[Note: Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the text. ]

The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus

by

Washington Irving. 

 Venient annisSæcula seris, quibus OceanusVincula rerum laxet, et ingensPateat tellus, Typhisque novosDetegat Orbes, nec sit terrisUltima Thule. 

 Seneca: _Medea_. 

Author's Revised Edition. 

Vol. II. 

1892

Contents of Volume II. 

Book XI. 

 I. Administration of the Adelantado. --Expedition to the Province of Xaragua II. Establishment of a Chain of Military Posts. --Insurrection of Guarionex, the Cacique of the VegaIII. The Adelantado Repairs to Xaragua to receive Tribute IV. Conspiracy of Roldan V. The Adelantado repairs to the Vega in relief of Fort Conception. --His Interview with Roldan VI. Second Insurrection of Guarionex, and his Flight to the Mountains of CiguayVII. Campaign of the Adelantado in the Mountains of Ciguay

Book XII. 

 I. Confusion in the Island. --Proceedings of the Rebels at Xaragua II. Negotiation of the Admiral with the Rebels. --Departure of Ships for SpainIII. Arrangement with the Rebels IV. Another Mutiny of the Rebels; and Second Arrangement with them V. Grants made to Roldan and his Followers. --Departure of several of the Rebels for Spain VI. Arrival of Ojeda with a Squadron at the Western part of the Island. --Roldan sent to meet himVII. Manoeuvres of Roldan and Ojeda

Book XIII. 

 I. Representations at Court against Columbus. --Bobadilla empowered to examine into his Conduct II. Arrival of Bobadilla at San Domingo. --His violent Assumption of the CommandIII. Columbus summoned to appear before Bobadilla IV. Columbus and his Brothers arrested and sent to Spain in Chains

Book XIV. 

 I. Sensation in Spain on the Arrival of Columbus in Irons. --His Appearance at Court II. Contemporary Voyages of DiscoveryIII. Nicholas de Ovando appointed to supersede Bobadilla IV. Proposition of Columbus relative to the Recovery of the Holy Sepulchre V. Preparations of Columbus for a Fourth Voyage of Discovery

Book XV. 

 I. Departure of Columbus on his Fourth Voyage. --Refused Admission to the Harbor of San Domingo--Exposed to a violent Tempest II. Voyage along the Coast of Honduras III. Voyage along the Mosquito Coast, and Transactions at Cariari IV. Voyage along Costa Rica. --Speculations concerning the Isthmus at Veragua V. Discovery of Puerto Bello and El Retrete. --Columbus abandons the search after the Strait VI. Return to Veragua. --The Adelantado explores the Country. VII. Commencement of a Settlement on the river Belen. --Conspiracy of the Natives. --Expedition of the Adelantado to surprise Quibian. VIII. Disasters of the Settlement. IX. Distress of the Admiral on board of his Ship. --Ultimate Relief of the Settlement. X. Departure from the Coast of Veragua. --arrival at Jamaica. --Stranding of the Ships. 

Book XVI. 

 I. Arrangement of Diego Mendez with the Caciques for Supplies of Provisions. --Sent to San Domingo by Columbus in quest of Relief. II. Mutiny of Porras. III. Scarcity of Provisions. --Stratagem of Columbus to obtain Supplies from the Natives. IV. Mission of Diego de Escobar to the Admiral. V. Voyage of Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco in a Canoe to Hispaniola. VI. Overtures of Columbus to the Mutineers. --Battle of the Adelantado with Porras and his Followers. 

Book XVII. 

 I. Administration of Ovando in Hispaniola. --Oppression of the Natives. II. Massacre at Xaragua. --Fate of Anacaona. III. War with the Natives of Higuey. IV. Close of the War with Higuey. --Fate of Cotabanama. 

Book XVIII. 

 I. Departure of Columbus for San Domingo. --His Return to Spain. II. Illness of Columbus at Seville. --Application to the Crown for a Restitution of his Honors. --Death of Isabella. III. Columbus arrives at Court. --Fruitless Application to the King for Redress. IV. Death of Columbus. V. Observations on the Character of Columbus. 

Appendix

Index

The Life and Voyages of Columbus

Book XI. 

Chapter I. 

Administration of the Adelantado. --Expedition to the Province of Xaragua. 

[1498. ]

Columbus had anticipated repose from his toils on arriving at Hispaniola, but a new scene of trouble and anxiety opened upon him, destined to impedethe prosecution of his enterprises, and to affect all his future fortunes. To explain this, it is necessary to relate the occurrences of the islandduring his long detention in Spain. 

When he sailed for Europe in March, 1496, his brother, Don Bartholomew, who remained as Adelantado, took the earliest measures to execute hisdirections with respect to the mines recently discovered by Miguel Diaz onthe south side of the island. Leaving Don Diego Columbus in command atIsabella, he repaired with a large force to the neighborhood of the mines, and, choosing a favorable situation in a place most abounding in ore, built a fortress, to which he gave the name of San Christoval. Theworkmen, however, finding grains of gold among the earth and stoneemployed in its construction, gave it the name of the GoldenTower. [1]

The Adelantado remained here three months, superintending the building ofthe fortress, and making the necessary preparations for working the minesand purifying the ore. The progress of the work, however, was greatlyimpeded by scarcity of provisions, having frequently to detach a part ofthe men about the country in quest of supplies. The former hospitality ofthe island was at an end. The Indians no longer gave their provisionsfreely; they had learnt from the white men to profit by the necessities ofthe stranger, and to exact a price for bread. Their scanty stores, also, were soon exhausted, for their frugal habits, and their natural indolenceand improvidence, seldom permitted them to have more provisions on handthan was requisite for present support. [2] The Adelantado found itdifficult, therefore, to maintain so large a force in the neighborhood, until they should have time to cultivate the earth, and raise live-stock, or should receive supplies from Spain. Leaving ten men to guard thefortress, with a dog to assist them in catching utias, he marched with therest of his men, about four hundred in number, to Fort Conception, in theabundant country of the Vega. He passed the whole month of June collectingthe quarterly tribute, being supplied with food by Guarionex and hissubordinate caciques. In the following month (July, 1496) the threecaravels commanded by Niño arrived from Spain, bringing a reinforcementof men, and, what was still more needed, a supply of provisions. Thelatter was quickly distributed among the hungry colonists, butunfortunately a great part had been injured during the voyage. This was aserious misfortune in a community where the least scarcity produced murmurand sedition. 

By these ships the Adelantado received letters from his brother, directinghim to found a town and sea-port at the mouth of the Ozema, near to thenew mines. He requested him, also, to send prisoners to Spain such of thecaciques and their subjects as had been concerned in the death of any ofthe colonists; that being considered as sufficient ground, by many of theablest jurists and theologians of Spain, for selling them as slaves. Onthe return of the caravels, the Adelantado dispatched three hundred Indianprisoners, and three caciques. These formed the ill-starred cargoes aboutwhich Niño had made such absurd vaunting, as though the ships were ladenwith treasure; and which had caused such mortification, disappointment, and delay to Columbus. 

Having obtained by this arrival a supply of provisions, the Adelantadoreturned to the fortress of San Christoval, and thence proceeded to theOzema, to choose a site for the proposed seaport. After a carefulexamination, he chose the eastern bank of a natural haven at the mouth ofthe river. It was easy of access, of sufficient depth, and good anchorage. The river ran through a beautiful and fertile country; its waters werepure and salubrious, and well stocked with fish; its banks were coveredwith trees bearing the fine fruits of the island, so that in sailingalong, the fruits and flowers might be plucked with the hand from thebranches which overhung the stream. [3] This delightful vicinity was thedwelling-place of the female cacique who had conceived an affection forthe young Spaniard Miguel Diaz, and had induced him to entice hiscountrymen to that part of the island. The promise she had given of afriendly reception on the part of her tribe was faithfully performed. 

On a commanding bank of the harbor, Don Bartholomew erected a fortress, which at first was called Isabella, but afterwards San Domingo, and wasthe origin of the city which still bears that name. The Adelantado was ofan active and indefatigable spirit. No sooner was the fortress completed, than he left in it a garrison of twenty men, and with the rest of hisforces set out to visit the dominions of Behechio, one of the principalchieftains of the island. This cacique, as has already been mentioned, reigned over Xaragua, a province comprising almost the whole coast at thewest end of the island, including Cape Tiburon, and extending along thesouth side as far as Point Aguida, or the small island of Beata. It wasone of the most populous and fertile districts, with a delightful climate;and its inhabitants were softer and more graceful in their manners thanthe rest of the islanders. Being so remote from all the fortresses, thecacique, although he had taken a part in the combination of thechieftains, had hitherto remained free from the incursions and exactionsof the white men. 

With this cacique resided Anacaona, widow of the late formidable Caonabo. She was sister to Behechio, and had taken refuge with her brother afterthe capture of her husband. She was one of the most beautiful females ofthe island; her name in the Indian language signified "The Golden Flower. "She possessed a genius superior to the generality of her race, and wassaid to excel in composing those little legendary ballads, or areytos, which the natives chanted as they performed their national dances. All theSpanish writers agree in describing her as possessing a natural dignityand grace hardly to be credited in her ignorant and savage condition. Notwithstanding the ruin with which her husband had been overwhelmed bythe hostility of the white men, she appears to have entertained novindictive feeling towards them, knowing that he had provoked theirvengeance by his own voluntary warfare. She regarded the Spaniards withadmiration as almost superhuman beings, and her intelligent mind perceivedthe futility and impolicy of any attempt to resist their superiority inarts and arms. Having great influence over her brother Behechio, shecounseled him to take warning by the fate of her husband, and toconciliate the friendship of the Spaniards; and it is supposed that aknowledge of the friendly sentiments and powerful influence of thisprincess in a great measure prompted the Adelantado to his presentexpedition. [4]

In passing through those parts of the island which had hitherto beenunvisited by Europeans, the Adelantado adopted the same imposing measureswhich the admiral had used on a former occasion; he put his cavalry in theadvance, and entered all the Indian towns in martial array, with standardsdisplayed, and the sound of drum and trumpet. 

