast of +Cuba, as he had followed the north in his first voyage. And now +he had his opportunity. Having commissioned his brother Diego and +Margarita and appointed also a council of four other gentlemen, +he sailed to explore new coasts, on the twenty-fourth of April. + +He was soon tempted from his western course that he might examine +Jamaica, of which he saw the distant lines on the south. "This +island," says the account of the time, "is larger than Sicily. It +has only one mountain, which rises from the coast on every side, +little by little, until you come to the middle of the island and +the ascent is so gradual that, whether you rise or descend, you +hardly know whether you are rising or descending." Columbus found +the island well peopled, and from what he saw of the natives, +thought them more ingenious, and better artificers, than any +Indians he had seen before. But when he proposed to land, they +generally showed themselves prepared to resist him. He therefore +deferred a full examination of the island to his return, and, +with the first favorable wind, pressed on toward the southern +coast of Cuba. He insisted on calling this the "Golden +Chersonesus" of the East. This name had been given by the old +geographers to the peninsula now known as Malacca. + +Crossing the narrow channel between Jamaica and Cuba, he began +coasting that island westward. If the reader will examine the +map, he will find many small keys and islands south of Cuba, +which, before any survey had been made, seriously retarded his +westward course. In every case he was obliged to make a separate +examination to be sure where the real coast of the island was, +all the time believing it was the continent of Asia. One of the +narratives says, with a pardonable exaggeration, that in all this +voyage he thus discovered seven hundred islands. His own estimate +was that he sailed two hundred and twenty-two leagues westward in +the exploration which now engaged him. + +The month of May and the beginning of June were occupied with +such explorations. The natives proved friendly, as the natives of +the northern side of Cuba had proved two years before. They had, +in general, heard of the visit of the Spaniards ; but their +wonder and admiration seem to have been none the less now that +they saw the reality. + +On one occasion the hopes of all the party, that they should find +themselves at the court of the Grand Khan, were greatly +quickened. A Spaniard had gone into a forest alone, hunting. +Suddenly he saw a man clothed in white, or thought he did, whom +he supposed to be a friar of the order of Saint Mary de Mercedes, +who was with the expedition. But, almost immediately, ten other +friars dressed in the same costume, appeared, and then as many as +thirty. The Spaniard was frightened at the multiplication of +their number, it hardly appears why, as they were all men of +peace, or should have been, whatever their number. He called out +to his companions, and bade them escape. But the men in white +called out to him, and waved their hands, as if to assure him +that there was no danger. He did not trust them, however, but +rushed back to the shore and the ship, as fast as he could, to +report what he had seen to the Admiral. + +Here, at last, was reason for hope that they had found one of the +Asiatic missions of the Church. Columbus at once landed a party, +instructing them to go forty miles inland, if necessary, to find +people. But this party found neither path nor roadway, although +the country was rich and fertile. Another party brought back rich +bunches of grapes, and other native fruits. But neither party saw +any friars of the order of Saint Mary. And it is now supposed +that the Spaniard saw a peaceful flock of white cranes. The +traveller Humboldt describes one occasion, in which the town of +Angostura was put to alarm by the appearance of a flock of cranes +known as soldados, or "soldiers," which were, as people supposed, +a band of Indians. + +In his interviews with the natives at one point and another, upon +the coast, Columbus was delighted with their simplicity, their +hospitality, and their kindly dealing with each other. On one +occasion, when the Mass was celebrated, a large number of them +were present, and joined in the service, as well as they could, +with respect and devotion. An old man as much as eighty years +old, as the Spaniards thought, brought to the Admiral a basket +full of fruit, as a present. Then he said, by an interpreter: + +"We have heard how you have enveloped, by your power, all these +countries, and how much afraid of you the people have been. But I +have to exhort you, and to tell you that there are two ways when +men leave this body. One is dark and dismal; it is for those who +have injured the race of men. The other is delightful and +pleasant; it is for those who, while alive, have loved peace and +the repose of mankind. If, then, you remember that you are +mortal, and what these retributions are, you will do no harm to +any one." + +Columbus told him in reply that he had known of the two roads +after death, and that he was well pleased to find that the +natives of these lands knew of them; for he had not expected +this. He said that the king and queen of Spain had sent him with +the express mission of bringing these tidings to them. In +particular, that he was charged with the duty of punishing the +Caribs and all other men of impure life, and of rewarding and +honoring all pure and innocent men. This statement so delighted +the old prophet that he was eager to accompany Columbus on a +mission so noble, and it was only by the urgent entreaty of his +wife and children that he stayed with them. He found it hard to +believe that Columbus was inferior in rank or command to any +other sovereign. + +The beauty of the island and the hospitality of the natives, +however, were not enough to dispose the crews to continue this +exploration further. They were all convinced that they were on +the coast of Asia. Columbus did not mean that afterwards any one +should accuse him of abandoning the discovery of that coast too +soon. Calling to their attention the distance they had sailed, he +sent round a written declaration for the signature of every +person on the ships. Every man and boy put his name to it. It +expressed their certainty that they were on the cape which made +the end of the eastern Indies, and that any one who chose could +proceed thence westward to Spain by land. This extraordinary +declaration was attested officially by a notary, and still +exists. + +It was executed in a bay at the extreme southwestern corner of +Cuba. It has been remarked by Munoz, that at that moment, in that +place, a ship boy at the masthead could have looked over the +group of low islands and seen the open sea, which would have +shown that Cuba was an island. + +The facts, which were controlling, were these, that the vessels +were leaky and the crews sick and discontented. On the thirteenth +of June, Columbus stood to the southeast. He discovered the +island now known as the Island of Pines. He called it +Evangelista. He anchored here and took in water. In an interview, +not unlike that described, in which the old Cuban expressed his +desire to return with Columbus, it is said that an Evangelistan +chief made the same offer, but was withheld by the remonstrances, +of his wife and children. A similar incident is reported in the +visit to Jamaica, which soon followed. Columbus made a careful +examination of that island. Then he crossed to Hispaniola, where, +from the Indians, he received such accounts from the new town of +Isabella as assured him that all was well there. + +With his own indomitable zeal, he determined now to go to the +Carib islands and administer to them the vengeance he had ready. +But his own frame was not strong enough for his will. He sank +exhausted, in a sort of lethargy. The officers of his ship, +supposing he was dying, put about the vessels and the little +squadron arrived, none too soon as it proved, at Isabella. + +He was as resolute as ever in his determination to crush the +Caribs, and prevent their incursions upon those innocent +islanders to whom he had made so many promises of protection. But +he fell ill, and for a short time at least was wholly +unconscious. The officers in command took occasion of his +illness, and of their right to manage the vessels, to turn back +to the city of Isabella. He arrived there "as one half dead," and +his explorations and discoveries for this voyage were thus +brought to an end. To his great delight he found there his +brother Bartholomew, whom he had not seen for eight years. +Bartholomew had accompanied Diaz in the famous voyage in which he +discovered the Cape of Good Hope. Returning to Europe in 1488 he +had gone to England, with a message from Christopher Columbus, +asking King Henry the Seventh to interest himself in the great +adventure he proposed. + +The authorities differ as to the reception which Henry gave to +this great proposal. Up to the present time, no notice has been +found of his visit in the English archives. The earliest notice +of America, in the papers preserved there, is a note of a present +of ten pounds "to hym that found the new land," who was Cabot, +after his first voyage. Bartholomew Columbus was in England on +the tenth of February, 1488; how much later is not known. +Returning from England he staid in France, in the service of +Madama de Bourbon. This was either Anne of Beaujeu, or the widow +of the Admiral Louis de Bourbon. Bartholomew was living in Paris +when he heard of his brother's great discovery. + +He had now been appointed by the Spanish sovereigns to command a +fleet of three vessels, which had been sent out to provision the +new colony. He had sailed from Cadiz on the thirtieth of April, +1494, and he arrived at Isabella on St. John's Day of the same +year. + +Columbus welcomed him with delight, and immediately made him his +first-lieutenant in command of the colony. There needed a strong +hand for the management of the colony, for the quarrels which had +existed before Columbus went on his Cuban voyage had not +diminished in his absence. Pedro Margarita and Father Boil are +spoken of as those who had made the most trouble. They had come +determined to make a fortune rapidly, and they did not propose to +give up such a hope to the slow processes of ordinary +colonization. Columbus knew very well that those who had returned +to Spain had carried with them complaints as to his own course. +He would have been glad on some accounts to return, himself, at +once; but he did not think that the natives of the islands were +sufficiently under the power of the new colony to be left in +safety. + +First of all he sent back four caravels, which had recently +arrived from Europe, with five hundred Indians whom he had taken +as slaves. He consigned them to Juan de Fonseca's care. He was +eager himself to say that he sent them out that they might be +converted, to Christianity, and that they might learn the Spanish +language and be of use as interpreters. But, at the same time, he +pointed out how easy it would be to make a source of revenue to +the Crown from such involuntary emigration. To Isabella's credit +it is to be said, that she protested against the whole thing +immediately; and so far as appears, no further shipments were +made in exactly the same way. But these poor wretches were not +sent back to the islands, as she perhaps thought they were. +Fonseca did not hesitate to sell them, or apprentice them, to use +our modern phrase, and it is said by Bernaldez that they all +died. His bitter phrase is that Fonseca took no more care of them +than if they had been wild animals. + +Columbus did not recover his health, so as to take a very active +part in affairs for five months after his arrival at San Domingo. +He was well aware that the Indians were vigorously organized, +with the intention of driving his people from the island, or +treating the colony as they had treated the colony of Navidad. He +called the chief of the Cipangi, named Guarionexius, for +consultation. The interpreter Didacus, who had served them so +faithfully, married the king's sister, and it was hoped that this +would be a bond of amity between the two nations. + +Columbus sent Ojeda into the gold mountains with fifty armed men +to make an alliance with Canabao. Canabao met this party with a +good deal of perplexity. He undoubtedly knew that he had given +the Spaniards good reason for doubting him. It is said that he +had put to death twenty Spaniards by treasonable means, but it is +to be remembered that this is the statement of his enemies. He, +however, came to Columbus with a large body of his people, all +armed. When he was asked why he brought so large a force with +him, he said that so great a king as he, could not go anywhere +without a fitting military escort. But Ojeda did not hesitate to +take him prisoner and carry him into Isabella, bound. As has been +said, he was eventually sent to Spain, but he died on the +passage. + +Columbus made another fortress, or tower, on the border of King +Guarionexius's country, between his kingdom and Cipango. He gave +to this post the name of the "Tower of the Conception," and meant +it to be a rallying point for the miners and others, in case of +any uprising of the natives against them. This proved to be an +important centre for mining operations. From this place, what we +should call a nugget of gold, which one of the chiefs brought in, +was sent to Spain. It weighed twenty ounces. A good deal of +interest attached also to the discovery of amber, one mass of +which weighed three hundred pounds. Such discoveries renewed the +interest and hope which had been excited in Spain by the first +accounts of Hispaniola. + +Columbus satisfied himself that he left the island really +subdued; and in this impression he was not mistaken. Certain that +his presence in Spain was needed, if he would maintain his own +character against the attacks of the disaffected Spaniards who +had gone before him, he set sail on the Nina on the tenth of +March, taking with him as a consort a caravel which had been +built at Isabella. He did not arrive in Cadiz till the eleventh +of June, having been absent from Spain two years and nine months. + +His return to Spain at this time gave Isabella another +opportunity to show the firmness of her character, and the +determination to which alone belongs success. + +The excitement and popularity which attended the return from the +first voyage had come to an end. Spain was in the period of +reaction. The disappointment which naturally follows undue +expectations and extravagant prophecies, was, in this instance, +confirmed by the return of discontented adventurers. Four hundred +years have accustomed the world to this reflex flow of +disappointed colonists, unable or unwilling to work, who come +back from a new land to say that its resources have been +exaggerated. In this case, where everything was measured by the +standard of gold, it was certainly true that the supply of gold +received from the islands was very small as compared with the +expenses of the expedition which had been sent out. + +Five hundred Indians, who came to be taught the language, +entering Spain as slaves, were but a poor return for the expenses +in which the nation, not to say individuals, had been involved. +The people of Spain, therefore, so far as they could show their +feeling, were prejudiced against Columbus and those who +surrounded him. They heard with incredulity the accounts of Cuba +which he gave, and were quite indifferent to the geographical +theories by which he wanted to prove that it was a part of Asia. +He believed that the rich mines, which he had really found in +Hispaniola, were the same as those of Ophir. But after five years +of waiting, the Spanish public cared but little for such +conjectures. + +As he arrived in Cadiz, he found three vessels, under Nino, about +to sail with supplies. These were much needed, for the relief of +the preceding year, sent out in four vessels, had been lost by +shipwreck. Columbus was able to add a letter of his own to the +governor of Isabella, begging him to conform to the wishes +expressed by the king and queen in the dispatches taken by Nino. +He recommended diligence in exploring the new mines, and that a +seaport should be founded in their neighborhood. At the same time +he received a gracious letter from the king and queen, +congratulating him on his return, and asking him to court as soon +as he should recover from his fatigue. + +Columbus was encouraged by the tone of this letter. He had chosen +to act as if he were in disgrace, and dressed himself in humble +garb, as if he were a Franciscan monk, wearing his beard as the +brethren of those orders do. Perhaps this was in fulfillment of +one of those vows which, as we know, he frequently made in +periods of despondency. + +He went to Burgos, where Ferdinand and Isabella were residing, +and on the way made such a display of treasure as he had done on +the celebrated march to Barcelona. Canabao, the fierce cacique of +Hispaniola, had died on the voyage, but his brother and nephew +still lived, and he took them to the king and queen, glittering +on state occasions with golden ornaments. One chain of gold which +the brother wore, is said to have been worth more than three +thousand dollars of our time. In the procession Columbus carried +various masks and other images, made by the Indians in fantastic +shapes, which attracted the curiosity which in all nations +surrounds the idols of a foreign creed. + +The sovereigns received him cordially. No reference was made to +the complaints of the adventurers who had returned. However the +sovereigns may have been impressed by these, they were still +confident in Columbus and in his merits, and do not seem to have +wished to receive the partial accounts of his accusers. On his +part, he pressed the importance of a new expedition, in order +that they might annex to their dominions the eastern part of +Asia. He wanted for this purpose