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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/4113.txt b/4113.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66e2bf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/4113.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1438 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Christopher Columbus, Volume 6, by Filson Young + +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: Christopher Columbus, Volume 6 + And The New World Of His Discovery, A Narrative + +Author: Filson Young + +Release Date: December 5, 2004 [EBook #4113] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, VOLUME 6 *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + + AND THE NEW WORLD OF HIS DISCOVERY + + A NARRATIVE BY FILSON YOUNG + + + Volume 6 + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD VOYAGE + +Columbus was at sea again; firm ground to him, although so treacherous +and unstable to most of us; and as he saw the Spanish coast sinking down +on the horizon he could shake himself free from his troubles, and feel +that once more he was in a situation of which he was master. He first +touched at Porto Santo, where, if the story of his residence there be +true, there must have been potent memories for him in the sight of the +long white beach and the plantations, with the Governor's house beyond. +He stayed there only a few hours and then crossed over to Madeira, +anchoring in the Bay of Funchal, where he took in wood and water. As it +was really unnecessary for him to make a port so soon after leaving, +there was probably some other reason for his visit to these islands; +perhaps a family reason; perhaps nothing more historically important than +the desire to look once more on scenes of bygone happiness, for even on +the page of history every event is not necessarily big with significance. +From Madeira he took a southerly course to the Canary Islands, and on +June 16th anchored at Gomera, where he found a French warship with two +Spanish prizes, all of which put to sea as the Admiral's fleet +approached. On June 21st, when he sailed from Gomera, he divided his +fleet of six vessels into two squadrons. Three ships were despatched +direct to Espanola, for the supplies which they carried were urgently +needed there. These three ships were commanded by trustworthy men: Pedro +de Arana, a brother of Beatriz, Alonso Sanchez de Carvajal, and Juan +Antonio Colombo--this last no other than a cousin of Christopher's from +Genoa. The sons of Domenico's provident younger brother had not +prospered, while the sons of improvident Domenico were now all in high +places; and these three poor cousins, hearing of Christopher's greatness, +and deciding that use should be made of him, scraped together enough +money to send one of their number to Spain. The Admiral always had a +sound family feeling, and finding that cousin Antonio had sea experience +and knew how to handle a ship he gave him command of one of the caravels +on this voyage--a command of which he proved capable and worthy. From +these three captains, after giving them full sailing directions for +reaching Espanola, Columbus parted company off the island of Ferro. He +himself stood on a southerly course towards the Cape Verde Islands. + +His plan on this voyage was to find the mainland to the southward, of +which he had heard rumours in Espanola. Before leaving Spain he had +received a letter from an eminent lapidary named Ferrer who had travelled +much in the east, and who assured him that if he sought gold and precious +stones he must go to hot lands, and that the hotter the lands were, and +the blacker the inhabitants, the more likely he was to find riches there. +This was just the kind of theory to suit Columbus, and as he sailed +towards the Cape Verde Islands he was already in imagination gathering +gold and pearls on the shores of the equatorial continent. + +He stayed for about a week at the Cape Verde Islands, getting in +provisions and cattle, and curiously observing the life of the Portuguese +lepers who came in numbers to the island of Buenavista to be cured there +by eating the flesh and bathing in the blood of turtles. It was not an +inspiriting week which he spent in that dreary place and enervating +climate, with nothing to see but the goats feeding among the scrub, the +turtles crawling about the sand, and the lepers following the turtles. +It began to tell on the health of the crew, so he weighed anchor on July +5th and stood on a southwesterly course. + +This third voyage, which was destined to be the most important of all, +and the material for which had cost him so much time and labour, was +undertaken in a very solemn and determined spirit. His health, which he +had hoped to recover in Spain, had been if anything damaged by his +worryings with officialdom there; and although he was only forty-seven +years of age he was in some respects already an old man. He had entered, +although happily he did not know it, on the last decade of his life; and +was already beginning to suffer from the two diseases, gout and +ophthalmia, which were soon to undermine his strength and endurance. +Religion of a mystical fifteenth-century sort was deepening in him; +he had undertaken this voyage in the name of the Holy Trinity; and to +that theological entity he had resolved to dedicate the first new land +that he should sight. + +For ten days light baffling winds impeded his progress; but at the end of +that time the winds fell away altogether, and the voyagers found +themselves in that flat equatorial calm known to mariners as the +Doldrums. The vertical rays of the sun shone blisteringly down upon +them, making the seams of the ships gape and causing the unhappy crews +mental as well as bodily distress, for they began to fear that they had +reached that zone of fire which had always been said to exist in the +southern ocean. + +Day after day the three ships lay motionless on the glassy water, with +wood-work so hot as to burn the hands that touched it, with the meat +putrefying in the casks below, and the water running from the loosened +casks, and no one with courage and endurance enough to venture into the +stifling hold even to save the provisions. And through all this the +Admiral, racked with gout, had to keep a cheerful face and assure his +prostrate crew that they would soon be out of it. + +There were showers of rain sometimes, but the moisture in that baking +atmosphere only added to its stifling and enervating effects. All the +while, however, the great slow current of the Atlantic was moving +westward, and there came a day when a heavenly breeze, stirred in the +torrid air and the musical talk of ripples began to rise again from the +weedy stems of the ships. They sailed due west, always into a cooler and +fresher atmosphere; but still no land was sighted, although pelicans +and smaller birds were continually seen passing from south-west to +north-east. As provisions were beginning to run low, Columbus decided +on the 31st July to alter his course to north-by-east, in the hope of +reaching the island of Dominica. But at mid-day his servant Alonso +Perez, happening to go to the masthead, cried out that there was land in +sight; and sure enough to the westward there rose three peaks of land +united at the base. Here was the kind of coincidence which staggers +even the unbeliever. Columbus had promised to dedicate the first land +he saw to the Trinity; and here was the land, miraculously provided when +he needed it most, three peaks in one peak, in due conformity with the +requirements of the blessed Saint Athanasius. The Admiral was deeply +affected; the God of his belief was indeed a good friend to him; and he +wrote down his pious conviction that the event was a miracle, and +summoned all hands to sing the Salve Regina, with other hymns in praise +of God and the Virgin Mary. The island was duly christened La Trinidad. +By the hour of Compline (9 o'clock in the evening) they had come up with +the south coast of the island, but it was the next day before the +Admiral found a harbour where he could take in water. No natives were +to be seen, although there were footprints on the shore and other signs +of human habitation. + +He continued all day to sail slowly along the shore of the island, the +green luxuriance of which astonished him; and sometimes he stood out from +the coast to the southward as he made a long board to round this or that +point. It must have been while reaching out in this way to the southward +that he saw a low shore on his port hand some sixty miles to the south of +Trinidad, and that his sight, although he did not know it, rested for the +first time on the mainland of South America. The land seen was the low +coast to the west of the Orinoco, and thinking that it was an island he +gave it the name of Isla Sancta. + +On the 2nd of August they were off the south-west of Trinidad, and saw +the first inhabitants in the shape of a canoe full of armed natives, who +approached the ships with threatening gestures. Columbus had brought out +some musicians with him, possibly for the purpose of impressing the +natives, and perhaps with the idea of making things a little more +cheerful in Espanola; and the musicians were now duly called upon to give +a performance, a tambourine-player standing on the forecastle and beating +the rhythm for the ships' boys to dance to. The effect was other than +was anticipated, for the natives immediately discharged a thick flight of +arrows at the musicians, and the music and dancing abruptly ceased. +Eventually the Indians were prevailed upon to come on board the two +smaller ships and to receive gifts, after which they departed and were +seen no more. Columbus landed and made some observations of the +vegetation and climate of Trinidad, noticing that the fruits and-trees +were similar to those of Espanola, and that oysters abounded, as well as +"very large, infinite fish, and parrots as large as hens." + +He saw another peak of the mainland to the northwest, which was the +peninsula of Paria, and to which Columbus, taking it to be another +island, gave the name of Isla de Gracia. Between him and this land lay a +narrow channel through which a mighty current was flowing--that press of +waters which, sweeping across the Atlantic from Africa, enters the +Caribbean Sea, sprays round the Gulf of Mexico, and turns north again in +the current known as the Gulf Stream. While his ships were anchored at +the entrance to this channel and Columbus was wondering how he should +cross it, a mighty flood of water suddenly came down with a roar, sending +a great surging wave in front of it. The vessels were lifted up as +though by magic; two of them dragged their anchors from the bottom, and +the other one broke her cable. This flood was probably caused by a +sudden flush of fresh water from one of the many mouths of the Orinoco; +but to Columbus, who had no thought of rivers in his mind, it was very +alarming. Apparently, however, there was nothing for it but to get +through the channel, and having sent boats on in front to take soundings +and see that there was clear water he eventually piloted his little +squadron through, with his heart in his mouth and his eyes fixed on the +swinging eddies and surging circles of the channel. Once beyond it he +was in the smooth water of the Gulf of Paria. He followed the westerly +coast of Trinidad to the north until he came to a second channel narrower +than the first, through which the current boiled with still greater +violence, and to which he gave the name of Dragon's Mouth. This is the +channel between the northwesterly point of Trinidad and the eastern +promontory of Paria. Columbus now began to be bewildered, for he +discovered that the water over the ship's side was fresh water, and he +could not make out where it came from. Thinking that the peninsula of +Paria was an island, and not wishing to attempt the dangerous passage of +the Dragon's Mouth, he decided to coast along the southern shore of the +land opposite, hoping to be able to turn north round its western +extremity. + + +Sweeter blew the breezes, fresher grew the water, milder and more balmy +the air, greener and deeper the vegetation of this beautiful region. The +Admiral was ill with the gout, and suffering such pain from his eyes that +he was sometimes blinded by it; but the excitement of the strange +phenomena surrounding him kept him up, and his powers of observation, +always acute, suffered no diminution. There were no inhabitants to be +seen as they sailed along the coast, but monkeys climbed and chattered in +the trees by the shore, and oysters were found clinging to the branches +that dipped into the water. At last, in a bay where they anchored to +take in water, a native canoe containing three, men was seen cautiously +approaching; and the men, who were shy, were captured by the device of a +sailor jumping on to the gunwale of the canoe and overturning it, the +natives being easily caught in the water, and afterwards soothed and +captivated by the unfailing attraction of hawks' bells. They were tall +men with long hair, and they told Columbus that the name of their country +was Paria; and when they were asked about other inhabitants they pointed +to the west and signified that there was a great population in that +direction. + +On the 10th of August 1498 a party landed on this coast and formally took +possession of it in the name of the Sovereigns of Spain. By an unlucky +chance Columbus himself did not land. His eyes were troubling him so +much that he was obliged to lie down in his cabin, and the formal act of +possession was performed by a deputy. If he had only known! If he could +but have guessed that this was indeed the mainland of a New World that +did not exist even in his dreams, what agonies he would have suffered +rather than permit any one else to pronounce the words of annexation! +But he lay there in pain and suffering, his curious mystical mind +occupied with a conception very remote indeed from the truth. + + +For in that fertile hotbed of imagination, the Admiral's brain, a new and +staggering theory had gradually been taking shape. As his ships had been +wafted into this delicious region, as the airs had become sweeter, the +vegetation more luxuriant, and the water of the sea fresher,--he had +solemnly arrived at the conclusion that he was approaching the region of +the true terrestrial Paradise: the Garden of Eden that some of the +Fathers had declared to be situated in the extreme east of the Old World, +and in a region so high that the flood had not overwhelmed it. Columbus, +thinking hard in his cabin, blood and brain a little fevered, comes to +the conclusion that the world is not round but pear-shaped. He knows +that all this fresh water in the sea must come from a great distance and +from no ordinary river; and he decides that its volume and direction have +been acquired in its fall from the apex of the pear, from the very top of +the world, from the Garden of Eden itself. It was a most beautiful +conception; a theory worthy to be fitted to all the sweet sights and +sounds in the world about him; but it led him farther and farther away +from the truth, and blinded him to knowledge and understanding of what he +had actually accomplished. + +He had thought the coast of Cuba the mainland, and he now began to +consider it at least possible that the peninsula of Paria was mainland +also--another part of the same continent. That was the truth--Paria was +the mainland--and if he had not been so bemused by his dreams and +theories he might have had some inkling of the real wonder and +significance of his discovery. But no; in his profoundly unscientific +mind there was little of that patience which holds men back from +theorising and keeps them ready to receive the truth. He was patient +enough in doing, but in thinking he was not patient at all. No sooner +had he observed a fact than he must find a theory which would bring it +into relation with the whole of his knowledge; and if the facts would not +harmonise of themselves he invented a scheme of things by which they were +forced into harmony. He was indeed a Darwinian before his time, an adept +in the art of inventing causes to fit facts, and then proving that the +facts sprang from the causes; but his origins were tangible, immovable +things of rock and soil that could be seen and visited by other men, and +their true relation to the terrestrial phenomena accurately established; +so that his very proofs were monumental, and became themselves the +advertisements of his profound misjudgment. But meanwhile he is the +Admiral of the Ocean Seas, and can "make it so"; and accordingly, in a +state of mental instability, he makes the Gulf of Paria to be a slope of +earth immediately below the Garden of