After proceeding about thirty leagues, he came to the river Neyva, which, issuing from the mountains of Cibao, divides the southern side of theisland. Crossing this stream, he dispatched two parties of ten men eachalong the sea-coast in search of brazil-wood. They found great quantities, and felled many trees, which they stored in the Indian cabins, until theycould be taken away by sea. 

Inclining with his main force to the right, the Adelantado met, not farfrom the river, the cacique Behechio, with a great army of his subjects, armed with bows and arrows and lances. If he had come forth with theintention of opposing the inroad into his forest domains, he was probablydaunted by the formidable appearance of the Spaniards. Laying aside hisweapons, he advanced and accosted the Adelantado very amicably, professingthat he was thus in arms for the purpose of subjecting certain villagesalong the river, and inquiring, at the same time, the object of thisincursion of the Spaniards. The Adelantado assured him that he came on apeaceful visit to pass a little time in friendly intercourse at Xaragua. He succeeded so well in allaying the apprehensions of the cacique, thatthe latter dismissed his army, and sent swift messengers to orderpreparations for the suitable reception of so distinguished a guest. Asthe Spaniards advanced into the territories of the chieftain, and passedthrough the districts of his inferior caciques, the latter brought forthcassava bread, hemp, cotton, and various other productions of the land. Atlength they drew near to the residence of Behechio, which was a large townsituated in a beautiful part of the country near the coast, at the bottomof that deep bay called at present the Bight of Leogan. 

The Spaniards had heard many accounts of the soft and delightful region ofXaragua, in one part of which Indian traditions placed their Elysianfields. They had heard much, also, of the beauty and urbanity of theinhabitants: the mode of their reception was calculated to confirm theirfavorable prepossessions. As they approached the place, thirty females ofthe cacique's household came forth to meet them, singing their areytos, ortraditionary ballads, and dancing and waving palm branches. The marriedfemales wore aprons of embroidered cotton, reaching half way to the knee;the young women were entirely naked, with merely a fillet round theforehead, their hair falling upon their shoulders. They were beautifullyproportioned; their skin smooth and delicate, and their complexion of aclear agreeable brown. According to old Peter Martyr, the Spaniards, whenthey beheld them issuing forth from their green woods, almost imaginedthey beheld the fabled dryads, or native nymphs and fairies of thefountains, sung by the ancient poets. [5] When they came before DonBartholomew, they knelt and gracefully presented him the green branches. After these came the female cacique Anacaona, reclining on a kind of lightlitter borne by six Indians. Like the other females, she had no othercovering than an apron of various-colored cotton. She wore round her heada fragrant garland of red and white flowers, and wreaths of the same roundher neck and arms. She received the Adelantado and his followers with thatnatural grace and courtesy for which she was celebrated; manifesting nohostility towards them for the fate her husband had experienced at theirhands. 

The Adelantado and his officers were conducted to the house of Behechio, where a banquet was served up of utias, a great variety of sea and riverfish, with roots and fruits of excellent quality. Here first the Spaniardsconquered their repugnance to the guana, the favorite delicacy of theIndians, but which the former had regarded with disgust, as a species ofserpent. The Adelantado, willing to accustom himself to the usages of thecountry, was the first to taste this animal, being kindly pressed theretoby Anacaona. His followers imitated his example; they found it to behighly palatable and delicate; and from that time forward, the guana washeld in repute among Spanish epicures. [6]

The banquet being over, Don Bartholomew with six of his principalcavaliers were lodged in the dwelling of Behechio; the rest weredistributed in the houses of the inferior caciques, where they slept inhammocks of matted cotton, the usual beds of the natives. 

For two days they remained with the hospitable Behechio, entertained withvarious Indian games and festivities, among which the most remarkable wasthe representation of a battle. Two squadrons of naked Indians, armed withbows and arrows, sallied suddenly into the public square and began toskirmish in a manner similar to the Moorish play of canes, or tiltingreeds. By degrees they became excited, and fought with such earnestness, that four were slain, and many wounded, which seemed to increase theinterest and pleasure of the spectators. The contest would have continuedlonger, and might have been still more bloody, had not the Adelantado andthe other cavaliers interfered and begged that the game might cease. [7]

When the festivities were over, and familiar intercourse had promotedmutual confidence, the Adelantado addressed the cacique and Anacaona onthe real object of his visit. He informed him that his brother, theadmiral, had been sent to this island by the sovereigns of Castile, whowere great and mighty potentates, with many kingdoms under their sway. That the admiral had returned to apprise his sovereigns how many tributarycaciques there were in the island, leaving him in command, and that he hadcome to receive Behechio under the protection of these mighty sovereigns, and to arrange a tribute to be paid by him, in such manner as should bemost convenient and satisfactory to himself. [8]

The cacique was greatly embarrassed by this demand, knowing the sufferingsinflicted on the other parts of the island by the avidity of the Spaniardsfor gold. He replied that he had been apprised that gold was the greatobject for which the white men had come to their island, and that atribute was paid in it by some of his fellow-caciques; but that in no partof his territories was gold to be found; and his subjects hardly knew whatit was. To this the Adelantado replied with great adroitness, that nothingwas farther from the intention or wish of his sovereigns than to require atribute in things not produced in his dominions, but that it might be paidin cotton, hemp, and cassava bread, with which the surrounding countryappeared to abound. The countenance of the cacique brightened at thisintimation; he promised cheerful compliance, and instantly sent orders toall his subordinate caciques to sow abundance of cotton for the firstpayment of the stipulated tribute. Having made all the requisitearrangements, the Adelantado took a most friendly leave of Behechio andhis sister, and set out for Isabella. 

Thus, by amicable and sagacious management, one of the most extensiveprovinces of the island was brought into cheerful subjection, and had notthe wise policy of the Adelantado been defeated by the excesses ofworthless and turbulent men, a large revenue might have been collected, without any recourse to violence or oppression. In all instances, thesesimple people appear to have been extremely tractable, and meekly and evencheerfully to have resigned their rights to the white men, when treatedwith gentleness and humanity. 

Chapter II. 

Establishment of a Chain of Military Posts. --Insurrection of Guarionex, the Cacique of the Vega. 

[1496. ]

On arriving at Isabella, Don Bartholomew found it, as usual, a scene ofmisery and repining. Many had died during his absence; most were ill. Those who were healthy complained of the scarcity of food, and those whowere ill, of the want of medicines. The provisions distributed among them, from the supply brought out a few months before by Pedro Alonzo Niño, hadbeen consumed. Partly from sickness, and partly from a repugnance tolabor, they had neglected to cultivate the surrounding country, and theIndians, on whom they chiefly depended, outraged by their oppressions, hadabandoned the vicinity, and fled to the mountains; choosing rather tosubsist on roots and herbs, in their rugged retreats, than remain in theluxuriant plains, subject to the wrongs and cruelties of the white men. The history of this island presents continual pictures of the miseries, the actual want and poverty, produced by the grasping avidity of gold. Ithad rendered the Spaniards heedless of all the less obvious, but morecertain and salubrious, sources of wealth. All labor seemed lost that wasto produce profit by a circuitous process. Instead of cultivating theluxuriant soil around them, and deriving real treasures from its surface, they wasted their time in seeking for mines and golden streams, and werestarving in the midst of fertility. 

No sooner were the provisions exhausted which had been brought out byNiño, than the colonists began to break forth in their accustomed murmurs. They represented themselves as neglected by Columbus, who, amidst theblandishments and delights of a court, thought little of their sufferings. They considered themselves equally forgotten by government; while, havingno vessel in the harbor, they were destitute of all means of sending homeintelligence of their disastrous situation, and imploring relief. 

To remove this last cause of discontent, and furnish some object for theirhopes and thoughts to rally round, the Adelantado ordered that twocaravels should be built at Isabella, for the use of the island. Torelieve the settlement, also, from all useless and repining individuals, during this time of scarcity, he distributed such as were too ill tolabor, or to bear arms, into the interior, where they would have thebenefit of a better climate, and more abundant supply of Indianprovisions. He at the same time completed and garrisoned the chain ofmilitary posts established by his brother in the preceding year, consisting of five fortified houses, each surrounded by its dependenthamlet. The first of these was about nine leagues from Isabella, and wascalled la Esperanza. Six leagues beyond was Santa Catalina. Four leaguesand a half further was Magdalena, where the first town of Santiago wasafterwards founded; and five leagues further Fort Conception--which wasfortified with great care, being in the vast and populous Vega, and withinhalf a league from the residence of its cacique, Guarionex. [9] Havingthus relieved Isabella of all its useless population, and left none butsuch as were too ill to be removed, or were required for the service andprotection of the place, and the construction of the caravels, theAdelantado returned, with a large body of the most effective men, to thefortress of San Domingo. 