eight ships. He was willing to +leave two in the island of Hispaniola, and he hoped that he might +have six for a voyage of discovery. The sovereigns assented +readily to his proposal, and at the time probably intended to +carry out his wishes. + +But Spain had something else to do than to annex Asia or to +discover America; and the fulfillment of the promises made so +cordially in 1496, was destined to await the exigencies of +European war and diplomacy. In fact, he did not sail upon the +third expedition for nearly two years after his arrival in Cadiz. + +In the autumn of 1496, an order was given for a sum amounting to +nearly a hundred thousand dollars of our time, for the equipment +of the promised squadron. At the same time Columbus was relieved +from the necessity by which he was bound in his original +contract, to furnish at least one-eighth of the money necessary +in any of these expeditions. This burden was becoming too heavy +for him to bear. It was agreed, however, that in the event of any +profit resulting to the crown, he should be entitled to +one-eighth of it for three ensuing years. This concession must be +considered as an evidence that he was still in favor. At the end +of three years both parties were to fall back upon the original +contract. + +But these noble promises, which must have been so encouraging to +him, could not be fulfilled, as it proved. For the exigencies of +war, the particular money which was to be advanced to Columbus +was used for the repair of a fortress upon the frontier. Instead +of this, Columbus was to receive his money from the gold brought +by Nino on his return. Alas, it proved that a report that he had +returned with so much gold, meant that he had Indian prisoners, +from the sale of whom he expected to realize this money. And poor +Columbus was virtually consigned to building and fitting out his +ship from the result of a slave-trade, which was condemned by +Isabella, and which he knew was wretchedly unprofitable. + +A difficulty almost equally great resulted from the unpopularity +of the expedition. People did not volunteer eagerly, as they had +done, the minds of men being poisoned by the reports of +emigrants, who had gone out in high hope, and had returned +disappointed. It even became necessary to commute the sentences +of criminals who had been sentenced to banishment, so that they +might be transported into the new settlements, where they were to +work without pay. Even these expedients did not much hasten the +progress of the expedition. + +Fonseca, the steady enemy of Columbus, was placed in command +again at this time. The queen was overwhelmed with affliction by +the death of Prince Juan; and it seemed to Columbus and his +friends that every petty difficulty was placed in the way of +preparation. When at length six vessels were fitted for sea, it +was only after the wear and tear of constant opposition from +officials in command; and the expedition, as it proved, was not +what Columbus had hoped for, for his purposes. + +On the thirtieth of May, however, in 1498, he was able to sail. +As this was the period when the Catholic church celebrates the +mystery of the Trinity, he determined and promised that the first +land which he discovered should receive that sacred name. He was +well convinced of the existence of a continent farther south than +the islands among which he had cruised, and intended to strike +that continent, as in fact he did, in the outset of his voyage. + + + +CHAPTER X. THE THIRD VOYAGE. +LETTER TO THE KING AND QUEEN--DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD AND +PARIA--CURIOUS SPECULATION AS TO THE EARTHLY PARADISE--ARRIVAL AT +SAN DOMINGO--REBELLIONS AND MUTINIES IN THAT ISLAND--ROLDAN AND +HIS FOLLOWERS--OJEDA AND HIS EXPEDITION--ARRIVAL OF +BOBADILLA--COLUMBUS A PRISONER. + +For the narrative of the third voyage, we are fortunate in having +once more a contemporary account by Columbus himself. The more +important part of his expedition was partly over when he was able +to write a careful letter to the king and queen, which is still +preserved. It is lighted up by bursts of the religious enthusiasm +which governed him from the beginning. All the more does it show +the character of the man, and it impresses upon us, what is never +to be forgotten, the mixture in his motive of the enthusiasm of a +discoverer, the eager religious feeling which might have +quickened a crusader, and the prospects of what we should call +business adventure, by which he tries to conciliate persons whose +views are less exalted than his own. + +In addressing the king and queen, who are called "very high and +very powerful princes," he reminds them that his undertaking to +discover the West Indies began in the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, which appointed him as a messenger for this enterprise. +He asks them to remember that he has always addressed them as +with that intention. + +He reminds them of the seven or eight years in which he was +urging his cause and that it was not enough that he should have +showed the religious side of it, that he was obliged to argue for +the temporal view as well. But their decision, for which he +praises them indirectly, was made, he says, in the face of the +ridicule of all, excepting the two priests, Marcheza and the +Archbishop of Segovia. "And everything will pass away excepting +the word of God, who spoke so clearly of these lands by the voice +of Isaiah in so many places, affirming that His name should be +divulged to the nations from Spain." He goes on in a review of +the earlier voyages, and after this preface gives his account of +the voyage of 1498. + +They sailed from Santa Lucca the thirtieth of May, and went down +to Madeira to avoid the hostile squadron of the French who were +awaiting him at Cape St. Vincent. In the history by Herrara, of +another generation, this squadron is said to be Portuguese. From +Maderia, they passed to the Canary Islands, from which, with one +ship and two caravels, he makes his voyage, sending the other +three vessels to Hispaniola. After making the Cape de Verde +Islands, he sailed southwest. He had very hot weather for eight +days, and in the hope of finding cooler weather changed his +course to the westward. + +On the thirty-first of July, they made land, which proved to be +the cape now known as Galeota, the southeastern cape of the +island of Trinidad. The country was as green at this season as +the orchards of Valencia in March. Passing five leagues farther +on, he lands to refit his vessels and take on board wood and +water. The next day a large canoe from the east, with twenty-four +men, well armed, appeared. + +The Admiral wished to communicate with them, but they refused, +although he showed them basins and other things which he thought +would attract them. Failing in this effort, he directed some of +the boys of the crew to dance and play a tambourine on the poop +of the ship. But this conciliatory measure had as little success +as the other. The natives strung their bows, took up their +shields and began to shoot the dancers. Columbus stopped the +entertainment, therefore, and ordered some balls shot at them, +upon which they left him. With the other vessel they opened more +friendly communication, but when the pilot went to Columbus and +asked leave to land with them, they went off, nor were any of +them or theirs seen again. + +On his arrival at Punta de Icacocos, at the southern point of +Trinidad, he observes the very strong currents which are always +noticed by voyagers, running with as much fury as the +Guadalquiver in time of flood. In the night a terrible wave came +from the south, "a hill as high as a ship," so that even in +writing of it he feels fear. But no misfortune came from it. + +Sailing the next day, he found the water comparatively fresh. He +is, in fact, in the current produced by the great river Orinoco, +which affects, in a remarkable way, all the tide-flow of those +seas. Sailing north, he passes different points of the Island of +Trinidad, and makes out the Punta de la Pena and the mainland. He +still observes the freshness of the water and the severity of the +currents. + +As he sails farther westward, he observes fleets, and he sends +his people ashore. They find no inhabitants at first, but +eventually meet people who tell him the enemy of this country is +Paria. Of these he took on board four. The king sent him an +invitation to land, and numbers of the people came in canoes, +many of whom wore gold and pearls. These pearls came to them from +the north. Columbus did not venture to land here because the +provisions of his vessels were already failing him. + +He describes the people, as of much the same color as those who +have been observed before, and were ready for intercourse, and of +good appearance. Two prominent persons came to meet them, whom he +thought to be father and son. The house to which the Spaniards +were led was large, with many seats. An entertainment was brought +forward, in which there were many sorts of fruits, and wine of +many kinds. It was not made from grapes, however, and he supposed +it must be made of different sorts of fruits. + +A part of the entertainment was of maize, "which is a sort of +corn which grows here, with a spike like a spindle." The Indians +and their guests parted with regret that they could not +understand each other's conversation. All this passed in the +house of the elder Indian. The younger then took them to his +house, where a similar collation was served, and they then +returned to the ship, Columbus being in haste to press on, both +on account of his want of supplies and the failure of his own +health. He says he was still suffering from diseases which he had +contracted on the last voyage, and with blindness. "That then his +eyes did not give him as much pain, nor were they bloodshot as +much as they are now." + +He describes the people whom they at first visited as of fine +stature, easy bearing, with long straight hair, and wearing +worked handkerchiefs on their heads. At a little distance it +seemed as if these were made of silk, like the gauze veil with +which the Spaniards were familiar, from Moorish usage. + +"Others," he says, "wore larger handkerchiefs round their waists, +like the panete of the Spaniards." By this phrase he means a full +garment hanging over the knees, either trousers or petticoats. +These people were whiter in color than the Indians he had seen +before. They all wore something at the neck and arms, with many +pieces of gold at the neck. The canoes were much larger than he +had seen, better in build and lighter; they had a cabin in the +middle for the princes and their women. + +He made many inquiries for gold, but was told he must go farther +on, but he was advised not to go there, because his men would be +in danger of being eaten. At first, Columbus supposed that this +meant that the inhabitants of the gold-bearing countries were +cannibals, but he satisfied himself afterwards that the natives +meant that they would be eaten by beasts. With regard to pearls, +also, he got some information that he should find them when he +had gone farther west and farther north. + +After these agreeable courtesies, the little fleet raised its +anchors and sailed west. Columbus sent one caravel to investigate +the river. Finding that he should not succeed in that direction, +and that he had no available way either north or south, he leaves +by the same entrance by which he had entered. The water is still +very fresh, and he is satisfied, correctly as we know, that these +currents were caused by the entrance of the great river of water. + +On the thirteenth of August he leaves the island by what he calls +the northern mouth of the river [Boca Grande], and begins to +strike salt water again. + +At this part of Columbus's letter there is a very curious +discussion of temperature, which shows that this careful +observer, even at that time, made out the difference between what +are called isothermal curves and the curves of latitude. He +observes that he cannot make any estimate of what his temperature +will be on the American coast from what he has observed on the +coast of Africa. + +He begins now to doubt whether the world is spherical, and is +disposed to believe that it is shaped like a pear, and he tries +to make a theory of the difference of temperature from this +suggestion. We hardly need to follow this now. We know he was +entirely wrong in his conjecture. "Pliny and others," he says, +"thought the world spherical, because on their part of it it was +a hemisphere." They were ignorant of the section over which he +was sailing, which he considers to be that of a pear cut in the +wrong way. His demonstration is, that in similar latitudes to the +eastward it is very hot and the people are black, while at +Trinidad or on the mainland it is comfortable and the people are +a fine race of men, whiter than any others whom he has seen in +the Indies. The sun in the constellation of the Virgin is over +their heads, and all this comes from their being higher up, +nearer the air than they would have been had they been on the +African coast. + +With this curious speculation he unites some inferences from +Scripture, and goes back to the account in the Book of Genesis +and concludes that the earthly Paradise was in the distant east. +He says, however, that if he could go on, on the equinoctial +line, the air would grow more temperate, with greater changes in +the stars and in the water. He does not think it possible that +anyone can go to the extreme height of the mountain where the +earthly Paradise is to be found, for no one is to be permitted to +enter there but by the will of God, but he believes that in this +voyage he is approaching it. + +Any reader who is interested in this curious speculation of +Columbus should refer to the "Divina Comedia" of Dante, where +Dante himself held a somewhat similar view, and describes his +entrance into the terrestrial paradise under the guidance of +Beatrice. It is a rather curious fact, which discoverers of the +last three centuries have established, that the point, on this +world, which is opposite the city of Jerusalem, where all these +enthusiasts supposed the terrestrial Paradise would be found, is +in truth in the Pacific Ocean not far from Pitcairn's Island, in +the very region where so many voyagers have thought that they +found the climate and soil which to the terrestrial Paradise +belong. + +Columbus expresses his dissent from the recent theory, which was +that of Dante, supposing that the earthly Paradise was at the top +of a sharp mountain. On the other hand, he supposes that this +mountain rises gently, but yet that no person can go to the top. + +This is his curious "excursion," made, perhaps, because Columbus +had the time to write it. + +The journal now recurs to more earthly affairs. Passing out from +the mouth of the "Dragon," he found the sea running westward and +the wind gentle. He notices that the waters are swept westward as +the trade winds are. In this way he accounts for there being so +many islands in that part of the earth, the mainland having been +eaten away by the constant flow of the waves. He thinks their +very shape indicates this, they being narrow from north to south +and longer from east to west. Although some of the islands differ +in this, special reasons maybe given for the difference. He +brings in many of the old authorities to show, what we now know +to be entirely false, that there is much more land than water on +the surface of the globe. + +All this curious speculation as to the make-up of the world +encourages him to beg their Highnesses to go on with the noble +work which they have begun. He explains to them that he plants +the cross on every cape and proclaims the sovereignty of their +Majesties and of the Christian religion. He prays that this may +continue. The only objection to it is the expense, but Columbus +begs their Highnesses to remember how much more money is spent +for the mere formalities of the elegancies of the court. He begs +them to consider the credit attaching to plans of discovery and +quickens their ambition by reference to the efforts of the +princes of Portugal. + +This letter closes by the expression of his determination to go +on with his three ships for further discoveries. + +This letter was written from San Domingo on the eighth of +October. He had already made the great discovery of the mainland +of South America, though he did not yet know that he had touched +the continent. He had intentionally gone farther south than +before, and had therefore struck the island of Trinidad, to +which, as he had promised, he gave the name which it still bears. +A sailor first saw the summits of three mountains, and gave the +cry of land. As the ships approached, it was seen that these +three mountains were united at the base. Columbus was delighted +by the omen, as he regarded it, which thus connected his +discovery with the vow which he had made on Trinity Sunday. + +As the reader has seen, he first passed between this great island +and the mainland. The open gulf there described is now known as +the Gulf of Paria. The observation which he made as to the +freshness of the water caused by the flow of the Orinoco, has +been made by all navigators since. It may be said that he was +then really in the mouth of the Orinoco. + +Young readers, at least, will be specially interested to remember +that it was in this region that Robinson Crusoe's island was +placed by Defoe; and if they will carefully read his life they +will find discussions there of the flow of the "great River +Orinoco." Crossing this gulf, Columbus had touched upon the coast +of Paria, and thus became the first discoverer of South America. +It is determined, by careful geographers, that the discovery of +the continent of North America, had been made before this time by +the Cabots, sailing under the orders of England. + +Columbus was greatly encouraged by the discovery of fine pearls +among the natives of Paria. Here he found one more proof that he +was on