CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

 AND THE NEW WORLD OF HIS DISCOVERY

 A NARRATIVE BY FILSON YOUNG

 Volume 5

DESPERATE REMEDIES

CHAPTER I

THE VOYAGE TO CUBA

The sight of the greater part of their fleet disappearing in thedirection of home threw back the unstable Spanish colony into doubt anddespondency. The brief encouragement afforded by Ojeda's report soondied away, and the actual discomforts of life in Isabella were moreimportant than visionary luxuries that seemed to recede into the distancewith the vanishing ships. The food supply was the cause of muchdiscomfort; the jobbery and dishonesty which seem inseparable from thefitting out of a large expedition had stored the ships with bad wine andimperfectly cured provisions; and these combined with the unhealthyclimate to produce a good deal of sickness. The feeling againstColumbus, never far below the Spanish surface, began to express itselfdefinitely in treacherous consultations and plots; and these werefomented by Bernal Diaz, the comptroller of the colony, who had access toColumbus's papers and had seen the letter sent by him to Spain. Columbuswas at this time prostrated by an attack of fever, and Diaz took theopportunity to work the growing discontent up to the point of action. Hetold the colonists that Columbus had painted their condition in far toofavourable terms; that he was deceiving them as well as the Sovereigns;and a plot was hatched to seize the ships that remained and sail forhome, leaving Columbus behind to enjoy the riches that he had falselyboasted about. They were ready to take alarm at anything, and to believeanything one way or the other; and as they had believed Ojeda when hecame back with his report of riches, now they believed Cado, the assayer, who said that even such gold as had been found was of a very poor andworthless quality. The mutiny developed fast; and a table of chargesagainst Columbus, which was to be produced in Spain as a justificationfor it, had actually been drawn up when the Admiral, recovering from hisillness, discovered what was on foot. He dealt promptly and firmly withit in his quarterdeck manner, which was always far more effective thanhis viceregal manner. Diaz was imprisoned and lodged in chains on boardone of the ships, to be sent to Spain for trial; and the otherringleaders were punished also according to their deserts. The guns andammunition were all stored together on one ship under a safe guard, andthe mutiny was stamped out. But the Spaniards did not love Columbus anythe better for it; did not any the more easily forgive him for being incommand of them and for being a foreigner. 

But it would never do for the colony to stagnate in Isabella, andColumbus decided to make a serious attempt, not merely to discover thegold of Cibao, but to get it. He therefore organised a militaryexpedition of about 400 men, including artificers, miners, and carriers, with the little cavalry force that had been brought out from Spain. Every one who had armour wore it, flags and banners were carried, drumsand trumpets were sounded; the horses were decked out in rich caparisons, and as glittering and formidable a show was made as possible. Leavinghis brother James in command of the settlement, Columbus set out on the12th of March to the interior of the island. Through the forest and upthe mountainside a road was cut by pioneers from among the aristocraticadventurers who had come with the party; which road, the first made inthe New World, was called El Puerto de los Hidalgos. The formidable, glittering cavalcade inspired the natives with terror and amazement; theyhad never seen horses before, and when one of the soldiers dismounted itseemed to them as though some terrifying two-headed, six-limbed beast hadcome asunder. What with their fright of the horses and their desire topossess the trinkets that were carried they were very friendly andhospitable, and supplied the expedition with plenty of food. At last, after passing mountain ranges that made their hearts faint, and richvalleys that made them hopeful again, the explorers came to the mountainsof Cibao, and passing over the first range found themselves in a littlevalley at the foot of the hills where a river wound round a fertile plainand there was ample accommodation for an encampment. There were theusual signs of gold, and Columbus saw in the brightly coloured stones ofthe river-bed evidence of unbounded wealth in precious stones. At lasthe had come to the place! He who had doubted so much, and whose faithhad wavered, had now been led to a place where he could touch and handlethe gold and jewels of his desire; and he therefore called the placeSaint Thomas. He built a fort here, leaving a garrison of fifty-six menunder the command of Pedro Margarite to collect gold from the natives, and himself returned to Isabella, which he reached at the end of March. 

Enforced absence from the thing he has organised is a great test ofefficiency in any man. The world is full of men who can do thingsthemselves; but those who can organise from the industry of their men amachine which will steadily perform the work whether the organiser isabsent or present are rare indeed. Columbus was one of the first class. His own power and personality generally gave him some kind of masteryover any circumstances in which he was immediately concerned; but let himbe absent for a little time, and his organisation went to pieces. No onewas better than he at conducting a one-man concern; and his conduct ofthe first voyage, so long as he had his company under his immediatecommand, was a model of efficiency. But when the material under hiscommand began to grow and to be divided into groups his life became asuccession of ups and downs. While he was settling and disciplining onegroup mutiny and disorder would attack the other; and when he went toattend to them, the first one immediately fell into confusion again. Hedealt with the discontent in Isabella, organising the better disposedpart of it in productive labour, and himself marching the malcontentsinto something like discipline and order, leaving them at Saint Thomas, as we have seen, usefully collecting gold. But while he was away thepeople at Isabella had got themselves into trouble again, and when hearrived there on the morning of March 29th he found the town in adeplorable condition. The lake beside which the city had been built, andwhich seemed so attractive and healthy a spot, turned out to be nothingbetter than a fever trap. Drained from the malarial marshes, its sicklyexhalations soon produced an epidemic that incapacitated more than halfthe colony and interrupted the building operations. The time of thosewho were well was entirely occupied with the care of those who were sick, and all productive work was at a standstill. The reeking virgin soil hadproduced crops in an incredibly short time, and the sowings of Januarywere ready for reaping in the beginning of April. But there was no oneto reap them, and the further cultivation of the ground had necessarilybeen neglected. 

The faint-hearted Spaniards, who never could meet any trouble withoutgrumbling, were now in the depths of despair and angry discontent;and it had not pleased them to be put on a short allowance of even theunwholesome provisions that remained from the original store. A coupleof rude hand-mills had been erected for the making of flour, and as foodwas the first necessity Columbus immediately put all the able-bodied menin the colony, whatever their rank, to the elementary manual work ofgrinding. Friar Buil and the twelve Benedictine brothers who were withhim thought this a wise order, assuming of course that as clerics theywould not be asked to work. But great was their astonishment, and loudand angry their criticism of the Admiral, when they found that they alsowere obliged to labour with their hands. But Columbus was firm; therewere absolutely no exceptions made; hidalgo and priest had to workalongside of sailor and labourer; and the curses of the living mingledwith those of the dying on the man whose boastful words had brought themto such a place and such a condition. 

It was only in the nature of things that news should now arrive oftrouble at Saint Thomas. Gold and women again; instead of bartering ordigging, the Spaniards had been stealing; and discipline had beenrelaxed, with the usual disastrous results with regard to the women ofthe adjacent native tribes. Pedro Margarite sent a nervous message toColumbus expressing his fear that Caonabo, the native king, should beexasperated to the point of attacking them again. Columbus thereforedespatched Ojeda in command of a force of 350 armed men to Saint Thomaswith instructions that he was to take over the command of that post, while Margarite was to take out an expedition in search of Caonabo whom, with his brothers, Margarite was instructed to capture at all costs. 

Having thus set things going in the interior, and once more restoredIsabella to something like order, he decided to take three ships andattempt to discover the coast of Cathay. The old Nina, the San Juan, andthe Cordera, three small caravels, were provisioned for six months andmanned by a company of fifty-two men. Francisco Nino went once more withthe Admiral as pilot, and the faithful Juan de la Cosa was taken to drawcharts; one of the monks also, to act as chaplain. The Admiral had asteward, a secretary, ten seamen and six boys to complete the company onthe Nina. The San Juan was commanded by Alonso Perez Roldan and theCordera by Christoval Nino. Diego was again left in command of thecolony, with four counsellors, Friar Buil, Fernandez Coronel, AlonsoSanchez Carvajal, and Juan de Luxan, to assist his authority. 

The Admiral sailed on April 24th, steering to the westward and touchingat La Navidad before he bore away to the island of Cuba, the southernshore of which it was now his intention to explore. At one of his firstanchorages he discovered a native feast going on, and when the boats fromhis ships pulled ashore the feasters fled in terror--the hungry Spaniardsfinishing their meal for them. Presently, however, the feasters wereinduced to come back, and Columbus with soft speeches made them acompensation for the food that had been taken, and produced a favourableimpression, as his habit was; with the result that all along the coast hewas kindly received by the natives, who supplied him with food and freshfruit in return for trinkets. At the harbour now known as Santiago deCuba, where he anchored on May 2nd, he had what seemed like authenticinformation of a great island to the southward which was alleged to bethe source of all the gold. The very compasses of Columbus's ships seemby this time to have become demagnetised, and to have pointed only togold; for no sooner had he heard this report than he bore away to thesouth in pursuit of that faint yellow glitter that had now quite takenthe place of the original inner light of faith. 