Eden, although fortunately he does +not this time provide a sworn affidavit of trembling ships' boys to +confirm his discovery. + +Meanwhile also here were pearls; the native women wore ropes of them all +over their bodies, and a fair store of them were bartered for pieces of +broken crockery. Asked as usual about the pearls the natives, also as +usual, pointed vaguely to the west and south-west, and explained that +there were more pearls in that direction. But the Admiral would not +tarry. Although he believed that he was within reach of Eden and pearls, +he was more anxious to get back to Espanola and send the thrilling news +to Spain than he was to push on a little farther and really assure +himself of the truth. How like Christopher that was! Ideas to him were +of more value than facts, as indeed they are to the world at large; but +one is sometimes led to wonder whether he did not sometimes hesitate to +turn his ideas into facts for very fear that they should turn out to be +only ideas. Was he, in his relations with Spain and the world, a trader +in the names rather than the substance of things? We have seen him going +home to Spain and announcing the discovery of the Golden Chersonesus, +although he had only discovered what he erroneously supposed to be an +indication of it; proclaiming the discovery of the Ophir of Solomon +without taking the trouble to test for himself so tremendous an +assumption; and we now see him hurrying away to dazzle Spain with the +story that he has discovered the Garden of Eden, without even trying to +push on for a few days more to secure so much as a cutting from the Tree +of Life. + +These are grave considerations; for although happily the Tree of Life is +now of no importance to any human being, the doings of Admiral +Christopher were of great importance to himself and to his fellow-men at +that time, and are still to-day, through the infinite channels in which +human thought and action run and continue thoughout the world, of grave +importance to us. Perhaps this is not quite the moment, now that the +poor Admiral is lying in pain and weakness and not quite master of his +own mind, to consider fully how he stands in this matter of honesty; we +will leave it for the present until he is well again, or better still, +until his tale of life and action is complete, and comes as a whole +before the bar of human judgment. + + +On August 11th Columbus turned east again after having given up the +attempt to find a passage to the north round Paria. There were practical +considerations that brought him to this action. As the water was growing +shoaler and shoaler he had sent a caravel of light draft some way further +to the westward, and she reported that there lay ahead of her a great +inner bay or gulf consisting of almost entirely fresh water. Provisions, +moreover, were running short, and were, as usual, turning bad; the +Admiral's health made vigorous action of any kind impossible for him; he +was anxious about the condition of Espanola--anxious also, as we have +seen, to send this great news home; and he therefore turned back and +decided to risk the passage of the Dragon's Mouth. He anchored in the +neighbouring harbour until the wind was in the right quarter, and with +some trepidation put his ships into the boiling tideway. When they were +in the middle of the passage the wind fell to a dead calm, and the ships, +with their sails hanging loose, were borne on the dizzy surface of +eddies, overfalls, and whirls of the tide. Fortunately there was deep +water in the passage, and the strength of the current carried them safely +through. Once outside they bore away to the northward, sighting the +islands of Tobago and Grenada and, turning westward again, came to the +islands of Cubagua and Margarita, where three pounds of pearls were +bartered from the natives. A week after the passage of the Dragon's +Mouth Columbus sighted the south coast of Espanola, which coast he made +at a point a long way to the east of the new settlement that he had +instructed Bartholomew to found; and as the winds were contrary, and he +feared it might take him a long time to beat up against them, he sent a +boat ashore with a letter which was to be delivered by a native messenger +to the Adelantado. The letter was delivered; a few days later a caravel +was sighted which contained Bartholomew himself; and once more, after a +long separation, these two friends and brothers were united. + + +The see-saw motion of all affairs with which Columbus had to do was in +full swing. We have seen him patching up matters in Espanola; hurrying +to Spain just in time to rescue his damaged reputation and do something +to restore it; and now when he had come back it was but a sorry tale that +Bartholomew had to tell him. A fortress had been built at the Hayna +gold-mines, but provisions had been so scarce that there had been +something like a famine among the workmen there; no digging had been +done, no planting, no making of the place fit for human occupation and +industry. Bartholomew had been kept busy in collecting the native +tribute, and in planning out the beginnings of the settlement at the +mouth of the river Ozema, which was at first called the New Isabella, but +was afterwards named San Domingo in honour of old Domenico at Savona. +The cacique Behechio had been giving trouble; had indeed marched out with +an army against Bartholomew, but had been more or less reconciled by the +intervention of his sister Anacaona, widow of the late Caonabo, who had +apparently transferred her affections to Governor Bartholomew. The +battle was turned into a friendly pagan festival--one of the last ever +held on that once happy island--in which native girls danced in a green +grove, with the beautiful Anacaona, dressed only in garlands, carried on +a litter in their midst. + +But in the Vega Real, where a chapel had been built by the priests of the +neighbouring settlement who were beginning to make converts, trouble had +arisen in consequence of an outrage on the wife of the cacique Guarionex. +The chapel was raided, the shrine destroyed, and the sacred vessels +carried off. The Spaniards seized a number of Indians whom they +suspected of having had a hand in the desecration, and burned them at the +stake in the most approved manner of the Inquisition--a hideous +punishment that fanned the remaining embers of the native spirit into +flame, and produced a hostile combination of Guarionex and several other +caciques, whose rebellion it took the Adelantado some trouble and display +of arms to quench. + +But the worst news of all was the treacherous revolt of Francisco Roldan, +a Spaniard who had once been a servant of the Admiral's, and who had been +raised by him to the office of judge in the island--an able creature, +but, like too many recipients of Christopher's favour, a treacherous +rascal at bottom. As soon as the Admiral's back was turned Roldan had +begun to make mischief, stirring up the discontent that was never far +below the surface of life in the colony, and getting together a large +band of rebellious ruffians. He had a plan to murder Bartholomew +Columbus and place himself at the head of the colony, but this fell +through. Then, in Bartholomew's absence, he had a passage with James +Columbus, who had now returned to the island and had resumed his. +official duties at Isabella. Bartholomew, who was at another part of the +coast collecting tribute, had sent a caravel laden with cotton to +Isabella, and well-meaning James had her drawn up on the beach. Roldan +took the opportunity to represent this innocent action as a sign of the +intolerable autocracy of the Columbus family, who did not even wish a +vessel to be in a condition to sail for Spain with news of their +misdeeds. Insolent Roldan formally asks James to send the caravel to +Spain with supplies; poor James refuses and, perhaps being at bottom +afraid of Roldan and his insolences, despatches him to the Vega Real with +a force to bring to order some caciques who had been giving trouble. +Possibly to his surprise, although not to ours, Roldan departs with +alacrity at the head of seventy armed men. Honest, zealous James, no +doubt; but also, we begin to fear, stupid James. + + +The Vega Real was the most attractive part of the colony, and the scene +of infinite idleness and debauchery in the early days of the Spanish +settlement. As Margarite and other mutineers had acted, so did Roldan +and his soldiers now act, making sallies against several of the chain of +forts that stretched across the island, and even upon Isabella itself; +and returning to the Vega to the enjoyment of primitive wild pleasures. +Roldan and Bartholomew Columbus stalked each other about the island with +armed forces for several months, Roldan besieging Bartholomew in the +fortress at the Vega, which he had occupied in Roldan's absence, and +trying to starve him out there. The arrival in February 1498 of the two +ships which had been sent out from Spain in advance, and which brought +also the news of the Admiral's undamaged favour at Court, and of the +royal confirmation of Bartholomew's title, produced for the moment a good +moral effect; Roldan went and sulked in the mountains, refusing to have +any parley or communication with the Adelantado, declining indeed to +treat with any one until the Admiral himself should return. In the +meantime his influence with the natives was strong enough to produce a +native revolt, which Bartholomew had only just succeeded in suppressing +when Christopher arrived on August 30th. + +The Admiral was not a little distressed to find that the three ships from +which he had parted company at Ferro had not yet arrived. His own voyage +ought to have taken far longer than theirs; they had now been nine weeks +at sea, and there was nothing to account for their long delay. When at +last they did appear, however they brought with them only a new +complication. They had lost their way among the islands and had been +searching about for Espanola, finally making a landfall there on the +coast of Xaragua, the south-western province of the island, where Roldan +and his followers were established. Roldan had received them and, +concealing the fact of his treachery, procured a large store of +provisions from them, his followers being meanwhile busy among the crews +of the ships inciting them to mutiny and telling them of the oppression +of the Admiral's rule and the joys of a lawless life. The gaol-birds +were nothing loth; after eight weeks at sea a spell ashore in this +pleasant land, with all kinds of indulgences which did not come within +the ordinary regimen of convicts and sailors, greatly appealing to them. +The result was that more than half of the crews mutinied and joined +Roldan, and the captains were obliged to put to sea with their small +loyal remnant. Carvajal remained behind in order to try to persuade +Roldan to give himself up; but Roldan had no such idea, and Carvajal had +to make his way by land to San Domingo, where he made his report to the +Admiral. Roldan has in fact delivered a kind of ultimatum. He will +surrender to no one but the Admiral, and that only on condition that he +gets a free pardon. If negotiations are opened, Roldan will treat with +no one but Carvajal. The Admiral, whose grip of the situation is getting +weaker and weaker, finds himself in a difficulty. His loyal army is only +some seventy strong, while Roldan has, of disloyal settlers, gaol-birds, +and sailors, much more than that. The Admiral, since he cannot reduce +his enemy's force by capturing them, seeks to do it by bribing them; and +the greatest bribe that he can think of to offer to these malcontents is +that any who like may have a free passage home in the five caravels which +are now waiting to return to Spain. To such a pass have things come in +the paradise of Espanola! But the rabble finds life pleasant enough in +Xaragua, where they are busy with indescribable pleasures; and for the +moment there is no great response to this invitation to be gone. +Columbus therefore despatches his ships, with such rabble of colonists, +gaol-birds, and mariners as have already had their fill both of pain and +pleasure, and writes his usual letter to the Sovereigns--half full of the +glories of the new discoveries he has made, the other half setting forth +the evil doings of Roldan, and begging that he may be summoned to Spain +for trial there. Incidentally, also, he requests a further licence for +two years for the capture and despatch of slaves to Spain. So the +vessels sail back on October 18, 1498, and the Admiral turns wearily to +the task of disentangling the web of difficulty that has woven itself +about him. + +Carvajal and Ballester--another loyal captain--were sent with a letter to +Roldan urging him to come to terms, and Carvajal and Ballester added +their own honest persuasions. But Roldan was firm; he wished to be quit +of the Admiral and his rule, and to live independently in the island; and +of his followers, although some here and there showed signs of +submission, the greater number were so much in love with anarchy that +they could not be counted upon. For two months negotiations of a sort +were continued, Roldan even presenting himself under a guarantee of +safety at San Domingo, where he had a fruitless conference with the +Admiral; where also he had an opportunity of observing what a sorry state +affairs in the capital were in, and what a mess Columbus was making of it +all. Roldan, being a simple man, though a rascal, had only to remain +firm in order to get his way against a mind like the Admiral's, and get +his way he ultimately did. The Admiral made terms of a kind most +humiliating to him, and utterly subversive of his influence and +authority. The mutineers were not only to receive a pardon but a +certificate (good Heavens!) of good conduct. Caravels were to be sent to +convey them to Spain; and they were to be permitted to carry with them +all the slaves that they had collected and all the native young women +whom they had ravished from their homes. + +Columbus signs this document on the 21st of November, and promises that +the ships shall be ready in fifty days; and then, at his wits' end, and +hearing of irregularities in the interior of the island, sets off with +Bartholomew to inspect the posts and restore them to order. In his +absence the see-saw, in due obedience to the laws that govern all +see-saws, gives a lurch to the other side, and things go all wrong again +in San Domingo. The preparations for the despatch of the caravels are +neglected as soon as his back is turned; not fifty days, but nearly one +hundred days elapse before they are ready to sail from San Domingo to +Xaragua. Even then they are delayed by storms and head-winds; and when +they do arrive Roldan and his company will not embark in them. The +agreement has been broken; a new one must be made. Columbus, returning +to San Domingo after long and harassing struggles on the other end of +the see-saw, gets news of this deadlock, and at the same time has news +from Fonseca in Spain of a far from agreeable character. His complaints +against the people under him have been received by the Sovereigns and +will be duly considered, but their Majesties have not time at the moment +to go into them. That is the gist of it, and very cold cheer it is for +the Admiral, balancing himself on this turbulent see-saw with anxious +eyes turned to Spain for encouragement and approval. + + +In the depression that followed the receipt of this letter he was no +match for Roldan. He even himself took a caravel and sailed towards +Xaragua, where he was met by Roldan, who boarded his ship and made his +new proposals. Their impudence is astounding; and when we consider that +the Admiral had in theory absolute powers in the island, the fact that +such proposals could be made, not to say accepted, shows how far out of +relation were his actual with his nominal powers. Roldan proposed that +he should be allowed to give a number of his friends a free passage to +Spain; that to all who should remain free grants of land should be given; +and (a free pardon and certificate of good conduct contenting him no +longer) that a proclamation should be made throughout the island +admitting that all the charges of disloyalty and mutiny which had been +brought against him and his followers were without foundation; and, +finally, that he should be restored to his office of Alcalde Mayor or +chief magistrate. + +Here was a bolus for Christopher to swallow; a bolus compounded of his +own words, his own acts, his hope, dignity, supremacy. In dismal +humiliation he accepted the terms, with the addition of a clause more +scandalous still--to the effect that the mutineers reserved the right, +in case the Admiral should fail in the exact performance of any of his +promises, to enforce them by compulsion of arms or any other method they +might think fit. This precious document was signed on September 28, 1499 +just twelve months after the agreement which it was intended to replace; +and the Admiral, sailing dismally back to San Domingo, ruefully pondered +on the fruits of a year's delay. Even then he was trying to make excuses +for himself, such as he made afterwards to the Sovereigns when he tried +to explain that this shameful capitulation was invalid. That he signed +under compulsion; that he was on board a ship, and so was not on his +viceregal territory; that the rebels had already been tried, and that he +had not the power to revoke a sentence which bore the authority of the +Crown; that he had not the power to dispose of the Crown property +--desperate, agonised shuffling of pride and self-esteem in the coils of +trial and difficulty. Enough of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AN INTERLUDE + +A breath of salt air again will do us no harm as a relief from these +perilous balancings of Columbus on the see-saw at Espanola. His true +work in this world had indeed already been accomplished. When he smote +the rock of western discovery many springs flowed from it, and some were +destined to run in mightier channels than that which he himself followed. +Among other men stirred by the news of Columbus's first voyage there was +one walking the streets of Bristol in 1496 who was fired to a similar +enterprise--a man of Venice, in boyhood named Zuan Caboto, but now known +in England, where he has some time been settled, as Captain John Cabot. +A sailor and trader who has travelled much through the known sea-roads +of this world, and has a desire to travel upon others not so well known. +He has been in the East, has seen the caravans of Mecca and the goods +they carried, and, like Columbus, has conceived in his mind the roundness +of the world as a practical fact rather than a mere mathematical theory. +Hearing of Columbus's success Cabot sets what machinery in England he has +access to in motion to secure for him patents from King Henry VII.; which +patents he receives on March 5, 1496. After spending a long time in +preparation, and being perhaps a little delayed by diplomatic protests +from the Spanish Ambassador in London, he sails from Bristol in May 1497. + +After sailing west two thousand leagues Cabot found land in the +neighbourhood of Cape Breton, and was thus in all probability the first +discoverer, since the Icelanders, of the mainland of the New World. He +turned northward, sailed through the strait of Belle Isle, and came home +again, having accomplished his task in three months. Cabot, like +Columbus, believed he had seen the territory of the Great Khan, of whom +he told the interested population of Bristol some strange things. He +further told them of the probable riches of this new land if it were +followed in a southerly direction; told them some lies also, it appears, +since he said that the waters there were so dense with fish that his +vessels could hardly move in them. He received a gratuity of L10 and a +pension, and made a great sensation in Bristol by walking about the city +dressed in fine silk garments. He took other voyages also with his son +Sebastian, who followed with him the rapid widening stream of discovery +and became Pilot Major of Spain, and President of the Congress appointed +in 1524 to settle the conflicting pretensions of various discoverers; but +so far as our narrative is concerned, having sailed across from Bristol +and discovered the mainland of the New World some years before Columbus +discovered it, John Cabot sails into oblivion. + + +Another great conquest of the salt unknown taken place a few days before +Columbus sailed on his third voyage. The accidental discovery of the +Cape by Bartholomew Diaz in 1486 had not been neglected by Portugal; and +the achievements of Columbus, while they cut off Portuguese enterprise +from the western ocean, had only stimulated it to greater activity within +its own spheres. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon in July 1497; by the +end of November he had rounded the Cape of Good Hope; and in May 1498, +after a long voyage full of interest, peril, and hardship he had landed +at Calicut on the shores of the true India. He came back in 1499 with a +battered remnant, his crew disabled by sickness and exhaustion, and half +his ships lost; but he had in fact discovered a road for trade and +adventure to the East that was not paved with promises, dreams, or mad +affidavits, but was a real and tangible achievement, bringing its reward +in commerce and wealth for Portugal. At that very moment Columbus was +groping round the mainland of South America, thinking it to be the coast +of Cathay, and the Garden of Eden, and God knows what other +cosmographical--theological abstractions; and Portugal, busy with her +arrangements for making money, could afford for the moment to look on +undismayed at the development of the mine of promises discovered by the +Spanish Admiral. + + +The anxiety of Columbus to communicate the names of things before he had +made sure of their substance received another rude chastisement in the +events that followed the receipt in Spain of his letter announcing the +discovery of the Garden of Eden and the land of pearls. People in Spain +were not greatly interested in his theories of the terrestrial Paradise; +but more than one adventurer pricked up his ears at the name of pearls, +and among the first was our old friend Alonso de Ojeda, who had returned +some time before from Espanola and was living in Spain. His position as +a member of Columbus's force on the second voyage and the distinction he +had gained there gave him special opportunities of access to the letters +and papers sent home by Columbus; and he found no difficulty in getting +Fonseca to show him the maps and charts of the coast of Paria sent back +by the Admiral, the veritable pearls which had been gathered, and the +enthusiastic descriptions of the wealth of this new coast. Knowing +something of Espanola, and of the Admiral also, and reading in the +despatches of the turbulent condition of the colony, he had a shrewd idea +that Columbus's hands would be kept pretty full in Espanola itself, and +that he would have no opportunity for some time to make any more voyages +of discovery. He therefore represented to Fonseca what a pity it would +be if all this revenue should remain untapped just because one man had +not time to attend to it, and he proposed that he should take out an +expedition at his own cost and share the profits with the Crown. + +This proposal was too tempting to be refused; unlike the expeditions of +Columbus, which were all expenditure and no revenue, it promised a chance +of revenue without any expenditure at all. The Paria coast, having been +discovered subsequent to the agreement made with Columbus, was considered +by Fonseca to be open to private enterprise; and he therefore granted +Ojeda a licence to go and explore it. Among those who went with him were +Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus's old pilot, Juan de la Cosa, as well as +some of the sailors who had been with the Admiral on the coast of Paria +and had returned in the caravels which had brought his account of it back +to Spain. Ojeda sailed on May 20, 1499; made a landfall some hundreds of +miles to the eastward of the Orinoco, coasted thence as far as the island +of Trinidad, and sailed along the northern coast of the peninsula of +Paria until he came to a country where the natives built their hots on +piles in the water, and to which he gave the name of Venezuela. It was +by his accidental presence on this voyage that Vespucci, the +meat-contractor, came to give his name to America--a curious story of +international jealousies, intrigues, lawsuits, and lies which we have not +the space to deal with here. After collecting a considerable quantity of +pearls Ojeda, who was beginning to run short of provisions, turned +eastward again and sought the coast of Espanola, where we shall presently +meet with him again. + + +And Ojeda was not the only person in Spain who was enticed by Columbus's +glowing descriptions to go and look for the pearls of Paria. There was +in fact quite a reunion of old friends of his and ours in the western +ocean, though they went thither in a spirit far different from that of +ancient friendship. Pedro Alonso Nino, who had also been on the Paria +coast with Columbus, who had come home with the returning ships, and +whose patience (for he was an exceedingly practical man) had perhaps been +tried by the strange doings of the Admiral in the Gulf of Paria, decided +that he as well as any one else might go and find some pearls. Nino is a +poor man, having worked hard in all his voyagings backwards and forwards +across the Atlantic; but he has a friend with money, one Luis Guerra, who +provides him with the funds necessary for fitting out a small caravel +about the size of his old ship the Nifta. Guerra, who has the money, +also has a brother Christoval; and his conditions are that Christoval +shall be given the command of the caravel. Practical Niflo does not care +so long as he reaches the place where the pearls are. He also applies to +Fonseca for licence to make discoveries; and, duly receiving it, sails +from Palos in the beginning of June 1499, hot upon the track of Ojeda. + +They did a little quiet discovery, principally in the domain of human +nature, caroused with the friendly natives, but attended to business all +the time; with the result that in the following April they were back in +Spain with a treasure of pearls out of which, after Nifio had been made +independent for life and Guerra, Christoval, and the rest of them had +their shares, there remained a handsome sum for the Crown. An extremely +practical, businesslike voyage this; full of lessons for our poor +Christopher, could he but have known and learned them. + + +Yet another of our old friends profited by the Admiral's discovery. What +Vincenti Yafiez Pinzon has been doing all these years we have no record; +living at Palos, perhaps, doing a little of his ordinary coasting +business, administering the estates of his brother Martin Alonso, and, +almost for a certainty, talking pretty big about who it was that really +did all the work in the discovery of the New World. Out of the obscurity +of conjecture he emerges into fact in December 1499, when he is found at +Palos fitting out four caravels for the purpose of exploring farther +along the coast of the southern mainland. That he also was after pearls +is pretty certain; but on the other hand he was more of a sailor than an +adventurer, was a discoverer at heart, and had no small share of the +family taste for sea travel. He took a more southerly course than any of +the others and struck the coast of America south of the equator on +January 20, 1500. He sailed north past the mouths of the Amazon and +Orinoco through the Gulf of Paria, and reached Espanola in June 1500. +He only paused there to take in provisions, and sailed to the west in +search of further discoveries; but he lost two of his caravels in a gale +and had to put back to Espanola. + +He sailed thence for Palos, and reached home in September 1500, having +added no inconsiderable share to the mass of new geographical knowledge +that was being accumulated. In later years he took a high place in the +maritime world of Spain. + + +And finally, to complete the account of the chief minor discoveries of +these two busy years, we must mention Pedro Alvarez Cabral of Portugal, +who was despatched in March 1, 1500 from Lisbon to verify the discoveries +of Da Gama. He reached Calicut six months later, losing on the voyage +four of his caravels and most of his company. Among the lost was +Bartholomew Diaz, the first discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, who was +on this voyage in a subordinate capacity, and whose bones were left to +dissolve in the stormy waters that beat round the Cape whose barrier he +was the first to pass. The chief event of this voyage, however, was not +the reaching of Calicut nor the drowning of Diaz (which was chiefly of +importance to himself, poor soul!) but the discovery of Brazil, which +Cabral made in following the southerly course too far to the west. +He landed there, in the Bay of Porto Seguro, on May 1, 1500, and took +formal possession of the land for the Crown of Portugal, naming it Vera +Cruz, or the Land of the True Cross. + +In the assumption of Columbus and his contemporaries all these doings +were held to detract from the glory of his own achievements, and were the +subject of endless affidavits, depositions, quarrels, arguments, proofs +and claims in the great lawsuit that was in after years carried on +between the Crown of Spain and the heirs of Columbus concerning his +titles and revenues. We, however, may take a different view. With the +exception of the discoveries of the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of +Brazil all these enterprises were directly traceable to Columbus's own +achievements and were inspired by his example. The things that a man can +do in his own person are limited by the laws of time and space; it is +only example and influence that are infinite and illimitable, and in +which the spirit of any achievement can find true immortality. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE THIRD VOYAGE-(continued) + +It may perhaps be wearisome to the reader to return to the tangled and +depressing situation in Espanola, but it cannot be half so wearisome as +it was for Columbus, whom we left enveloped in that dark cloud of error +and surrender in which he sacrificed his dignity and good faith to the +impudent demands of a mutinous servant. To his other troubles in San +Domingo the presence of this Roldan was now added; and the reinstated +Alcalde was not long in making use of the victory he had gained. He bore +himself with intolerable arrogance and insolence, discharging one of +Columbus's personal bodyguard on the ground that no one should hold any +office on the island except with his consent. He demanded grants of land +for himself and his followers, which Columbus held himself obliged to +concede; and the Admiral, further to pacify him, invented a very +disastrous system of repartimientos, under which certain chiefs were +relieved from paying tribute on condition of furnishing feudal service to +the settlers--a system which rapidly developed into the most cruel and +oppressive kind of slavery. The Admiral at this time also, in despair of +keeping things quiet by his old methods of peace and conciliation, +created a kind of police force which roamed about the island, exacting +tribute and meting out summary punishment to all defaulters. Among other +concessions weakly made to Roldan at this time was the gift of the Crown +estate of Esperanza, situated in the Vega Real, whither he betook himself +and embarked on what was nothing more nor less than a despotic reign, +entirely ignoring the regulations and prerogatives of the Admiral, and +taking prisoners and administering punishment just as he pleased. The +Admiral was helpless, and thought of going back to Spain, but the +condition of the island was such that he did not dare to leave it. +Instead, he wrote a long letter to the Sovereigns, full of complaints +against other people and justifications of himself, in the course of +which he set forth those quibbling excuses for his capitulation to Roldan +which we have already heard. And there was a pathetic request at the end +of the letter that his son Diego might be sent out to him. As I have +said, Columbus was by this time a prematurely old man, and feeling the +clouds gathering about him, and the loneliness and friendlessness of his +position at Espanola, he instinctively looked to the next generation for +help, and to the presence of his own son for sympathy and comfort. + + +It was at this moment (September 5, 1499) that a diversion arose in the +rumour that four caravels had been seen off the western end of Espanola +and duly reported to the Admiral; and this announcement was soon followed +by the news that they were commanded by Ojeda, who was collecting +dye-wood in the island forests. Columbus, although he had so far as we +know had no previous difficulties with Ojeda, had little cause now to +credit any adventurer with kindness towards himself; and Ojeda's secrecy +in not reporting himself at San Domingo, and, in fact, his presence on +the island at all without the knowledge of the Admiral, were sufficient +evidence that he was there to serve his own ends. Some gleam of +Christopher's old cleverness in handling men was--now shown by his +instructing Roldan to sally forth and bring Ojeda to order. It was a +case of setting a thief to catch a thief and, as it turned out, was not +a bad stroke. Roldan, nothing loth, sailed round to that part of the +coast where Ojeda's ships were anchored, and asked to see his licence; +which was duly shown to him and rather took the wind out of his sails. +He heard a little gossip from Ojeda, moreover, which had its own +significance for him. The Queen was ill; Columbus was in disgrace; +there was talk of superseding him. Ojeda promised to sail round to San +Domingo and report himself; but instead, he sailed to the east along the +coast of Xaragua, where he got into communication with some discontented +Spanish settlers and concocted a scheme for leading them to San Domingo +to demand redress for their imagined grievances. Roldan, however, who +had come to look for Ojeda, discovered him at this point; and there +ensued some very pretty play between the two rascals, chiefly in +trickery and treachery, such as capturing each other's boats and +emissaries, laying traps for one another, and taking prisoner one +another's crews. The end of it was that Ojeda left the island without +having reported himself to Columbus, but not before he had completed his +business--which was that of provisioning his ships and collecting +dye-wood and slaves. + +And so exit Ojeda from the Columbian drama. Of his own drama only one +more act remained to be played; which, for the sake of our past interest +in him, we will mention here. Chiefly on account of his intimacy with +Fonseca he was some years later given a governorship in the neighbourhood +of the Gulf of Darien; Juan de la Cosa accompanying him as unofficial +partner. Ojeda has no sooner landed there than he is fighting the +natives; natives too many for him this time; Ojeda forced to hide in the +forest, where he finds the body of de la Cosa, who has come by a shocking +death. Ojeda afterwards tries to govern his colony, but is no good at +that; cannot govern his own temper, poor fellow. Quarrels with his crew, +is put in irons, carried to Espanola, and dies there (1515) in great +poverty and eclipse. One of the many, evidently, who need a strong +guiding hand, and perish without it. + +It really began to seem as though Roldan, having had his fling and +secured the excessive privileges that he coveted, had decided that +loyalty to Christopher was for the present the most profitable policy; +but the mutinous spirit that he had cultivated in his followers for his +own ends could not be so readily converted into this cheap loyalty. More +trouble was yet to come of this rebellion. There was in the island a +young Spanish aristocrat, Fernando de Guevara by name, one of the many +who had come out in the hope of enjoying himself and making a fortune +quickly, whose more than outrageously dissolute life in San Domingo had +caused Columbus to banish him thence; and he was now living near Xaragua +with a cousin of his, Adrian de Moxeca, who had been one of the +ringleaders in Roldan's conspiracy. Within this pleasant province of +Xaragua lived, as we have seen, Anacaona, the sister of Caonabo, the Lord +of the House of Gold. She herself was a beautiful woman, called by her +subjects Bloom of the Gold; and she had a still more beautiful daughter, +Higuamota, who appears in history, like so many other women, on account +of her charms and what came of them. + +Of pretty Higuamota, who once lived like a dryad among the groves of +Espanola and has been dead now for so long, we know nothing except that +she was beautiful, which, although she doubtless did not think so while +she lived, turns out to have been the most important thing about her. +Young Guevara, coming to stay with his cousin Adrian, becomes a visitor +at the house of Anacaona; sees the pretty daughter and falls in love with +her. Other people also, it appears, have been in a similar state, but +Higuamota is not very accessible; a fact which of course adds to the +interest of the chase, and turns dissolute Fernando's idle preference +into something like a passion. Roldan, who has also had an eye upon her, +and apparently no more than an eye, discovers that Fernando, in order to +gratify his passion, is proposing to go the absurd length of marrying the +young woman, and has sent for a priest for that purpose. Roldan, +instigated thereto by primitive forces, thinks it would be impolitic for +a Spanish grandee to marry with a heathen; very well, then, Fernando will +have her baptized--nothing simpler when water and a priest are handy. +Roldan, seeing that the young man is serious, becomes peremptory, and +orders him to leave Xaragua. Fernando ostentatiously departs, but is +discovered a little later actually living in the house of Anacaona, who +apparently is sympathetic to Love's young dream. Once more ordered away, +this time with anger and threats, Guevara changes his tune and implores +Roldan to let him stay, promising that he will give up the marriage +project and also, no doubt, the no-marriage project. But Guevara has +sympathisers. The mutineers have not forgiven Roldan for deserting them +and becoming a lawful instead of an unlawful ruler. They are all on the +side of Guevara, who accordingly moves to the next stage of island +procedure, and sets on foot some kind of plot to kill Roldan and the +Admiral. Fortunately where there is treachery it generally works both +ways; this plot came to the ears of the authorities; the conspirators +were arrested and sent to San Domingo. + +This action came near to bringing the whole island about Columbus's ears. +Adrian de Moxeca was furious at what he conceived to be the treachery of +Roldan, for Roldan was in such a pass that the barest act of duty was +necessarily one of treachery to his friends. Moxeca took the place of +chief rebel that Roldan had vacated; rallied the mutineers round him, and +was on the point of starting for Concepcion, one of the chain of forts +across the island where Columbus was at present staying, when the Admiral +discovered his plan. All that was strongest and bravest in him rose up +at this menace. His weakness and cowardice were forgotten; and with the +spirit of an old sea-lion he sallied forth against the mutineers. He had +only a dozen men on whom he could rely, but he armed them well and +marched secretly and swiftly under cloud of night to the place where +Moxeca and his followers were encamped in fond security, and there +suddenly fell upon them, capturing Moxeca and the chief ringleaders. The +rest scattered in terror and escaped. Moxeca was hurried off to the +battlements of San Domingo and there, in the very midst of a longdrawn +trembling confession to the priest in attendance, was swung off the +ramparts and hanged. The others, although also condemned to death, were +kept in irons in the fortress, while Christopher and Bartholomew, roused +at last to vigorous action, scoured the island hunting down the +remainder, killing some who resisted, hanging others on the spot, and +imprisoning the remainder at San Domingo. + +After these prompt measures peace reigned for a time in the island, and +Columbus was perhaps surprised to see what wholesome effects could be +produced by a little exemplary severity. The natives, who under the +weakness of his former rule had been discontented and troublesome, now +settled down submissively to their yoke; the Spaniards began to work in +earnest on their farms; and there descended upon island affairs a brief +St. Martin's Summer of peace before the final winter of blight and death +set in. The Admiral, however, was obviously in precarious health; his +ophthalmia became worse, and the stability of his mind suffered. He had +dreams and visions of divine help and comfort, much needed by him, poor +soul, in all his tribulations and adversities. Even yet the cup was not +full. + + +We must now turn back to Spain and try to form some idea of the way in +which the doings of Columbus were being regarded there if we are to +understand the extraordinary calamity that was soon to befall him. It +must be remembered first of all that his enterprise had never really been +popular from the first. It was carried out entirely by the energy and +confidence of Queen Isabella, who almost alone of those in power believed +in it as a thing which was certain to bring ultimate glory, as well as +riches and dominion, to Spain and the Catholic faith. As we have seen, +there had been a brief ebullition of popular favour when Columbus +returned from his first voyage, but it was a popularity excited solely by +the promises of great wealth that Columbus was continually holding forth. +When those promises were not immediately fulfilled popular favour +subsided; and when the adventurers who had gone out to the new islands on +the strength of those promises had returned with shattered health and +empty pockets there was less chance than ever of the matter being +regarded in its proper light by the people of Spain. Columbus had either +found a gold mine or he had found nothing--that was the way in which the +matter was popularly regarded. Those who really understood the +significance of his discoveries and appreciated their scientific +importance did not merely stay at home in Spain and raise a clamour; they +went out in the Admiral's footsteps and continued the work that he had +begun. Even King Ferdinand, for all his cleverness, had never understood +the real lines on which the colony should have been developed. His eyes +were fixed upon Europe; he saw in the discoveries of Columbus a means +rather than an end; and looked to them simply as a source of revenue with +the help of which he could carry on his ambitious schemes. And when, as +other captains made voyages confirming and extending the work of +Columbus, he did begin to understand the significance of what had been +done, he realised too late that the Admiral had been given powers far in +excess of what was prudent or sensible. + +During all the time that Columbus and his brothers were struggling with +the impossible situation at Espanola there was but one influence at work +in Spain, and that was entirely destructive to the Admiral. Every +caravel that came from the New World brought two things. It brought a +crowd of discontented colonists, many of whom had grave reasons for their +discontent; and it brought letters from the Admiral in which more and +more promises were held out, but in which also querulous complaints +against this and that person, and against the Spanish settlers generally, +were set forth at wearisome length. It is not remarkable that the people +of Spain, even those who were well disposed towards Columbus, began to +wonder if these two things were not cause and effect. The settlers may +have been a poor lot, but they were the material with which Columbus had +to deal; he had powers enough, Heaven knew, powers of life and death; and +the problem began to resolve itself in the minds of those at the head of +affairs in Spain in the following terms. Given an island, rich and +luxuriant beyond the dreams of man; given a native population easily +subdued; given settlers of one kind or another; and given a Viceroy with +unlimited powers--could he or could he not govern the island? It was a +by no means unfair way of putting the case, and there is little justice +in the wild abuse that has been hurled at Ferdinand and Isabella on this +ground. Columbus may have been the greatest genius in the world; very +possibly they admitted it; but in the meanwhile Spain was resounding with +the cries of the impoverished colonists who had returned from his ocean +Paradise. No doubt the Sovereigns ignored them as much as they possibly +could; but when it came to ragged emaciated beggars coming in batches of +fifty at a time and sitting in the very courts of the Alhambra, +exhibiting bunches of grapes and saying that that was all they could +afford to live upon since they had come back from the New World, some +notice had to be taken of it. Even young Diego and Ferdinand, the +Admiral's sons, came in for the obloquy with which his name was +associated; the colonial vagabonds hung round the portals of the palace +and cried out upon them as they passed so that they began to dislike +going out. Columbus, as we know, had plenty of enemies who had access to +the King and Queen; and never had enemies an easier case to urge. Money +was continually being spent on ships and supplies; where was the return +for it? What about the Ophir of Solomon? What about the Land of Spices? +What about the pearls? And if you want to add a touch of absurdity, what +about the Garden of Eden and the Great Khan? + +To the most impartial eyes it began to appear as though Columbus were +either an impostor or a fool. There is no evidence that Ferdinand and +Isabella thought that he was an impostor or that he had wilfully deceived +them; but there is some evidence that they began to have an inkling as to +what kind of a man he really was, and as to his unfitness for governing a +colony. Once more something had to be done. The sending out of a +commissioner had not been a great success before, but in the difficulties +of the situation it seemed the only thing. Still there was a good deal +of hesitation, and it is probable that Isabella was not yet fully +convinced of the necessity for this grave step. This hesitation was +brought to an end by the arrival from Espanola of the ships bearing the +followers of Roldan, who had been sent back under the terms of Columbus's +feeble capitulation. The same ships brought a great quantity of slaves, +which the colonists were able to show had been brought by the permission +of the Admiral; they carried native girls also, many of them pregnant, +many with new-born babies; and these also came with the permission of the +Admiral. The ships further carried the Admiral's letter complaining of +the conspiracy of Roldan and containing the unfortunate request for a +further licence to extend the slave trade. These circumstances were +probably enough to turn the scale of Isabella's opinion against the +Admiral's administration. The presence of the slaves particularly +angered her kind womanly heart. "What right has he to give away my +vassals?" she exclaimed, and ordered that they should all be sent back, +and that in addition all the other slaves who had come home should be +traced and sent back; although of course it was impossible to carry out +this last order. + +At any rate there was no longer any hesitation about sending out a +commissioner, and the Sovereigns chose one Francisco de Bobadilla, an +official of the royal household, for the performance of this difficult +mission. As far as we can decipher him he was a very ordinary official +personage; prejudiced, it is possible, against an administration that had +produced such disastrous results and which offended his orderly official +susceptibilities; otherwise to be regarded as a man exactly honest in the +performance of what he conceived to be his duties, and entirely +indisposed to allow sentiment or any other extraneous matter to interfere +with such due performance. We shall have need to remember, when we see +him at work in Espanola, that he was not sent out to judge between +Columbus and his Sovereigns or between Columbus and the world, but to +investigate the condition of the colony and to take what action he +thought necessary. The commission which he bore to the Admiral was in +the following terms: + + "The King and the Queen: Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of + the Ocean-sea. We have directed Francisco de Bobadilla, the bearer + of this, to speak to you for us of certain things which he will + mention: we request you to give him faith and credence and to obey + him. From Madrid, May 26, '99. I THE KING. I THE QUEEN. By their + command. Miguel Perez de Almazan." + +In addition Bobadilla bore with him papers and authorities giving him +complete control and possession of all the forts, arms, and royal +property in the island, in case it should be necessary for him to use +them; and he also had a number of blank warrants which were signed, but +the substance of which was not filled in. This may seem very dreadful to +us, with our friendship for the poor Admiral; but considering the grave +state of affairs as represented to the King and Queen, who had their +duties to their colonial subjects as well as to Columbus, there was +nothing excessive in it. If they were to send out a commissioner at all, +and if they were satisfied, as presumably they were, that the man they +had chosen was trustworthy, it was only right to make his authority +absolute. Thus equipped Francisco de Bobadilla sailed from Spain in July +1500. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Christopher Columbus, Volume 6, by Filson Young + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, VOLUME 6 *** + +***** This file should be named 4113.txt or 4113.