the eastern coast of Asia, from which coast pearls had +been brought by the caravans on which, till now, Europe had +depended for its Asiatic supplies. He gave the name "Gulf of +Pearls" to the estuary which makes the mouth of the River Paria. + +He would gladly have spent more time in exploring this region; +but the sea-stores of his vessel were exhausted, he was suffering +from a difficulty with his eyes, caused by overwatching, and was +also a cripple from gout. He resisted the temptation, therefore, +to make further explorations on the coast of Paria, and passed +westward and northwestward. He made many discoveries of islands +in the Caribbean Sea as he went northwest, and he arrived at the +colony of San Domingo, on the thirtieth of August. He had hoped +for rest after his difficult voyage; but he found the island in +confusion which seemed hopeless. + +His brother Bartholomew, from all the accounts we have, would +seem to have administered its affairs with justice and decision; +but the problem he had in hand was one which could not be solved +so as to satisfy all the critics. Close around him he had a body +of adventurers, almost all of whom were nothing but adventurers. +With the help of these adventurers, he had to repress Indian +hostilities, and to keep in order the natives who had been +insulted and injured in every conceivable way by the settlers. + +He was expected to send home gold to Spain with every vessel; he +knew perfectly well that Spain was clamoring with indignation +because he did not succeed in doing so. But on the island itself +he had to meet, from day to day, conspiracies of Spaniards and +what are called insurrections of natives. These insurrections +consisted simply in their assertion of such rights as they had to +the beautiful land which the Spaniards were taking away from +them. + +At the moment when Columbus landed, there was an instant of +tranquility. But the natives, whom he remembered only six years +ago as so happy and cheerful and hospitable, had fled as far as +they could. They showed in every way their distrust of those who +were trying to become their masters. On the other hand, soldiers +and emigrants were eager to leave the island if they could. They +were near starvation, or if they did not starve they were using +food to which they were not accustomed. The eagerness with which, +in 1493, men had wished to rush to this land of promise, was +succeeded by an equal eagerness, in 1498, to go home from it. + +As soon as he arrived, Columbus issued a proclamation, approving +of the measures of his brother in his absence, and denouncing the +rebels with whom Bartholomew had been contending. He found the +difficulties which surrounded him were of the most serious +character. He had not force enough to take up arms against the +rebels of different names. He offered pardon to them in the name +of the sovereigns, and that they refused. + +Columbus was obliged, in order to maintain any show of authority, +to propose to the sovereigns that they should arbitrate between +his brother and Roldan, who was the chief of the rebel party. He +called to the minds of Ferdinand and Isabella his own eager +desire to return to San Domingo sooner, and ascribed the +difficulties which had arisen, in large measure, to his long +delay. He said he should send home the more worthless men by +every ship. + +He asked that preachers might be sent out to convert the Indians +and to reform the dissolute Spaniards. He asked for officers of +revenue, and for a learned judge. He begged at the same time +that, for two years longer, the colony might be permitted to +employ the Indians as slaves, but he promised they would only use +such as they captured in war and insurrections. + +By the same vessel the rebels sent out letters charging Columbus +and his brother with the grossest oppression and injustice. All +these letters came to court by one messenger. Columbus was then +left to manage as best he could, in the months which must pass, +before he could receive an answer. + +He was not wholly without success. That is to say, no actual +battles took place between the parties before the answer +returned. But when it returned, it proved to be written by his +worst enemy, Fonseca. It was a genuine Spanish answer to a letter +which required immediate decision. That is to say, Columbus was +simply told that the whole matter must be left in suspense till +the sovereigns could make such an investigation as they wished. +The hope, therefore, of some help from home was wholly +disappointed. + +Roldan, the chief of the rebels, was encouraged by this news to +take higher ground than even he had ventured on before. He now +proposed that he should send fifteen of his company to Spain, +also that those who remained should not only be pardoned, but +should have lands granted them; third, that a public proclamation +should be made that all charges against him had been false; and +fourth, that he should hold the office of chief judge, which he +had held before the rebellion. + +Columbus was obliged to accede to terms as insolent as these, and +the rebels even added a stipulation, that if he should fail in +fulfilling either of these articles, they might compel him to +comply, by force or any other means. Thus was he hampered in the +very position where, by the king's orders, and indeed, one would +say, by the right of discovery, he was the supreme master. + +For himself, he determined to return with Bartholomew to Spain, +and he made some preparations to do so. But at this time he +learned, from the western part of the island, that four strange +ships had arrived there. He could not feel that it was safe to +leave the colony in such a condition of latent rebellion as he +knew it to be in; he wrote again to the sovereigns, and said +directly that his capitulation with the rebels had been extorted +by force, and that he did not consider that the sovereigns, or +that he himself, were bound by it. He pressed some of the +requests which he had made before, and asked that his son Diego, +who was no longer a boy, might be sent out to him. + +It proved that the ships which had arrived at the west of the +island were under the command of Ojeda, who will be remembered as +a bold cavalier in the adventures of the second voyage. Acting +under a general permission which had been given for private +adventurers, Ojeda had brought out this squadron, and, when +Columbus communicated with him, was engaged in cutting dye-woods +and shipping slaves. + +Columbus sent Roldan, who had been the head of the rebels, to +inquire on what ground he was there. Ojeda produced a license +signed by Fonseca, authorizing him to sail on a voyage of +discovery. It proved that Columbus's letters describing the +pearls of Paria had awakened curiosity and enthusiasm, and, while +the crown had passed them by so coldly, Ojeda and a body of +adventurers had obtained a license and had fitted out four ships +for adventure. The special interest of this voyage for us, is +that it is supposed that Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, made at +this time his first expedition to America. + +Vespucci was not a professional seaman, but he was interested in +geography, and had made many voyages before this time. So soon as +it was announced that Ojeda was on the coast, the rebels of San +Domingo selected him as a new leader. He announced to Columbus, +rather coolly, that he could probably redress the grievances +which these men had. He undoubtedly knew that he had the +protection of Fonseca at home. Fortunately for Columbus, Roldan +did not mean to give up his place as "leader of the opposition;" +and it may be said that the difficulty between the two was a +certain advantage to Columbus in maintaining his authority. + +Meanwhile, all wishes on his part to continue his discoveries +were futile, while he was engaged in the almost hopeless duty of +reconciling various adventurers and conciliating people who had +no interests but their own. In Spain, his enemies were doing +everything in their power to undermine his reputation. His +statements were read more and more coldly, and at last, on the +twenty-first and twenty-sixth of May, 1499, letters were written +to him instructing him to deliver into the hands of Bobadilla, a +new commandant, all the fortresses any ships, houses and other +royal property which he held, and to give faith and obedience to +any instructions given by Bobadilla. That is to say, Bobadilla +was sent out as a commander who was to take precedence of every +one on the spot. He was an officer of the royal household, +probably a favorite at court, and was selected for the difficult +task of reconciling all difficulties, and bringing the new colony +into loyal allegiance to the crown. He sailed for San Domingo in +the middle of July, 1500, and arrived on the twenty-third of +August. + +On his arrival, he found that Columbus and his brother +Bartholomew were both absent from the city, being in fact engaged +in efforts to set what may be called the provinces in order. The +young Diego Columbus was commander in their absence. The morning +after he arrived, Bobadilla attended mass, and then, with the +people assembled around the door of the church, he directed that +his commission should be read. He was to investigate the +rebellion, he was to seize the persons of delinquents and punish +them with rigor, and he was to command the Admiral to assist him +in these duties. + +He then bade Diego surrender to him certain prisoners, and +ordered that their accusers should appear before him. To this +Diego replied that his brother held superior powers to any which +Bobadilla could possess; he asked for a copy of the commission, +which was declined, until Columbus himself should arrive. +Bobadilla then took the oath of office, and produced, for the +first time, the order which has been described above, ordering +Columbus to deliver up all the royal property. He won the popular +favor by reading an order which directed him to pay all arrears +of wages due to all persons in the royal service. + +But when he came before the fortress, he found that the commander +declined to surrender it. He said he held the fortress for the +king by the command of the Admiral, and would not deliver it +until he should arrive. Bobadilla, however, "assailed the +portal;" that is to say, he broke open the gate. No one offered +any opposition, and the commander and his first-lieutenant were +taken prisoners. He went farther, taking up his residence in +Columbus's house, and seizing his papers. So soon as Columbus +received account of Bobadilla's arrival, he wrote to him in +careful terms, welcoming him to the island. He cautioned him +against precipitate measures, told him that he himself was on the +point of going to Spain, and that he would soon leave him in +command, with everything explained. Bobadilla gave no answer to +these letters; and when Columbus received from the sovereigns the +letter of the twenty-sixth of May, he made no longer any +hesitation, but reported in person at the city of San Domingo. + +He traveled without guards or retinue, but Bobadilla had made +hostile preparations, as if Columbus meant to come with military +force. Columbus preferred to show his own loyalty to the crown +and to remove suspicion. But no sooner did he arrive in the city +than Bobadilla gave orders that he should be put in irons and +confined in the fortress. Up to this moment, Bobadilla had been +sustained by the popular favor of those around him; but the +indignity, of placing chains upon Columbus, seems to have made a +change in the fickle impressions of the little town. + +Columbus, himself, behaved with magnanimity, and made no +complaint. Bobadilla asked him to bid his brother return to San +Domingo, and he complied. He begged his brother to submit to the +authority of the sovereigns, and Bartholomew immediately did so. +On his arrival in San Domingo he was also put in irons, as his +brother Diego had been, and was confined on board a caravel. As +soon as a set of charges could be made up to send to Spain with +Columbus, the vessels, with the prisoners, set sail. + +The master of the caravel, Martin, was profoundly grieved by the +severe treatment to which the great navigator was subjected. He +would gladly have taken off his irons, but Columbus would not +consent. "I was commanded by the king and queen," he said, "to +submit to whatever Bobadilla should order in their name. He has +put these chains on me by their authority. I will wear them until +the king and queen bid me take them off. I will preserve them +afterwards as relics and memorials of the reward of my services." +His son, Fernando, who tells this story, says that he did so, +that they were always hanging in his cabinet, and that he asked +that they might be buried with him when he died. + +From this expression of Fernando Columbus, there has arisen, what +Mr. Harrisse calls, a "pure legend," that the chains were placed +in the coffin of Columbus. Mr. Harrisse shows good reason for +thinking that this was not so. "Although disposed to believe +that, in a moment of just indignation, Columbus expressed the +wish that these tokens of the ingratitude of which he had been +the victim should be buried, with him, I do not believe that they +were ever placed in his coffin." + +It will thus be seen that the third voyage added to the knowledge +of the civilized world the information which Columbus had gained +regarding Paria and the island of Trinidad. For other purposes of +discovery, it was fruitless. + + + +CHAPTER XI. SPAIN, 1500, 1501. +A CORDIAL RECEPTION IN SPAIN--COLUMBUS FAVORABLY RECEIVED AT +COURT--NEW INTEREST IN GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY--HIS PLANS FOR THE +REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE--PREPARATIONS FOR A FOURTH +EXPEDITION. + +Columbus was right in insisting on wearing his chains. They +became rather an ornament than a disgrace. So soon as it was +announced in Spain that the great discoverer had been so treated +by Bobadilla, a wave of popular indignation swept through the +people and reached the court. Ferdinand and Isabella, themselves, +had never intended to give such powers to their favorite, that he +should disgrace a man so much his superior. + +They instantly sent orders to Cadiz that Columbus should be +received with all honor. So soon as he arrived he had been able +to send, to Dona Juana de la Torre, a lady high in favor at +court, a private letter, in which he made a proud defense of +himself. This letter is still preserved, and it is of the first +interest, as showing his own character, and as showing what were +the real hardships which he had undergone. + +The Lady Juana read this letter to Isabella. Her own indignation, +which probably had been kindled by the general news that Columbus +had been chained, rose to the highest. She received him, +therefore, when he arrived at court, with all the more +cordiality. Ferdinand was either obliged to pretend to join with +her in her indignation, or he had really felt distressed by the +behavior of his subordinate. + +They did not wait for any documents from Bobadilla. As has been +said, they wrote cordially to Columbus; they also ordered that +two thousand ducats should be paid him for his expenses, and they +bade him appear at Grenada at court. He did appear there on the +seventeenth of December, attended by an honorable retinue, and in +the proper costume of a gentleman in favor with the king and +queen. + +When the queen met him she was moved to tears, and Columbus, +finding himself so kindly received, threw himself upon his knees. +For some time he could not express himself except by tears and +sobs. His sovereigns raised him from the ground and encouraged +him by gracious words. + +So soon as he recovered his self-possession he made such an +address as he had occasion to make more than once in his life, +and showed the eloquence which is possible to a man of affairs. +He could well boast of his loyalty to the Spanish crown; and he +might well say that, whether he were or were not experienced in +government, he had been surrounded by such difficulties in +administration as hardly any other man had had to go through. But +really, it was hardly necessary that he should vindicate himself. + +The stupidity of his enemies, had injured their cause more than +any carelessness of Columbus could have done. The sovereigns +expressed their indignation at Bobadilla's proceedings, and, +indeed, declared at once that he should be dismissed from +command. They never took any public notice of the charges which +he had sent home; on the other hand, they received Columbus with +dignity and favor, and assured him that he should be reinstated +in all his privileges. + +The time at which he arrived was, in a certain sense, favorable +for his future plans, so far as he had formed any. On the other +hand, the condition of affairs was wholly changed from what it +was when he began his great discoveries, and the changes were in +some degree unfavorable. Vasco da Gama had succeeded in the great +enterprise by which he had doubled the Cape of Good Hope, had +arrived at the Indies by the route of the Indian ocean, and his +squadron had successfully returned. + +This great adventure, with the commercial and other results which +would certainly follow it, had quickened the mind of all Europe, +as the discovery by Columbus had quickened it eight years before. +So far, any plan for the discoveries over which Columbus was +always brooding, would be favorably received. But, on the other +hand, in eight years since the first voyage, a large body of +skillful adventurers had entered upon the career which then no +one chose to share with him. The Pinzon brothers were among +these; Ojeda, already known to the reader, was another; and +Vespucci, as the reader knows, an intelligent and wise student, +had engaged himself in such discoveries. + +The rumors of the voyages of the Cabots, much farther north than +those made by Columbus, had gone through all Europe. In a word, +Columbus was now only one of several