The military posts, thus established, succeeded for a time in overawingthe natives; but fresh hostilities were soon manifested, excited by adifferent cause from the preceding. Among the missionaries who hadaccompanied Friar Boyle to the island, were two of far greater zeal thantheir superior. When he returned to Spain, they remained, earnestly bentupon the fulfillment of their mission. One was called Roman Pane, a poorhermit, as he styled himself, of the order of St. Geronimo; the other wasJuan Borgoñon, a Franciscan. They resided for some time among the Indiansof the Vega, strenuously endeavoring to make converts, and had succeededwith one family, of sixteen persons, the chief of which, on beingbaptized, took the name of Juan Mateo. The conversion of the caciqueGuarionex, however, was their main object. The extent of his possessionsmade his conversion of great importance to the interests of the colony, and was considered by the zealous fathers a means of bringing his numeroussubjects under the dominion of the church. For some time he lent a willingear; he learnt the Pater Noster, the Ave Maria, and the Creed, and madehis whole family repeat them daily. The other caciques of the Vega and ofthe provinces of Cibao, however, scoffed at him for meanly conforming tothe laws and customs of strangers, usurpers of his domains, and oppressorsof his nation. The friars complained that, in consequence of these evilcommunications, their convert suddenly relapsed into infidelity; butanother and more grievous cause is assigned for his recantation. Hisfavorite wife was seduced or treated with outrage by a Spaniard ofauthority; and the cacique renounced all faith in a religion which, as hesupposed, admitted of such atrocities. Losing all hope of effecting hisconversion, the missionaries removed to the territories of anothercacique, taking with them Juan Mateo, their Indian convert. Before theirdeparture, they erected a small chapel, and furnished it with an altar, crucifix, and images, for the use of the family of Mateo. 

Scarcely had they departed, when several Indians entered the chapel, brokethe images in pieces, trampled them under foot, and buried them in aneighboring field. This, it was said, was done by order of Guarionex, incontempt of the religion from which he had apostatized. A complaint ofthis enormity was carried to the Adelantado, who ordered a suit to beimmediately instituted, and those who were found culpable, to be punishedaccording to law. It was a period of great rigor in ecclesiastical law, especially among the Spaniards. In Spain, all heresies in religion, allrecantations from the faith, and all acts of sacrilege, either by Moor orJew, were punished with fire and fagot. Such was the fate of the poorignorant Indians, convicted of this outrage on the church. It isquestionable whether Guarionex had any hand in this offence, and it isprobable that the whole affair was exaggerated. A proof of the credit dueto the evidence brought forward may be judged by one of the facts recordedby Roman Pane, "the poor hermit. " The field in which the holy images wereburied, was planted, he says, with certain roots shaped like a turnip, orradish, several of which coming up in the neighborhood of the images, werefound to have grown most miraculously in the form of a cross. [10]

The cruel punishment inflicted on these Indians, instead of daunting theircountrymen, filled them with horror and indignation. Unaccustomed to suchstern rule and vindictive justice, and having no clear ideas nor powerfulsentiments with respect to religion of any kind, they could not comprehendthe nature nor extent of the crime committed. Even Guarionex, a mannaturally moderate and pacific, was highly incensed with the assumption ofpower within his territories, and the inhuman death inflicted on hissubjects. The other caciques perceived his irritation, and endeavored toinduce him to unite in a sudden insurrection, that by one vigorous andgeneral effort they might break the yoke of their oppressors. Guarionexwavered for some time. He knew the martial skill and prowess of theSpaniards; he stood in awe of their cavalry, and he had before him thedisastrous fate of Caonabo; but he was rendered bold by despair, and hebeheld in the domination of these strangers the assured ruin of his race. The early writers speak of a tradition current among the inhabitants ofthe island, respecting this Guarionex. He was of an ancient line ofhereditary caciques. His father, in times long preceding the discovery, having fasted for five days, according to their superstitious observances, applied to his zemi, or household deity, for information of things tocome. He received for answer, that within a few years there should come tothe island a nation covered with clothing, which should destroy all theircustoms and ceremonies, and slay their children or reduce them to painfulservitude. [11] The tradition was probably invented by the Butios, orpriests, after the Spaniards had begun to exercise their severities. Whether their prediction had an effect in disposing the mind of Guarionexto hostilities is uncertain. Some have asserted that he was compelled totake up arms by his subjects, who threatened, in case of his refusal, tochoose some other chieftain; others have alleged the outrage committedupon his favorite wife, as the principal cause of his irritation. [12] Itwas probably these things combined, which at length induced him to enterinto the conspiracy. A secret consultation was held among the caciques, wherein it was concerted, that on the day of payment of their quarterlytribute, when a great number could assemble without causing suspicion, they should suddenly rise upon the Spaniards and massacre them. [13]

By some means the garrison at Fort Conception received intimation of thisconspiracy. Being but a handful of men, and surrounded by hostile tribes, they wrote a letter to the Adelantado, at San Domingo, imploring immediateaid. As this letter might be taken from their Indian messenger, thenatives having discovered that these letters had a wonderful power ofcommunicating intelligence, and fancying they could talk, it was inclosedin a reed, to be used as a staff. The messenger was, in fact, intercepted;but, affecting to be dumb and lame, and intimating by signs that he wasreturning home, was permitted to limp forward on his journey. When out ofsight he resumed his speed, and bore the letter safely and expeditiouslyto San Domingo. [14]

The Adelantado, with his characteristic promptness and activity, set outimmediately with a body of troops for the fortress; and though his menwere much enfeebled by scanty fare, hard service, and long marches, hurried them rapidly forward. Never did aid arrive more opportunely. TheIndians were assembled on the plain, to the amount of many thousands, armed after their manner, and waiting for the appointed time to strike theblow. After consulting with the commander of the fortress and hisofficers, the Adelantado concerted a mode of proceeding. Ascertaining theplaces in which the various caciques had distributed their forces, heappointed an officer with a body of men to each cacique, with orders, atan appointed hour of the night, to rush into the villages, surprise themasleep and unarmed, bind the caciques, and bring them off prisoners. AsGuarionex was the most important personage, and his capture would probablybe attended with most difficulty and danger, the Adelantado took thecharge of it upon himself, at the head of one hundred men. 

This stratagem, founded upon a knowledge of the attachment of the Indiansto their chieftains, and calculated to spare a great effusion of blood, was completely successful. The villages, having no walls nor otherdefences, were quietly entered at midnight; and the Spaniards, rushingsuddenly into the houses where the caciques were quartered, seized andbound them, to the number of fourteen, and hurried them off to thefortress, before any effort could be made for their defence or rescue. TheIndians, struck with terror, made no resistance, nor any show ofhostility; surrounding the fortress in great multitudes, but withoutweapons, they filled the air with doleful howlings and lamentations, imploring the release of their chieftains. The Adelantado completed hisenterprise with the spirit, sagacity, and moderation with which he hadhitherto conducted it. He obtained information of the causes of thisconspiracy, and the individuals most culpable. Two caciques, the principalmovers of the insurrection, and who had most wrought upon the easy natureof Guarionex, were put to death. As to that unfortunate cacique, theAdelantado, considering the deep wrongs he had suffered, and the slownesswith which he had been provoked to revenge, magnanimously pardoned him;nay, according to Las Casas, he proceeded with stern justice against theSpaniard whose outrage on his wife had sunk so deeply in his heart. Heextended his lenity also to the remaining chieftains of the conspiracy;promising great favors and rewards, if they should continue firm in theirloyalty; but terrible punishments should they again be found in rebellion. The heart of Guarionex was subdued by this unexpected clemency. He made aspeech to his people, setting forth the irresistible might and valor ofthe Spaniards; their great lenity to offenders, and their generosity tosuch as were faithful; and he earnestly exhorted them henceforth tocultivate their friendship. The Indians listened to him with attention;his praises of the white men were confirmed by their treatment of himself;when he had concluded, they took him up on their shoulders, bore him tohis habitation with songs and shouts of joy, and for some time thetranquillity of the Vega was restored. [15]

Chapter III. 

The Adelantado Repairs to Xaragua to Receive Tribute. 

[1497. ]

With all his energy and discretion, the Adelantado found it difficult tomanage the proud and turbulent spirit of the colonists. They could illbrook the sway of a foreigner, who, when they were restive, curbed themwith an iron hand. Don Bartholomew had not the same legitimate authorityin their eyes as his brother. The admiral was the discoverer of thecountry, and the authorized representative of the sovereigns; yet even himthey with difficulty brought themselves to obey. The Adelantado, on thecontrary, was regarded by many as a mere intruder, assuming high commandwithout authority from the crown, and shouldering himself into power onthe merits and services of his brother. They spoke with impatience andindignation, also, of the long absence of the admiral, and his fanciedinattention to their wants; little aware of the incessant anxieties he wassuffering on their account, during his detention in Spain. The sagaciousmeasure of the Adelantado in building the caravels for some time divertedtheir attention. They watched their progress with solicitude, looking uponthem as a means either of obtaining relief, or of abandoning the island. Aware that repining and discontented men should never be left in idleness, Don Bartholomew kept them continually in movement; and indeed a state ofconstant activity was congenial to his own vigorous spirit. About thistime messengers arrived from Behechio, cacique of Xaragua, informing himthat he had large quantities of cotton, and other articles, in which histribute was to be paid, ready for delivery. The Adelantado immediately setforth with a numerous train, to revisit this fruitful and happy region. Hewas again received with songs and dances, and all the nationaldemonstrations of respect and amity by Behechio and his sister Anacaona. The latter appeared to be highly popular among the natives, and to havealmost as much sway in Xaragua as her brother. Her natural ease, and thegraceful dignity of her manners, more and more won the admiration of theSpaniards. 