The low coast of Jamaica, hazy and blue at first, but afterwards warminginto a golden belt crowned by the paler and deeper greens of the foliage, was sighted first by Columbus on Sunday, May 4th; and he anchored thenext day in the beautiful harbour of Saint Anne, to which he gave thename of Santa Gloria. To the island itself he gave the name of Santiago, which however has never displaced its native name of Jamaica. The dimblue mountains and clumps of lofty trees about the bay were wonderfuleven to Columbus, whose eyes must by this time have been growingaccustomed to the beauty of the West Indies, and he lost his heart toJamaica from the first moment that his eyes rested on its green andgolden shores. Perhaps he was by this time a little out of conceit withHayti; but be that as it may he retracted all the superlatives he hadever used for the other lands of his discovery, and bestowed them in hisheart upon Jamaica. 

He was not humanly so well received as he had been on the other islands, for when he cast anchor the natives came out in canoes threateninghostilities and had to be appeased with red caps and hawks' bells. Nextday, however, Columbus wished to careen his ships, and sailed a little tothe west until he found a suitable beach at Puerto Bueno; and as heapproached the shore some large canoes filled with painted and featheredwarriors came out and attacked his ships, showering arrows and javelins, and whooping and screaming at the Spaniards. The guns were discharged, and an armed party sent ashore in a boat, and the natives were soon putto flight. There was no renewal of hostilities; the next day the localcacique came down offering provisions and help; presents were exchanged, and cordial relations established. Columbus noticed that the Jamaicansseemed to be a much more virile community than either the Cubans or thepeople of Espanola. They had enormous canoes hollowed out of singlemahogany trees, some of them 96 feet long and 8 feet broad, which theyhandled with the greatest ease and dexterity; they had a merry way withthem too, were quick of apprehension and clever at expressing theirmeaning, and in their domestic utensils and implements they showed anadvance in civilisation on the other islanders of the group. Columbusdid some trade with the islanders as he sailed along the coast, but hedoes not seem to have believed much in the gold story, for after sailingto the western point of the island he bore away to the north again andsighted the coast of Cuba on the 18th of May. 

The reason why Columbus kept returning to the coast of Cuba was that hebelieved it to be the mainland of Asia. The unlettered natives, who hadnever read Marco Polo, told him that it was an island, although no manhad ever seen the end of it; but Columbus did not believe them, andsailed westward in the belief that he would presently come upon thecountry and city of Cathay. Soon he found himself in the wonderfullabyrinth of islets and sandbanks off the south coast; and because of thewonderful colours of their flowers and climbing plants he called themJardin de la Reina or Queen's Garden. Dangerous as the navigationthrough these islands was, he preferred to risk the shoals and sandbanksrather than round them out at sea to the southward, for he believed themto be the islands which, according to Marco Polo, lay in masses along thecoast of Cathay. In this adventure he had a very hard time of it; thelead had to be used all the time, the ships often had to be towed, thewind veered round from every quarter of the compass, and there weresqualls and tempests, and currents that threatened to set them ashore. By great good fortune, however, they managed to get through theArchipelago without mishap. By June 3rd they were sailing along thecoast again, and Columbus had some conversation with an old cacique whotold him of a province called Mangon (or so Columbus understood him) thatlay to the west. Sir John Mandeville had described the province of Mangias being the richest in Cathay; and of course, thought the Admiral, thismust be the place. He went westward past the Gulf of Xagua and got intothe shallow sandy waters, now known as the Jardinillos Bank, where thesea was whitened with particles of sand. When he had got clear of thisshoal water he stood across a broad bay towards a native settlement wherehe was able to take in yams, fruit, fish, and fresh water. 

But this excitement and hard work were telling on the Admiral, and when anative told him that there was a tribe close by with long tails, hebelieved him; and later, when one of his men, coming back from a shoreexpedition, reported that he had seen some figures in a forest wearingwhite robes, Columbus believed that they were the people with the tails, who wore a long garment to conceal them. 

He was moving in a world of enchantment; the weather was like no weatherin any known part of the world; there were fogs, black and thick, whichblew down suddenly from the low marshy land, and blew away again assuddenly; the sea was sometimes white as milk, sometimes black as pitch, sometimes purple, sometimes green; scarlet cranes stood looking at themas they slid past the low sandbanks; the warm foggy air smelt of roses;shoals of turtles covered the waters, black butterflies circled in themist; and the fever that was beginning to work in the Admiral's bloodmounted to his brain, so that in this land of bad dreams his fixed ideasbegan to dominate all his other faculties, and he decided that he mustcertainly be on the coast of Cathay, in the magic land described by MarcoPolo. 

There is nothing which illustrates the arbitrary and despotic governmentof sea life so well as the nautical phrase "make it so. " The very hoursof the day, slipping westward under the keel of an east-going ship, are"made" by rigid decree; the captain takes his observation of sun orstars, and announces the position of the ship to be at a certain spot onthe surface of the globe; any errors of judgment or deficiencies ofmethod are covered by the words "make it so. " And in all the elusivephenomena surrounding him the fevered brain of the Admiral discernedevidence that he was really upon the coast of Asia, although there was nomethod by which he could place the matter beyond a doubt. The word Asiawas not printed upon the sands of Cuba, as it might be upon a map; thelines of longitude did not lie visibly across the surface of the sea;there was nothing but sea and land, the Admiral's charts, and his ownconviction. Therefore Columbus decided to "make it so. " If there was noother way of being sure that this was the coast of Cathay, he woulddecree it to be the coast of Cathay by a legal document and by oaths andaffidavits. He would force upon the members of his expedition aconviction at least equal to his own; and instead of pursuing any furtherthe coast that stretched interminably west and south-west, he decided tosay, in effect, and once and for all, "Let this be the mainland of Asia. "

He called his secretary to him and made him draw up a form of oath ortestament, to which every member of the expedition was required tosubscribe, affirming that the land off which they were then lying (12thJune 1494), was the mainland of the Indies and that it was possible toreturn to Spain by land from that place; and every officer who shouldever deny it in the future was laid under a penalty of ten thousandmaravedis, and every ship's boy or seaman under a penalty of one hundredlashes; and in addition, any member of the expedition denying it in thefuture was to have his tongue cut out. 

No one will pretend that this was the action of a sane man; neither willany one wonder that Columbus was something less than sane after all hehad gone through, and with the beginnings of a serious illness already inhis blood. His achievement was slipping from his grasp; the gold had notbeen found, the wonders of the East had not been discovered; and it washis instinct to secure something from the general wreck that seemed to befalling about him, and to force his own dreams to come true, that causedhim to cut this grim and fantastic legal caper off the coast of Cuba. Hethought it at the time unlikely, seeing the difficulties of navigationthat he had gone through, which he might be pardoned for regarding asinsuperable to a less skilful mariner, that any one should ever come thatway again; even he himself said that he would never risk his life againin such a place. He wished his journey, therefore, not to have been madein vain; and as he himself believed that he had stood on the mainland ofAsia he took care to take back with him the only kind of evidence thatwas possible namely, the sworn affidavits of the ships' crews. 

Perhaps in his madness he would really have gone on and tried to reachthe Golden Chersonesus of Ptolemy, which according to Marco Polo lay justbeyond, and so to steer homeward round Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope;in which case he would either have been lost or would have discoveredMexico. The crews, however, would not hear of the voyage being continuedwestward. The ships were leaking and the salt water was spoiling thealready doubtful provisions and he was forced to turn back. He stood tothe south-east, and reached the Isle of Pines, to which he gave the nameof Evangelista, where the water-casks were filled, and from there hetried to sail back to the east. But he found himself surrounded byislands and banks in every direction, which made any straight courseimpossible. He sailed south and east and west and north, and foundhimself always back again in the middle of this charmed group of islands. He spent almost a month trying to escape from them, and once his shipwent ashore on a sandbank and was only warped off with the greatestdifficulty. On July 7th he was back again in the region of the "Queen'sGardens, " from which he stood across to the coast of Cuba. 

He anchored and landed there, and being in great distress and difficultyhe had a large cross erected on the mainland, and had mass said. Whenthe Spaniards rose from their knees they saw an old native man observingthem; and the old man came and sat down beside Columbus and talked to himthrough the interpreter. He told him that he had been in Jamaica andEspanola as well as in Cuba, and that the coming of the Spaniards hadcaused great distress to the people of the islands. 

He then spoke to Columbus about religion, and the gist of what he saidwas something like this: "The performance of your worship seems good tome. You believe that this life is not everything; so do we; and I knowthat when this life is over there are two places reserved for me, to oneof which I shall certainly go; one happy and beautiful, one dreadful andmiserable. Joy and kindness reign in the one place, which is good enoughfor the best of men; and they will go there who while they have lived onthe earth have loved peace and goodness, and who have never robbed orkilled or been unkind. The other place is evil and full of shadows, andis reserved for those who disturb and hurt the sons of men; how importantit is, therefore, that one should do no evil or injury in this world!"