skilful pilots and voyagers, +and his plans were to be considered side by side with those which +were coming forward almost every day, for new discoveries, either +by the eastern route, of which Vasco da Gama had shown the +practicability, or by the western route, which Columbus himself +had first essayed. + +It is to be remembered, as well, that Columbus was now an old +man, and, whatever were his successes as a discoverer, he had not +succeeded as a commander. There might have been reasons for his +failure; but failure is failure, and men do not accord to an +unsuccessful leader the honors which they are ready to give to a +successful discoverer. When, therefore, he offered his new plans +at court, he should have been well aware that they could not be +received, as if he were the only one who could make suggestions. +Probably he was aware of this. He was also obliged, whether he +would or would not, to give up the idea that he was to be the +commander of the regions which he discovered. + +It had been easy enough to grant him this command before there +was so much as an inch of land known, over which it would make +him the master. But now that it was known that large islands, and +probably a part of the continent of Asia, were to be submitted to +his sway if he had it, there was every reason why the sovereigns +should be unwilling to maintain for him the broad rights which +they had been willing to give when a scratch of the pen was all +that was needful to give them. + +Bobadilla was recalled; so far well. But neither Ferdinand nor +Isabella chose to place Columbus again in his command. They did +choose Don Nicola Ovando, a younger man, to take the place of +Bobadilla, to send him home, and to take the charge of the +colony. + +From the colony itself, the worst accounts were received. If +Columbus and his brother had failed, Bobadilla had failed more +disgracefully. Indeed, he had begun by the policy of King Log, as +an improvement on the policy of King Stork. He had favored all +rebels, he had pardoned them, he had even paid them for the time +which they had spent in rebellion; and the natural result was +utter disorder and license. + +It does not appear that he was a bad man; he was a man wholly +unused to command; he was an imprudent man, and was weak. He had +compromised the crown by the easy terms on which he had rented +and sold estates; he had been obliged, in order to maintain the +revenue, to work the natives with more severity than ever. He +knew very well that the system, under which he was working could +not last long. One of his maxims was, "Do the best with your +time," and he was constantly sacrificing future advantages for +such present results as he could achieve. + +The Indians, who had been treated badly enough before, were worse +treated now. And during his short administration, if it may be +called an administration,--during the time when he was nominally +at the head of affairs--he was reducing the island to lower and +lower depths. He did succeed in obtaining a large product of +gold, but the abuses of his government were not atoned for by +such remittances. Worst of all, the wrongs of the natives touched +the sensitiveness of Isabella, and she was eager that his +successor should be appointed, and should sail, to put an end to +these calamities. + +The preparations which were made for Ovando's expedition, for the +recall of Bobadilla, and for a reform, if it were possible, in +the administration of the colony, all set back any preparations +for a new expedition of discovery on the part of Columbus. He was +not forgotten; his accounts were to be examined and any +deficiencies made up to him; he was to receive the arrears of his +revenue; he was permitted to have an agent who should see that he +received his share in future. To this agency he appointed Alonzo +Sanchez de Carvajal, and the sovereigns gave orders that this +agent should be treated with respect. + +Other preparations were made, so that Ovando might arrive with a +strong reinforcement for the colony. He sailed with thirty ships, +the size of these vessels ranging from one hundred and fifty +Spanish toneles to one bark of twenty-five. It will be remembered +that the Spanish tonele is larger by about ten per cent than our +English ton. Twenty-five hundred persons embarked as colonists in +the vessels, and, for the first time, men took their families +with them. + +Everything was done to give dignity to the appointment of Ovando, +and it was hoped that by sending out families of respectable +character, who were to be distributed in four towns, there might +be a better basis given to the settlement. This measure had been +insisted upon by Columbus. + +This fleet put to sea on the thirteenth of February, 1502. It +met, at the very outset, a terrible storm, and one hundred and +twenty of the passengers were lost by the foundering of a ship. +The impression was at first given in Spain that the whole fleet +had been lost; but this proved to be a mistake. The others +assembled at the Canaries, and arrived in San Domingo on the +fifteenth of April. + +Columbus himself never lost confidence in his own star. He was +sure that he was divinely sent, and that his mission was to open +the way to the Indies, for the religious advancement of mankind. +If Vasco de Gama had discovered a shorter way than men knew +before, Christopher Columbus should discover one shorter still, +and this discovery should tend to the glory of God. It seemed to +him that the simplest way in which he could make men understand +this, was to show that the Holy Sepulchre might, now and thus, be +recovered from the infidel. + +Far from urging geographical curiosity as an object, he proposed +rather the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. That is, there was to +be a new and last crusade, and the money for this enterprise was +to be furnished from the gold of the farthest East. He was close +at the door of this farthest East; and as has been said, he +believed that Cuba was the Ophir of Solomon, and he supposed, +that a very little farther voyaging would open all the treasures +which Marco Polo had described, and would bring the territory, +which had made the Great Khan so rich, into the possession of the +king of Spain. + +He showed to Ferdinand and Isabella that, if they would once more +let him go forward, on the adventure which had been checked +untimely by the cruelty of Bobadilla, this time they would have +wealth which would place them at the head of the Christian +sovereigns of the world. + +While he was inactive at Seville, and the great squadron was +being prepared which Ovando was to command, he wrote what is +known as the "Book of Prophecies," in which he attempted to +convince the Catholic kings of the necessity of carrying forward +the enterprise which he proposed. He urged haste, because he +believed the world was only to last a hundred and fifty-five +years longer; and, with so much before them to be done, it was +necessary that they should begin. + +He remembered an old vow that he had undertaken, that, within +seven years of the time of his discovery, he would furnish fifty +thousand foot soldiers and five thousand horsemen for the +recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. He now arranged in order +prophecies from the Holy Scripture, passages from the writings of +the Fathers, and whatever else suggested itself, mystical and +hopeful, as to the success of an enterprise by which the new +world could be used for the conversion of the Gentiles and for +the improvement of the Christianity of the old world. + +He had the assistance of a Carthusian monk, who seems to have +been skilled in literary work, and the two arranged these +passages in order, illustrated them with poetry, and collected +them into a manuscript volume which was sent to the sovereigns. + +Columbus accompanied the Book of Prophecies with one of his own +long letters, written with the utmost fervor. In this letter he +begins, as Peter the Hermit might do, by urging the sovereigns to +set on foot a crusade. If they are tempted to consider his advice +extravagant, he asks them how his first scheme of discovery was +treated. He shows that, as heaven had chosen him to discover the +new world, heaven has also chosen him to discover the Holy +Sepulchre. God himself had opened his eyes that he might make the +great discovery, which has reflected such honor upon them and +theirs. + +"If his hopes had been answered," says a Catholic writer, the +modern question of holy places, which is the Gordian knot of the +religious politics of the future, would have been solved long ago +by the gold of the new world, or would have been cut by the sword +of its discoverer. We should not have seen nations which are +separated from the Roman communion, both Protestant and +Pantheistic governments, coming audaciously into contest for +privileges, which, by the rights of old possession, by the rights +of martyrdom and chivalry, belong to the Holy Catholic Church, +the Apostolic Church, the Roman Church, and after her to France, +her oldest daughter." + +Columbus now supposed that the share of the western wealth which +would belong to him would be sufficient for him to equip and arm +a hundred thousand infantry and ten thousand horsemen. + +At the moment when the Christian hero made this pious calculation +he had not enough of this revenue with which to buy a cloak," +This is the remark of the enthusiastic biographer from whom we +have already quoted. + +It is not literally true, but it is true that Columbus was living +in the most modest way at the time when he was pressing his +ambitious schemes upon the court. At the same time, he wrote a +poem with which he undertook to press the same great enterprise +upon his readers. It was called "The End of Man," "Memorare +novissima tua, et non peccabis in eternum." + +In his letter to the king and queen he says, "Animated as by a +heavenly fire, I came to your Highnesses; all who heard of my +enterprise mocked it; all the sciences I had acquired profited me +as nothing; seven years did I pass in your royal court, disputing +the case with persons of great authority and learned in all the +arts, and in the end they decided that all was vain. In your +Highnesses alone remained faith and constancy. Who will doubt +that this light was from the Holy Scriptures, illumining you, as +well as myself, with rays of marvellous brightness." + +It is probable that the king and queen were, to a certain extent, +influenced by his enthusiasm. It is certain that they knew that +something was due to their reputation and to his success. By +whatever motive led, they encouraged him with hopes that he might +be sent forward again, this time, not as commander of a colony, +but as a discoverer. Discovery was indeed the business which he +understood, and to which alone he should ever have been +commissioned. + +It is to be remembered that the language of crusaders was not +then a matter of antiquity, and was not used as if it alluded to +bygone affairs. It was but a few years since the Saracens had +been driven out of Spain, and all men regarded them as being the +enemies of Christianity and of Europe, who could not be +neglected. More than this, Spain was beginning to receive very +large and important revenues from the islands. + +It is said that the annual revenues from Hispaniola already +amounted to twelve millions of our dollars. It was not unnatural +that the king and queen, willing to throw off the disgrace which +they had incurred from Bobadilla's cruelty, should not only send +Ovando to replace him, but should, though in an humble fashion, +give to Columbus an opportunity to show that his plans were not +chimerical. + + + +CHAPTER XII. FOURTH VOYAGE. +THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN FOR THE VOYAGE--HE IS TO GO TO THE +MAINLAND OF THE INDIES--A SHORT PASSAGE--OVANDO FORBIDS THE +ENTRANCE OF COLUMBUS INTO HARBOR--BOBADILLA'S SQUADRON AND ITS +FATE--COLUMBUS SAILS WESTWARD--DISCOVERS HONDURAS, AND COASTS +ALONG ITS SHORES--THE SEARCH FOR GOLD--COLONY ATTEMPTED AND +ABANDONED--THE VESSELS BECOME UNSEAWORTHY--REFUGE AT +JAMAICA--MUTINY LED BY THE BROTHERS PORRAS--MESSAGES TO SAN +DOMINGO--THE ECLIPSE--ARRIVAL OF RELIEF--COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SAN +DOMINGO, AND TO SPAIN. + +It seems a pity now that, after his third voyage, Columbus did +not remain in Spain and enjoy, as an old man could, the honors +which he had earned and the respect which now waited upon him. +Had this been so, the world would have been spared the +mortification which attends the thought that the old man to whom +it owes so much suffered almost everything in one last effort, +failed in that effort, and died with the mortification of +failure. But it is to be remembered that Columbus was not a man +to cultivate the love of leisure. He had no love of leisure to +cultivate. His life had been an active one. He had attempted the +solution of a certain problem which he had not solved, and every +day of leisure, even every occasion of effort and every word of +flattery, must have quickened in him new wishes to take the prize +which seemed so near, and to achieve the possibility which had +thus far eluded him. + +From time to time, therefore, he had addressed new memorials to +the sovereigns proposing a new expedition; and at last, by an +instruction which is dated on the fourteenth of March, in the +year 1502, a fourth voyage was set on foot at the charge of the +king and queen,--an instruction not to stop at Hispaniola, but, +for the saving of time, to pass by that island. This is a +graceful way of intimating to him that he is not to mix himself +up with the rights and wrongs of the new settlement. + +The letter goes on to say, that the sovereigns have communicated +with the King of Portugal, and that they have explained to him +that Columbus is pressing his discoveries at the west. and will +not interfere with those of the Portuguese in the east. He is +instructed to regard the Portuguese explorers as his friends, and +to make no quarrel with them. He is instructed to take with him +his sons, Fernando and Diego. This is probably at his request. + +The prime object of the instruction is still to strike the +mainland of the Indies. All the instructions are, "You will make +a direct voyage, if the weather does not prevent you, for +discovering the islands and the mainland of the Indies in that +part which belongs to us." He is to take possession of these +islands and of this mainland, and to inform the sovereigns in +regard to his discoveries, and the experience of former voyages +has taught them that great care must be taken to avoid private +speculation in "gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, spices and +other things of different quality." For this purpose special +instructions are given. + +Of this voyage we have Columbus's own official account. + +There were four vessels, three of which were rated as caravels. +The fourth was very small. The chief vessel was commanded by +Diego Tristan; the second, the Santiago, by Francisco de Porras; +the third, the Viscaina (Biscayan), by Bartholomew de Fiesco; and +the little Gallician by Pedro de Torreros. None of these vessels, +as the reader will see, was ever to return to Spain. From de +Porras and his brother, Columbus and the expedition were to +receive disastrous blows. + +It must be observed that he is once more in his proper position +of a discoverer. He has no government or other charge of colonies +entrusted to him. His brother Bartholomew and his youngest son +Fernando, sail with him. + +The little squadron sailed from the bay of Cadiz on the eleventh +of May, 1502. They touched at Sicilla,--a little port on the +coast of Morocco,--to relieve its people, a Portuguese garrison, +who had been besieged by the Moors. But finding them out of +danger, Columbus went at once to the Grand Canary island, and had +a favorable passage. + +From the Grand Canary to the island which he calls "the first +island of the Indies," and which he named Martinino, his voyage +was only seventeen days long. This island was either the St. +Lucia or the Martinique of today. Hence he passed to Dominica, +and thence crossed to San Domingo, to make repairs, as he said. +For, as has been said, he had been especially ordered not to +interfere in the affairs of the settlement. + +He did not disobey his orders. He says distinctly that he +intended to pass along the southern shore of San Domingo, and +thence take a departure for the continent. But he says, that his +principal vessel sailed very ill--could not carry much canvas, +and delayed the rest of the squadron. This weakness must have +increased after the voyage across the ocean. For this reason he +hoped to exchange it for another ship at San Domingo. + +But he did not enter the harbor. He sent a letter to Ovando, now +the governor, and asked his permission. He added, to the request +he made, a statement that a tempest was at hand which he did not +like to meet in the offing. Ovando, however, refused any +permission to enter. He was, in fact, just dispatching a fleet to +Spain, with Bobadilla, Columbus's old enemy, whom Ovando had +replaced in his turn. + +Columbus, in an eager wish to be of use, by a returning messenger +begged Ovando to delay this fleet till the gale had passed. But +the seamen ridiculed him and his gale, and begged Ovando to send +the fleet home. + +He did so. Bobadilla and his fleet put to sea. In ten days a West +India hurricane struck them. The ship on which Columbus's +enemies, Bobadilla and Roldan, sailed, was sunk with them and the +gold accumulated for years. Of the whole fleet, only one vessel, +called the weakest of all, reached Spain. This ship carried four +thousand pieces of gold, which were the property of the Admiral. +Columbus's own little squadron, meanwhile--thanks probably to the +seamanship of himself and his brother--weathered the storm, and +he found refuge in the harbor which he had himself named "the +beautiful," El Hermoso, in the western part of San Domingo. + +Another