The Adelantado found thirty-two inferior caciques assembled in the houseof Behechio, awaiting his arrival with their respective tributes. Thecotton they had brought was enough to fill one of their houses. Havingdelivered this, they gratuitously offered the Adelantado as much cassavabread as he desired. The offer was most acceptable in the presentnecessitous state of the colony; and Don Bartholomew sent to Isabella forone of the caravels, which was nearly finished, to be dispatched as soonas possible to Xaragua, to be freighted with bread and cotton. 

In the meantime, the natives brought from all quarters large supplies ofprovisions, and entertained their guests with continual festivity andbanqueting. The early Spanish writers, whose imaginations, heated by theaccounts of the voyagers, could not form an idea of the simplicity ofsavage life, especially in these newly-discovered countries, which weresupposed to border upon Asia, often speak in terms of orientalmagnificence of the entertainments of the natives, the palaces of thecaciques, and the lords and ladies of their courts, as if they weredescribing the abodes of Asiatic potentates. The accounts given ofXaragua, however, have a different character; and give a picture of savagelife, in its perfection of idle and ignorant enjoyment. The troubles whichdistracted the other parts of devoted Hayti had not reached theinhabitants of this pleasant region. Living among beautiful and fruitfulgroves, on the borders of a sea apparently for ever tranquil and unvexedby storms; having few wants, and those readily supplied, they appearedemancipated from the common lot of labor, and to pass their lives in oneuninterrupted holiday. When the Spaniards regarded the fertility andsweetness of this country, the gentleness of its people, and the beauty ofits women, they pronounced it a perfect paradise. 

At length the caravel arrived which was to be freighted with the articlesof tribute. It anchored about six miles from the residence of Behechio, and Anacaona proposed to her brother that they should go together tobehold what she called the great canoe of the white men. On their way tothe coast, the Adelantado was lodged one night in a village, in a housewhere Anacaona treasured up those articles which she esteemed most rareand precious. They consisted of various manufactures of cotton, ingeniously wrought; of vessels of clay, moulded into different forms; ofchairs, tables, and like articles of furniture, formed of ebony and otherkinds of wood, and carved with various devices, --all evincing great skilland ingenuity, in a people who had no iron tools to work with. Such werethe simple treasures of this Indian princess, of which she made numerouspresents to her guest. 

Nothing could exceed the wonder and delight of this intelligent woman, when she first beheld the ship. Her brother, who treated her with afraternal fondness and respectful attention worthy of civilized life, hadprepared two canoes, gayly painted and decorated; one to convey her andher attendants, and the other for himself and his chieftains. Anacaona, however, preferred to embark, with her attendants, in the ship's boat withthe Adelantado. As they approached the caravel, a salute was fired. At thereport of the cannon, and the sight of the smoke, Anacaona, overcome withdismay, fell into the arms of the Adelantado, and her attendants wouldhave leaped overboard, but the laughter and the cheerful words of DonBartholomew speedily reassured them. As they drew nearer to the vessel, several instruments of martial music struck up, with which they weregreatly delighted. Their admiration increased on entering on board. Accustomed only to their simple and slight canoes, every thing hereappeared wonderfully vast and complicated. But when the anchor wasweighed, the sails were spread, and, aided by a gentle breeze, they beheldthis vast mass, moving apparently by its own volition, veering from sideto side, and playing like a huge monster in the deep, the brother andsister remained gazing at each other in mute astonishment. [16]Nothing seems to have filled the mind of the most stoical savage with morewonder than that sublime and beautiful triumph of genius, a ship undersail. 

Having freighted and dispatched the caravel, the Adelantado made manypresents to Behechio, his sister, and their attendants, and took leave ofthem, to return by land with his troops to Isabella. Anacaona showed greataffliction at their parting, entreating him to remain some time longerwith them, and appearing fearful that they had failed in their humbleattempt to please him. She even offered to follow him to the settlement, nor would she be consoled until he had promised to return again toXaragua. [17]

We cannot but remark the ability shown by the Adelantado in the course ofhis transient government of the island. Wonderfully alert and active, hemade repeated marches of great extent, from one remote province toanother, and was always at the post of danger at the critical moment. Byskillful management, with a handful of men, he defeated a formidableinsurrection without any effusion of blood. He conciliated the mostinveterate enemies among the natives by great moderation, while hedeterred all wanton hostilities by the infliction of signal punishments. He had made firm friends of the most important chieftains, brought theirdominions under cheerful tribute, opened new sources of supplies for thecolony, and procured relief from its immediate wants. Had his judiciousmeasures been seconded by those under his command, the whole country wouldhave been a scene of tranquil prosperity, and would have produced greatrevenues to the crown, without cruelty to the natives; but, like hisbrother the admiral, his good intentions and judicious arrangements wereconstantly thwarted by the vile passions and perverse conduct of others. While he was absent from Isabella, new mischiefs had been fomented there, which were soon to throw the whole island into confusion. 

Chapter IV. 

Conspiracy of Roldan. 

[1497. ]

The prime mover of the present mischief was one Francisco Roldan, a manunder the deepest obligations to the admiral. Raised by him from povertyand obscurity, he had been employed at first in menial capacities; but, showing strong natural talents, and great assiduity, he had been madeordinary alcalde, equivalent to justice of the peace. The able manner inwhich he acquitted himself in this situation, and the persuasion of hisgreat fidelity and gratitude, induced Columbus, on departing for Spain, toappoint him alcalde mayor, or chief judge of the island. It is true he wasan uneducated man, but, as there were as yet no intricacies of law in thecolony, the office required little else than shrewd good sense and uprightprinciples for its discharge. [18]

Roldan was one of those base spirits which grow venomous in the sunshineof prosperity. His benefactor had returned to Spain apparently under acloud of disgrace; a long interval had elapsed without tidings from him;he considered him a fallen man, and began to devise how he might profit byhis downfall. He was intrusted with an office inferior only to that of theAdelantado; the brothers of Columbus were highly unpopular; he imagined itpossible to ruin them, both with the colonists and with the government athome, and by dextrous cunning and bustling activity to work his way intothe command of the colony. The vigorous and somewhat austere character ofthe Adelantado for some time kept him in awe; but when he was absent fromthe settlement, Roldan was able to carry on his machinations withconfidence. Don Diego, who then commanded at Isabella, was an upright andworthy man, but deficient in energy. Roldan felt himself his superior intalent and spirit, and his self-conceit was wounded at being inferior tohim in authority. He soon made a party among the daring and dissolute ofthe community, and secretly loosened the ties of order and goodgovernment, by listening to and encouraging the discontents of the commonpeople, and directing them against the character and conduct of Columbusand his brothers. He had heretofore been employed as superintendent ofvarious public works; this brought him into familiar communication withworkmen, sailors, and others of the lower order. His originally vulgarcharacter enabled him to adapt himself to their intellects and manners, while his present station gave him consequence in their eyes. Finding themfull of murmurs about hard treatment, severe toil, and the long absence ofthe admiral, he affected to be moved by their distresses. He threw outsuggestions that the admiral might never return, being disgraced andruined in consequence of the representations of Aguado. He sympathizedwith the hard treatment they experienced from the Adelantado and hisbrother Don Diego, who, being foreigners, could take no interest in theirwelfare, nor feel a proper respect for the pride of a Spaniard; but whoused them merely as slaves, to build houses and fortresses for them, or toswell their state and secure their power, as they marched about the islandenriching themselves with the spoils of the caciques. By these suggestionshe exasperated their feelings to such a height, that they had at one timeformed a conspiracy to take away the life of the Adelantado, as the onlymeans of delivering themselves from an odious tyrant. The time and placefor the perpetration of the act were concerted. The Adelantado hadcondemned to death a Spaniard of the name of Berahona, a friend of Roldan, and of several of the conspirators. What was his offence is not positivelystated, but from a passage in Las Casas [19] there is reason to believethat he was the very Spaniard who had violated the favorite wife ofGuarionex, the cacique of the Vega. The Adelantado would be present at theexecution. It was arranged, therefore, that when the populace hadassembled, a tumult should be made as if by accident, and in the confusionof the moment, Don Bartholomew should be dispatched with a poniard. Fortunately for the Adelantado, he pardoned the criminal, the assemblagedid not take place, and the plan of the conspirators was disconcerted. [20]

When Don Bartholomew was absent collecting the tribute in Xaragua, Roldanthought it was a favorable time to bring affairs to a crisis. He hadsounded the feelings of the colonists, and ascertained that there was alarge party disposed for open sedition. His plan was to create a populartumult, to interpose in his official character of alcalde mayor, to throwthe blame upon the oppression and injustice of Don Diego and his brother, and, while he usurped the reins of authority, to appear as if actuatedonly by zeal for the peace and prosperity of the island, and the interestsof the sovereigns. 