Columbus replied with a brief statement of his own theological views, andadded that he had been sent to find out if there were any persons inthose islands who did evil to others, such as the Caribs or cannibals, and that if so he had come to punish them. The effect of this ingenuousspeech was heightened by a gift of hawks' bells and pieces of brokenglass; upon receiving which the good old man fell down on his knees, andsaid that the Spaniards must surely have come from heaven. 

A few days later the voyage to the, south-east was resumed, and someprogress was made along the coast. But contrary winds arose which madeit impossible for the ships to round Cape Cruz, and Columbus decided toemploy the time of waiting in completing his explorations in Jamaica. He therefore sailed due south until he once more sighted the beautifulnorthern coast of that island, following it to the west and landing, ashis custom was, whenever he saw a good harbour or anchorage. The windwas still from the east, and he spent a month beating to the eastwardalong the south coast of the island, fascinated by its beauty, andwilling to stay and explore it, but prevented by the discontent of hiscrews, who were only anxious to get back to Espanola. He had friendlyinterviews with many of the natives of Jamaica, and at almost the lastharbour at which he touched a cacique with his wife and family andcomplete retinue came off in canoes to the ship, begging Columbus to takehim and his household back to Spain. 

Columbus considers this family, and thinks wistfully how well they wouldlook in Barcelona. Father dressed in a cap of gold and green jewels, necklace and earrings of the same; mother decked out in similar regalia, with the addition of a small cotton apron; two sons and five brothersdressed principally in a feather or two; two daughters mother-naked, except that the elder, a handsome girl of eighteen, wears a jewelledgirdle from which depends a tablet as big as an ivy leaf, made of variouscoloured stones embroidered on cotton. What an exhibit for one of thetriumphal processions: "Native royal family, complete"! But Columbusthinks also of the scarcity of provisions on board his ships, and wondershow all these royalties would like to live on a pint of sour wine and arotten biscuit each per day. Alas! there is not sour wine and rottenbiscuit enough for his own people; it is still a long way to Espanola;and he is obliged to make polite excuses, and to say that he will comeback for his majesty another time. 

It was on the 20th of August that Columbus, having the day before seenthe last of the dim blue hills of Jamaica, sighted again the longpeninsula of Hayti, called by him Cape San Miguel, but known to us asCape Tiburon; although it was not until he was hailed by a cacique whocalled out to him "Almirante, Almirante, " that the seaworn marinersrealised with joy that the island must be Espanola. But they were a longway from Isabella yet. They sailed along the south coast, meetingcontrary winds, and at one point landing nine men who were to cross theisland, and try to reach Isabella by land. Week followed week, and theymade very poor progress. In the beginning of September they were caughtin a severe tempest, which separated the ships for a time, and held theAdmiral weather-bound for eight days. There was an eclipse of the moonduring this period, and he took advantage of it to make an observationfor longitude, by which he found himself to be 5 hrs. 23 min. , or 80 deg. 40', west of Cadiz. In this observation there is an error of eighteendegrees, the true longitude of the island of Saona, where the observationwas taken, being 62 deg. 20' west of Cadiz; and the error is accountedfor partly by the inaccuracy of the tables of Regiomontanus and partly bythe crudity and inexactness of the Admiral's methods. On the 24th ofSeptember they at last reached the easternmost point of Espanola, namedby Columbus San Rafael. They stood to the east a little longer, anddiscovered the little island of Mona, which lies between Espanola andPuerto Rico; and from thence shaped their course west-by-north forIsabella. And no sooner had the course been set for home than theAdmiral suddenly and completely collapsed; was carried unconscious to hiscabin; and lay there in such extremity that his companions gave him upfor lost. 

It is no ordinary strain to which poor Christopher has succumbed. He hasbeen five months at sea, sharing with the common sailors their bad foodand weary vigils, but bearing alone on his own shoulders a weight ofanxiety of which they knew nothing. Watch has relieved watch on hisships, but there has been no one to relieve him, or to lift the burdenfrom his mind. The eyes of a nation are upon him, watchful and jealouseyes that will not forgive him any failure; and to earn their approval hehas taken this voyage of five months, during which he has only been ableto forget his troubles in the brief hours of slumber. Strange unchartedseas, treacherous winds and currents, drenching surges have all donetheir part in bringing him to this pass; and his body, now starved onrotten biscuits, now glutted with unfamiliar fruits, has been preyed uponby the tortured mind as the mind itself has been shaken and loosened bythe weakness of the body. He lies there in his cabin in a deep stupor;memory, sight, and all sensation completely gone from him; dead but forthe heart that beats on faintly, and the breath that comes and goesthrough the parted lips. Nino, de la Cosa, and the others come and lookat him, shake their heads, and go away again. There is nothing to bedone; perhaps they will get him back to Isabella in time to bury himthere; perhaps not. 

And meanwhile they are back again in calm and safe waters, and coasting afamiliar shore; and the faithful little Nina, shaking out her wings inthe sunny breezes, trips under the guidance of unfamiliar hands towardsher moorings in the Bay of Isabella. It is a sad company that shecarries; for in the cabin, deaf and blind and unconscious, there lies theheart and guiding spirit of the New World. He does not hear the talkingof the waters past the Nina's timbers, does not hear the stamping on thedeck and shortening of sail and unstopping of cables and getting out ofgear; does not hear the splash of the anchor, nor the screams of birdsthat rise circling from the shore. Does not hear the greetings and thenews; does not see bending over him a kind, helpful, and well-belovedface. He sees and hears and knows nothing; and in that state of rest andabsence from the body they carry him, still living and breathing, ashore. 

CHAPTER II

THE CONQUEST OF ESPANOLA

We must now go back to the time when Columbus, having made whatarrangements he could for the safety of Espanola, left it under thecharge of his brother James. Ojeda had duly marched into the interiorand taken over the command of Fort St. Thomas, thus setting freeMargarite, according to his instructions, to lead an expedition forpurposes of reconnoitre and demonstration through the island. These, atany rate, were Margarite's orders, duly communicated to him by Ojeda; butMargarite will have none of them. Well born, well educated, well bred, he ought at least to have the spirit to carry out orders so agreeable toa gentleman of adventure; but unfortunately, although Margarite is agentleman by birth, he is a low and dishonest dog by nature. He cannottake the decent course, cannot even play the man, and take his share inthe military work of the colony. Instead of cutting paths through theforest, and exhibiting his military strength in an orderly and proper wayas the Admiral intended he should, he marches forth from St. Thomas, onhearing that Columbus has sailed away, and encamps no further off thanthe Vega Real, that pleasant place of green valleys and groves andmurmuring rivers. He encamps there, takes up his quarters there, willnot budge from there for any Admiral; and as for James Columbus and hiscounsellors, they may go to the devil for all Margarite cares. One ofthem at least, he knows--Friar Buil--is not such a fool as to sit downunder the command of that solemn-faced, uncouth young snip from Genoa;and doubtless when he is tired of the Vega Real he and Buil can arrangesomething between them. In the meantime, here is a very beautifulsunshiny place, abounding in all kinds of provisions; food for more thanone kind of appetite, as he has noticed when he has thrust his rude wayinto the native houses and seen the shapely daughters of the islanders. He has a little army of soldiers to forage for him; they can get him foodand gold, and they are useful also in those other marauding expeditionsdesigned to replenish the seraglio that he has established in his camp;and if they like to do a little marauding and woman-stealing on their ownaccount, it is no affair of his, and may keep the devils in a goodtemper. Thus Don Pedro Margarite to himself. 

The peaceable and gentle natives soon began to resent these gross doings. To robbery succeeded outrage, and to outrage murder--all three committedin the very houses of the natives; and they began to murmur, to withholdthat goodwill which the Spaniards had so sorely tried, and to develop athreatening attitude that was soon communicated to the natives in thevicinity of Isabella, and came under the notice of James Columbus and hiscouncil. Grave, bookish, wool-weaving young James, not used to militaryaffairs, and not at all comfortable in his command, can think of no otherexpedient than--to write a letter to Margarite remonstrating with him forhis licentious excesses and reminding him of the Admiral's instructions, which were being neglected. 

Margarite receives the letter and reads it with a contemptuous laugh. Heis not going to be ordered about by a family of Italian wool-weavers, andthe only change in his conduct is that he becomes more and more carelessand impudent, extending the area of his lawless operations, and makingfrequent visits to Isabella itself, swaggering under the very nose ofsolemn James, and soon deep in consultation with Friar Buil. 