storm delayed him at a port which he called Port Brasil. +The word Brasil was the name which the Spaniards gave to the red +log-wood, so valuable in dyeing, and various places received that +name, where this wood was found. The name is derived from +"Brasas,"--coals,--in allusion, probably, to the bright red color +of the dye. + +Sailing from this place, on Saturday, the sixteenth of June, they +made sight of the island of Jamaica, but he pressed on without +making any examination of the country, for four days sailing west +and south-west. He then changed his course, and sailed for two +days to the northwest and again two days to the north. + +On Sunday, the twenty fourth of July, they saw land. This was the +key now known as Cuyago, and they were at last close upon the +mainland. After exploring this island they sailed again on +Wednesday, the twenty-seventh, southwest and quarter southwest +about ninety miles, and again they saw land, which is supposed to +be the island of Guanaja or Bonacca, near the coast of Honduras. + +The Indians on this island had some gold and some pearls. They +had seen whites before. Columbus calls them men of good stature. +Sailing from this island, he struck the mainland near Truxillo, +about ten leagues from the island of Guanaja. He soon found the +harbor, which we still know as the harbor of Truxillo, and from +this point Columbus began a careful investigation of the coast. + +He observed, what all navigators have since observed, the lack of +harbors. He passed along as far as the river now known as the +Tinto, where he took possession in the name of the sovereigns, +calling this river the River of Possession. He found the natives +savage, and the country of little account for his purposes. Still +passing southward, he passed what we call the Mosquito Coast, to +which he found the natives gave the name of Cariay. + +These people were well disposed and willing to treat with them. +They had some cotton, they had some gold. They wore very little +clothing, and they painted their bodies, as most of the natives +of the islands had done. He saw what he thought to be pigs and +large mountain cats. + +Still passing southward, running into such bays or other harbors +as they found, he entered the "Admiral's Bay," in a country which +had the name of Cerabaro, or Zerabora. Here an Indian brought a +plate of gold and some other pieces of gold, and Columbus was, +encouraged in his hopes of finding more. + +The natives told him that if he would keep on he would find +another bay which they called Arburarno, which is supposed to be +the Laguna Chiriqui. They said the people, of that country, lived +in the mountains. Here Columbus noticed the fact,--one which has +given to philologists one of their central difficulties for four +hundred years since,--that as he passed from one point to another +of the American shores, the Indians did not understand each +other's language. "Every ten or twenty leagues they did not +understand each other." In entering the river Veragua, the +Indians appeared armed with lances and arrows, some of them +having gold also. Here, also, the people did not live upon the +shore, but two or three leagues back in the interior, and they +only came to the sea by their canoes upon the rivers. + +The next province was then called Cobraba, but Columbus made no +landing for want of a proper harbor. All his courses since he +struck the continent had been in a southeasterly direction. That +an expedition for westward discovery should be sailing eastward, +seemed in itself a contradiction. What irritated the crews still +more was, that the wind seemed always against them. + +From the second to the ninth of November, 1502, the little fleet +lay at anchor in the spacious harbor, which he called Puerto +Bello, "the beautiful harbor." It is still known by that name. A +considerable Spanish city grew up there, which became well known +to the world in the last century by the attack upon it by the +English in the years 1739 and 1742. + +The formation of the coast compelled them to pass eastward as +they went on. But the currents of the Gulf flow in the opposite +direction. Here there were steady winds from the east and the +northeast. The ships were pierced by the teredo, which eats +through thick timbers, and is so destructive that the seamen of +later times have learned to sheath the hulls of their vessels +with copper. + +The seamen thought that they were under the malign influence of +some adverse spell. And after a month Columbus gave way to their +remonstrances, and abandoned his search for a channel to India. +He was the more ready to do this because he was satisfied that +the land by which he lay was connected with the coast which other +Spaniards had already discovered. He therefore sailed westward +again, retracing his course to explore the gold mines of Veragua. + +But the winds could change as quickly as his purposes, and now +for nearly a fortnight they had to fight a tropical tempest. At +one moment they met with a water-spout, which seemed to advance +to them directly. The sailors, despairing of human help, shouted +passages from St. John, and to their efficacy ascribed their +escape. It was not until the seventeenth that they found +themselves safely in harbor. He gave to the whole coast the name +of "the coast of contrasts," to preserve the memory of his +disappointments. + +The natives proved friendly, as he had found them before; but +they told him that he would find no more gold upon the coast; +that the mines were in the country of the Veragua. It was, on the +tenth day of January that, after some delay, Columbus entered +again the river of that name. + +The people told him where he should find the mines, and were all +ready to send guides with his own people to point them out. He +gave to this river, the name of the River of Belen, and to the +port in which he anchored he gave the name of Santa Maria de +Belen, or Bethlehem. + +His men discovered the mines, so called, at a distance of eight +leagues from the port. The country between was difficult, being +mountainous and crossed by many streams. They were obliged to +pass the river of Veragua thirty-nine times. The Indians +themselves were dexterous in taking out gold. Columbus added to +their number seventy-five men. + +In one day's work, they obtained "two or three castellianos" +without much difficulty. A castelliano was a gold coin of the +time, and the meaning of the text is probably that each man +obtained this amount. It was one of the "placers," such as have +since proved so productive in different parts of the world. + +Columbus satisfied himself that there was a much larger +population inland. He learned from the Indians that the cacique, +as he always calls the chief of these tribes, was a most +important monarch in that region. His houses were larger than +others, built handsomely of wood, covered with palm leaves. + +The product of all the gold collected thus far is stated +precisely in the official register. There were two hundred and +twenty pieces of gold, large and small. Altogether they weighed +seventy-two ounces, seven-eighths of an ounce and one grain. +Besides these were twelve pieces, great and small, of an inferior +grade of gold, which weighed fourteen ounces, three-eighths of an +ounce, and six tomienes, a tomiene weighing one-third part of our +drachm. In round numbers then, we will say that the result in +gold of this cruising would be now worth $1,500. + +Columbus collected gold in this way, to make his expedition +popular at home, and he had, indeed, mortgaged the voyage, so to +speak, by pledging the pecuniary results, as a fund to bear the +expense of a new crusade. But, for himself, the prime desire was +always discovery. + +Eventually the Spaniards spent two months in that region, +pressing their explorations in search of gold. And so promising +did the tokens seem to him, that he determined to leave his +brother, to secure the country and work the mines, while he +should return to Spain, with the gold he had collected, and +obtain reinforcements and supplies. But all these fond hopes. +were disappointed. + +The natives, under a leader named Quibian, rallied in large +numbers, probably intending to drive the colonists away. It was +only by the boldest measures that their plans were met. When +Columbus supposed that he had suppressed their enterprise, he +took leave of his brother, as he had intended, leaving him but +one of the four vessels. + +Fortunately, as it proved, the wind did not serve. He sent back a +boat to communicate with the settlement, but it fell into the +hands of the savages. Doubtful as to the issue, a seaman, named +Ledesma, volunteered to swim through the surf, and communicate +with the settlement. The brave fellow succeeded. By passing +through the surf again, he brought back the news that the little +colony was closely besieged by the savages. + +It seemed clear that the settlement must be abandoned, that +Columbus's brother and his people must be taken back to Spain. +This course was adopted. With infinite difficulty, the guns and +stores which had been left with the colony were embarked on the +vessels of the Admiral. The caravel which had been left for the +colony could not be taken from the river. She was completely +dismantled, and was left as the only memorial of this unfortunate +colony. + +At Puerto Bello he was obliged to leave another vessel, for she +had been riddled by the teredo. The two which he had were in +wretched condition. "They were as full of holes as a honey-comb." +On the southern coast of Cuba, Columbus was obliged to supply +them with cassava bread. The leaks increased. The ships' pumps +were insufficient, and the men bailed out the water with buckets +and kettles. On the twentieth of June, they were thankful to put +into a harbor, called Puerto Bueno, on the coast of Jamaica, +where, as it proved, they eventually left their worthless +vessels, and where they were in exile from the world of +civilization for twelve months. + +Nothing in history is more pathetic than the memory that such a +waste of a year, in the closing life of such a man as Columbus, +should have been permitted by the jealousy, the cruelty, or the +selfish ambition of inferior men. + +He was not far from the colony at San Domingo. As the reader will +see, he was able to send a message to his countrymen there. But +those countrymen left him to take his chances against a strong +tribe of savages. Indeed, they would not have been sorry to know +that he was dead. + +At first, however, he and his men welcomed the refuge of the +harbor. It was the port which he had called Santa Gloria, on his +first visit there. He was at once surrounded by Indians, ready to +barter with them and bring them provisions. The poor Spaniards +were hungry enough to be glad of this relief. + +Mendez, a spirited sailor, had the oversight of this trade, and +in one negotiation, at some distance from the vessels, he bought +a good canoe of a friendly chief. For this he gave a brass basin, +one of his two shirts, and a short jacket. On this canoe turned +their after fortunes. Columbus refitted her, put on a false keel, +furnished her with a mast and sail. + +With six Indians, whom the chief had lent him, Diego Mendez, +accompanied by only one Spanish companion, set sail in this +little craft for San Domingo. Columbus sent by them a letter to +the sovereigns, which gives the account of the voyage which the +reader has been following. + +When Mendez was a hundred miles advanced on his journey, he met a +band of hostile savages. They had affected friendship until they +had the adventurers in their power, when they seized them all. +But while the savages were quarreling about the spoils, Mendez +succeeded in escaping to his canoe, and returned alone to his +master after fifteen days. + +It was determined that the voyage should be renewed. But this +time, another canoe was sent with that under the command of +Mendez. He sailed again, storing his boats with cassava bread and +calabashes of water. Bartholomew Columbus, with his armed band, +marched along the coast, as the two canoes sailed along the +shore. + +Waiting then for a clear day, Mendez struck northward, on the +passage, which was long for such frail craft, to San Domingo. It +was eight months before Columbus heard of them. Of those eight +months, the history is of dismal waiting, mutiny and civil war. +It is pathetic, indeed, that a little body of men, who had been, +once and again, saved from death in the most remarkable way, +could not live on a fertile island, in a beautiful climate, +without quarrelling with each other. + +Two officers of Columbus, Porras and his brother, led the +sedition. They told the rest of the crew that the Admiral's hope +of relief from Mendez was a mere delusion. They said that he was +an exile from Spain, and that he did not dare return to +Hispaniola. In such ways they sought to rouse his people against +him and his brother. As for Columbus, he was sick on board his +vessel, while the two brothers Porras were working against him +among his men. + +On the second of January, 1504, Francesco de Porras broke into +the cabin. He complained bitterly that they were kept to die in +that desolate place, and accused the Admiral as if it were his +fault. He told Columbus, that they had determined to go back to +Spain; and then, lifting his voice, he shouted, "I am for +Castile; who will follow me?" The mutinous crew instantly replied +that they would do so. Voices were heard which threatened +Columbus's life. + +His brother, the Adelantado, persuaded Columbus to retire from +the crowd and himself assumed the whole weight of the assault. +The loyal part of the crew, however, persuaded him to put down +his weapon, and on the other hand, entreated Porras and his +companions to depart. It was clear enough that they had the +power, and they tried to carry out their plans. + +They embarked in ten canoes, and thus the Admiral was abandoned +by forty-eight of his men. They followed, to the eastward, the +route which Mendez had taken. In their lawless way they robbed +the Indians of their provisions and of anything else that they +needed. As Mendez had done, they waited at the eastern extremity +of Jamaica for calm weather. They knew they could not manage the +canoes, and they had several Indians to help them. + +When the sea was smooth they started; but they had hardly gone +four leagues from the land, when the waves began to rise under a +contrary wind. Immediately they turned for shore, the canoes were +overfreighted, and as the sea rose, frequently shipped water. + +The frightened Spaniards threw overboard everything they could +spare, retaining their arms only, and a part of their provisions. +They even compelled the Indians to leap into the sea to lighten +the boats, but, though they were skillful swimmers, they could +not pretend to make land by swimming. They kept to the canoes, +therefore, and would occasionally seize them to recover breath. +The cruel Spaniards cut off their hands and stabbed them with +their swords. Thus eighteen of their Indian comrades died, and +they had none left, but such as were of most help in managing the +canoes. Once on land, they doubted whether to make another effort +or to return to Columbus. + +Eventually they waited a month, for another opportunity to go to +Hispaniola; but this failed as before, and losing all patience, +they returned westward, to the commander whom they had insulted, +living on the island "by fair means or foul," according as they +found the natives friendly or unfriendly. + +Columbus, meanwhile, with his half the crew, was waiting. He had +established as good order as he could between his men and the +natives, but he was obliged to keep a strict watch over such +European food as he still had, knowing how necessary it was for +the sick men in his number. On the other hand, the Indians, +wholly unused to regular work, found it difficult to supply the +food which so many men demanded. + +The supplies fell off from day to day; the natives no longer +pressed down to the harbor; the trinkets, with which food had +been bought, had lost their charm; the Spaniards began to fear +that they should starve on the shore of an island which, when +Columbus discovered it, appeared to be the abode of plenty. It +was at this juncture, when the natives were becoming more and +more unfriendly, that Columbus justified himself by the tyrant's +plea of necessity, and made use of his astronomical science, to +obtain a supernatural power over his unfriendly allies. + +He sent his interpreter to summon the principal caciques to a +conference. For this conference he appointed a day when he knew +that a total eclipse of the moon would take place. The chiefs met +as they were requested. He told them that he and his followers +worshipped a God who lived in the heavens; that that God favored +such as did well, but punished all who displeased him. + +He asked them to remember how this God had protected Mendez and +his companions in their voyage, because they went obedient to the +orders which had been given them by their chief. He asked them to +remember that the same God had punished Porras and his companions +with all sorts of affliction, because they were rebels. He said +that now this great God was angry with the Indians, because they +refused to furnish food to his faithful worshippers; that he +proposed to chastise them with famine and pestilence. + +He said that, lest they should disbelieve the warning which he +gave, a sign would be given, in the heavens that night, of the +anger of the great God. They would see that the moon would change +its color and would lose its light. They might take this as a +token of the punishment which awaited them. + +The Indians had not that confidence in Columbus which they once +had. Some derided what he said, some were alarmed, all waited +with anxiety and curiosity. When the night came they saw a dark +shadow begin to steal over the moon. As the eclipse went forward, +their fears increased. At last the mysterious darkness covered +the face of the sky and of the world, when they knew that they +had a right to expect the glory of the full moon. + +There were then no bounds to their terror. They, seized on all +the provisions that they had, they rushed to the ships, they +threw themselves at the feet of Columbus and begged him to +intercede with his God, to withhold the calamity which he had +threatened. Columbus would not receive them; he shut himself up +in his cabin and remained there while the eclipse increased, +hearing from within, as the narrator says, the howls and prayers +of the savages. + +It was not until he knew the eclipse was about to diminish, that +he condescended to come forth, and told them that he had +interceded with God, who would pardon them if they would fulfil +their promises. In token of pardon, the darkness would be +withdrawn from the moon. + +The Indians saw the fulfilment of the promise, as they had seen +the fulfilment of the threat. The moon reappeared in its +brilliancy. They thanked the Admiral eagerly for his +intercession, and repaired to their homes. From this time +forward, having proved that he knew on earth what was passing in +the heavens, they propitiated him with their gifts. The supplies +came in regularly, and from this time there was no longer any +want of provisions. + +But no tales of eclipses would keep the Spaniards quiet. Another +conspiracy was formed, as the eight remaining months of exile +passed by, among the survivors. They meant to seize the remaining +canoes, and with them make their way to Hispaniola. But, at the +very point of the outbreak of the new mutiny, a sail was seen +standing toward the harbor. + +The Spaniards could see that the vessel was small. She kept the +offing, but sent a boat on shore. As the boat drew near, those +who waited so eagerly recognized Escobar, who had been condemned +to death, in Isabella, when Columbus was in administration, and +was pardoned by his successor Bobadilla. To see this man +approaching for their relief was not hopeful, though he were +called a Christian, and was a countryman of their own. + +Escobar drew up to the ships, on which the Spaniards still lived, +and gave them a letter from Ovando, the new governor of +Hispaniola, with some bacon and a barrel of wine, which were sent +as presents to the Admiral. He told Columbus, in a private +interview, that the governor had sent him to express his concern +at his misfortune, and his regret that he had not a vessel of +sufficient size to bring off all the people, but that he would +send one as soon as possible. He assured him that his concerns in +Hispaniola were attended to faithfully in his absence; he asked +him to write to the governor in reply, as he wished to return at +once. + +This was but scant comfort for men who had been eight months +waiting to be relieved. But Escobar was master of the position. +Columbus wrote a reply at once to Ovando, pointed out that the +difficulties of his situation had been increased by the rebellion +of the brothers Porras. He, however, expressed his reliance on +his promise, and said he would remain patiently on his ships +until relief came. Escobar took the letter, returned to his +vessel, and she made sail at once, leaving the starving Spaniards +in dismay, to the same fate which hung over them before. + +Columbus tried to reassure them. He professed himself satisfied +with the communications from Ovando, and told them that vessels +large enough for them would soon arrive. He said that they could +see that he believed this, because he had not himself taken +passage with Escobar, preferring to share their lot with them. He +had sent back the little vessel at once, so that no time might be +lost in sending the necessary ships. + +With these assurances he cheered their hearts. In truth, however, +he was very indignant at Ovando's cool behavior. That he should +have left them for months in danger and uncertainty, with a mere +tantalizing message and a scanty present of food--all this +naturally made the great leader indignant. He believed that +Ovando hoped that he might perish on the island. + +He supposed that Ovando thought that this would be favorable for +his own political prospects, and he believed that Escobar was +sent merely as a spy. This same impression is given by Las Casas, +the historian, who was then at San Domingo. He says that Escobar +was chosen simply because of his enmity to Columbus, and that he +was ordered not to land, nor to hold conversation with any of the +crew, nor to receive letters from any except the Admiral. + +After Escobar's departure, Columbus sent an embassy on shore to +communicate with the rebel party, who were living on the island. +He offered to them free pardon, kind treatment, and a passage +with him in the ships which he expected from Ovando, and, as a +token of good will, he sent them a part of the bacon which +Escobar had brought them. + +Francesco de Porras met these ambassadors, and replied that they +had no wish to return to the ships, but preferred living at +large. They offered to engage that they would be peaceable, if +the Admiral would promise them solemnly, that, in case two +vessels arrived, they should have one to depart in; that if only +one vessel arrived they should have half of it, and that the +Admiral would now share with them the stores and articles of +traffic, which he had left in the ship. But these demands +Columbus refused to accept. + +Porras had spoken for the rebels, but they were not so well +satisfied with the answer. The incident gave occasion for what +was almost an outbreak among them. Porras attempted to hold them +in hand, by assuring them that there had been no real arrival of +Escobar. He told them that there had been no vessel in port; that +what had been seen was a mere phantasm conjured up by Columbus, +who was deeply versed in necromancy. + +He reminded them that the vessel arrived just in the edge of the +evening; that it communicated with Columbus only, and then +disappeared in the night. Had it been a real vessel would he not +have embarked, with his brother and his son? Was it not clear +that it was only a phantom, which appeared for a moment and then +vanished? + +Not satisfied, however, with his control over his men, he marched +them to a point near the ships, hoping to plunder the stores and +to take the Admiral prisoner. Columbus, however, had notice of +the approach of this marauding party, and his brother and fifty +followers, of whose loyalty he was sure, armed themselves and +marched to meet them. The Adelantado again sent ambassadors, the +same whom he had sent before with the offer of pardon, but Porras +and his companions would not permit them to approach. + +They determined to offer battle to the fifty loyal men, thinking +to attack and kill the Adelantado himself. They rushed upon him +and his party, but at the first shock four or five of them were +killed. + +The Adelantado, with his own hand, killed Sanchez, one of the +most powerful men among the rebels. Porras attacked him in turn, +and with his sword cut his buckler and wounded his hand. The +sword, however, was wedged in the shield, and before Porras could +withdraw it, the Adelantado closed upon him and made him +prisoner. When the rebels saw this result of the conflict, they +fled in confusion. + +The Indians, meanwhile, amazed at this conflict among men who had +descended from heaven, gazed with wonder at the battle. When it +was over, they approached the field, and looked with amazement on +the dead bodies of the beings whom they had thought immortal. It +is said, however, that at the mere sound of a groan from one of +the wounded they fled in dismay. + +The Adelantado returned in triumph to the ships. He brought with +him his prisoners. Only two of his party had been wounded, +himself and his steward. The next day the remaining fugitives +sent in a petition to the Admiral, confessing their misdeeds and +asking for pardon. + +He saw that their union was broken; he granted their prayer, on +the single condition that Francesco de Porras should remain a +prisoner. He did not receive them on board the ships, but put +them under the command of a loyal officer, to whom he gave a +sufficient number of articles for trade, to purchase food of the +natives. + +This battle, for it was such, was the last critical incident in +the long exile of the Spaniards, for, after a year of hope and +fear, two vessels were seen standing into the harbor. One of them +was a ship equipped, at Columbus's own expense, by the faithful +Mendez; the other had been fitted out afterwards by Ovando, but +had sailed in company with the first vessel of relief. + +It would seem that the little public of Isabella had been made +indignant by Ovando's neglect, and that he had been compelled, by +public opinion to send another vessel as a companion to that sent +by Mendez. Mendez himself, having seen the ships depart, went to +Spain in the interest of the Admiral. + +With the arrival at Puerto Bueno, in Jamaica, of the two relief +vessels, Columbus's chief sufferings and anxiety were over. The +responsibility, at least, was in other hands. But the passage to +San Domingo consumed six tedious weeks. When he arrived, however, +it was to meet one of his triumphs. He could hardly have expected +it. + +But his sufferings, and the sense of wrong that he had suffered, +had, in truth, awakened the regard of the people of the colony. +Ovando took him as a guest to his house. The people received him +with distinction. + +He found little to gratify him, however. Ovando, had ruled the +poor natives with a rod of iron, and they were wretched. +Columbus's own affairs had been neglected, and he could gain no +relief from the governor. He spent only a month on the island, +trying, as best he could, to bring some order into the +administration of his own property; and then, on the twelfth of +September, 1504, sailed for Spain. + +Scarcely had the ship left harbor when she was dismasted in a +squall. He was obliged to cross to another ship, under command of +his brother, the Adelantado. She also was unfortunate. Her +mainmast was sprung in a storm, and she could not go on until the +mast was shortened. + +In another gale the foremast was sprung, and it was only on the +seventh of November that the shattered and storm-pursued vessel +arrived at San Lucar. Columbus himself had been suffering, +through the voyage, from gout and his other maladies. The voyage +was, indeed, a harsh experience for a sick man, almost seventy +years old. + +He went at once to Seville, to find such rest as he might, for +body and mind. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +TWO SAD YEARS--ISABELLA'S DEATH--COLUMBUS AT SEVILLE --HIS +ILLNESS--LETTERS TO THE KING--JOURNEYS TO SEGOVIA, SALAMANCA, AND +VALLADOLID--HIS SUIT THERE--PHILIP AND JUANA--COLUMBUS EXECUTES +HIS WILL--DIES--HIS BURIAL AND THE REMOVAL OF HIS BODY--HIS +PORTRAITS--HIS CHARACTER. + +Columbus had been absent from Spain two years and six months. He +returned broken in health, and the remaining two years of his +life are only the sad history of his effort to relieve his name +from dishonor and to leave to his sons a fair opportunity to +carry forward his work in the world. + +Isabella, alas, died on the twenty-sixth day of November, only a +short time after his arrival. Ferdinand, at the least, was cold +and hard toward him, and Ferdinand was now engaged in many +affairs other than those of discovery. He was satisfied that +Columbus did not know how to bring gold home from the colonies, +and the promises of the last voyage, that they should strike the +East, had not been fulfilled. + +Isabella had testified her kindly memory of Columbus, even while +he was in exile at Jamaica, by making him one of the body-guard +of her oldest son, an honorary appointment which carried with it +a handsome annual salary. After the return to Spain of Diego +Mendez, the loyal friend who had cared for his interests so well +in San Domingo, she had raised him to noble rank. + +It is clear, therefore, that among her last thoughts came in the +wish to do justice to him whom she had served so well. She had +well done her duty which had been given her to do. She had never +forgotten the new world to which it was her good fortune to send +the discoverer, and in her death that discoverer lost his best +friend. + +On his arrival in Seville, where one might say he had a right to +rest himself and do nothing else, Columbus engaged at once in +efforts to see that the seamen who had accompanied him in this +last adventure should be properly paid. Many of these men had +been disloyal to him and unfaithful to their sovereign, but +Columbus, with his own magnanimity, represented eagerly at court +that they had endured great peril, that they brought great news, +and that the king ought to repay them all that they had earned. + +He says, in a letter to his son written at this period, "I have +not a roof over my head in Castile. I have no place to eat nor to +sleep excepting a tavern, and there I am often too poor to pay my +scot." This passage has been quoted as if he were living as a +beggar at this time, and the world has been asked to believe that +a man who had a tenth of the revenue of the Indies due to him in +some fashion, was actually living from hand to mouth from day to +day. But this is a mere absurdity of exaggeration. + +Undoubtedly, he was frequently pressed for ready money. He says +to his son, in another letter, "I only live by borrowing." Still +he had good credit with the Genoese bankers established in +Andalusia. In writing to his son he begs him to economize, but at +the same time he acknowledges the receipt of bills of exchange +and considerable sums of money. + +In the month of December, there is a single transaction in +Hispaniola which amounts to five thousand dollars of our money. +We must not, therefore, take literally his statement that he was +too poor to pay for a night's lodging. On the other hand, it is +observed in the correspondence that, on the fifteenth of April, +1505, the king ordered that everything which belonged to Columbus +on account of his ten per cent should be carried to the royal +treasury as a security for certain debts contracted by the +Admiral. + +The king had also given an order to the royal agent in Hispaniola +that everything which he owned there should be sold. All these +details have been carefully brought together by Mr. Harrisse, who +says truly that we cannot understand the last order. + +When at last the official proceedings relating to the affairs in +Jamaica arrived in Europe, Columbus made an effort to go to +court. A litter was provided for him, and all the preparations +for his journey made. But he was obliged once more by his +weakness to give up this plan, and he could only write letters +pressing his claim. Of such letters the misfortune is, that the +longer they are, and the more of the detail they give, the less +likely are they to be read. Columbus could only write at night; +in the daytime he could not use his hands. + +He took care to show Ferdinand that his interests had not been +properly attended to in the islands. He said that Ovando had been +careless as to the king's service, and he was not unwilling to +let it be understood that his own administration had been based +on a more intelligent policy than that of either of the men who +followed him. + +But he was now an old man. He was unable to go to court in +person. He had not succeeded in that which he had sailed for--a +strait opening to the Southern Sea. He had discovered new gold +mines on the continent, but he had brought home but little +treasure. His answers from the court seemed to him formal and +unsatisfactory. At court, the stories of the Porras brothers were +told on the one side, while Diego Mendez and Carvajal represented +Columbus. + +In this period of the fading life of Columbus, we have eleven +letters addressed by him to his son. These show that he was in +Seville as late as February, 1505. From the authority of Las +Casas, we know that he left that part of Spain to go to Segovia +in the next May, and from that place he followed the court to +Salamanca and Valladolid, although he was so weak and ill. + +He was received, as he had always been, with professions of +kindness; but nothing followed important enough to show that +there was anything genuine in this cordiality. After a few days +Columbus begged that some action might be taken to indemnify him +for his losses, and to confirm the promises which had been made +to him before. The king replied that he was willing to refer all +points which had been discussed between them to an arbitration. +Columbus assented, and proposed the Archbishop Diego de Deza as +an arbiter. + +The reader must remember that it was he who had assisted Columbus +in early days when the inquiry was made at Salamanca. The king +assented to the arbitration, but proposed that it should include +questions which Columbus would not consider as doubtful. One of +these was his restoration to his office of viceroy. + +Now on the subject of his dignities Columbus was tenacious. He +regarded everything else as unimportant in comparison. He would +not admit that there was any question that he was the viceroy of +the Indies, and all this discussion ended in the postponement of +all consideration of his claims till, after his death, it was too +late for them to be considered. + +All the documents, when read with the interest which we take in +his character and fortunes, are indeed pathetic; but they did not +seem so to the king, if indeed they ever met his eye. + +In despair of obtaining justice for himself, Columbus asked that +his son Diego might be sent to Hispaniola in his place. The king +would promise nothing, but seems to have attempted to make +Columbus exchange the privileges which he enjoyed by the royal +promise for a seignory in a little town in the kingdom of Leon, +which is named not improperly "The Counts' Carrion." + +It is interesting to see that one of the persons whom he +employed, in pressing his claim at the court and in the +management