A pretext soon presented itself for the proposed tumult. When the caravelreturned from Xaragua laden with the Indian tributes, and the cargo wasdischarged, Don Diego had the vessel drawn up on the land, to protect itfrom accidents, or from any sinister designs of the disaffected colonists. Roldan immediately pointed this circumstance out to his partisans. Hesecretly inveighed against the hardship of having this vessel drawn onshore, instead of being left afloat for the benefit of the colony, or sentto Spain to make known their distresses. He hinted that the true reasonwas the fear of the Adelantado and his brother, lest accounts should becarried to Spain of their misconduct, and he affirmed that they wished toremain undisturbed masters of the island, and keep the Spaniards there assubjects, or rather as slaves. The people took fire at these suggestions. They had long looked forward to the completion of the caravels as theironly chance for relief; they now insisted that the vessel should belaunched and sent to Spain for supplies. Don Diego endeavored to convincethem of the folly of their demand, the vessel not being rigged andequipped for such a voyage; but the more he attempted to pacify them, themore unreasonable and turbulent they became. Roldan, also, became morebold and explicit in his instigations. He advised them to launch and takepossession of the caravel, as the only mode of regaining theirindependence. They might then throw off the tyranny of these upstartstrangers, enemies in their hearts to Spaniards, and might lead a life ofease and pleasure; sharing equally all that they might gain by barter inthe island, employing the Indians as slaves to work for them, and enjoyingunrestrained indulgence with respect to the Indian women. [21]

Don Diego received information of what was fermenting among the people, yet feared to come to an open rupture with Roldan in the present mutinousstate of the colony. He suddenly detached him, therefore, with forty men, to the Vega, under pretext of overawing certain of the natives who hadrefused to pay their tribute, and had shown a disposition to revolt. Roldan made use of this opportunity to strengthen his faction. He madefriends and partisans among the discontented caciques, secretly justifyingthem in their resistance to the imposition of tribute, and promising themredress. He secured the devotion of his own soldiers by great acts ofindulgence, disarming and dismissing such as refused full participation inhis plans, and returned with his little band to Isabella, where he feltsecure of a strong party among the common people. 

The Adelantado had by this time returned from Xaragua; but Roldan, feelinghimself at the head of a strong faction, and arrogating to himself greatauthority from his official station, now openly demanded that the caravelshould be launched, or permission given to himself and his followers tolaunch it. The Adelantado peremptorily refused, observing that neither henor his companions were mariners, nor was the caravel furnished andequipped for sea, and that neither the safety of the vessel, nor of thepeople, should be endangered by their attempt to navigate her. 

Roldan perceived that his motives were suspected, and felt that theAdelantado was too formidable an adversary to contend with in any opensedition at Isabella. He determined, therefore, to carry his plans intooperation in some more favorable part of the island, always trusting toexcuse any open rebellion against the authority of Don Bartholomew, byrepresenting it as a patriotic opposition to his tyranny over Spaniards. He had seventy well-armed and determined men under his command, and hetrusted, on erecting his standard, to be joined by all the disaffectedthroughout the island. He set off suddenly, therefore, for the Vega, intending to surprise the fortress of Conception, and by getting commandof that post and the rich country adjacent, to set the Adelantado atdefiance. 

He stopped, on his way, at various Indian villages in which the Spaniardswere distributed, endeavoring to enlist the latter in his party, byholding out promises of great gain and free living. He attempted also toseduce the natives from their allegiance, by promising them freedom fromall tribute. Those caciques with whom he had maintained a previousunderstanding, received him with open arms; particularly one who had takenthe name of Diego Marque, whose village he made his headquarters, beingabout two leagues from Fort Conception. He was disappointed in his hopesof surprising the fortress. Its commander, Miguel Ballester, was an oldand staunch soldier, both resolute and wary. He drew himself into hisstronghold on the approach of Roldan, and closed his gates. His garrisonwas small, but the fortification, situated on the side of a hill, with ariver running at its foot, was proof against any assault. Roldan had stillsome hopes that Ballester might be disaffected to government, and might begradually brought into his plans, or that the garrison would be disposedto desert, tempted by the licentious life which he permitted among hisfollowers. In the neighborhood was the town inhabited by Guarionex. Herewere quartered thirty soldiers, under the command of Captain Garcia deBarrantes. Roldan repaired thither with his armed force, hoping to enlistBarrantes and his party; but the captain shut himself up with his men in afortified house, refusing to permit them to hold any communication withRoldan. The latter threatened to set fire to the house; but after a littleconsideration, contented himself with seizing their store of provisions, and then marched towards Fort Conception, which was not quite half aleague distant. [22]

Chapter V. 

The Adelantado Repairs to the Vega in Relief of Fort Conception. --HisInterview with Roldan. 

[1497. ]

The Adelantado had received intelligence of the flagitious proceedings ofRoldan, yet hesitated for a time to set out in pursuit of him. He had lostall confidence in the loyalty of the people around him, and knew not howfar the conspiracy extended, nor on whom he could rely. Diego de Escobar, alcayde of the fortress of La Madalena, together with Adrian de Moxica andPedro de Valdivieso, all principal men, were in league with Roldan. Hefeared that the commander of Fort Conception might likewise be in theplot, and the whole island in arms against him. He was reassured, however, by tidings from Miguel Ballester. That loyal veteran wrote to him pressingletters for succor; representing the weakness of his garrison, and theincreasing forces of the rebels. 

Don Bartholomew hastened to his assistance with his accustomed promptness, and threw himself with a reinforcement into the fortress. Being ignorantof the force of the rebels, and doubtful of the loyalty of his ownfollowers, he determined to adopt mild measures. Understanding that Roldanwas quartered at a village but half a league distant, he sent a message tohim, remonstrating on the flagrant irregularity of his conduct, the injuryit was calculated to produce in the island, and the certain ruin it mustbring upon himself, and summoning him to appear at the fortress, pledginghis word for his personal safety. Roldan repaired accordingly to FortConception, where the Adelantado held a parley with him from a window, demanding the reason of his appearing in arms, in opposition to royalauthority. Roldan replied boldly, that he was in the service of hissovereigns, defending their subjects from the oppression of men who soughttheir destruction. The Adelantado ordered him to surrender his staff ofoffice, as alcalde mayor, and to submit peaceably to superior authority. Roldan refused to resign his office, or to put himself in the power of DonBartholomew, whom he charged with seeking his life. He refused also tosubmit to any trial, unless commanded by the king. Pretending, however, tomake no resistance to the peaceable exercise of authority, he offered togo with his followers, and reside at any place the Adelantado mightappoint. The latter immediately designated the village of the caciqueDiego Colon, the same native of the Lucayos Islands who had been baptizedin Spain, and had since married a daughter of Guarionex. Roldan objected, pretending there were not sufficient provisions to be had there for thesubsistence of his men, and departed, declaring that he would seek a moreeligible residence elsewhere. [23]

He now proposed to his followers to take possession of the remote provinceof Xaragua. The Spaniards who had returned thence gave enticing accountsof the life they had led there; of the fertility of the soil, thesweetness of the climate, the hospitality and gentleness of the people, their feasts, dances, and various amusements, and, above all, the beautyof the women; for they had been captivated by the naked charms of thedancing nymphs of Xaragua. In this delightful region, emancipated from theiron rule of the Adelantado, and relieved from the necessity of irksomelabor, they might lead a life of perfect freedom and indulgence, and havea world of beauty at their command. In short, Roldan drew a picture ofloose sensual enjoyment, such as he knew to be irresistible with men ofidle and dissolute habits. His followers acceded with joy to hisproposition. Some preparations, however, were necessary to carry it intoeffect. Taking advantage of the absence of the Adelantado, he suddenlymarched with his band to Isabella, and entering it in a manner bysurprise, endeavored to launch the caravel, with which they might sail toXaragua. Don Diego Columbus, hearing the tumult, issued forth with severalcavaliers; but such was the force of the mutineers, and their menacingconduct, that he was obliged to withdraw, with his adherents, into thefortress. Roldan held several parleys with him, and offered to submit tohis command, provided he would set himself up in opposition to his brotherthe Adelantado. His proposition was treated with scorn. The fortress wastoo strong to be assailed with success; he found it impossible to launchthe caravel, and feared the Adelantado might return, and he be inclosedbetween two forces. He proceeded, therefore, in all haste to makeprovisions for the proposed expedition to Xaragua. Still pretending to actin his official capacity, and to do every thing from loyal motives, forthe protection and support of the oppressed subjects of the crown, hebroke open the royal warehouse, with shouts of "Long live the king!"supplied his followers with arms, ammunition, clothing, and whatever theydesired from the public stores; proceeded to the inclosure where thecattle and other European animals were kept to breed, took such as hethought necessary for his intended establishment, and permitted hisfollowers to kill such of the remainder as they might want for presentsupply. Having committed this wasteful ravage, he marched in triumph outof Isabella. [24] Reflecting, however, on the prompt and vigorouscharacter of the Adelantado, he felt that his situation would be butlittle secure with such an active enemy behind him; who, on extricatinghimself from present perplexities, would not fail to pursue him to hisproposed paradise of Xaragua. He determined, therefore, to march again tothe Vega, and endeavor either to get possession of the person of theAdelantado, or to strike some blow, in his present crippled state, thatshould disable him from offering further molestation. Returning, therefore, to the vicinity of Fort Conception, he endeavored in every way, by the means of subtle emissaries, to seduce the garrison to desertion, orto excite it to revolt. 

The Adelantado dared not take the field with his forces, having noconfidence in their fidelity. He knew that they listened wistfully to theemissaries of Roldan, and contrasted the meagre fare and stern disciplineof the garrison with the abundant cheer and easy misrule that prevailedamong the rebels. To counteract these seductions, he relaxed from hisusual strictness, treating his men with great indulgence, and promisingthem large rewards. By these means he was enabled to maintain some degreeof loyalty amongst his forces, his service having the advantage over thatof Roldan, of being on the side of government and law. 