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/1/4113/ + +Produced by 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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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D.W.] + + + + + + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + AND THE NEW WORLD OF HIS DISCOVERY + + A NARRATIVE BY FILSON YOUNG + + + +BOOK 6. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE THIRD VOYAGE + +Columbus was at sea again; firm ground to him, although so treacherous +and unstable to most of us; and as he saw the Spanish coast sinking down +on the horizon he could shake himself free from his troubles, and feel +that once more he was in a situation of which he was master. He first +touched at Porto Santo, where, if the story of his residence there be +true, there must have been potent memories for him in the sight of the +long white beach and the plantations, with the Governor's house beyond. +He stayed there only a few hours and then crossed over to Madeira, +anchoring in the Bay of Funchal, where he took in wood and water. As it +was really unnecessary for him to make a port so soon after leaving, +there was probably some other reason for his visit to these islands; +perhaps a family reason; perhaps nothing more historically important than +the desire to look once more on scenes of bygone happiness, for even on +the page of history every event is not necessarily big with significance. +From Madeira he took a southerly course to the Canary Islands, and on +June 16th anchored at Gomera, where he found a French warship with two +Spanish prizes, all of which put to sea as the Admiral's fleet +approached. On June 21st, when he sailed from Gomera, he divided his +fleet of six vessels into two squadrons. Three ships were despatched +direct to Espanola, for the supplies which they carried were urgently +needed there. These three ships were commanded by trustworthy men: Pedro +de Arana, a brother of Beatriz, Alonso Sanchez de Carvajal, and Juan +Antonio Colombo--this last no other than a cousin of Christopher's from +Genoa. The sons of Domenico's provident younger brother had not +prospered, while the sons of improvident Domenico were now all in high +places; and these three poor cousins, hearing of Christopher's greatness, +and deciding that use should be made of him, scraped together enough +money to send one of their number to Spain. The Admiral always had a +sound family feeling, and finding that cousin Antonio had sea experience +and knew how to handle a ship he gave him command of one of the caravels +on this voyage--a command of which he proved capable and worthy. From +these three captains, after giving them full sailing directions for +reaching Espanola, Columbus parted company off the island of Ferro. He +himself stood on a southerly course towards the Cape Verde Islands. + +His plan on this voyage was to find the mainland to the southward, of +which he had heard rumours in Espanola. Before leaving Spain he had +received a letter from an eminent lapidary named Ferrer who had travelled +much in the east, and who assured him that if he sought gold and precious +stones he must go to hot lands, and that the hotter the lands were, and +the blacker the inhabitants, the more likely he was to find riches there. +This was just the kind of theory to suit Columbus, and as he sailed +towards the Cape Verde Islands he was already in imagination gathering +gold and pearls on the shores of the equatorial continent. + +He stayed for about a week at the Cape Verde Islands, getting in +provisions and cattle, and curiously observing the life of the Portuguese +lepers who came in numbers to the island of Buenavista to be cured there +by eating the flesh and bathing in the blood of turtles. It was not an +inspiriting week which he spent in that dreary place and enervating +climate, with nothing to see but the goats feeding among the scrub, the +turtles crawling about the sand, and the lepers following the turtles. +It began to tell on the health of the crew, so he weighed anchor on July +5th and stood on a southwesterly course. + +This third voyage, which was destined to be the most important of all, +and the material for which had cost him so much time and labour, was +undertaken in a very solemn and determined spirit. His health, which he +had hoped to recover in Spain, had been if anything damaged by his +worryings with officialdom there; and although he was only forty-seven +years of age he was in some respects already an old man. He had entered, +although happily he did not know it, on the last decade of his life; and +was already beginning to suffer from the two diseases, gout and +ophthalmia, which were soon to undermine his strength and endurance. +Religion of a mystical fifteenth-century sort was deepening in him; +he had undertaken this voyage in the name of the Holy Trinity; and to +that theological entity he had resolved to dedicate the first new land +that he should sight. + +For ten days light baffling winds impeded his progress; but at the end of +that time the winds fell away altogether, and the voyagers found +themselves in that flat equatorial calm known to mariners as the +Doldrums. The vertical rays of the sun shone blisteringly down upon +them, making the seams of the ships gape and causing the unhappy crews +mental as well as bodily distress, for they began to fear that they had +reached that zone of fire which had always been said to exist in the +southern ocean. + +Day after day the three ships lay motionless on the glassy water, with +wood-work so hot as to burn the hands that touched it, with the meat +putrefying in the casks below, and the water running from the loosened +casks, and no one with courage and endurance enough to venture into the +stifling hold even to save the provisions. And through all this the +Admiral, racked with gout, had to keep a cheerful face and assure his +prostrate crew that they would soon be out of it. + +There were showers of rain sometimes, but the moisture in that baking +atmosphere only added to its stifling and enervating effects. All the +while, however, the great slow current of the Atlantic was moving +westward, and there came a day when a heavenly breeze, stirred in the +torrid air and the musical talk of ripples began to rise again from the +weedy stems of the ships. They sailed due west, always into a cooler and +fresher atmosphere; but still no land was sighted, although pelicans and +smaller birds were continually seen passing from south-west to north- +east. As provisions were beginning to run low, Columbus decided on the +31st July to alter his course to north-by-east, in the hope of reaching +the island of Dominica. But at mid-day his servant Alonso Perez, +happening to go to the masthead, cried out that there was land in sight; +and sure enough to the westward there rose three peaks of land united at +the base. Here was the kind of coincidence which staggers even the +unbeliever. Columbus had promised to dedicate the first land he saw to +the Trinity; and here was the land, miraculously provided when he needed +it most, three peaks in one peak, in due conformity with the requirements +of the blessed Saint Athanasius. The Admiral was deeply affected; the +God of his belief was indeed a good friend to him; and he wrote down his +pious conviction that the event was a miracle, and summoned all hands to +sing the Salve Regina, with other hymns in praise of God and the Virgin +Mary. The island was duly christened La Trinidad. By the hour of +Compline (9 o'clock in the evening) they had come up with the south coast +of the island, but it was the next day before the Admiral found a harbour +where he could take in water. No natives were to be seen, although there +were footprints on the shore and other signs of human habitation. + +He continued all day to sail slowly along the shore of the island, the +green luxuriance of which astonished him; and sometimes he stood out from +the coast to the southward as he made a long board to round this or that +point. It must have been while reaching out in this way to the southward +that he saw a low shore on his port hand some sixty miles to the south of +Trinidad, and that his sight, although he did not know it, rested for the +first time on the mainland of South America. The land seen was the low +coast to the west of the Orinoco, and thinking that it was an island he +gave it the name of Isla Sancta. + +On the 2nd of August they were off the south-west of Trinidad, and saw +the first inhabitants in the shape of a canoe full of armed natives, who +approached the ships with threatening gestures. Columbus had brought out +some musicians with him, possibly for the purpose of impressing the +natives, and perhaps with the idea of making things a little more +cheerful in Espanola; and the musicians were now duly called upon to give +a performance, a tambourine-player standing on the forecastle and beating +the rhythm for the ships' boys to dance to. The effect was other than +was anticipated, for the natives immediately discharged a thick flight of +arrows at the musicians, and the music and dancing abruptly ceased. +Eventually the Indians were prevailed upon to come on board the two +smaller ships and to receive gifts, after which they departed and were +seen no more. Columbus landed and made some observations of the +vegetation and climate of Trinidad, noticing that the fruits and-trees +were similar to those of Espanola, and that oysters abounded, as well as +"very large, infinite fish, and parrots as large as hens." + +He saw another peak of the mainland to the northwest, which was the +peninsula of Paria, and to which Columbus, taking it to be another +island, gave the name of Isla de Gracia. Between him and this land lay a +narrow channel through which a mighty current was flowing--that press of +waters which, sweeping across the Atlantic from Africa, enters the +Caribbean Sea, sprays round the Gulf of Mexico, and turns north again in +the current known as the Gulf Stream. While his ships were anchored at +the entrance to this channel and Columbus was wondering how he should +cross it, a mighty flood of water suddenly came down with a roar, sending +a great surging wave in front of it. The vessels were lifted up as +though by magic; two of them dragged their anchors from the bottom, and +the other one broke her cable. This flood was probably caused by a +sudden flush of fresh water from one of the many mouths of the Orinoco; +but to Columbus, who had no thought of rivers in his mind, it was very +alarming. Apparently, however, there was nothing for it but to get +through the channel, and having sent boats on in front to take soundings +and see that there was clear water he eventually piloted his little +squadron through, with his heart in his mouth and his eyes fixed on the +swinging eddies and surging circles of the channel. Once beyond it he +was in the smooth water of the Gulf of Paria. He followed the westerly +coast of Trinidad to the north until he came to a second channel narrower +than the first, through which the current boiled with still greater +violence, and to which he gave the name of Dragon's Mouth. This is the +channel between the northwesterly point of Trinidad and the eastern +promontory of Paria. Columbus now began to be bewildered, for he +discovered that the water over the ship's side was fresh water, and he +could not make out where it came from. Thinking that the peninsula of +Paria was an island, and not wishing to attempt the dangerous passage of +the Dragon's Mouth, he decided to coast along the southern shore of the +land opposite, hoping to be able to turn north round its western +extremity. + + +Sweeter blew the breezes, fresher grew the water, milder and more balmy +the air, greener and deeper the vegetation of this beautiful region. The +Admiral was ill with the gout, and suffering such pain from his eyes that +he was sometimes blinded by it; but the excitement of the strange +phenomena surrounding him kept him up, and his powers of observation, +always acute, suffered no diminution. There were no inhabitants to be +seen as they sailed along the coast, but monkeys climbed and chattered in +the trees by the shore, and oysters were found clinging to the branches +that dipped into the water. At last, in a bay where they anchored to +take in water, a native canoe containing three, men was seen cautiously +approaching; and the men, who were shy, were captured by the device of a +sailor jumping on to the gunwale of the canoe and overturning it, the +natives being easily caught in the water, and afterwards soothed and +captivated by the unfailing attraction of hawks' bells. They were tall +men with long hair, and they told Columbus that the name of their country +was Paria; and when they were asked about other inhabitants they pointed +to the west and signified that there was a great population in that +direction. + +On the 10th of August 1498 a party landed on this coast and formally took +possession of it in the name of the Sovereigns of Spain. By an unlucky +chance Columbus himself did not land. His eyes were troubling him so +much that he was obliged to lie down in his cabin, and the formal act of +possession was performed by a deputy. If he had only known! If he could +but have guessed that this was indeed the mainland of a New World that +did not exist even in his dreams, what agonies he would have suffered +rather than permit any one else to pronounce the words of annexation! +But he lay there in pain and suffering, his curious mystical mind +occupied with a conception very remote indeed from the truth. + + +For in that fertile hotbed of imagination, the Admiral's brain, a new and +staggering theory had gradually been taking shape. As his ships had been +wafted into this delicious region, as the airs had become sweeter, the +vegetation more luxuriant, and the water of the sea fresher,--he had +solemnly arrived at the conclusion that he was approaching the region of +the true terrestrial Paradise: the Garden of Eden that some of the +Fathers had declared to be situated in the extreme east of the Old World, +and in a region so high that the flood had not overwhelmed it. Columbus, +thinking hard in his cabin, blood and brain a little fevered, comes to +the conclusion that the world is not round but pear-shaped. He knows +that all this fresh water in the sea must come from a great distance and +from no ordinary river; and he decides that its volume and direction have +been acquired in its fall from the apex of the pear, from the very top of +the world, from the Garden of Eden itself. It was a most beautiful +conception; a theory worthy to be fitted to all the sweet sights and +sounds in the world about him; but it led him farther and farther away +from the truth, and blinded him to knowledge and understanding of what he +had actually accomplished. + +He had thought the coast of Cuba the mainland, and he now began to +consider it at least possible that the peninsula of Paria was mainland +also--another part of the same continent. That was the truth--Paria was +the mainland--and if he had not been so bemused by his dreams and +theories he might have had some inkling of the real wonder and +significance of his discovery. But no; in his profoundly unscientific +mind there was little of that patience which holds men back from +theorising and keeps them ready to receive the truth. He was patient +enough in doing, but in thinking he was not patient at all. No sooner +had he observed a fact than he must find a theory which would bring it +into relation with the whole of his knowledge; and if the facts would not +harmonise of themselves he invented a scheme of things by which they were +forced into harmony. He was indeed a Darwinian before his time, an adept +in the art of inventing causes to fit facts, and then proving that the +facts sprang from the causes; but his origins were tangible, immovable +things of rock and soil that could be seen and visited by other men, and +their true relation to the terrestrial phenomena accurately established; +so that his very proofs were monumental, and became themselves the +advertisements of his profound misjudgment. But meanwhile he is the +Admiral of the Ocean Seas, and can "make it so"; and accordingly, in a +state of mental instability, he makes the Gulf of Paria to be a slope of +earth immediately below the Garden of Eden, although fortunately he does +not this time provide a sworn affidavit of trembling ships' boys to +confirm his discovery. + +Meanwhile also here were pearls; the native women wore ropes of them all +over their bodies, and a fair store of them were bartered for pieces of +broken crockery. Asked as usual about the pearls the natives, also as +usual, pointed vaguely to the west and