of his affairs, was Vespucci, the Florentine merchant, +who in early life had been known as Alberigo, but had now taken +the name of Americo. + +The king was still engaged in the affairs of the islands. He +appointed bishops to take charge of the churches in the colonies, +but Columbus was not so much as consulted as to the persons who +should be sent. When Philip arrived from Flanders, with his wife +Juana, who was the heir of Isabella's fortunes and crown, +Columbus wished to pay his court to them, but was too weak to do +so in person. + +There is a manly letter, written with dignity and pathos, in +which he presses his claims upon them. He commissioned his +brother, the Adelantado, to take this letter, and with it he went +to wait upon the young couple. They received him most cordially, +and gave flattering hopes that they would attend favorably to the +suit. But this was too late for Columbus himself. Immediately +after he had sent his brother away, his illness increased in +violence. + +The time for petitions and for answers to petitions had come to +an end. His health failed steadily, and in the month of May he +knew that he was approaching his death. The king and the court +had gone to Villafranca de Valcacar. + +On the nineteenth of May Columbus executed his will, which had +been prepared at Segovia a year before. In this will he directs +his son and his successors, acting as administrators, always to +maintain "in the city of Genoa, some person of our line, who +shall have a house and a wife in that place, who shall receive a +sufficient income to live honorably, as being one of our +relatives, having foot and root in the said city, as a native; +since he will be able to receive from this city aid in favor of +the things of his service; because from that city I came forth +and in that city I was born." This clause became the subject of +much litigation as the century went on. + +Another clause which was much contested was his direction to his +son Diego to take care of Beatriz Enriquez, the mother of +Fernando. Diego is instructed to provide for her an honorable +subsistence "as being a person to whom I have great obligation. +What I do in this matter is to relieve my conscience, for this +weighs much upon my mind. The reason of this cannot be written +here." + +The history of the litigation which followed upon this will and +upon other documents which bear upon the fortunes of Columbus is +curious, but scarcely interesting. The present representative of +Columbus is Don Cristobal Colon de la Cerda, Duke of Veragua and +of La Vega, a grandee of Spain of the first class, Marquis of +Jamaica, Admiral and Seneschal Major of the Indies, who lives at +Madrid. + +Two days after the authentication of the will he died, on the +twenty first of May, 1506, which was the day of Ascension. His +last words were those of his Saviour, expressed in the language +of the Latin Testament, "In manus tuas, Pater, commendo spiritum +meum,"--"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." The absence +of the court from Valladolid took with it, perhaps, the +historians and annalists. For this or for some other reason, +there is no mention whatever of Columbus's funeral in any of the +documents of the time. + +The body was laid in the convent of San Francisco at Valladolid. +Such at least is the supposition of Navarrete, who has collected +the original documents relating to Columbus. He supposes that the +funeral services were conducted in the church of the parish of +Santa Maria de la Antigua. From the church of Saint Francis, not +many months after, the body was removed to Seville. A new chapel +had lately been built there, called Santa Maria de las Cuevas. In +this chapel was the body of Columbus entombed. In a curious +discussion of the subject, which has occupied much more space +than it is worth, it is supposed that this was in the year 1513, +but Mr. Harrisse has proved that this date is not accurate. + +For at least twenty-eight years, the body was permitted to remain +under the vaults of this chapel. Then a petition was sent to +Charles V, for leave to carry the coffin and the body to San +Domingo, that it might be buried in the larger chapel of the +cathedral of that city. To this the emperor consented, in a +decree signed June 2, 1537. It is not known how soon the removal +to San Domingo was really made, but it took place before many +years. + +Mr. Harrisse quotes from a manuscript authority to show, that +when William Penn besieged the city of San Domingo in 1655, all +the bodies buried under the cathedral were withdrawn from view, +lest the heretics should profane them, and that "the old +Admiral's" body was treated like the rest. + +Mr. Harrisse calls to mind the fact that the earthquake of the +nineteenth of May, 1673, demolished the cathedral in part, and +the tombs which it contained. He says, "the ruin of the colony, +the climate, weather, and carelessness all contributed to the +loss from sight and the forgetfulness of the bones of Columbus, +mingled with the dust of his descendants"; and Mr. Harrisse does +not believe that any vestige of them was ever found afterwards, +in San Domingo or anywhere else. This remark, from the person who +has given such large attention to the subject, is interesting. +For it is generally stated and believed that the bones were +afterwards removed to Havana in the island of Cuba. The opinion +of Mr. Harrisse, as it has been quoted, is entitled to very great +respect and authority. + +A very curious question has arisen in later times as to the +actual place where the remains now are. On this question there is +great discussion among historians, and many reports, official and +unofficial, have been published with regard to it. + +In the year 1867, the proposal was made to the Holy Father at +Rome, that Columbus should receive the honors known in the Roman +Catholic Church as the honors of beatification. In 1877, De +Lorgues, the enthusiastic biographer of Columbus, represents that +the inquiry had gone so far that these honors had been determined +on. One who reads his book would be led to suppose that Columbus +had already been recognized as on the way to be made a saint of +the Church. But, in truth, though some such inquiry was set on +foot, he never received the formal honors of beatification. +-------- + +We have one account by a contemporary of the appearance of +Columbus.[*] We are told that he was a robust man, quite tall, of +florid complexion, with a long face." + +[*] In the first Decade of Peter Martyr. + + +In the next generation, Oviedo says Columbus was "of good aspect, +and above the middle stature. His limbs were strong, his eyes +quick, and all the parts of his body well proportioned. His hair +was decidedly reddish, and the complexion of his face quite +florid and marked with spots of red." + +Bishop Las Casas knew the admiral personally, and describes him +in these terms: "He was above the middle stature, his face was +long and striking, his nose was aquiline, his eyes clear blue, +his complexion light, tending towards a distinct florid +expression, his beard and hair blonde in his youth, but they were +blanched at an early age by care. + +Las Casas says in another place, he was rude in bearing, and +careless as to his language. He was, however, gracious when he +chose to be, but he was angry when he was annoyed." + +Mr. Harrisse, who has collected these particulars from the +different writers, says that this physical type may be frequently +met now in the city and neighborhood of Genoa. He adds, "as for +the portraits, whether painted, engraved, or in sculpture, which +appear in collections, in private places, or as prints, there is +not one which is authentic. They are all purely imaginary." + +For the purpose of the illustration of this volume, we have used +that which is best known, and for many reasons most interesting. +It is preserved in the city of Florence, but neither the name of +the artist nor the date of the picture is known. It is generally +spoken of as the "Florentine portrait." The engraving follows an +excellent copy, made by the order of Thomas Jefferson, and now in +the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. We are +indebted to the government of this society for permission to use +it.[*] + +[*] The whole subject of the portraits of Columbus is carefully +discussed in a learned paper presented to the Wisconsin +Historical Society by Dr. James Davie Butler, and published in +the Collections of that Society, Vol. IX, pp. 79-96. + + +A picture ascribed to Titian, and engraved and circulated by the +geographer, Jomard, resembles closely the portraits of Philip +III. The costume is one which Columbus never wore. + +In his youth Columbus was affiliated with a religious +brotherhood, that of Saint Catherine, in Genoa. In after times, +on many occasions when it would have been supposed that he would +be richly clothed, he appeared in a grave dress which recalled +the recollections of the frock of the religious order of Saint +Francis. According to Diego Columbus, he died, "dressed in the +frock of this order, to which he had always been attached." +-------- + +The reader who has carefully followed the fortunes of the great +discoverer understands from the history the character of the man. +He would not have succeeded in his long suit at the court of +Ferdinand and Isabella, had he not been a person of single +purpose and iron will. + +From the moment when he was in command of the first expedition, +that expedition went prosperously to its great success, in +precisely the way which he had foreseen and determined. True, he +did not discover Asia, as he had hoped, but this was because +America was in the way. He showed in that voyage all the +attributes of a great discoverer; he deserved the honors which +were paid to him on his return. + +As has been said, however, this does not mean that he was a great +organizer of cities, or that he was the right person to put in +charge of a newly founded colony. It has happened more than once +in the history of nations that a great general, who can conquer +armies and can obtain peace, has not succeeded in establishing a +colony or in governing a city. + +On the other hand, it is fair to say that Columbus never had a +chance to show what he would have been in the direction of his +colonies had they been really left in his charge. This is true, +that his heart was always on discovery; all the time that he +spent in the wretched detail of the arrangement of a new-built +town was time which really seemed to him wasted. + +The great problem was always before him, how he should connect +his discoveries with the knowledge which Europe had before of the +coast of Asia. Always it seemed to him that the dominions of the +Great Khan were within his reach. Always he was eager for that +happy moment when he should find himself in personal +communication with that great monarch, who had been so long the +monarch of the East--who, as he thought, would prove to be the +monarch of the West. + +Columbus died with the idea that he had come close to Asia. Even +a generation after his death, the companions of Cortes gave to +the peninsula of California that name because it was the name +given in romance to the farthest island of the eastern Indies. + +Columbus met with many reverses, and died, one might almost say, +a broken-hearted man. But history has been just to him, and has +placed him in the foremost rank of the men who have set the world +forward. And, outside of the technical study of history, those +who like to trace the laws on which human progress advances have +been proud and glad to see that here is a noble example of the +triumph of faith. + +The life of Columbus is an illustration constantly brought +forward of the success which God gives to those who, having +conceived of a great idea, bravely determine to carry it through. + +His singleness of purpose, his unselfishness, his determination +to succeed, have been cited for four centuries, and will be cited +for centuries more, among the noblest illustrations which history +has given, of success wrought out by the courage of one man. + + + +APPENDIX A. + +[The following passages, from Admiral Fox's report, give his +reasons for believing that Samana, or Atwood's Key, is the island +where Columbus first touched land. The interest which attaches to +this subject at the moment of the centennial, when many voyages +will be made by persons following Columbus, induces me to copy +Admiral Fox's reasonings in detail. I believe his conclusion to +be correct.] + +This method of applying Columbus's words in detail to refute each +of the alleged tracks, and the study that I gave to the subject +in the winter of 1878-79 in the Bahamas, which has been familiar +cruising ground to me, has resulted in the selection of Samana or +Atwood's Key for the first landing place. + +It is a little island 8.8 miles east and west; 1.6 extreme +breadth, and averaging 1.2 north and south. It has 8.6 square +miles. The east end is in latitude 23 degrees 5' N.; longitude 73 +degrees 37' west of Greenwich. The reef on which it lies is 15 by +2 1/2 miles. + +On the southeast this reef stretches half a mile from the land, +on the east four miles, on the west two, along the north shore +one-quarter to one-half mile, and on the southwest scarcely +one-quarter. Turk is smaller than Samana, and Cat very much +larger. + +The selection of two so unlike in size show that dimension has +not been considered essential in choosing an island for the first +landfall.[*] + +[*] I am indebted to T. J. McLain, Esq., United States consul at +Nassau, for the following information given to him by the +captains of this port, who visit Samana or Atwood's Key. The +sub-sketch on this chart is substantially correct: Good water is +only obtained by sinking wells. The two keys to the east are +covered with guano; white boobies hold the larger one, and black +boobies the other; neither intermingles. + +The island is now uninhabited, but arrow heads and stone hatchets +are sometimes found; and in places there are piles of stones +supposed to have been made by the aborigines. Most of the growth +is scrubby, with a few scattered trees. + +The Nassau vessels enter an opening through the reef on the south +side of the island and find a very comfortable little harbor with +from two to two and a half fathoms of water. From here they send +their boats on shore to "strip" guano, and cut satin, dye woods +and bark. + + +When Columbus discovered Guanahani, the journal called it a +"little island." After landing he speaks of it as "bien grande," +"very large," which some translate, tolerably, or pretty large. +November 20, 1492 (Navarette, first edition, p. 61), the journal +refers to Isabella, a larger island than Guanahani, as "little +island," and the fifth of January following (p. 125) San Salvador +is again called "little island." + +The Bahamas have an area of about 37,000 square miles, six per +cent of which may be land, enumerated as 36 islands, 687 keys, +and 2,414 rocks. The submarine bank upon which these rest +underlies Florida also. But this peninsula is wave-formed upon +living corals, whose growth and gradual stretch toward the south +has been made known by Agassiz. + +I had an unsuccessful search for a similar story of the Bahamas, +to learn whether there were any probable changes within so recent +a period as four hundred years. + +The common mind can see that all the rock there is coral, none of +which is in position. The surface, the caves, the chinks, and the +numerous pot-holes are compact limestone, often quite +crystalline, while beneath it is oolitic, either friable or hard +enough to be used for buildings. The hills are sand-blown, not +upheaved. On a majority of the maps of the sixteenth century +there were islands on Mouchoir, and on Silver Banks, where now +are rocks "awash;" and the Dutch and the Severn Shoals, which lay +to the east, have disappeared. + +It is difficult to resist the impression that the shoal banks, +and the reefs of the Bahamas, were formerly covered with land; +and that for a geological age waste has been going on, and, +perhaps, subsidence. The coral polyp seems to be doing only +desultory work, and that mostly on the northeast or Atlantic side +of the islands; everywhere else it has abandoned the field to the +erosive action of the waves. + +Columbus said that Guanahani had abundance of water and a very +large lagoon in the middle of it. He used the word +laguna--lagoon, not lago--lake. His arrival in the Bahamas was at +the height of the rainy season. Governor Rawson's Report on the +Bahamas, 1864, page 92, Appendix 4, gives the annual rainfall at +Nassau for ten years, 1855--'64, as sixty-four inches. From May +1, to November 1 is the wet season, during which 44.7 inches +fall; the other six months 19.3 only. The most is in October, 8.5 +inches. + +Andros, the largest island, 1,600 square miles, is the only one +that has a stream of water. The subdivision of the land into so +many islands and keys, the absence of mountains, the showery +characteristic of the rainfall, the porosity of the rock, and the +great heat reflected from the white coral, are the chief causes +for the want of running water. During the rainy season the +"abundance of water" collects in the low places, making ponds and +lagoons, that afterward are soaked up by the rock and evaporated +by the sun. + +Turk and Watling have lagoons of a more permanent condition, +because they are maintained from the ocean by permeation. The +lagoon which Columbus found at Guanahani had certainly +undrinkable water, or he would have gotten some for his vessels, +instead of putting it off until he reached the third island. + +There is nothing in the journal to indicate that the lagoon at +Guanahani was aught but the flooding of the low grounds by +excessive rains; and even if it was one communicating with the +ocean, its absence now may be referred to the effect of those +agencies which are working incessantly to reshape the soft +structure of the Bahamas. + +Samana has a range