At this moment, that is to say very soon after the departure ofChristopher on his voyage to Cuba and Jamaica, three ships dropped anchorin the Bay of Isabella. They were laden with the much-needed suppliesfrom Spain, and had been sent out under the command of BartholomewColumbus. It will be remembered that when Christopher reached Spainafter his first voyage one of his first cares had been to write toBartholomew, asking him to join him. The letter, doubtless after manywanderings, had found Bartholomew in France at the court of CharlesVIII. , by whom he was held in some esteem; in fact it was Charles whoprovided him with the necessary money for his journey to Spain, forBartholomew had not greatly prospered, in spite of his voyage with Diazto the Cape of Good Hope and of his having been in England makingexploration proposals at the court of Henry VII. He had arrived in Spainafter Columbus had sailed again, and had presented himself at court withhis two nephews, Ferdinand and Diego, both of whom were now in theservice of Prince Juan as pages. Ferdinand and Isabella seem to havereceived Bartholomew kindly. They liked this capable navigator, who hadmuch of Christopher's charm of manner, and was more a man of the worldthan he. Much more practical also; Ferdinand would be sure to like himbetter than he liked Christopher, whose pompous manner and long-windedspeeches bored him. Bartholomew was quick, alert, decisive andpractical; he was an accomplished navigator--almost as accomplished asColumbus, as it appeared. He was offered the command of the three shipswhich were being prepared to go to Espanola with supplies; and he dulyarrived there after a prosperous voyage. It will be remembered thatChristopher had, so far as we know, kept the secret of the road to thenew islands; and Bartholomew can have had nothing more to guide him thana rough chart showing the islands in a certain latitude, and the distanceto be run towards them by dead-reckoning. That he should have made anexact landfall and sailed into the Bay of Isabella, never having beenthere before, was a certificate of the highest skill in navigation. 

Unfortunately it was James who was in charge of the colony; Bartholomewhad no authority, for once his ships had arrived in port his mission wasaccomplished until Christopher should return and find him employment. He was therefore forced to sit still and watch his young brotherstruggling with the unruly Spaniards. His presence, however, was nodoubt a further exasperation to the malcontents. There existed inIsabella a little faction of some of the aristocrats who had never, forgiven Columbus for employing them in degrading manual labour; who hadnever forgiven him in fact for being there at all, and in command overthem. And now here was another woolweaver, or son of a wool-weaver, cometo put his finger in the pie that Christopher has apparently provided socarefully for himself and his family. 

Margarite and Buil and some others, treacherous scoundrels all of them, but clannish to their own race and class, decide that they will put upwith it no longer; they are tired of Espanola in any case, and Margarite, from too free indulgence among the native women, has contracted anunpleasant disease, and thinks that a sea voyage and the attentions of aSpanish doctor will be good for him. It is easy for them to put theirplot into execution. There are the ships; there is nothing, for them todo but take a couple of them, provision them, and set sail for Spain, where they trust to their own influence, and the story they will be ableto tell of the falseness of the Admiral's promises, to excuse theirbreach of discipline. And sail they do, snapping their fingers at thewool-weavers. 

James and Bartholomew were perhaps glad to be rid of them, but theirrelief was tempered with anxiety as to the result on Christopher'sreputation and favour when the malcontents should have made their falserepresentations at Court. The brothers were powerless to do anything inthat matter, however, and the state of affairs in Espanola demanded theirclose attention. Margarite's little army, finding itself without eventhe uncertain restraint of its commander, now openly mutinied andabandoned itself to the wildest excesses. It became scattered anddisbanded, and little groups of soldiers went wandering about thecountry, robbing and outraging and carrying cruelty and oppression amongthe natives. Long-suffering as these were, and patiently as they borewith the unspeakable barbarities of the Spanish soldiers, there came apoint beyond which their forbearance would not go. An aching spirit ofunforgiveness and revenge took the place of their former gentleness andcompliance; and here and there, when the Spaniards were more brutal andless cautious than was their brutal and incautious habit, the nativesfell upon them and took swift and bloody revenge. Small parties foundthemselves besieged and put to death whole villages, whose hospitalityhad been abused, cut off wandering groups of the marauders and burned thehouses where they lodged. The disaffection spread; and Caonabo, who hadnever abated his resentment at the Spanish intrusion into the island, thought the time had come to make another demonstration of native power. 

Fortunately for the Spaniards his object was the fort of St. Thomas, commanded by the alert Ojeda; and this young man, who was not easily tobe caught napping, had timely intelligence of his intention. WhenCaonabo, mustering ten thousand men, suddenly surrounded the fort andprepared to attack it, he found the fifty Spaniards of the garrison morethan ready for him, and his naked savages dared not advance within therange of the crossbows and arquebuses. Caonabo tried to besiege thestation, watching every gorge and road through which supplies could reachit, but Ojeda made sallies and raids upon the native force, under whichit became thinned and discouraged; and Caonabo had finally to withdraw tohis own territory. 

But he was not yet beaten. He decided upon another and much largerenterprise, which was to induce the other caciques of the island toco-operate with him in an attack upon Isabella, the population of whichhe knew would have been much thinned and weakened by disease. Theisland was divided into five native provinces. The northeastern part, named Marien, was under the rule of Guacanagari, whose headquarters werenear the abandoned La Navidad. The remaining eastern part of theisland, called Higuay, was under a chief named Cotabanama. The westernprovince was Xaragua, governed by one Behechio, whose sister, Anacaona, was the wife of Caonabo. The middle of the island was divided into twoprovinces-that which extended from the northern coast to the Cibaomountains and included the Vega Real being governed by Guarionex, andthat which extended from the Cibao mountains to the south being governedby Caonabo. All these rulers were more or less embittered by theoutrages and cruelties of the Spaniards, and all agreed to join withCaonabo except Guacanagari. That loyal soul, so faithful to what heknew of good, shocked and distressed as he was by outrages from whichhis own people had suffered no less than the others, could not bringhimself to commit what he regarded as a breach of the laws ofhospitality. It was upon his shores that Columbus had first landed; andalthough it was his own country and his own people whose wrongs were tobe avenged, he could not bring himself to turn traitor to the graveAdmiral with whom, in those happy days of the past, he had enjoyed somuch pleasant intercourse. His refusal to co-operate delayed the planof Caonabo, who directed the island coalition against Guacanagarihimself in order to bring him to reason. He was attacked by theneighbouring chiefs; one of his wives was killed and another captured;but still he would not swerve from his ideal of conduct. 

The first thing that Columbus recognised when he opened his eyes afterhis long period of lethargy and insensibility was the face of his brotherBartholomew bend-over him where he lay in bed in his own house atEspanola. Nothing could have been more welcome to him, sick, lonely anddiscouraged as he was, than the presence of that strong, helpful brother;and from the time when Bartholomew's friendly face first greeted him hebegan to get better. His first act, as soon as he was strong enough tosign a paper, was to appoint Bartholomew to the office of Adelantado, orLieutenant-Governor--an indiscreet and rather tactless proceeding which, although it was not outside his power as a bearer of the royal seal, wasafterwards resented by King Ferdinand as a piece of impudent encroachmentupon the royal prerogative. But Columbus was unable to transact businesshimself, and James was manifestly of little use; the action was naturalenough. 

In the early days of his convalescence he had another pleasantexperience, in the shape of a visit from Guacanagari, who came to expresshis concern at the Admiral's illness, and to tell him the story of whathad been going on in his absence. The gentle creature referred againwith tears to the massacre at La Navidad, and again asserted thatinnocence of any hand in it which Columbus had happily never doubted; andhe told him also of the secret league against Isabella, of his ownrefusal to join it, and of the attacks to which he had consequently beensubjected. It must have been an affecting meeting for these two, whorepresented the first friendship formed between the Old World and theNew, who were both of them destined to suffer in the impact ofcivilisation and savagery, and whose names and characters were happilydestined to survive that impact, and to triumph over the oblivion ofcenturies. 

So long as the native population remained hostile and unconquered bykindness or force, it was impossible to work securely at the developmentof the colony; and Columbus, however regretfully, had come to feel thatcircumstances more or less obliged him to use force. At first he did notquite realise the gravity of the position, and attempted to conquer orreconcile the natives in little groups. Guarionex, the cacique of theVega Real, was by gifts and smooth words soothed back into a friendshipwhich was consolidated by the marriage of his daughter with Columbus'snative interpreter. It was useless, how ever, to try and make friendswith Caonabo, that fierce irreconcilable; and it was felt that only bystratagem could he be secured. No sooner was this suggested than Ojedavolunteered for the service. Amid the somewhat slow-moving figures ofour story this man appears as lively as a flea; and he dances across ourpages in a sensation of intrepid feats of arms that make his greatpopularity among the Spaniards easily credible to us. He did not knowwhat fear was; he was always ready for a fight of any kind; a quarrel inthe streets of Madrid, a duel, a fight with a man or a wild beast, a brawl in a tavern or a military expedition, were all the same to him, if only they gave him an opportunity for fighting. He had a littlepicture of the Virgin hung round his neck, by which he swore, and towhich he prayed; he had never been so much as scratched in all hisaffrays, and he believed that he led a charmed life. Who would go outagainst Caonabo, the Goliath of the island? He, little David Ojeda, hewould go out and undertake to fetch the giant back with him; and all hewanted was ten men, a pair of handcuffs, a handful of trinkets, horsesfor the whole of his company, and his little image or picture of theVirgin. 