Finding his attempts to corrupt the garrison unsuccessful, and fearingsome sudden sally from the vigorous Adelantado, Roldan drew off to adistance, and sought by insidious means to strengthen his own power, andweaken that of the government. He asserted equal right to manage theaffairs of the island with the Adelantado, and pretended to have separatedfrom him on account of his being passionate and vindictive in the exerciseof his authority. He represented him as the tyrant of the Spaniards, theoppressor of the Indians. For himself, he assumed the character of aredresser of grievances and champion of the injured. He pretended to feela patriotic indignation at the affronts heaped upon Spaniards by a familyof obscure and arrogant foreigners; and professed to free the natives fromtributes wrung from them by these rapacious men for their own enrichment, and contrary to the beneficent intentions of the Spanish monarchs. Heconnected himself closely with the Carib cacique Manicaotex, brother ofthe late Caonabo, whose son and nephew were in his possession as hostagesfor payment of tributes. This warlike chieftain he conciliated by presentsand caresses, bestowing on him the appellation of brother. [25] Theunhappy natives, deceived by his professions, and overjoyed at the idea ofhaving a protector in arms for their defence, submitted cheerfully to athousand impositions, supplying his followers with provisions inabundance, and bringing to Roldan all the gold they could collect;voluntarily yielding him heavier tributes than those from which hepretended to free them. 

The affairs of the island were now in a lamentable situation. The Indians, perceiving the dissensions among the white men, and encouraged by theprotection of Roldan, began to throw off all allegiance to the government. The caciques at a distance ceased to send in their tributes, and those whowere in the vicinity were excused by the Adelantado, that by indulgence hemight retain their friendship in this time of danger. Roldan's factiondaily gained strength; they ranged insolently and at large in the opencountry, and were supported by the misguided natives; while the Spaniardswho remained loyal, fearing conspiracies among the natives, had to keepunder shelter of the fort, or in the strong houses which they had erectedin the villages. The commanders were obliged to palliate all kinds ofslights and indignities, both from their soldiers and from the Indians, fearful of driving them to sedition by any severity. The clothing andmunitions of all kinds, either for maintenance or defence, were rapidlywasting away, and the want of all supplies or tidings from Spain wassinking the spirits of the well-affected into despondency. The Adelantadowas shut up in Fort Conception, in daily expectation of being openlybesieged by Roldan, and was secretly informed that means were taken todestroy him, should he issue from the walls of the fortress. [26]

Such was the desperate state to which the colony was reduced, inconsequence of the long detention of Columbus in Spain, and theimpediments thrown in the way of all his measures for the benefit of theisland by the delays of cabinets and the chicanery of Fonseca and hissatellites. At this critical juncture, when faction reigned triumphant, and the colony was on the brink of ruin, tidings were brought to the Vegathat Pedro Fernandez Coronal had arrived at the port of San Domingo, withtwo ships, bringing supplies of all kinds, and a strong reinforcement oftroops. [27]

Chapter VI. 

Second Insurrection of Guarionex, and His Flight to the Mountains ofCiguay. 

[1498. ]

The arrival of Coronal, which took place on the third of February, was thesalvation of the colony. The reinforcements of troops, and of supplies ofall kinds, strengthened the hands of Don Bartholomew. The royalconfirmation of his title and authority as Adelantado at once dispelledall doubts as to the legitimacy of his power; and the tidings that theadmiral was in high favor at court, and would soon arrive with a powerfulsquadron, struck consternation into those who had entered into therebellion on the presumption of his having fallen into disgrace. 

The Adelantado no longer remained mewed up in his fortress, but set outimmediately for San Domingo with a part of his troops, although a muchsuperior rebel force was at the village of the cacique Guarionex, at avery short distance. Roldan followed slowly and gloomily with his party, anxious to ascertain the truth of these tidings, to make partisans, ifpossible, among those who had newly arrived, and to take advantage ofevery circumstance that might befriend his rash and hazardous projects. The Adelantado left strong guards on the passes of the roads to preventhis near approach to San Domingo, but Roldan paused within a few leaguesof the place. 

When the Adelantado found himself secure in San Domingo with thisaugmentation of force, and the prospect of a still greater reinforcementat hand, his magnanimity prevailed over his indignation, and he sought bygentle means to allay the popular seditions, that the island might berestored to tranquillity before his brother's arrival. He considered thatthe colonists had suffered greatly from the want of supplies; that theirdiscontents had been heightened by the severities he bad been compelled toinflict; and that many had been led to rebellion by doubts of thelegitimacy of his authority. While, therefore, he proclaimed the royal actsanctioning his title and powers, he promised amnesty for all pastoffences, on condition of immediate return to allegiance. Hearing thatRoldan was within five leagues of San Domingo with his band, he sent PedroFernandez Coronal, who had been appointed by the sovereigns alguazil mayorof the island, to exhort him to obedience, promising him oblivion of thepast. He trusted that the representations of a discreet and honorable manlike Coronal, who had been witness of the favor in which his brother stoodin Spain, would convince the rebels of the hopelessness of their course. 

Roldan, however, conscious of his guilt, and doubtful of the clemency ofDon Bartholomew, feared to venture within his power; he determined, also, to prevent his followers from communicating with Coronal, lest they shouldbe seduced from him by the promise of pardon. When that emissary, therefore, approached the encampment of the rebels, he was opposed in anarrow pass by a body of archers, with their cross-bows levelled. "Haltthere! traitor!" cried Roldan, "had you arrived eight days later, weshould all have been united as one man. " [28]

In vain Coronal endeavored by fair reasoning and earnest entreaty to winthis perverse and turbulent man from his career. Roldan answered withhardihood and defiance, professing to oppose only the tyranny and misruleof the Adelantado, but to be ready to submit to the admiral on hisarrival. He, and several of his principal confederates, wrote letters tothe same effect to their friends in San Domingo, urging them to pleadtheir cause with the admiral when he should arrive, and to assure him oftheir disposition to acknowledge his authority. 

When Coronal returned with accounts of Roldan's contumacy, the Adelantadoproclaimed him and his followers traitors. That shrewd rebel, however, didnot suffer his men to remain within either the seduction of promise or theterror of menace; he immediately set out on his march for his promisedland of Xaragua, trusting to impair every honest principle and virtuoustie of his misguided followers by a life of indolence and libertinage. 

In the meantime the mischievous effects of his intrigues among thecaciques became more and more apparent. No sooner had the Adelantado leftFort Conception, than a conspiracy was formed among the natives tosurprise it. Guarionex was at the head of this conspiracy, moved by theinstigations of Roldan, who had promised him protection and assistance, and led on by the forlorn hope, in this distracted state of the Spanishforces, of relieving his paternal domains from the intolerable dominationof usurping strangers. Holding secret communications with his tributarycaciques, it was concerted that they should all rise simultaneously andmassacre the soldiery, quartered in small parties in their villages; whilehe, with a chosen force, should surprise the fortress of Conception. Thenight of the full moon was fixed upon for the insurrection. 

One of the principal caciques, however, not being a correct observer ofthe heavenly bodies, took up arms before the appointed night, and wasrepulsed by the soldiers quartered in his village. The alarm was given, and the Spaniards were all put on the alert. The cacique fled to Guarionexfor protection, but the chieftain, enraged at his fatal blunder, put himto death upon the spot. 

No sooner did the Adelantado hear of this fresh conspiracy, than he puthimself on the march for the Vega with a strong body of men. Guarionex didnot await his coming. He saw that every attempt was fruitless to shake offthese strangers, who had settled like a curse upon his territories. He hadfound their very friendship withering and destructive, and he now dreadedtheir vengeance. Abandoning, therefore, his rightful domain, the oncehappy Vega, he fled with his family and a small band of faithful followersto the mountains of Ciguay. This is a lofty chain, extending along thenorth side of the island, between the Vega and the sea. The inhabitantswere the most robust and hardy tribe of the island, and far moreformidable than the mild inhabitants of the plains. It was a part of thistribe which displayed hostility to the Spaniards in the course of thefirst voyage of Columbus, and in a skirmish with them in the Gulf ofSemana the first drop of native blood had been shed in the New World. Thereader may remember the frank and confiding conduct of these people theday after the skirmish, and the intrepid faith with which their caciquetrusted himself on board of the caravel of the admiral, and in the powerof the Spaniards. It was to this same cacique, named Mayobanex, that thefugitive chieftain of the Vega now applied for refuge. He came to hisresidence at an Indian town near Cape Cabron, about forty leagues east ofIsabella, and implored shelter for his wife and children, and his handfulof loyal followers. The noble-minded cacique of the mountains received himwith open arms. He not only gave an asylum to his family, but engaged tostand by him in his distress, to defend his cause, and share his desperatefortunes. [29]Men in civilized life learn magnanimity from precept, but their most generous actions are often rivaled by the deeds ofuntutored savages, who act only from natural impulse. 

Chapter VII. 

Campaign of the Adelantado in the Mountains of Ciguay. 

[1498. ]

Aided by his mountain ally, and by bands of hardy Ciguayans, Guarionexmade several descents into the plain, cutting off straggling parties ofthe Spaniards, laying waste the villages of the natives which continued inallegiance to them, and destroying the fruits of the earth. The Adelantadoput a speedy stop to these molestations; but he determined to root out soformidable an adversary from the neighborhood. Shrinking from no dangernor fatigue, and leaving nothing to be done by others which he could dohimself, he set forth in the spring with a band of ninety men, a fewcavalry, and a body of Indians, to penetrate the Ciguay mountains. 

After passing a steep defile, rendered almost impracticable for troops byrugged rocks and exuberant vegetation, he descended into a beautifulvalley or plain, extending along the coast, and embraced by arms of themountains which approached the sea. His advance into the country waswatched by the keen eyes of Indian scouts who lurked among rocks andthickets. As the Spaniards were seeking the ford of a river at theentrance of the plain, two of these spies darted from among the bushes onits bank. One flung himself headlong into the water, and swimming acrossthe mouth of the river escaped; the other being taken, gave informationthat six thousand Indians lay in ambush on the opposite shore, waiting toattack them as they crossed. 