south-west, and explained that +there were more pearls in that direction. But the Admiral would not +tarry. Although he believed that he was within reach of Eden and pearls, +he was more anxious to get back to Espanola and send the thrilling news +to Spain than he was to push on a little farther and really assure +himself of the truth. How like Christopher that was! Ideas to him were +of more value than facts, as indeed they are to the world at large; but +one is sometimes led to wonder whether he did not sometimes hesitate to +turn his ideas into facts for very fear that they should turn out to be +only ideas. Was he, in his relations with Spain and the world, a trader +in the names rather than the substance of things? We have seen him going +home to Spain and announcing the discovery of the Golden Chersonesus, +although he had only discovered what he erroneously supposed to be an +indication of it; proclaiming the discovery of the Ophir of Solomon +without taking the trouble to test for himself so tremendous an +assumption; and we now see him hurrying away to dazzle Spain with the +story that he has discovered the Garden of Eden, without even trying to +push on for a few days more to secure so much as a cutting from the Tree +of Life. + +These are grave considerations; for although happily the Tree of Life is +now of no importance to any human being, the doings of Admiral +Christopher were of great importance to himself and to his fellow-men at +that time, and are still to-day, through the infinite channels in which +human thought and action run and continue thoughout the world, of grave +importance to us. Perhaps this is not quite the moment, now that the +poor Admiral is lying in pain and weakness and not quite master of his +own mind, to consider fully how he stands in this matter of honesty; we +will leave it for the present until he is well again, or better still, +until his tale of life and action is complete, and comes as a whole +before the bar of human judgment. + + +On August 11th Columbus turned east again after having given up the +attempt to find a passage to the north round Paria. There were practical +considerations that brought him to this action. As the water was growing +shoaler and shoaler he had sent a caravel of light draft some way further +to the westward, and she reported that there lay ahead of her a great +inner bay or gulf consisting of almost entirely fresh water. Provisions, +moreover, were running short, and were, as usual, turning bad; the +Admiral's health made vigorous action of any kind impossible for him; he +was anxious about the condition of Espanola--anxious also, as we have +seen, to send this great news home; and he therefore turned back and +decided to risk the passage of the Dragon's Mouth. He anchored in the +neighbouring harbour until the wind was in the right quarter, and with +some trepidation put his ships into the boiling tideway. When they were +in the middle of the passage the wind fell to a dead calm, and the ships, +with their sails hanging loose, were borne on the dizzy surface of +eddies, overfalls, and whirls of the tide. Fortunately there was deep +water in the passage, and the strength of the current carried them safely +through. Once outside they bore away to the northward, sighting the +islands of Tobago and Grenada and, turning westward again, came to the +islands of Cubagua and Margarita, where three pounds of pearls were +bartered from the natives. A week after the passage of the Dragon's +Mouth Columbus sighted the south coast of Espanola, which coast he made +at a point a long way to the east of the new settlement that he had +instructed Bartholomew to found; and as the winds were contrary, and he +feared it might take him a long time to beat up against them, he sent a +boat ashore with a letter which was to be delivered by a native messenger +to the Adelantado. The letter was delivered; a few days later a caravel +was sighted which contained Bartholomew himself; and once more, after a +long separation, these two friends and brothers were united. + + +The see-saw motion of all affairs with which Columbus had to do was in +full swing. We have seen him patching up matters in Espanola; hurrying +to Spain just in time to rescue his damaged reputation and do something +to restore it; and now when he had come back it was but a sorry tale that +Bartholomew had to tell him. A fortress had been built at the Hayna +gold-mines, but provisions had been so scarce that there had been +something like a famine among the workmen there; no digging had been +done, no planting, no making of the place fit for human occupation and +industry. Bartholomew had been kept busy in collecting the native +tribute, and in planning out the beginnings of the settlement at the +mouth of the river Ozema, which was at first called the New Isabella, but +was afterwards named San Domingo in honour of old Domenico at Savona. +The cacique Behechio had been giving trouble; had indeed marched out with +an army against Bartholomew, but had been more or less reconciled by the +intervention of his sister Anacaona, widow of the late Caonabo, who had +apparently transferred her affections to Governor Bartholomew. The +battle was turned into a friendly pagan festival--one of the last ever +held on that once happy island--in which native girls danced in a green +grove, with the beautiful Anacaona, dressed only in garlands, carried on +a litter in their midst. + +But in the Vega Real, where a chapel had been built by the priests of the +neighbouring settlement who were beginning to make converts, trouble had +arisen in consequence of an outrage on the wife of the cacique Guarionex. +The chapel was raided, the shrine destroyed, and the sacred vessels +carried off. The Spaniards seized a number of Indians whom they +suspected of having had a hand in the desecration, and burned them at the +stake in the most approved manner of the Inquisition--a hideous +punishment that fanned the remaining embers of the native spirit into +flame, and produced a hostile combination of Guarionex and several other +caciques, whose rebellion it took the Adelantado some trouble and display +of arms to quench. + +But the worst news of all was the treacherous revolt of Francisco Roldan, +a Spaniard who had once been a servant of the Admiral's, and who had been +raised by him to the office of judge in the island--an able creature, +but, like too many recipients of Christopher's favour, a treacherous +rascal at bottom. As soon as the Admiral's back was turned Roldan had +begun to make mischief, stirring up the discontent that was never far +below the surface of life in the colony, and getting together a large +band of rebellious ruffians. He had a plan to murder Bartholomew +Columbus and place himself at the head of the colony, but this fell +through. Then, in Bartholomew's absence, he had a passage with James +Columbus, who had now returned to the island and had resumed his. +official duties at Isabella. Bartholomew, who was at another part of the +coast collecting tribute, had sent a caravel laden with cotton to +Isabella, and well-meaning James had her drawn up on the beach. Roldan +took the opportunity to represent this innocent action as a sign of the +intolerable autocracy of the Columbus family, who did not even wish a +vessel to be in a condition to sail for Spain with news of their +misdeeds. Insolent Roldan formally asks James to send the caravel to +Spain with supplies; poor James refuses and, perhaps being at bottom +afraid of Roldan and his insolences, despatches him to the Vega Real with +a force to bring to order some caciques who had been giving trouble. +Possibly to his surprise, although not to ours, Roldan departs with +alacrity at the head of seventy armed men. Honest, zealous James, no +doubt; but also, we begin to fear, stupid James. + + +The Vega Real was the most attractive part of the colony, and the scene +of infinite idleness and debauchery in the early days of the Spanish +settlement. As Margarite and other mutineers had acted, so did Roldan +and his soldiers now act, making sallies against several of the chain of +forts that stretched across the island, and even upon Isabella itself; +and returning to the Vega to the enjoyment of primitive wild pleasures. +Roldan and Bartholomew Columbus stalked each other about the island with +armed forces for several months, Roldan besieging Bartholomew in the +fortress at the Vega, which he had occupied in Roldan's absence, and +trying to starve him out there. The arrival in February 1498 of the two +ships which had been sent out from Spain in advance, and which brought +also the news of the Admiral's undamaged favour at Court, and of the +royal confirmation of Bartholomew's title, produced for the moment a good +moral effect; Roldan went and sulked in the mountains, refusing to have +any parley or communication with the Adelantado, declining indeed to +treat with any one until the Admiral himself should return. In the +meantime his influence with the natives was strong enough to produce a +native revolt, which Bartholomew had only just succeeded in suppressing +when Christopher arrived on August 30th. + +The Admiral was not a little distressed to find that the three ships from +which he had parted company at Ferro had not yet arrived. His own voyage +ought to have taken far longer than theirs; they had now been nine weeks +at sea, and there was nothing to account for their long delay. When at +last they did appear, however they brought with them only a new +complication. They had lost their way among the islands and had been +searching about for Espanola, finally making a landfall there on the +coast of Xaragua, the south-western province of the island, where Roldan +and his followers were established. Roldan had received them and, +concealing the fact of his treachery, procured a large store of +provisions from them, his followers being meanwhile busy among the crews +of the ships inciting them to mutiny and telling them of the oppression +of the Admiral's rule and the joys of a lawless life. The gaol-birds +were nothing loth; after eight weeks at sea a spell ashore in this +pleasant land, with all kinds of indulgences which did not come within +the ordinary regimen of convicts and sailors, greatly appealing to them. +The result was that more than half of the crews mutinied and joined +Roldan, and the captains were obliged to put to sea with their small +loyal remnant. Carvajal remained behind in order to try to persuade +Roldan to give himself up; but Roldan had no such idea, and Carvajal had +to make his way by land to San Domingo, where he made his report to the +Admiral. Roldan has in fact delivered a kind of ultimatum. He will +surrender to no one but the Admiral, and that only on condition that he +gets a free pardon. If negotiations are opened, Roldan will treat with +no one but Carvajal. The Admiral, whose grip of the situation is getting +weaker and weaker, finds himself in a difficulty. His loyal army is only +some seventy strong, while Roldan has, of disloyal settlers, gaol-birds, +and sailors, much more than that. The Admiral, since he cannot reduce +his enemy's force by capturing them, seeks to do it by bribing them; and +the greatest bribe that he can think of to offer to these malcontents is +that any who like may have a free passage home in the five caravels which +are now waiting to return to Spain. To such a pass have things come in +the paradise of Espanola! But the rabble finds life pleasant enough in +Xaragua, where they are busy with indescribable pleasures; and for the +moment there is no great response to this invitation to be gone. +Columbus therefore despatches his ships, with such rabble of colonists, +gaol-birds, and mariners as have already had their fill both of pain and +pleasure, and writes his usual letter to the Sovereigns--half full of the +glories of the new discoveries he has made, the other half setting forth +the evil doings of Roldan, and begging that he may be summoned to Spain +for trial there. Incidentally, also, he requests a further licence for +two years for the capture and despatch of slaves to Spain. So the +vessels sail back on October 18, 1498, and the Admiral turns wearily to +the task of disentangling the web of difficulty that has woven itself +about him. + +Carvajal and Ballester--another loyal captain--were sent with a letter to +Roldan urging him to come to terms, and Carvajal and Ballester added +their own honest persuasions. But Roldan was firm; he wished to be quit +of the Admiral and his rule, and to live independently in the island; and +of his followers, although some here and there showed signs of +submission, the greater number were so much in love with anarchy that +they could not be counted upon. For two months negotiations of a sort +were continued, Roldan even presenting himself under a guarantee of +safety at San Domingo, where he had a fruitless conference with the +Admiral; where also he had an opportunity of observing what a sorry state +affairs in the capital were in, and what a mess Columbus was making of it +all. Roldan, being a simple man, though a rascal, had only to remain +firm in order to get his way against a mind like the Admiral's, and get +his way he ultimately did. The Admiral made terms of a kind most +humiliating to him, and utterly subversive of his influence and +authority. The mutineers were not only to receive a pardon but a +certificate (good Heavens!) of good conduct. Caravels were to be sent to +convey them to Spain; and they were to be permitted to carry with them +all the slaves that they had collected and all the native young women +whom they had ravished from their homes. + +Columbus signs this document on the 21st of November, and promises that +the ships shall be ready in fifty days; and then, at his wits' end, and +hearing of irregularities in the interior of the island, sets off with +Bartholomew to inspect the posts and restore them to order. In his +absence the see-saw, in due obedience to the laws that govern all see- +saws, gives a lurch to the other side, and things go all wrong again in +San Domingo. The preparations for the despatch of the caravels are +neglected as soon as his back is turned; not fifty days, but nearly one +hundred days elapse before they are ready to sail from San Domingo to +Xaragua. Even then they are delayed by storms and head-winds; and when +they do arrive Roldan and his company will not embark in them. The +agreement has been broken; a new one must be made. Columbus, returning +to San Domingo after long and harassing struggles on the other end of the +see-saw, gets news of this deadlock, and at the same time has news from +Fonseca in Spain of a far from agreeable character. His complaints +against the people under him have been received by the Sovereigns and +will be duly considered, but their Majesties have not time at the moment +to go into them. That is the gist of it, and very cold cheer it is for +the Admiral, balancing himself on this turbulent see-saw with anxious +eyes turned to Spain for encouragement and approval. + + +In the depression that followed the receipt of this letter he was no +match for Roldan. He even himself took a caravel and sailed towards +Xaragua, where he was met by Roldan, who boarded his ship and made his +new proposals. Their impudence is astounding; and when we consider that +the Admiral had in theory absolute powers in the island, the fact that +such proposals could be made, not to say accepted, shows how far out of +relation were his actual with his nominal powers. Roldan proposed that +he should be allowed to give a number of his friends a free passage to +Spain; that to all who should remain free grants of land should be given; +and (a free pardon and certificate of good conduct contenting him no +longer) that a proclamation should be made throughout the island +admitting that all the charges of disloyalty and mutiny which had been +brought against him and his followers were without foundation; and, +finally, that he should be restored to his office of Alcalde Mayor or +chief magistrate. + +Here was a bolus for Christopher to swallow; a bolus compounded of his +own words, his own acts, his hope, dignity, supremacy. In dismal +humiliation he accepted the terms, with the addition of a clause more +scandalous still--to the effect that the mutineers reserved the right, +in case the Admiral should fail in the exact performance of any of his +promises, to enforce them by compulsion of arms or any other method they +might think fit. This precious document was signed on September 28, 1499 +just twelve months after the agreement which it was intended to replace; +and the Admiral, sailing dismally back to San Domingo, ruefully pondered +on the fruits of a year's delay. Even then he was trying to make excuses +for himself, such