of hills on the southwest side about one +hundred feet high, and on the northeast another, lower. Between +them, and also along the north shore, the land is low, and during +the season of rains there is a row of ponds parallel to the +shore. On the south side a conspicuous white bluff looks to the +southward and eastward. + +The two keys, lying respectively half a mile and three miles east +of the island, and possibly the outer breaker, which is four +miles, all might have been connected with each other, and with +the island, four hundred years ago. In that event the most +convenient place for Columbus to anchor in the strong northeast +trade-wind, was where I have put an anchor on the sub-sketch of +Samana. + +[In a subsequent passage Admiral Fox says:--] + +There is a common belief that the first landing place is settled +by one or another of the authors cited here. Nevertheless, I +trust to have shown, paragraph by paragraph, wherein their +several tracks are contrary to the journal, inconsistent with the +true cartography of the neighborhood, and to the discredit, +measurably, both of Columbus and of Las Casas. The obscurity and +the carelessness which appear in part of the diary through the +Bahamas offer no obstacle to this demonstration, provided that +they do not extend to the "log," or nautical part. + +Columbus went to sea when he was fourteen years of age, and +served there almost continuously for twenty-three years. The +strain of a sea-faring life, from so tender an age, is not +conducive to literary exactness. Still, for the very reason of +this sea experience, the "log" should be correct. + +This is composed of the courses steered, distances sailed over, +bearings of islands from one another, trend of shores, etc. The +recording of these is the daily business of seamen, and here the +entries were by Columbus himself, chiefly to enable him, on his +return to Spain, to construct that nautical map, which is +promised in the prologue of the first voyage. + +In crossing the Atlantic the Admiral understated to the crew each +day's run, so that they should not know how far they had gone +into an unknown ocean. Las Casas was aware of this counterfeit +"log," but his abridgment is from that one which Columbus kept +for his own use. + +If the complicated courses and distances in this were originally +wrong, or if the copy of them is false, it is obvious that they +cannot be "plotted " upon a correct chart. Conversely, if they +ARE made to conform to a succession of islands among which he is +known to have sailed, it is evident that this is a genuine +transcript of the authentic "log" of Columbus, and, reciprocally, +that we have the true track, the beginning of which is the +eventful landfall of October 12, 1492. + +The student or critical reader, and the seaman, will have to +determine whether the writer has established this conformity. The +public, probably, desires to have the question settled, but it +will hardly take any interest in a discussion that has no +practical bearing, and which, for its elucidation, leans so much +upon the jargon or the sea. + +It is not flattering to the English or Spanish speaking peoples +that the four hundredth anniversary of this great event draws +nigh, and is likely to catch us still floundering, touching the +first landing place. + + +SUMMARY. + +First. There is no objection to Samana in respect to size, +position or shape. That it is a little island, lying east and +west, is in its favor. The erosion at the east end, by which +islets have been formed, recalls the assertion of Columbus that +there it could be cut off in two days and made into an island. + +The Nassau vessels still find a snug anchorage here during the +northeast trades. These blew half a gale of wind at the time of +the landfall; yet Navarette, Varnhagen, and Captain Becher +anchored the squadron on the windward sides of the coral reefs of +their respective islands, a "lee shore." + +The absence of permanent lagoons at Samana I have tried to +explain. + +Second. The course from Samana to Crooked is to the southwest, +which is the direction that the Admiral said be should steer +"tomorrow evening." The distance given by him corresponds with +the chart. + +Third. The second island, Santa Maria, is described as having two +sides which made a right angle, and the length of each is given. +This points directly to Crooked and Acklin. Both form one island, +so fitted to the words of the journal as cannot be done with any +other land of the Bahamas. + +Fourth. The course and distance from Crooked to Long Island is +that which the Admiral gives from Santa Maria to Fernandina. + +Fifth. Long Island, the third, is accurately described. The trend +of the shores, "north-northwest and south-southeast;" the +"marvelous port" and the "coast which runs east [and] west," can +nowhere be found except at the southeast part of Long Island. + +Sixth. The journal is obscure in regard to the fourth island. The +best way to find it is to "plot" the courses FORWARD from the +third island and the courses and distances BACKWARD from the +fifth. These lead to Fortune for the fourth. + +Seventh. The Ragged Islands are the fifth. These he named las +islas de Arena--Sand Islands. + +They lie west-southwest from the fourth, and this is the course +the Admiral adhered to. He did not "log" all the run made between +these islands; in consequence the "log" falls short of the true +distance, as it ought to. These "seven or eight islands, all +extending from north to south," and having shoal water "six +leagues to the south" of them, are seen on the chart at a glance. + +Eighth. The course and distance from these to Port Padre, in +Cuba, is reasonable. The westerly current, the depth of water at +the entrance of Padre, and the general description, are free of +difficulties. The true distance is greater than the "logged," +because Columbus again omits part of his run. It would be awkward +if the true distances from the fourth to the fifth islands, and +from the latter to Padre, had fallen short of the "log," since it +would make the unexplainable situation which occurs in Irving's +course and distance from Mucaras Reef to Boca de Caravela. + +From end to end of the Samana track there are but three +discrepancies. At the third island, two leagues ought to be two +miles. At the fourth island twelve leagues ought to be twelve +miles. The bearing between the third and fourth islands is not +quite as the chart has it, nor does it agree with the courses he +steered. These three are fairly explained, and I think that no +others can be mustered to disturb the concord between this track +and the journal. -------- + +Rev. Mr. Cronan, in his recent voyage, discovered a cave at +Watling's island, where were many skeletons of the natives. It is +thought that a study of the bones in these skeletons will give +some new ethnological information as to the race which Columbus +found, which is now, thanks to Spanish cruelty, entirely extinct. + + + +APPENDIX B. + +The letter to the Lady Juana, which gives Columbus's own +statement of the indignities put upon him in San Domingo, is +written in his most crabbed Spanish. He never wrote the Spanish +language accurately, and the letter, as printed from his own +manuscript, is even curious in its infelicities. It is so +striking an illustration of the character of the man that we +print here an abstract of it, with some passages translated +directly from his own language. + +Columbus writes, towards the end of the year 1500, to the former +nurse of Don Juan, an account of the treatment he has received. +"If my complaint of the world is new, its method of abuse is very +old," he says. "God has made me a messenger of the new heaven and +the new earth which is spoken of in the Apocalypse by the mouth +of St. John, after having been spoken of by Isaiah, and he showed +me the place where it was." Everybody was incredulous, but the +queen alone gave the spirit of intelligence and zeal to the +undertaking. Then the people talked of obstacles and expense. +Columbus says "seven years passed in talk, and nine in executing +some noted acts which are worthy of remembrance," but he returned +reviled by all. + +"If I had stolen the Indies and had given them to the Moors I +could not have had greater enmity shown to me in Spain." Columbus +would have liked then to give up the business if he could have +come before the queen. However he persisted, and he says he +"undertook a new voyage to the new heaven and the new earth which +before had been hidden, and if it is not appreciated in Spain as +much as the other countries of India it is not surprising, +because it is all owing to my industry." He "had believed that +the voyage to Paria would reconcile all because of the pearls and +gold in the islands of Espanola." He says, "I caused those of our +people whom I had left there to come together and fish for +pearls, and arranged that I should return and take from them what +had been collected, as I understood, in measure a fanega (about a +bushel). If I have not written this to their Highnesses it is +because I wished also to have as much of gold. But that fled +before me, as all other things; I would not have lost them and +with them my honor, if I could have busied myself with my own +affairs. + +"When I went to San Domingo I found almost half of the colony +uprising, and they made war upon me as a Moor, and the Indians on +the other side were no less cruel. + +"Hojida came and he tried to make order, and he said that their +Highnesses had sent him with promises of gifts and grants and +money. He made up a large company, for in all Espanola there were +few men who were not vagabonds, and no one lived there who had +wife or children." Hojida retired with threats. + +"Then Vincente Ganez came with four ships. There were outbreaks +and suspicions but no damage." He reported that six other ships +under a brother of the Alcalde would arrive, and also the death +of the queen, but these were rumors without foundation. + +"Adrian (Mogica) attempted to go away as before, but our Lord did +not permit him to carry out his bad plan." Here Columbus regrets +that he was obliged to use force or ill-treat Adrian, but says he +would have done the same had his brother wished to kill him or +wrest from him the government which the king and queen had given +him to guard. + +"For six months I was ready to leave to take to their Highnesses +the good news of the gold and to stop governing a dissolute +people who feared neither king nor queen, full of meanness and +malice. I would have been able to pay all the people with six +hundred thousand maravedis and for that there were more than four +millions of tithes without counting the third part of the gold." + +Columbus says that be begged before his departure that they would +send some one at his expense to take command, and yet again a +subject with letters, for he says bitterly that he has such a +singular reputation that if he "were building churches and +hospitals they would say they were cells for stolen goods." + +Then Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo while Columbus was at LaVega +and the Adelantado at Jaragua. "The second day of his arrival he +declared himself governor, created magistrates, made offices, +published grants for gold and tithes, and everything else for a +term of twenty years." He said he had come to pay the people, and +declared he would send Columbus home in irons. Columbus was away. +Letters with favors were sent to others, but none to him. +Columbus resorted to methods to gain time so that their +Highnesses could understand the state of things. But he was +constantly maligned and persecuted by those who were jealous of +him. He says: + +"I think that you will remember that when the tempest threw me +into the port of Lisbon, after having lost my sails, I was +accused of having the intention to give India to that country. +Afterwards their Highnesses knew to the contrary. Although I know +but little, I cannot conceive that any one would suppose me so +stupid as not to know that though India might belong to me, yet I +could not keep it without the help of a prince." + +Columbus complains that he has been judged as a governor who has +been sent to a peaceful, well-regulated province. He says, "I +ought to be judged as a captain sent from Spain to the Indies to +conquer a warlike people, whose custom and religion are all +opposed to ours, where the people live in the mountains without +regular houses for themselves, and where, by the will of God, I +have placed under the rule of the king and queen another world, +and by which Spain, which calls itself poor, is today the richest +empire. I ought to be judged as a captain who for many years +bears arms incessantly. + +"I know well that the errors that I have committed have not been +with bad intentions, and I think that their Highnesses will +believe what I say; but I know and see that they use pity for +those who work against them." + +"If, nevertheless, their Highnesses order that another shall +judge me, which I hope will not be, and this ought to be on an +examination made in India, I humbly beg of them to send there two +conscientious and respectable people, at my expense, which may +know easily that one finds five marcs of gold in four hours. +However that may be, it is very necessary that they should go +there." -------- + + +APPENDIX C. + +It would have been so natural to give the name of Columbus to the +new world which he gave to Castile and Leon, that much wonder has +been expressed that America was not called Columbia, and many +efforts have been made to give to the continent this name. The +District of Columbia was so named at a time when American writers +of poetry, were determined that "Columbia" should be the name of +the continent. The ship Columbia, from which the great river of +the West takes that name, had received this name under the same +circumstances about the same time. The city of Columbia, which is +the capital of South Carolina, was named with the same wish to do +justice to the great navigator. + +Side by side with the discussion as to the name, and sometimes +making a part of it, is the question whether Columbus himself was +really the first discoverer of the mainland. The reader has seen +that he first saw the mainland of South America in the beginning +of August, 1498. It was on the fifth, sixth or seventh day, +according to Mr. Harrisse's accurate study of the letters. Was +this the first discovery by a European of the mainland? + +It is known that Ojeda, with whom the reader is familiar, also +saw this coast. With him, as passenger on his vessel, was +Alberico Vespucci, and at one time it was supposed that Vespucci +had made some claim to be the discoverer of the continent, on +account of this voyage. But in truth Ojeda himself says that +before he sailed he had seen the map of the Gulf of Paria which +Columbus had sent home to the sovereigns after he made that +discovery. It also seems to be proved that Alberico Vespucci, as +he was then called, never made for himself any claim to the great +discovery. + +Another question, of a certain interest to people proud of +English maritime science, is the question whether the Cabots did +not see the mainland before Columbus. It is admitted on all hands +that they did not make their first voyage till they knew of +Columbus's first discoveries; but it is supposed that in the +first or second voyage of the Cabots, they saw the mainland of +North America. The dates of the Cabots' voyages are unfortunately +badly entangled. One of them is as early as 1494, but this is +generally rejected. It is more probable that the king's letters +patent, authorizing John Cabot and his three sons to go, with +five vessels, under the English flag, for the discovery of +islands and countries yet unknown," was dated the fifth of March, +1496. Whether, however, they sailed in that year or in the next +year is a question. The first record of a discovery is in the +account-book of the privy purse of Henry VII, in the words, +"August 10th, 1497. To him who discovered the new island, ten +pounds." This is clearly not a claim on which the discovery of +the mainland can be based. + +A manuscript known as the Cotton Manuscript says that John Cabot +had sailed, but had not returned, at the moment when the +manuscript was written. This period was "the thirteenth year of +Henry VII." The thirteenth year of Henry began on the +twenty-second of August, 1497, and ended in 1498. On the third of +February, 1498, Henry VII granted permission to Cabot to take six +English ships "to the lands and islands recently found by the +said Cabot, in the name of the king and by his orders." Strictly +speaking, this would mean that the mainland had then been +discovered; but it is impossible to establish the claim of +England on these terms. + +What is, however, more to the point, is a letter from Pasqualigo, +a Venetian merchant, who says, writing to Venice, on the +twenty-third of August, 1497, that Cabot had discovered the +mainland at seven hundred leagues to the west, and had sailed +along it for a coast of three hundred leagues. He says the voyage +was three months in length. It was made, then, between May and +August, 1497. The evidence of this letter seems to show that the +mainland of North America was really first discovered by Cabot. +The discussion, however, does not in the least detract from the +merit due to Columbus for the great discovery. Whether he saw an +island or whether he saw the mainland, was a mere matter of what +has been called landfall by the seamen. It is admitted on all +hands that he was the leader in all these enterprises, and that +it was on his success in the first voyage that all such +enterprises followed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg etext of The Life of Christopher +Columbus from his own Letters and Journals, by Edward Everett Hale + + diff --git a/old/tlocc10.zip b/old/tlocc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa5c38c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tlocc10.zip |