Columbus may have smiled at this proposal, but he knew his man; and Ojedaduly departed with his horses and his ten men. Plunging into the forest, he made his way through sixty leagues of dense undergrowth until hearrived in the very heart of Caonabo's territory and presented himself atthe chiefs house. The chief was at home, and, not unimpressed by thevalour of Ojeda, who represented himself as coming on a friendly mission, received him under conditions of truce. He had an eye for militaryprowess, this Caonabo, and something of the lion's heart in him; herecognised in Ojeda the little man who kept him so long at bay outsideFort St. Thomas; and, after the manner of lion-hearted people, liked himnone the worse for that. 

Ojeda proposes that the King should accompany him to Isabella to makepeace. No, says Caonabo. Then Ojeda tries another way. There is apoetical side to this big fighting savage, and often in more friendlydays, when the bell in the little chapel of Isabella has been ringing forVespers, the cacique has been observed sitting alone on some hilllistening, enchanted by the strange silver voice that floated to himacross the sunset. The bell has indeed become something of a personalityin the island: all the neighbouring savages listen to its voice with aweand fascination, pausing with inclined heads whenever it begins to speakfrom its turret. 

Ojeda talks to Caonabo about the bell, and tells him what a wonderfulthing it is; tells him also that if he will come with him to Isabella heshall have the bell for a present. Poetry and public policy struggletogether in Caonabo's heart, but poetry wins; the great powerful savage, urged thereto by his childish lion-heart, will come to Isabella if theywill give him the bell. He sets forth, accompanied by a native retinue, and by Ojeda and his ten horsemen. Presently they come to a river andOjeda produces his bright manacles; tells the King that they are royalornaments and that he has been instructed to bestow them upon Caonabo asa sign of honour. But first he must come alone to the river and bathe, which he does. Then he must sit with Ojeda upon his horse; which hedoes. Then he must have fitted on to him the shining silver trinkets;which he does, the great grinning giant, pleased with his toys. Then, toshow him what it is like to be on a horse, Ojeda canters gently round inwidening and ever widening circles; a turn of his spurred heels, and thecanter becomes a gallop, the circle becomes a straight line, and Caonabois on the road to Isabella. When they are well beyond reach of thenatives they pause and tie Caonabo securely into his place; and by thistreachery bring him into Isabella, where he is imprisoned in theAdmiral's house. 

The sulky giant, brought thus into captivity, refuses to bend his proud, stubborn heart into even a form of submission. He takes no notice ofColumbus, and pays him no honour, although honour is paid to himself asa captive king. He sits there behind his bars gnawing his fingers, listening to the voice of the bell that has lured him into captivity, and thinking of the free open life which he is to know no more. Thoughhe will pay no deference to the Admiral, will not even rise when heenters his presence, there is one person he holds in honour, and that isOjeda. He will not rise when the Admiral comes; but when Ojeda comes, small as he is, and without external state, the chief makes his obeisanceto him. The Admiral he sets at defiance, and boasts of his destructionof La Navidad, and of his plan to destroy Isabella; Ojeda he respects andholds in honour, as being the only man in the island brave enough to comeinto his house and carry him off a captive. There is a good deal of thesportsman in Caonabo. 

The immediate result of the capture of Caonabo was to rouse the islandersto further hostilities, and one of the brothers of the captive king led aforce of seven thousand men to the vicinity of St. Thomas, to whichOjeda, however, had in the meantime returned. His small force wasaugmented by some men despatched by Bartholomew Columbus on receipt of anurgent message; and in command of this force Ojeda sallied forth againstthe natives and attacked them furiously on horse and on foot, killing agreat part of them, taking others prisoner, and putting the rest toflight. This was the beginning of the end of the island resistance. Amonth or two later, when Columbus was better, he and Bartholomew togethermustered the whole of their available army and marched out in search ofthe native force, which he knew had been rallied and greatly augmented. 

The two forces met near the present town of Santiago, in the plain knownas the Savanna of Matanza. The Spanish force was divided into three maindivisions, under the command of Christopher and Bartholomew Columbus andOjeda respectively. These three divisions attacked the Indianssimultaneously from different points, Ojeda throwing his cavalry uponthem, riding them down, and cutting them to pieces. Drums were beatenand trumpets blown; the guns were fired from the cover of the trees; anda pack of bloodhounds, which had been sent out from Spain withBartholomew, were let loose upon the natives and tore their bodies topieces. It was an easy and horrible victory. The native force wasestimated by Columbus at one hundred thousand men, although we shallprobably be nearer the mark if we reduce that estimate by one half. 

The powers of hell were let loose that day into the Earthly Paradise. The guns mowed red lines of blood through the solid ranks of the natives;the great Spanish horses trod upon and crushed their writhing bodies, inwhich arrows and lances continually stuck and quivered; and the ferociousdogs, barking and growling, seized the naked Indians by the throat, dragged them to the ground, and tore out their very entrails . . . . Well for us that the horrible noises of that day are silent now; well forthe world that that place of bloodshed and horror has grown green again;better for us and for the world if those cries had never been heard, andthat quiet place had never received a stain that centuries of greensucceeding springtides can never wash away. 

It was some time before this final battle that the convalescence of theAdmiral was further assisted by the arrival of four ships commanded byAntonio Torres, who must have passed, out of sight and somewhere on thehigh seas, the ships bearing Buil and Margarite back to Spain. Hebrought with him a large supply of fresh provisions for the colony, and anumber of genuine colonists, such as fishermen, carpenters, farmers, mechanics, and millers. And better still he brought a letter from theSovereigns, dated the 16th of August 1494, which did much to cheer theshaken spirits of Columbus. The words with which he had freighted hisempty ships had not been in vain; and in this reply to them he was warmlycommended for his diligence, and reminded that he enjoyed the unshakenconfidence of the Sovereigns. They proposed that a caravel should sailevery month from Spain and from Isabella, bearing intelligence of thecolony and also, it was hoped, some of its products. In a general letteraddressed to the colony the settlers were reminded of the obedience theyowed to the Admiral, and were instructed to obey him in all things underthe penalty of heavy fines. They invited Columbus to come back if hecould in order to be present at the convention which was to establish theline of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese possessions; or if hecould not come himself to send his brother Bartholomew. There werereasons, however, which made this difficult. Columbus wished to despatchthe ships back again as speedily as possible, in order that news of himmight help to counteract the evil rumours that he knew Buil and Margaritewould be spreading. He himself was as yet (February 1494) too ill totravel; and during his illness Bartholomew could not easily be spared. It was therefore decided to send home James, who could most easily bespared, and whose testimony as a member of the governing body during theabsence of the Admiral on his voyage to Cuba might be relied upon tocounteract the jealous accusations of Margarite and Buil. 

Unfortunately there was no golden cargo to send back with him. As muchgold as possible was scraped together, but it was very little. The usualassortment of samples of various island products was also sent; but stillthe vessels were practically empty. Columbus must have been painfullyconscious that the time for sending samples had more than expired, andthat the people in Spain might reasonably expect some of the actualriches of which there had been so many specimens and promises. Insomething approaching desperation, he decided to fill the empty holds ofthe ships with something which, if it was not actual money, could atleast be made to realise money. From their sunny dreaming life on theisland five hundred natives were taken and lodged in the dark holds ofthe caravels, to be sent to Spain and sold there for what they wouldfetch. Of course they were to be "freed" and converted to Christianityin the process; that was always part of the programme, but it did notinterfere with business. They were not man-eating Caribs or fiercemarauding savages from neighbouring islands, but were of the mild andpeaceable race that peopled Espanola. The wheels of civilisation werebeginning to turn in the New World. 

After the capture of Caonabo and the massacre of April 25th Columbusmarched through the island, receiving the surrender and submission of theterrified natives. At the approach of his force the caciques came outand sued for peace; and if here and there there was a momentaryresistance, a charge of cavalry soon put an end to it. One by one thekings surrendered and laid down their arms, until all the island rulershad capitulated with the exception of Behechio, into whose territoryColumbus did not march, and who sullenly retired to the south-westerncorner of the island. The terms of peace were harsh enough, and weresuggested by the dilemma of Columbus in his frantic desire to gettogether some gold at any cost. A tribute of gold-dust was laid uponevery adult native in the island. Every three months a hawk's bell fullof gold was to be brought to the treasury at Isabella, and in the case 39of caciques the measure was a calabash. A receipt in the form of a brassmedal was fastened to the neck of every Indian when he paid his tribute, and those who could not show the medal with the necessary number of markswere to be further fined and punished. In the districts where there wasno gold, 25 lbs. Of cotton was accepted instead. 

This levy was made in ignorance of the real conditions under which thenatives possessed themselves of the gold. What they had in many casesrepresented the store of years, and in all but one or two favoureddistricts it was quite impossible for them to keep up the amount of thetribute. Yet the hawks' bells, which once had been so eagerly covetedand were now becoming hated symbols of oppression, had to be filledsomehow; and as the day of payment drew near the wretched natives, whohad formerly only sought for gold when a little of it was wanted for apretty ornament, had now to work with frantic energy in the river sands;or in other cases, to toil through the heat of the day in the cottonfields which they had formerly only cultivated enough to furnish theirvery scant requirements of use and adornment. One or two caciques, knowing that their people could not possibly furnish the required amountof gold, begged that its value in grain might be accepted instead; butthat was not the kind of wealth that Columbus was seeking. It must begold or nothing; and rather than receive any other article from thegold-bearing districts, he consented to take half the amount. 