as he made afterwards to the Sovereigns when he tried +to explain that this shameful capitulation was invalid. That he signed +under compulsion; that he was on board a ship, and so was not on his +viceregal territory; that the rebels had already been tried, and that he +had not the power to revoke a sentence which bore the authority of the +Crown; that he had not the power to dispose of the Crown property-- +desperate, agonised shuffling of pride and self-esteem in the coils of +trial and difficulty. Enough of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AN INTERLUDE + +A breath of salt air again will do us no harm as a relief from these +perilous balancings of Columbus on the see-saw at Espanola. His true +work in this world had indeed already been accomplished. When he smote +the rock of western discovery many springs flowed from it, and some were +destined to run in mightier channels than that which he himself followed. +Among other men stirred by the news of Columbus's first voyage there was +one walking the streets of Bristol in 1496 who was fired to a similar +enterprise--a man of Venice, in boyhood named Zuan Caboto, but now known +in England, where he has some time been settled, as Captain John Cabot. +A sailor and trader who has travelled much through the known sea-roads +of this world, and has a desire to travel upon others not so well known. +He has been in the East, has seen the caravans of Mecca and the goods +they carried, and, like Columbus, has conceived in his mind the roundness +of the world as a practical fact rather than a mere mathematical theory. +Hearing of Columbus's success Cabot sets what machinery in England he has +access to in motion to secure for him patents from King Henry VII.; which +patents he receives on March 5, 1496. After spending a long time in +preparation, and being perhaps a little delayed by diplomatic protests +from the Spanish Ambassador in London, he sails from Bristol in May 1497. + +After sailing west two thousand leagues Cabot found land in the +neighbourhood of Cape Breton, and was thus in all probability the first +discoverer, since the Icelanders, of the mainland of the New World. He +turned northward, sailed through the strait of Belle Isle, and came home +again, having accomplished his task in three months. Cabot, like +Columbus, believed he had seen the territory of the Great Khan, of whom +he told the interested population of Bristol some strange things. He +further told them of the probable riches of this new land if it were +followed in a southerly direction; told them some lies also, it appears, +since he said that the waters there were so dense with fish that his +vessels could hardly move in them. He received a gratuity of L10 and a +pension, and made a great sensation in Bristol by walking about the city +dressed in fine silk garments. He took other voyages also with his son +Sebastian, who followed with him the rapid widening stream of discovery +and became Pilot Major of Spain, and President of the Congress appointed +in 1524 to settle the conflicting pretensions of various discoverers; but +so far as our narrative is concerned, having sailed across from Bristol +and discovered the mainland of the New World some years before Columbus +discovered it, John Cabot sails into oblivion. + + +Another great conquest of the salt unknown taken place a few days before +Columbus sailed on his third voyage. The accidental discovery of the +Cape by Bartholomew Diaz in 1486 had not been neglected by Portugal; and +the achievements of Columbus, while they cut off Portuguese enterprise +from the western ocean, had only stimulated it to greater activity within +its own spheres. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon in July 1497; by the +end of November he had rounded the Cape of Good Hope; and in May 1498, +after a long voyage full of interest, peril, and hardship he had landed +at Calicut on the shores of the true India. He came back in 1499 with a +battered remnant, his crew disabled by sickness and exhaustion, and half +his ships lost; but he had in fact discovered a road for trade and +adventure to the East that was not paved with promises, dreams, or mad +affidavits, but was a real and tangible achievement, bringing its reward +in commerce and wealth for Portugal. At that very moment Columbus was +groping round the mainland of South America, thinking it to be the coast +of Cathay, and the Garden of Eden, and God knows what other +cosmographical--theological abstractions; and Portugal, busy with her +arrangements for making money, could afford for the moment to look on +undismayed at the development of the mine of promises discovered by the +Spanish Admiral. + + +The anxiety of Columbus to communicate the names of things before he had +made sure of their substance received another rude chastisement in the +events that followed the receipt in Spain of his letter announcing the +discovery of the Garden of Eden and the land of pearls. People in Spain +were not greatly interested in his theories of the terrestrial Paradise; +but more than one adventurer pricked up his ears at the name of pearls, +and among the first was our old friend Alonso de Ojeda, who had returned +some time before from Espanola and was living in Spain. His position as +a member of Columbus's force on the second voyage and the distinction he +had gained there gave him special opportunities of access to the letters +and papers sent home by Columbus; and he found no difficulty in getting +Fonseca to show him the maps and charts of the coast of Paria sent back +by the Admiral, the veritable pearls which had been gathered, and the +enthusiastic descriptions of the wealth of this new coast. Knowing +something of Espanola, and of the Admiral also, and reading in the +despatches of the turbulent condition of the colony, he had a shrewd idea +that Columbus's hands would be kept pretty full in Espanola itself, and +that he would have no opportunity for some time to make any more voyages +of discovery. He therefore represented to Fonseca what a pity it would +be if all this revenue should remain untapped just because one man had +not time to attend to it, and he proposed that he should take out an +expedition at his own cost and share the profits with the Crown. + +This proposal was too tempting to be refused; unlike the expeditions of +Columbus, which were all expenditure and no revenue, it promised a chance +of revenue without any expenditure at all. The Paria coast, having been +discovered subsequent to the agreement made with Columbus, was considered +by Fonseca to be open to private enterprise; and he therefore granted +Ojeda a licence to go and explore it. Among those who went with him were +Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus's old pilot, Juan de la Cosa, as well as +some of the sailors who had been with the Admiral on the coast of Paria +and had returned in the caravels which had brought his account of it back +to Spain. Ojeda sailed on May 20, 1499; made a landfall some hundreds of +miles to the eastward of the Orinoco, coasted thence as far as the island +of Trinidad, and sailed along the northern coast of the peninsula of +Paria until he came to a country where the natives built their hots on +piles in the water, and to which he gave the name of Venezuela. It was +by his accidental presence on this voyage that Vespucci, the meat- +contractor, came to give his name to America--a curious story of +international jealousies, intrigues, lawsuits, and lies which we have not +the space to deal with here. After collecting a considerable quantity of +pearls Ojeda, who was beginning to run short of provisions, turned +eastward again and sought the coast of Espanola, where we shall presently +meet with him again. + + +And Ojeda was not the only person in Spain who was enticed by Columbus's +glowing descriptions to go and look for the pearls of Paria. There was +in fact quite a reunion of old friends of his and ours in the western +ocean, though they went thither in a spirit far different from that of +ancient friendship. Pedro Alonso Nino, who had also been on the Paria +coast with Columbus, who had come home with the returning ships, and +whose patience (for he was an exceedingly practical man) had perhaps been +tried by the strange doings of the Admiral in the Gulf of Paria, decided +that he as well as any one else might go and find some pearls. Nino is a +poor man, having worked hard in all his voyagings backwards and forwards +across the Atlantic; but he has a friend with money, one Luis Guerra, who +provides him with the funds necessary for fitting out a small caravel +about the size of his old ship the Nifta. Guerra, who has the money, +also has a brother Christoval; and his conditions are that Christoval +shall be given the command of the caravel. Practical Niflo does not care +so long as he reaches the place where the pearls are. He also applies to +Fonseca for licence to make discoveries; and, duly receiving it, sails +from Palos in the beginning of June 1499, hot upon the track of Ojeda. + +They did a little quiet discovery, principally in the domain of human +nature, caroused with the friendly natives, but attended to business all +the time; with the result that in the following April they were back in +Spain with a treasure of pearls out of which, after Nifio had been made +independent for life and Guerra, Christoval, and the rest of them had +their shares, there remained a handsome sum for the Crown. An extremely +practical, businesslike voyage this; full of lessons for our poor +Christopher, could he but have known and learned them. + + +Yet another of our old friends profited by the Admiral's discovery. What +Vincenti Yafiez Pinzon has been doing all these years we have no record; +living at Palos, perhaps, doing a little of his ordinary coasting +business, administering the estates of his brother Martin Alonso, and, +almost for a certainty, talking pretty big about who it was that really +did all the work in the discovery of the New World. Out of the obscurity +of conjecture he emerges into fact in December 1499, when he is found at +Palos fitting out four caravels for the purpose of exploring farther +along the coast of the southern mainland. That he also was after pearls +is pretty certain; but on the other hand he was more of a sailor than an +adventurer, was a discoverer at heart, and had no small share of the +family taste for sea travel. He took a more southerly course than any of +the others and struck the coast of America south of the equator on +January 20, 1500. He sailed north past the mouths of the Amazon and +Orinoco through the Gulf of Paria, and reached Espanola in June 1500. +He only paused there to take in provisions, and sailed to the west in +search of further discoveries; but he lost two of his caravels in a gale +and had to put back to Espanola. + +He sailed thence for Palos, and reached home in September 1500, having +added no inconsiderable share to the mass of new geographical knowledge +that was being accumulated. In later years he took a high place in the +maritime world of Spain. + + +And finally, to complete the account of the chief minor discoveries of +these two busy years, we must mention Pedro Alvarez Cabral of Portugal, +who was despatched in March 1, 1500 from Lisbon to verify the discoveries +of Da Gama. He reached Calicut six months later, losing on the voyage +four of his caravels and most of his company. Among the lost was +Bartholomew Diaz, the first discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, who was +on this voyage in a subordinate capacity, and whose bones were left to +dissolve in the stormy waters that beat round the Cape whose barrier he +was the first to pass. The chief event of this voyage, however, was not +the reaching of Calicut nor the drowning of Diaz (which was chiefly of +importance to himself, poor soul!) but the discovery of Brazil, which +Cabral made in following the southerly course too far to the west. +He landed there, in the Bay of Porto Seguro, on May 1, 1500, and took +formal possession of the land for the Crown of Portugal, naming it Vera +Cruz, or the Land of the True Cross. + +In the assumption of Columbus and his contemporaries all these doings +were held to detract from the glory of his own achievements, and were the +subject of endless affidavits, depositions, quarrels, arguments, proofs +and claims in the great lawsuit that was in after years carried on +between the Crown of Spain and the heirs of Columbus concerning his +titles and revenues. We, however, may take a different view. With the +exception of the discoveries of the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of +Brazil all these enterprises were directly traceable to Columbus's own +achievements and were inspired by his example. The things that a man can +do in his own person are limited by the laws of time and space; it is +only example and influence that are infinite and illimitable, and in +which the spirit of any achievement can find true immortality. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE THIRD VOYAGE-(continued) + +It may perhaps be wearisome to the reader to return to the tangled and +depressing situation in Espanola, but it cannot be half so wearisome as +it was for Columbus, whom we left enveloped in that dark cloud of error +and surrender in which he sacrificed his dignity and good faith to the +impudent demands of a mutinous servant. To his other troubles in San +Domingo the presence of this Roldan was now added; and the reinstated +Alcalde was not long in making use of the victory he had gained. He bore +himself with intolerable arrogance and insolence, discharging one of +Columbus's personal bodyguard on the ground that no one should hold any +office on the island except with his consent. He demanded grants of land +for himself and his followers, which Columbus held himself obliged to +concede; and the Admiral, further to pacify him, invented a very +disastrous system of repartimientos, under which certain chiefs were +relieved from paying tribute on condition of furnishing feudal service to +the settlers--a system which rapidly developed into the most cruel and +oppressive kind of slavery. The Admiral at this time also, in despair of +keeping things quiet by his old methods of peace and conciliation, +created a kind of police force which roamed about the island, exacting +tribute and meting out summary punishment to all defaulters. Among other +concessions weakly made to Roldan at this time was the gift of the Crown +estate of Esperanza, situated in the Vega Real, whither he betook himself +and embarked on what was nothing more nor less than a despotic reign, +entirely ignoring the regulations and prerogatives of the Admiral, and +taking prisoners and administering punishment just as he pleased. The +Admiral was helpless, and thought of going back to Spain, but the +condition of the island was such that he did not dare to leave it. +Instead, he wrote a long letter to the Sovereigns, full of complaints +against other people and justifications of himself, in the course of +which he set forth those quibbling excuses for his capitulation to Roldan +which we have already heard. And there was a pathetic request at the end +of the letter that his son Diego might be sent out to him. As I have +said, Columbus was by this time a prematurely old man, and feeling the +clouds gathering about him, and the loneliness and friendlessness of his +position at Espanola, he instinctively looked to the next generation for +help, and to the presence of his own son for sympathy and comfort. + + +It was at this moment (September 5, 1499) that a diversion arose in the +rumour that four caravels had been seen off the western end of Espanola +and duly reported to the Admiral; and this announcement was soon followed +by the news that they were commanded by Ojeda, who was collecting dye- +wood in the island forests. Columbus, although he had so far as we know +had no previous difficulties with Ojeda, had little cause now to credit +any adventurer with kindness towards himself; and Ojeda's secrecy in not +reporting himself at San Domingo, and, in fact, his presence on the +island at all without the knowledge of the Admiral, were sufficient +evidence that he was there to serve his own ends. Some gleam of +Christopher's old cleverness in handling men was--now shown by his +instructing Roldan to sally forth and bring Ojeda to order. It was a +case of setting a thief to catch a thief and, as it turned out, was not a +bad stroke. Roldan, nothing loth, sailed round to that part of the coast +where Ojeda's ships were anchored, and asked to see his licence; which +was duly shown to him and rather took the wind out of his sails. He +heard a little gossip from Ojeda, moreover, which had its own +significance for him. The Queen