The Adelantado advanced with caution, and finding a shallow place, enteredthe river with his troops. They were scarcely midway in the stream whenthe savages, hideously painted, and looking more like fiends than men, burst from their concealment. The forest rang with their yells andhowlings. They discharged a shower of arrows and lances, by which, notwithstanding the protection of their targets, many of the Spaniardswere wounded. The Adelantado, however, forced his way across the river, and the Indians took to flight. Some were killed, but their swiftness offoot, their knowledge of the forest, and their dexterity in windingthrough the most tangled thickets, enabled the greater number to elude thepursuit of the Spaniards, who were encumbered with armor, targets, crossbows, and lances. 

By the advice of one of his Indian guides, the Adelantado pressed forwardalong the valley to reach the residence of Mayobanex, at Cabron. In theway he had several skirmishes with the natives, who would suddenly rushforth with furious war-cries from ambuscades among the bushes, dischargetheir weapons, and take refuge again in the fastnesses of their rocks andforests, inaccessible to the Spaniards. 

Having taken several prisoners, the Adelantado sent one accompanied by anIndian of a friendly tribe, as a messenger to Mayobanex, demanding thesurrender of Guarionex; promising friendship and protection in case ofcompliance, but threatening, in case of refusal, to lay waste histerritory with fire and sword. The cacique listened attentively to themessenger: "Tell the Spaniards, " said he in reply, "that they are bad men, cruel and tyrannical; usurpers of the territories of others, and sheddersof innocent blood. I desire not the friendship of such men; Guarionex is agood man, he is my friend, he is my guest, he has fled to me for refuge, Ihave promised to protect him, and I will keep my word. "

This magnanimous reply, or rather defiance, convinced the Adelantado thatnothing was to be gained by friendly overtures. When severity wasrequired, he could be a stern soldier. He immediately ordered the villagein which he had been quartered, and several others in the neighborhood, tobe set on fire. He then sent further messengers to Mayobanex, warning himthat, unless he delivered up the fugitive cacique, his whole dominionsshould be laid waste in like manner; and he would see nothing in everydirection but the smoke and flames of burning villages. Alarmed at thisimpending destruction, the Ciguayans surrounded their chieftain withclamorous lamentations, cursing the day that Guarionex had taken refugeamong them, and urging that he should be given up for the salvation of thecountry. The generous cacique was inflexible. He reminded them of the manyvirtues of Guarionex, and the sacred claims he had on their hospitality, and declared he would abide all evils, rather than it should ever be saidMayobanex had betrayed his guest. 

The people retired with sorrowful hearts, and the chieftain, summoningGuarionex into his presence, again pledged his word to protect him, thoughit should cost him his dominions. He sent no reply to the Adelantado, andlest further messages might tempt the fidelity of his subjects, he placedmen in ambush, with orders to slay any messenger who might approach. Theyhad not lain in wait long, before they beheld two men advancing throughthe forest, one of whom was a captive Ciguayan, and the other an Indianally of the Spaniards. They were both instantly slain. The Adelantado wasfollowing at no great distance, with only ten foot-soldiers and fourhorsemen. When he found his messengers lying dead in the forest path, transfixed with arrows, he was greatly exasperated, and resolved to dealrigorously with this obstinate tribe. He advanced, therefore, with all hisforce to Cabron, where Mayobanex and his army were quartered. At hisapproach the inferior caciques and their adherents fled, overcome byterror of the Spaniards. Finding himself thus deserted, Mayobanex tookrefuge with his family in a secret part of the mountains. Several of theCiguayans sought for Guarionex, to kill him or deliver him up as apropitiatory offering, but he fled to the heights, where he wandered aboutalone, in the most savage and desolate places. 

The density of the forests and the ruggedness of the mountains renderedthis expedition excessively painful and laborious, and protracted it farbeyond the time that the Adelantado had contemplated. His men suffered, not merely from fatigue, but hunger. The natives had all fled to themountains; their villages remained empty and desolate; all the provisionsof the Spaniards consisted of cassava bread, and such roots and herbs astheir Indian allies could gather for them, with now and then a few utiastaken with the assistance of their dogs. They slept almost always on theground, in the open air, under the trees, exposed to the heavy dew whichfalls in this climate. For three months they were thus ranging themountains, until almost worn out with toil and hard fare. Many of them hadfarms in the neighborhood of Fort Conception, which required theirattention; they, therefore, entreated permission, since the Indians wereterrified and dispersed, to return to their abodes in the Vega. 

The Adelantado granted many of them passports and an allowance out of thescanty stock of bread which remained. Retaining only thirty men, heresolved with these to search every den and cavern of the mountains untilhe should find the two caciques. It was difficult, however, to trace themin such a wilderness. There was no one to give a clue to their retreat, for the whole country was abandoned. There were the habitations of men, but not a human being to be seen; or if, by chance, they caught somewretched Indian stealing forth from the mountains in quest of food, healways professed utter ignorance of the hiding-place of the caciques. 

It happened one day, however, that several Spaniards, while hunting utias, captured two of the followers of Mayobanex, who were on their way to adistant village in search of bread. They were taken to the Adelantado, whocompelled them to betray the place of concealment of their chieftain, andto act as guides. Twelve Spaniards volunteered to go in quest of him. Stripping themselves naked, staining and painting their bodies so as tolook like Indians, and covering their swords with palm-leaves, they wereconducted by the guides to the retreat of the unfortunate Mayobanex. Theycame secretly upon him, and found him surrounded by his wife and childrenand a few of his household, totally unsuspicious of danger. Drawing theirswords, the Spaniards rushed upon them, and made them all prisoners. Whenthey were brought to the Adelantado, he gave up all further search afterGuarionex, and returned to Fort Conception. 

Among the prisoners thus taken was the sister of Mayobanex. She was thewife of another cacique of the mountains, whose territories had never yetbeen visited by the Spaniards; and she was reputed to be one of the mostbeautiful women of the island. Tenderly attached to her brother, she hadabandoned the security of her own dominions, and had followed him amongrocks and precipices, participating in all his hardships, and comfortinghim with a woman's sympathy and kindness. When her husband heard of hercaptivity, he hastened to the Adelantado and offered to submit himself andall his possessions to his sway, if his wife might be restored to him. TheAdelantado accepted his offer of allegiance, and released his wife andseveral of his subjects who had been captured. The cacique, faithful tohis word, became a firm and valuable ally of the Spaniards, cultivatinglarge tracts of land, and supplying them with great quantities of breadand other provisions. 

Kindness appears never to have been lost upon the people of this island. When this act of clemency reached the Ciguayans, they came in multitudesto the fortress, bringing presents of various kinds, promising allegiance, and imploring the release of Mayobanex and his family. The Adelantadogranted their prayers in part, releasing the wife and household of thecacique, but still detaining him prisoner to insure the fidelity of hissubjects. 

In the meantime the unfortunate Guarionex, who had been hiding in thewildest parts of the mountains, was driven by hunger to venture downoccasionally into the plain in quest of food. The Ciguayans looking uponhim as the cause of their misfortunes, and perhaps hoping by his sacrificeto procure the release of their chieftain, betrayed his haunts to theAdelantado. A party was dispatched to secure him. They lay in wait in thepath by which he usually returned to the mountains. As the unhappycacique, after one of his famished excursions, was returning to his denamong the cliffs, he was surprised by the lurking Spaniards, and broughtin chains to Fort Conception. After his repeated insurrections, and theextraordinary zeal and perseverance displayed in his pursuit, Guarionexexpected nothing less than death from the vengeance of the Adelantado. DonBartholomew, however, though stern in his policy, was neither vindictivenor cruel in his nature. He considered the tranquillity of the Vegasufficiently secured by the captivity of the cacique; and ordered him tobe detained a prisoner and hostage in the fortress. The Indian hostilitiesin this important part of the island being thus brought to a conclusion, and precautions taken to prevent their recurrence, Don Bartholomewreturned to the city of San Domingo, where, shortly after his arrival, hehad the happiness of receiving his brother, the admiral, after nearly twoyears and six months' absence. [30]

Such was the active, intrepid, and sagacious, but turbulent and disastrousadministration of the Adelantado, in which we find evidences of the greatcapacity, the mental and bodily vigor of this self-formed and almostself-taught man. He united, in a singular degree, the sailor, the soldier, and the legislator. Like his brother, the admiral, his mind and mannersrose immediately to the level of his situation, showing no arrogance norostentation, and exercising the sway of sudden and extraordinary powerwith the sobriety and moderation of one who had been born to rule. He hasbeen accused of severity in his government, but no instance appears of acruel or wanton abuse of authority. If he was stern towards the factiousSpaniards, he was just; the disasters of his administration were notproduced by his own rigor, but by the perverse passions of others, whichcalled for its exercise; and the admiral, who had more suavity of mannerand benevolence of heart, was not more fortunate in conciliating the goodwill, and insuring the obedience of the colonists. The merits of DonBartholomew do not appear to have been sufficiently appreciated by theworld. His portrait has been suffered to remain too much in the shade; itis worthy of being brought into the light, as a companion to that of hisillustrious brother. Less amiable and engaging, perhaps, in itslineaments, and less characterized by magnanimity, its traits arenevertheless bold, generous, and heroic, and stamped with iron firmness. 

Book XII. 

Chapter I. 

Confusion in the Island. --Proceedings of the Rebels at Xaragua. 