Thus step by step, and under the banner of the Holy Catholic religion, did dark and cruel misery march through the groves and glades of theisland and banish for ever its ancient peace. This long-vanished racethat was native to the island of Espanola seems to have had some of thehappiest and most lovable qualities known to dwellers on this planet. They had none of the brutalities of the African, the paralysing wisdom ofthe Asian, nor the tragic potentialities of the European peoples. Theirlife was from day to day, and from season to season, like the life offlowers and birds. They lived in such order and peaceable community asthe common sense of their own simple needs suggested; they craved nopleasures except those that came free from nature, and sought no wealthbut what the sun gave them. In their verdant island, near to the heartand source of light, surrounded by the murmur of the sea, and so enrichedby nature that the idea, of any other kind of riches never occurred tothem, their existence went to a happy dancing measure like that of thefauns and nymphs in whose charmed existence they believed. The sun andmoon were to them creatures of their island who had escaped from a cavernby the shore and now wandered free in the upper air, peopling it withhappy stars; and man himself they believed to have sprung from crevicesin the rocks, like the plants that grew tall and beautiful wherever therewas a handful of soil for their roots. Poor happy children! You are alldead a long while ago now, and have long been hushed in the great hummingsleep and silence of Time; the modern world has no time nor room forpeople like you, with so much kindness and so little ambition . . . . Yet their free pagan souls were given a chance to be penned within theChristian fold; the priest accompanied the gunner and the bloodhound, themissionary walked beside the slave-driver; and upon the bewilderedsun-bright surface of their minds the shadow of the cross was for a momentthrown. Verily to them the professors of Christ brought not peace, but asword. 

CHAPTER III

UPS AND DOWNS

While Columbus was toiling under the tropical sun to make good hispromises to the Crown, Margarite and Buil, having safely come home toSpain from across the seas, were busy setting forth their view of thevalue of his discoveries. It was a view entirely different from any thatFerdinand and Isabella had heard before, and coming as it did from twomen of position and importance who had actually been in Espanola, andwere loyal and religious subjects of the Crown, it could not fail toreceive, if not immediate and complete credence, at any rate graveattention. Hitherto the Sovereigns had only heard one side of thematter; an occasional jealous voice may have been raised from theneighbourhood of the Pinzons or some one else not entirely satisfied withhis own position in the affair; but such small cries of dissent hadnaturally had little chance against the dignified eloquence of theAdmiral. 

Now, however, the matter was different. People who were at least theequals of Columbus in intelligence, and his superiors by birth andeducation, had seen with their own eyes the things of which he hadspoken, and their account differed widely from his. They representedthings in Espanola as being in a very bad way indeed, which was trueenough; drew a dismal picture of an overcrowded colony ravaged withdisease and suffering from lack of provisions; and held forth at lengthupon the very doubtful quality of the gold with which the New World wassupposed to abound. More than this, they brought grave charges againstColumbus himself, representing him as unfit to govern a colony, given tofavouritism, and, worst of all, guilty of having deliberatelymisrepresented for his own ends the resources of the colony. This as weknow was not true. It was not for his own ends, or for any ends at allwithin the comprehension of men like Margarite and Buil, that poorChristopher had spoken so glowingly out of a heart full of faith in whathe had seen and done. Purposes, dim perhaps, but far greater and loftierthan any of which these two mean souls had understanding, animated himalike in his discoveries and in his account of them; although that doesnot alter the unpleasant fact that at the stage matters had now reachedit seemed as though there might have been serious misrepresentation. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, thus confronted with a rather difficultsituation, acted with great wisdom and good sense. How much or howlittle they believed we do not know, but it was obviously their duty, having heard such an account from responsible officers, to investigatematters for themselves without assuming either that the report was trueor untrue. They immediately had four caravels furnished with supplies, and decided to appoint an agent to accompany the expedition, investigatethe affairs of the colony, and make a report to them. If the Admiral wasstill absent when their agent reached the colony he was to be entrustedwith the distribution of the supplies which were being sent out; forColumbus's long absence from Espanola had given rise to some fears forhis safety. 

The Sovereigns had just come to this decision (April 1495) when a letterarrived from the Admiral himself, announcing his return to Espanola afterdiscovering the veritable mainland of Asia, as the notarial documentenclosed with the letter attested. Torres and James Columbus had arrivedin Spain, bearing the memorandum which some time ago we saw the Admiralwriting; and they were able to do something towards allaying the fears ofthe Sovereigns as to the condition of the colony. The King and Queen, nevertheless, wisely decided to carry out their original intention, andin appointing an agent they very handsomely chose one of the men whomColumbus had recommended to them in his letter--Juan Aguado. This actionshows a friendliness to Columbus and confidence in him that lead one tosuspect that the tales of Margarite and Buil had been taken with a grainof salt. 

At the same time the Sovereigns made one or two orders which could notbut be unwelcome to Columbus. A decree was issued making it lawful forall native-born Spaniards to make voyages of discovery, and to settle inEspanola itself if they liked. This was an infringement of the originalprivileges granted to the Admiral--privileges which were really absurd, and which can only have been granted in complete disbelief that anythingmuch would come of his discovery. It took Columbus two years to get thisorder modified, and in the meantime a great many Spanish adventurers, ourold friends the Pinzons among them, did actually make voyages and addedto the area explored by the Spaniards in Columbus's lifetime. Columbuswas bitterly jealous that any one should be admitted to the westernocean, which he regarded as his special preserve, except under hissupreme authority; and he is reported to have said that once the way tothe West had been pointed out "even the very tailors turned explorers. "There, surely, spoke the long dormant woolweaver in him. 

The commission given to Aguado was very brief, and so vaguely wordedthat it might mean much or little, according to the discretion of thecommissioner and the necessities of the case as viewed by him. "We sendto you Juan Aguada, our Groom of the Chambers, who will speak to you onour part. We command you to give him faith and credit. " A letter wasalso sent to Columbus in which he was instructed to reduce the number ofpeople dependent on the colony to five hundred instead of a thousand; andthe control of the mines was entrusted to one Pablo Belvis, who was sentout as chief metallurgist. As for the slaves that Columbus had senthome, Isabella forbade their sale until inquiry could be made into thecondition of their capture, and the fine moral point involved wasentrusted to the ecclesiastical authorities for examination and solution. Poor Christopher, knowing as he did that five hundred heretics were beingburned every year by the Grand Inquisitor, had not expected thishair-splitting over the fate of heathens who had rebelled against Spanishauthority; and it caused him some distress when he heard of it. Thetheologians, however, proved equal to the occasion, and the slaves wereduly sold in Seville market. 

Aguado sailed from Cadiz at the end of August 1495, and reached Espanolain October. James Columbus (who does not as yet seem to be in very greatdemand anywhere, and who doubtless conceals behind his grave visage muchhonest amazement at the amount of life that he is seeing) returned withhim. Aguado, on arriving at Isabella, found that Columbus was absentestablishing forts in the interior of the island, Bartholomew being leftin charge at Isabella. 

Aguado, who had apparently been found faithful in small matters, wasfound wanting in his use of the authority that had been entrusted to him. It seems to have turned his head; for instead of beginning quietly toinvestigate the affairs of the colony as he had been commanded to do hetook over from Bartholomew the actual government, and interpreted hiscommission as giving him the right to supersede the Admiral himself. Theunhappy colony, which had no doubt been enjoying some brief period ofpeace under the wise direction of Bartholomew, was again thrown intoconfusion by the doings of Aguado. He arrested this person, imprisonedthat; ordered that things should be done this way, which had formerlybeen done that way; and if they had formerly been done that way, then heordered that they should be done this way--in short he committed everymistake possible for a man in his situation armed with a little briefauthority. He did not hesitate to let it be known that he was there toexamine the conduct of the Admiral himself; and we may be quite sure thatevery one in the colony who had a grievance or an ill tale to carry, carried it to Aguado. His whole attitude was one of enmity anddisloyalty to the Admiral who had so handsomely recommended him to thenotice of the Sovereigns; and so undisguised was his attitude that eventhe Indians began to lodge their complaints and to see a chance by whichthey might escape from the intolerable burden of the gold tribute. 

It was at this point that Columbus returned and found Aguado ruling inthe place of Bartholomew, who had wisely made no protest against his owndeposition, but was quietly waiting for the Admiral to return. Columbusmight surely have been forgiven if he had betrayed extreme anger andannoyance at the doings of Aguado; and it is entirely to his credit thathe concealed such natural wrath as he may have felt, and greeted Aguadowith extreme courtesy and ceremony as a representative of the Sovereigns. He made no protest, but decided to return himself to Spain and confrontthe jealousy and ill-fame that were accumulating against him. 