was ill; Columbus was in disgrace; there +was talk of superseding him. Ojeda promised to sail round to San Domingo +and report himself; but instead, he sailed to the east along the coast of +Xaragua, where he got into communication with some discontented Spanish +settlers and concocted a scheme for leading them to San Domingo to demand +redress for their imagined grievances. Roldan, however, who had come to +look for Ojeda, discovered him at this point; and there ensued some very +pretty play between the two rascals, chiefly in trickery and treachery, +such as capturing each other's boats and emissaries, laying traps for one +another, and taking prisoner one another's crews. The end of it was that +Ojeda left the island without having reported himself to Columbus, but +not before he had completed his business--which was that of provisioning +his ships and collecting dye-wood and slaves. + +And so exit Ojeda from the Columbian drama. Of his own drama only one +more act remained to be played; which, for the sake of our past interest +in him, we will mention here. Chiefly on account of his intimacy with +Fonseca he was some years later given a governorship in the neighbourhood +of the Gulf of Darien; Juan de la Cosa accompanying him as unofficial +partner. Ojeda has no sooner landed there than he is fighting the +natives; natives too many for him this time; Ojeda forced to hide in the +forest, where he finds the body of de la Cosa, who has come by a shocking +death. Ojeda afterwards tries to govern his colony, but is no good at +that; cannot govern his own temper, poor fellow. Quarrels with his crew, +is put in irons, carried to Espanola, and dies there (1515) in great +poverty and eclipse. One of the many, evidently, who need a strong +guiding hand, and perish without it. + +It really began to seem as though Roldan, having had his fling and +secured the excessive privileges that he coveted, had decided that +loyalty to Christopher was for the present the most profitable policy; +but the mutinous spirit that he had cultivated in his followers for his +own ends could not be so readily converted into this cheap loyalty. More +trouble was yet to come of this rebellion. There was in the island a +young Spanish aristocrat, Fernando de Guevara by name, one of the many +who had come out in the hope of enjoying himself and making a fortune +quickly, whose more than outrageously dissolute life in San Domingo had +caused Columbus to banish him thence; and he was now living near Xaragua +with a cousin of his, Adrian de Moxeca, who had been one of the +ringleaders in Roldan's conspiracy. Within this pleasant province of +Xaragua lived, as we have seen, Anacaona, the sister of Caonabo, the Lord +of the House of Gold. She herself was a beautiful woman, called by her +subjects Bloom of the Gold; and she had a still more beautiful daughter, +Higuamota, who appears in history, like so many other women, on account +of her charms and what came of them. + +Of pretty Higuamota, who once lived like a dryad among the groves of +Espanola and has been dead now for so long, we know nothing except that +she was beautiful, which, although she doubtless did not think so while +she lived, turns out to have been the most important thing about her. +Young Guevara, coming to stay with his cousin Adrian, becomes a visitor +at the house of Anacaona; sees the pretty daughter and falls in love with +her. Other people also, it appears, have been in a similar state, but +Higuamota is not very accessible; a fact which of course adds to the +interest of the chase, and turns dissolute Fernando's idle preference +into something like a passion. Roldan, who has also had an eye upon her, +and apparently no more than an eye, discovers that Fernando, in order to +gratify his passion, is proposing to go the absurd length of marrying the +young woman, and has sent for a priest for that purpose. Roldan, +instigated thereto by primitive forces, thinks it would be impolitic for +a Spanish grandee to marry with a heathen; very well, then, Fernando will +have her baptized--nothing simpler when water and a priest are handy. +Roldan, seeing that the young man is serious, becomes peremptory, and +orders him to leave Xaragua. Fernando ostentatiously departs, but is +discovered a little later actually living in the house of Anacaona, who +apparently is sympathetic to Love's young dream. Once more ordered away, +this time with anger and threats, Guevara changes his tune and implores +Roldan to let him stay, promising that he will give up the marriage +project and also, no doubt, the no-marriage project. But Guevara has +sympathisers. The mutineers have not forgiven Roldan for deserting them +and becoming a lawful instead of an unlawful ruler. They are all on the +side of Guevara, who accordingly moves to the next stage of island +procedure, and sets on foot some kind of plot to kill Roldan and the +Admiral. Fortunately where there is treachery it generally works both +ways; this plot came to the ears of the authorities; the conspirators +were arrested and sent to San Domingo. + +This action came near to bringing the whole island about Columbus's ears. +Adrian de Moxeca was furious at what he conceived to be the treachery of +Roldan, for Roldan was in such a pass that the barest act of duty was +necessarily one of treachery to his friends. Moxeca took the place of +chief rebel that Roldan had vacated; rallied the mutineers round him, and +was on the point of starting for Concepcion, one of the chain of forts +across the island where Columbus was at present staying, when the Admiral +discovered his plan. All that was strongest and bravest in him rose up +at this menace. His weakness and cowardice were forgotten; and with the +spirit of an old sea-lion he sallied forth against the mutineers. He had +only a dozen men on whom he could rely, but he armed them well and +marched secretly and swiftly under cloud of night to the place where +Moxeca and his followers were encamped in fond security, and there +suddenly fell upon them, capturing Moxeca and the chief ringleaders. The +rest scattered in terror and escaped. Moxeca was hurried off to the +battlements of San Domingo and there, in the very midst of a longdrawn +trembling confession to the priest in attendance, was swung off the +ramparts and hanged. The others, although also condemned to death, were +kept in irons in the fortress, while Christopher and Bartholomew, roused +at last to vigorous action, scoured the island hunting down the +remainder, killing some who resisted, hanging others on the spot, and +imprisoning the remainder at San Domingo. + +After these prompt measures peace reigned for a time in the island, and +Columbus was perhaps surprised to see what wholesome effects could be +produced by a little exemplary severity. The natives, who under the +weakness of his former rule had been discontented and troublesome, now +settled down submissively to their yoke; the Spaniards began to work in +earnest on their farms; and there descended upon island affairs a brief +St. Martin's Summer of peace before the final winter of blight and death +set in. The Admiral, however, was obviously in precarious health; his +ophthalmia became worse, and the stability of his mind suffered. He had +dreams and visions of divine help and comfort, much needed by him, poor +soul, in all his tribulations and adversities. Even yet the cup was not +full. + + +We must now turn back to Spain and try to form some idea of the way in +which the doings of Columbus were being regarded there if we are to +understand the extraordinary calamity that was soon to befall him. It +must be remembered first of all that his enterprise had never really been +popular from the first. It was carried out entirely by the energy and +confidence of Queen Isabella, who almost alone of those in power believed +in it as a thing which was certain to bring ultimate glory, as well as +riches and dominion, to Spain and the Catholic faith. As we have seen, +there had been a brief ebullition of popular favour when Columbus +returned from his first voyage, but it was a popularity excited solely by +the promises of great wealth that Columbus was continually holding forth. +When those promises were not immediately fulfilled popular favour +subsided; and when the adventurers who had gone out to the new islands on +the strength of those promises had returned with shattered health and +empty pockets there was less chance than ever of the matter being +regarded in its proper light by the people of Spain. Columbus had either +found a gold mine or he had found nothing--that was the way in which the +matter was popularly regarded. Those who really understood the +significance of his discoveries and appreciated their scientific +importance did not merely stay at home in Spain and raise a clamour; they +went out in the Admiral's footsteps and continued the work that he had +begun. Even King Ferdinand, for all his cleverness, had never understood +the real lines on which the colony should have been developed. His eyes +were fixed upon Europe; he saw in the discoveries of Columbus a means +rather than an end; and looked to them simply as a source of revenue with +the help of which he could carry on his ambitious schemes. And when, as +other captains made voyages confirming and extending the work of +Columbus, he did begin to understand the significance of what had been +done, he realised too late that the Admiral had been given powers far in +excess of what was prudent or sensible. + +During all the time that Columbus and his brothers were struggling with +the impossible situation at Espanola there was but one influence at work +in Spain, and that was entirely destructive to the Admiral. Every +caravel that came from the New World brought two things. It brought a +crowd of discontented colonists, many of whom had grave reasons for their +discontent; and it brought letters from the Admiral in which more and +more promises were held out, but in which also querulous complaints +against this and that person, and against the Spanish settlers generally, +were set forth at wearisome length. It is not remarkable that the people +of Spain, even those who were well disposed towards Columbus, began to +wonder if these two things were not cause and effect. The settlers may +have been a poor lot, but they were the material with which Columbus had +to deal; he had powers enough, Heaven knew, powers of life and death; and +the problem began to resolve itself in the minds of those at the head of +affairs in Spain in the following terms. Given an island, rich and +luxuriant beyond the dreams of man; given a native population easily +subdued; given settlers of one kind or another; and given a Viceroy with +unlimited powers--could he or could he not govern the island? It was a +by no means unfair way of putting the case, and there is little justice +in the wild abuse that has been hurled at Ferdinand and Isabella on this +ground. Columbus may have been the greatest genius in the world; very +possibly they admitted it; but in the meanwhile Spain was resounding with +the cries of the impoverished colonists who had returned from his ocean +Paradise. No doubt the Sovereigns ignored them as much as they possibly +could; but when it came to ragged emaciated beggars coming in batches of +fifty at a time and sitting in the very courts of the Alhambra, +exhibiting bunches of grapes and saying that that was all they could +afford to live upon since they had come back from the New World, some +notice had to be taken of it. Even young Diego and Ferdinand, the +Admiral's sons, came in for the obloquy with which his name was +associated; the colonial vagabonds hung round the portals of the palace +and cried out upon them as they passed so that they began to dislike +going out. Columbus, as we know, had plenty of enemies who had access to +the King and Queen; and never had enemies an easier case to urge. Money +was continually being spent on ships and supplies; where was the return +for it? What about the Ophir of Solomon? What about the Land of Spices? +What about the pearls? And if you want to add a touch of absurdity, what +about the Garden of Eden and the Great Khan? + +To the most impartial eyes it began to appear as though Columbus were +either an impostor or a fool. There is no evidence that Ferdinand and +Isabella thought that he was an impostor or that he had wilfully deceived +them; but there is some evidence that they began to have an inkling as to +what kind of a man he really was, and as to his unfitness for governing a +colony. Once more something had to be done. The sending out of a +commissioner had not been a great success before, but in the difficulties +of the situation it seemed the only thing. Still there was a good deal +of hesitation, and it is probable that Isabella was not yet fully +convinced of the necessity for this grave step. This hesitation was +brought to an end by the arrival from Espanola of the ships bearing the +followers of Roldan, who had been sent back under the terms of Columbus's +feeble capitulation. The same ships brought a great quantity of slaves, +which the colonists were able to show had been brought by the permission +of the Admiral; they carried native girls also, many of them pregnant, +many with new-born babies; and these also came with the permission of the +Admiral. The ships further carried the Admira'l's letter complaining of +the conspiracy of Roldan and containing the unfortunate request for a +further licence to extend the slave trade. These circumstances were +probably enough to turn the scale of Isabella's opinion against the +Admiral's administration. The presence of the slaves particularly +angered her kind womanly heart. "What right has he to give away my +vassals?" she exclaimed, and ordered that they should all be sent back, +and that in addition all the other slaves who had come home should be +traced and sent back; although of course it was impossible to carry out +this last order. + +At any rate there was no longer any hesitation about sending out a +commissioner, and the Sovereigns chose one Francisco de Bobadilla, an +official of the royal household, for the performance of this difficult +mission. As far as we can decipher him he was a very ordinary official +personage; prejudiced, it is possible, against an administration that had +produced such disastrous results and which offended his orderly official +susceptibilities; otherwise to be regarded as a man exactly honest in the +performance of what he conceived to be his duties, and entirely +indisposed to allow sentiment or any other extraneous matter to interfere +with such due performance. We shall have need to remember, when we see +him at work in Espanola, that he was not sent out to judge between +Columbus and his Sovereigns or between Columbus and the world, but to +investigate the condition of the colony and to take what action he +thought necessary. The commission which he bore to the Admiral was in +the following terms: + + "The King and the Queen: Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of + the Ocean-sea. We have directed Francisco de Bobadilla, the bearer + of this, to speak to you for us of certain things which he will + mention: we request you to give him faith and credence and to obey + him. From Madrid, May 26, '99. I THE KING. I THE QUEEN. By their + command. Miguel Perez de Almazan." + +In addition Bobadilla bore with him papers and authorities giving him +complete control and possession of all the forts, arms, and royal +property in the island, in case it should be necessary for him to use +them; and he also had a number of blank warrants which were signed, but +the substance of which was not filled in. This may seem very dreadful to +us, with our friendship for the poor Admiral; but considering the grave +state of affairs as represented to the King and Queen, who had their +duties to their colonial subjects as well as to Columbus, there was +nothing excessive in it. If they were to send out a commissioner at all, +and if they were satisfied, as presumably they were, that the man they +had chosen was trustworthy, it was only right to make his authority +absolute. Thus equipped Francisco de Bobadilla sailed from Spain in July +1500. + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Ideas to him were of more value than facts +Patience which holds men back from theorising + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Christopher Columbus, v6 +by Filson Young + diff --git a/old/cc06v10.zip b/old/cc06v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..515b39a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cc06v10.zip diff --git a/old/cc06v10h.zip b/old/cc06v10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d100be7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cc06v10h.zip |