Just as the ships were all ready to sail, one of the hurricanes whichoccur periodically in the West Indies burst upon the island, lashing thesea into a wall of advancing foam that destroyed everything before it. Among other things it destroyed three out of the four ships, dashing themon the beach and reducing them to complete wreckage. The only one thatheld to her anchor and, although much battered and damaged, rode out thegale, was the Nina, that staunch little friend that had remained faithfulto the Admiral through so many dangers and trials. There was nothing forit but to build a new ship out of the fragments of the wrecks, and tomake the journey home with two ships instead of with four. 

At this moment, while he was waiting for the ship to be completed, Columbus heard a piece of news of a kind that never failed to rouse hisinterest. There was a young Spaniard named Miguel Diaz who had got intodisgrace in Isabella some time before on account of a duel, and hadwandered into the island until he had come out on the south coast at themouth of the river Ozama, near the site of the present town of SantoDomingo. There he had fallen in love with a female cacique and had madehis home with her. She, knowing the Spanish taste, and anxious to pleaseher lover and to retain him in her territory, told him of some richgold-mines that there were in the neighbourhood, and suggested that heshould inform the Admiral, who would perhaps remove the settlement fromIsabella to the south coast. She provided him with guides and sent himoff to Isabella, where, hearing that his antagonist had recovered, andthat he himself was therefore in no danger of punishment, he presentedhimself with his story. 

Columbus immediately despatched Bartholomew with a party to examine themines; and sure enough they found in the river Hayna undoubted evidenceof a wealth far in excess of that contained in the Cibao gold-mines. Moreover, they had noticed two ancient excavations about which thenatives could tell them nothing, but which made them think that the mineshad once been worked. 

Columbus was never backward in fitting a story and a theory to whateverphenomena surrounded him; and in this case he was certain that theexcavations were the work of Solomon, and that he had discovered the goldof Ophir. "Sure enough, " thinks the Admiral, "I have hit it this time;and the ships came eastward from the Persian Gulf round the GoldenChersonesus, which I discovered this very last winter. " Immediately, ashis habit was, Columbus began to build castles in Spain. Here was a fineanswer to Buil and Margarite! Without waiting a week or two to get anyof the gold this extraordinary man decided to hurry off at once to Spainwith the news, not dreaming that Spain might, by this time, have had asurfeit of news, and might be in serious need of some simple, honestfacts. But he thought his two caravels sufficiently freighted with thisnew belief--the belief that he had discovered the Ophir of Solomon. 

The Admiral sailed on March 10th, 1496, carrying with him in chains thevanquished Caonabo and other natives. He touched at Marigalante and atGuadaloupe, where his people had an engagement with the natives, takingseveral prisoners, but releasing them all again with the exception of onewoman, a handsome creature who had fallen in love with Caonabo andrefused to go. But for Caonabo the joys of life and love were at an end;his heart and spirit were broken. He was not destined to be paraded as acaptive through the streets of Spain, and it was somewhere in the deepAtlantic that he paid the last tribute to the power that had captured andbroken him. He died on the voyage, which was longer and much more fullof hardships than usual. For some reason or other Columbus did not takethe northerly route going home, but sailed east from Gaudaloupe, encountering the easterly trade winds, which delayed him so much that thevoyage occupied three months instead of six weeks. 

Once more he exhibited his easy mastery of the art of navigation and hisextraordinary gift for estimating dead-reckoning. After having been outof sight of land for eight weeks, and while some of the sailors thoughtthey might be in the Bay of Biscay, and others that they were in theEnglish Channel, the Admiral suddenly announced that they were close toCape Saint Vincent. 

No land was in sight, but he ordered that sail should be shortened thatevening; and sure enough the next morning they sighted the land close byCape Saint Vincent. Columbus managed his landfalls with a fine dramaticsense as though they were conjuring tricks; and indeed they must haveseemed like conjuring tricks, except that they were almost alwayssuccessful. 

CHAPTER IV

IN SPAIN AGAIN

The loiterers about the harbour of Cadiz saw a curious sight on June11th, 1496, when the two battered ships, bearing back the voyagers fromthe Eldorado of the West, disembarked their passengers. There were some220 souls on board, including thirty Indians: and instead of leapingashore, flushed with health, and bringing the fortunes which they hadgone out to seek, they crawled miserably from the boats or were carriedashore, emaciated by starvation, yellow with disease, ragged and unkemptfrom poverty, and with practically no possessions other than the clothesthey stood up in. Even the Admiral, now in his forty-sixth year, hardlyhad the appearance that one would expect in a Viceroy of the Indies. Hiswhite hair and beard were rough and matted, his handsome face furrowed bycare and sunken by illness and exhaustion, and instead of the glitteringarmour and uniform of his office he wore the plain robe and girdle of theFranciscan order--this last probably in consequence of some vow or otherhe had made in an hour of peril on the voyage. 

One lucky coincidence marked his arrival. In the harbour, preparing toweigh anchor, was a fleet of three little caravels, commanded by PedroNino, about to set out for Espanola with supplies and despatches. Columbus hurried on board Nino's ship, and there read the letters fromthe Sovereigns which it had been designed he should receive in Espanola. The letters are not preserved, but one can make a fair guess at theircontents. Some searching questions would certainly be asked, kindassurances of continued confidence would doubtless be given, with manysuggestions for the betterment of affairs in the distant colony. Onlytheir result upon the Admiral is known to us. He sat down there and thenand wrote to Bartholomew, urging him to secure peace in the island byevery means in his power, to send home any caciques or natives who werelikely to give trouble, and most of all to push on with the building of asettlement on the south coast where the new mines were, and to have acargo of gold ready to send back with the next expedition. Havingwritten this letter, the Admiral saw the little fleet sail away on June17th, and himself prepared with mingled feelings to present himselfbefore his Sovereigns. 

While he was waiting for their summons at Los Palacios, a small town nearSeville, he was the guest of the curate of that place, Andrez Bernaldez, who had been chaplain to Christopher's old friend DEA, the Archbishop ofSeville. This good priest evidently proved a staunch friend to Columbusat this anxious period of his life, for the Admiral left many importantpapers in his charge when he again left Spain, and no small part of thescant contemporary information about Columbus that has come down to us iscontained in the 'Historia de los Reyes Catolicos', which Bernaldez wroteafter the death of Columbus. 

Fickle Spain had already forgotten its first sentimental enthusiasm overthe Admiral's discoveries, and now was only interested in their financialresults. People cannot be continually excited about a thing which theyhave not seen, and there were events much nearer home that absorbed thepublic interest. There was the trouble with France, the contemplatedalliance of the Crown Prince with Margaret of Austria, and of the SpanishPrincess Juana with Philip of Austria; and there were the designs ofFerdinand upon the kingdom of Naples, which was in his eyes a much moredesirable and valuable prize than any group of unknown islands beyond theocean. 

Columbus did his very best to work up enthusiasm again. He repeated theperformance that had been such a success after his first voyage--the kindof circus procession in which the natives were marched in columnsurrounded by specimens of the wealth of the Indies. But somehow it didnot work so well this time. Where there had formerly been acclamationsand crowds pressing forward to view the savages and their ornaments, there were now apathy and a dearth of spectators. And although Columbusdid his very best, and was careful to exhibit every scrap of gold that hehad brought, and to hang golden collars and ornaments about the necks ofthe marching Indians, his exhibition was received either in ominoussilence or, in some quarters, with something like derision. As I havesaid before, there comes a time when the best-disposed debtors do notregard themselves as being repaid by promises, and when the mostenthusiastic optimist desires to see something more than samples. It was only old Colon going round with his show again--flamingoes, macaws, seashells, dye-woods, gums and spices; some people laughed, and some were angry; but all were united in thinking that the New Worldwas not a very profitable speculation. 

Things were a little better, however, at Court. Isabella certainlybelieved still in Columbus; Ferdinand, although he had never beenenthusiastic, knew the Admiral too well to make the vulgar mistake ofbelieving him an impostor; and both were too polite and considerate toadd to his obvious mortification and distress by any discouragingcomments. Moreover, the man himself had lost neither his belief in thevalue of his discoveries nor his eloquence in talking of them; and whenhe told his story to the Sovereigns they could not help being impressed, not only with his sincerity but with his ability and single-heartednessalso. It was almost the same old story, of illimitable wealth that wasjust about to be acquired, and perhaps no one but Columbus could havemade it go down once more with success; but talking about his exploitswas never any trouble to him, and his astonishing conviction, the loftyand dignified manner in which he described both good and bad fortune, andthe impressive way in which he spoke of the wealth of the gold of Ophirand of the far-reaching importance of his supposed discovery of theGolden Chersonesus and the mainland of Asia, had their due effect on hishearers. 

It was always his way, plausible Christopher, to pass lightly over thepremises and to dwell with elaborate detail on the deductions. It was byno means proved that he had discovered the mines of King Solomon; he hadnever even seen the place which he identified with them; it was in factnothing more than an idea in his own head; but we may be sure that hetook it as an established fact that he had actually discovered the minesof Ophir, and confined his discussion to estimates of the wealth whichthey were likely to yield, and of what was to be done with the wealthwhen the mere details of conveying it from the mines to the ships hadbeen disposed of. So also with the Golden Chersonesus. The very namewas enough to stop the mouths of doubters; and here was the man himselfwho had actually been there, and here was a sworn affidavit from everymember of his crew to say that they had been there too. This kind oflogic is irresistible if you only grant the first little step; andColumbus had the art of making it seem an act of imbecility in any of hishearers to doubt the strength of the little link by which his greatgolden chains of argument were fastened to fact and truth. 

For Columbus everything depended upon his reception by the Sovereigns atthis time. Unless he could re-establish his hold upon them and move to astill more secure position in their confidence he was a ruined man andhis career was finished; and one cannot but sympathise with him as hesits there searching his mind for tempting and convincing arguments, andspeaking so calmly and gravely and confidently in spite of all the doubtsand flutterings in his heart. Like a tradesman setting out his wares, he brought forth every inducement he could think of to convince theSovereigns that the only way to make a success of what they had alreadydone was to do more; that the only way to make profitable the money thathad already been spent was to spend more; that the only way to prove thewisdom of their trust in him was to trust him more. One of histranscendent merits in a situation of this kind was that he always hadsomething new and interesting to propose. He did not spread out hishands and say, "This is what I have done: it is the best I can do; howare you going to treat me?" He said in effect, "This is what I havedone; you will see that it will all come right in time; do not worryabout it; but meanwhile I have something else to propose which I thinkyour Majesties will consider a good plan. "

His new demand was for a fleet of six ships, two of which were to conveysupplies to Espanola, and the other four to be entrusted to him for thepurpose of a voyage of discovery towards the mainland to the south ofEspanola, of which he had heard consistent rumours; which was said to berich in gold, and (a clever touch) to which the King of Portugal wasthinking of sending a fleet, as he thought that it might lie within thelimits of his domain of heathendom. And so well did he manage, and sodeeply did he impress the Sovereigns with his assurance that this timethe thing amounted to what is vulgarly called "a dead certainty, " thatthey promised him he should have his ships. 

But promise and performance, as no one knew better than Columbus, aredifferent things; and it was a long while before he got his ships. Therewas the usual scarcity of money, and the extensive military anddiplomatic operations in which the Crown was then engaged absorbed everymaravedi that Ferdinand could lay his hands on. There was an army to bemaintained under the Pyrenees to keep watch over France; fleets had to bekept patrolling both the Mediterranean and Atlantic seaboards; and therewas a whole armada required to convey the princesses of Spain and Austriato their respective husbands in connection with the double matrimonialalliance arranged between the two countries. And when at last, inOctober 1496, six million maravedis were provided wherewith Columbusmight equip his fleet, they were withdrawn again under very mortifyingcircumstances. The appropriation had just been made when a letterarrived from Pedro Nino, who had been to Espanola and come back again, and now wrote from Cadiz to the Sovereigns, saying that his ships werefull of gold. He did not present himself at Court, but went to visit hisfamily at Huelva; but the good news of his letter was accepted as anexcuse for this oversight. 

No one was better pleased than the Admiral. "What did I tell you?" hesays; "you see the mines of Hayna are paying already. " King Ferdinand, equally pleased, and having an urgent need of money in connection withhis operations against France, took the opportunity to cancel theappropriation of the six million maravedis, giving Columbus instead anorder for the amount to be paid out of the treasure brought home by Nino. Alas, the mariner's boast of gold had been a figure of speech. There wasno gold; there was only a cargo of slaves, which Nino deemed theequivalent of gold; and when Bartholomew's despatches came to be read hedescribed the affairs of Espanola as being in very much the samecondition as before. This incident produced a most unfortunateimpression. Even Columbus was obliged to keep quiet for a little while;and it is likely that the mention of six million maravedis was notwelcomed by him for some time afterwards. 

After the wedding of Prince Juan in March 1497, when Queen Isabella hadmore time to give to external affairs, the promise to Columbus was againremembered, and his position was considered in detail. An order was made(April 23rd, 1497), restoring to the Admiral the original privilegesbestowed upon him at Santa Fe. He was offered a large tract of land inEspanola, with the title of Duke; but much as he hankered after titularhonours, he was for once prudent enough to refuse this gift. His reasonwas that it would only further damage his influence, and give apparentjustification to those enemies who said that the whole enterprise hadbeen undertaken merely in his own interests; and it is possible also thathis many painful associations with Espanola, and the bloodshed andhorrors that he had witnessed there, had aroused in his superstitiousmind a distaste for possessions and titles in that devastated Paradise. Instead, he accepted a measure of relief from the obligations incurred byhis eighth share in the many unprofitable expeditions that had been sentout during the last three years, agreeing for the next three years toreceive an eighth share of the gross income, and a tenth of the netprofits, without contributing anything to the cost. His appointment ofBartholomew to the office of Adelantado, which had annoyed Ferdinand, wasnow confirmed; the universal license which had been granted to Spanishsubjects to settle in the new lands was revoked in so far as it infringedthe Admiral's privileges; and he was granted a force of 330 officers, soldiers, and artificers to be at his personal disposal in theprosecution of his next voyage. 

The death of Prince Juan in October 1497 once more distracted theattention of the Court from all but personal matters; and Columbusemployed the time of waiting in drafting a testamentary document in whichhe was permitted to create an entail on his title and estates in favourof his two sons and their heirs for ever. This did not represent hiscomplete or final testament, for he added codicils at various times, the latest being executed the day before his death. The document isworth studying; it reveals something of the laborious, painstaking mindreaching out down the rivers and streams of the future that were to flowfrom the fountain of his own greatness; it reveals also his tripleconception of the obligations of human life in this world--thecultivation and retention of temporal dignity, the performance of piousand charitable acts, and the recognition of duty to one's family. It wasin this document that Columbus formulated the curious cipher which healways now used in signing his name, and of which various readings aregiven in the Appendix. He also enjoined upon his heir the duty of usingthe simple title which he himself loved and used most--"The Admiral. "

After the death of Prince Juan, Queen Isabella honoured Columbus byattaching his two sons to her own person as pages; and her friendshipmust at this time have gone far to compensate him for the coolness showntowards him by the public at large. He might talk as much as he pleased, but he had nothing to show for all his talk except a few trinkets, acollection of interesting but valueless botanical specimens, and ahandful of miserable slaves. Lives and fortunes had been wrecked on theenterprise, which had so far brought nothing to Spain but the promise ofluxurious adventure that was not fulfilled and of a wealth and glory thathad not been realised. It must have been a very humiliating circumstanceto Columbus that in the preparations which he was now (February 1498)making for the equipment of his new expedition a great difficulty wasfound in procuring ships and men. Not even before the first voyage hadso much reluctance been shown to risk life and property in theenterprise. Merchants and sailors had then been frightened of dangerswhich they did not know; now, it seemed, the evils of which they did knowproved a still greater deterrent. The Admiral was at this time the guestof his friend Bernaldez, who has told us something of his difficulties;and the humiliating expedient of seizing ships under a royal order hadfinally to be adopted. But it would never have done to impress thecolonists also; that would have been too open a confession of failure forthe proud Admiral to tolerate. 

Instead he had recourse to the miserable plan of which he had made use inPalos; the prisons were opened, and criminals under sentence invited tocome forth and enjoy the blessings of colonial life. Even then there wasnot that rush from the prison doors that might have been expected, andsome desperate characters apparently preferred the mercies of a Spanishprison to what they had heard of the joys of the Earthly Paradise. Stilla number of criminals did doubtfully crawl forth and furnish a retinuefor the great Admiral and Viceroy. Trembling, suspicious, and with morethan half a mind to go back to their bonds, some part of the human verminof Spain was eventually cajoled and chivied on board the ships. 

The needs of the colony being urgent, and recruiting being slow, twocaravels laden with provisions were sent off in advance; but even forthis purpose there was a difficulty about money, and good Isabellafurnished the expense, at much inconvenience, from her private purse. 

Columbus had to supervise everything himself; and no wonder that by theend of May, when he was ready to sail, his patience and temper wereexhausted and his much-tried endurance broke down under the pettygnatlike irritations of Fonseca and his myrmidons. It was on the deck ofhis own ship, in the harbour of San Lucar, that he knocked down andsoundly kicked Ximeno de Breviesca, Fonseca's accountant, whose naggingrequisitions had driven the Admiral to fury. 

After all these years of gravity and restraint and endurance, thismomentary outbreak of the old Adam in our hero is like a breath of windthrough an open window. 

To the portraits of Columbus hanging in the gallery of one's imaginationthis must surely be added; in which Christopher, on the deck of his ship, with the royal standard and the Admiral's flag flying from his masthead, is observed to be soundly kicking a prostrate accountant. The incidentis worthy of a date, which is accordingly here given, as near as may be--May 29, 1498.