[August 30, 1498. ]

Columbus arrived at San Domingo, wearied by a long and arduous voyage, andworn down by infirmities; both mind and body craved repose, but from thetime he first entered into public life, he had been doomed never again totaste the sweets of tranquillity. The island of Hispaniola, the favoritechild as it were of his hopes, was destined to involve him in perpetualtroubles, to fetter his fortunes, impede his enterprises, and imbitter theconclusion of his life. What a scene of poverty and suffering had thisopulent and lovely island been rendered by the bad passions of a fewdespicable men! The wars with the natives and the seditions among thecolonists had put a stop to the labors of the mines, and all hopes ofwealth were at an end. The horrors of famine had succeeded to those ofwar. The cultivation of the earth had been generally neglected; several ofthe provinces had been desolated during the late troubles; a great part ofthe Indians had fled to the mountains, and those who remained had lost allheart to labor, seeing the produce of their toils liable to be wrestedfrom them by ruthless strangers. It is true, the Vega was once moretranquil, but it was a desolate tranquillity. That beautiful region, whichthe Spaniards but four years before had found so populous and happy, seeming to inclose in its luxuriant bosom all the sweets of nature, and toexclude all the cares and sorrows of the world, was now a scene ofwretchedness and repining. Many of those Indian towns, where the Spaniardshad been detained by genial hospitality, and almost worshiped asbeneficent deities, were now silent and deserted. Some of their lateinhabitants were lurking among rocks and caverns; some were reduced toslavery; many had perished with hunger, and many had fallen by the sword. It seems almost incredible, that so small a number of men, restrained tooby well-meaning governors, could in so short a space of time have producedsuch wide-spreading miseries. But the principles of evil have a fatalactivity. With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderateamount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptibleindividual to do incalculable mischief. 

The evil passions of the white men, which had inflicted such calamitiesupon this innocent people, had insured likewise a merited return ofsuffering to themselves. In no part was this more truly exemplified thanamong the inhabitants of Isabella, the most idle, factious, and dissoluteof the island. The public works were unfinished; the gardens and fieldsthey had begun to cultivate lay neglected: they had driven the nativesfrom their vicinity by extortion and cruelty, and had rendered the countryaround them a solitary wilderness. Too idle to labor, and destitute of anyresources with which to occupy their indolence, they quarrelled amongthemselves, mutinied against their rulers, and wasted their time inalternate riot and despondency. Many of the soldiery quartered about theisland had suffered from ill health during the late troubles, being shutup in Indian villages where they could take no exercise, and obliged tosubsist on food to which they could not accustom themselves. Thoseactively employed had been worn down by hard service, long marches, andscanty food. Many of them were broken in constitution, and many hadperished by disease. There was a universal desire to leave the island, andescape from miseries created by themselves. Yet this was the favored andfruitful land to which the eyes of philosophers and poets in Europe werefondly turned, as realizing the pictures of the golden age. So true it is, that the fairest Elysium fancy ever devised would be turned into apurgatory by the passions of bad men!

One of the first measures of Columbus on his arrival was to issue aproclamation approving of all the measures of the Adelantado, anddenouncing Roldan and his associates. That turbulent man had takenpossession of Xaragua, and been kindly received by the natives. He hadpermitted his followers to lead an idle and licentious life among itsbeautiful scenes, making the surrounding country and its inhabitantssubservient to their pleasures and their passions. An event happenedprevious to their knowledge of the arrival of Columbus, which threwsupplies into their hands, and strengthened their power. As they were oneday loitering on the sea-shore, they beheld three caravels at a distance, the sight of which, in this unfrequented part of the ocean, filled themwith wonder and alarm. The ships approached the land, and came to anchor. The rebels apprehended at first they were vessels dispatched in pursuit ofthem. Roldan, however, who was sagacious as he was bold, surmised them tobe ships which had wandered from their course, and been borne to thewestward by the currents, and that they must be ignorant of the recentoccurrences of the island. Enjoining secrecy on his men, he went on board, pretending to be stationed in that neighborhood for the purpose of keepingthe natives in obedience, and collecting tribute. His conjectures as tothe vessels were correct. They were, in fact, the three caravels detachedby Columbus from his squadron at the Canary Islands, to bring supplies tothe colonies. The captains, ignorant of the strength of the currents, which set through the Caribbean Sea, had been carried west far beyondtheir reckoning, until they had wandered to the coast of Xaragua. 

Roldan kept his secret closely for three days. Being considered a man inimportant trust and authority, the captains did not hesitate to grant allhis requests for supplies. He procured swords, lances, cross-bows, andvarious military stores; while his men, dispersed through the threevessels, were busy among the crews, secretly making partisans, representing the hard life of the colonists at San Domingo, and the easeand revelry in which they passed their time at Xaragua. Many of the crewshad been shipped in compliance with the admiral's ill-judged proposition, to commute criminal punishments into transportation to the colony. Theywere vagabonds, the refuse of Spanish towns, and culprits from Spanishdungeons; the very men, therefore, to be wrought upon by suchrepresentations, and they promised to desert on the first opportunity andjoin the rebels. 

It was not until the third day, that Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, the mostintelligent of the three captains, discovered the real character of theguests he had admitted so freely on board of his vessels. It was then toolate; the mischief was effected. He and his fellow captains had manyearnest conversations with Roldan, endeavoring to persuade him from hisdangerous opposition to the regular authority. The certainty that Columbuswas actually on his way to the island, with additional forces, andaugmented authority, had operated strongly on his mind. He had, as hasalready been intimated, prepared his friends at San Domingo to plead hiscause with the admiral, assuring him that he had only acted in oppositionto the injustice and oppression of the Adelantado, but was ready to submitto Columbus on his arrival. Carvajal perceived that the resolution ofRoldan and of several of his principal confederates was shaken, andflattered himself, that, if he were to remain some little time among therebels, he might succeed in drawing them back to their duty. Contrary windsrendered it impossible for the ships to work up against the currents toSan Domingo. It was arranged among the captains, therefore, that a largenumber of the people on board, artificers and others most important to theservice of the colony, should proceed to the settlement by land. They wereto be conducted by Juan Antonio Colombo, captain of one of the caravels, arelative of the admiral, and zealously devoted to his interests. Arana wasto proceed with the ships, when the wind would permit, and Carvajalvolunteered to remain on shore, to endeavor to bring the rebels to theirallegiance. 

On the following morning, Juan Antonio Colombo landed with forty men wellarmed with cross-bows, swords, and lances, but was astonished to findhimself suddenly deserted by all his party excepting eight. The deserterswent off to the rebels, who received with exultation this importantreinforcement of kindred spirits. Juan Antonio endeavored in vain byremonstrances and threats to bring them back to their duty. They were mostof them convicted culprits, accustomed to detest order, and to set law atdefiance. It was equally in vain that he appealed to Roldan, and remindedhim of his professions of loyalty to the government. The latter repliedthat he had no means of enforcing obedience; his was a mere "Monastery ofObservation, " where every one was at liberty to adopt the habit of theorder. Such was the first of a long train of evils, which sprang from thismost ill-judged expedient of peopling a colony with criminals, and thusmingling vice and villany with the fountain-head of its population. 

Juan Antonio, grieved and disconcerted, returned on board with the few whoremained faithful. Fearing further desertions, the two captainsimmediately put to sea, leaving Carvajal on shore, to prosecute hisattempt at reforming the rebels. It was not without great difficulty anddelay that the vessels reached San Domingo; the ship of Carvajal havingstruck on a sand-bank, and sustained great injury. By the time of theirarrival, the greater part of the provisions with which they had beenfreighted was either exhausted or damaged. Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajalarrived shortly afterwards by land, having been escorted to within sixleagues of the place by several of the insurgents, to protect him from theIndians. He failed in his attempt to persuade the band to immediatesubmission; but Roldan had promised that the moment he heard of thearrival of Columbus, he would repair to the neighborhood of San Domingo, to be at hand to state his grievances, and the reasons of his pastconduct, and to enter into a negotiation for the adjustment of alldifferences. Carvajal brought a letter from him to the admiral to the samepurport; and expressed a confident opinion, from all that he observed ofthe rebels, that they might easily be brought back to their allegiance byan assurance of amnesty. [31]

Chapter II. 

Negotiation of the Admiral with the Rebels. --Departure of Ships for Spain. 

[1498. ]

Notwithstanding the favorable representations of Carvajal, Columbus wasgreatly troubled by the late event at Xaragua. He saw that the insolenceof the rebels, and their confidence in their strength, must be greatlyincreased by the accession of such a large number of well-armed anddesperate confederates. The proposition of Roldan to approach to theneighborhood of San Domingo, startled him. He doubted the sincerity of hisprofessions, and apprehended great evils and dangers from so artful, daring, and turbulent a leader, with a rash and devoted crew at hiscommand. The example of this lawless horde, roving at large about theisland, and living in loose revel and open profligacy, could not but havea dangerous effect upon the colonists newly arrived; and when they wereclose at hand, to carry on secret intrigues, and to hold out a camp ofrefuge to all malcontents, the loyalty of the whole colony might be sappedand undermined. 

Some measures were immediately necessary to fortify the fidelity of thepeople against such seductions. He was aware of a vehement desire amongmany to return to Spain; and of an assertion industriously propagated bythe seditious, that he and his brothers wished to detain the colonists onthe island through motives of self-interest. On the 12th of September, therefore, he issued a proclamation, offering free passage and provisionsfor the voyage to all who wished to return to Spain, in five vesselsnearly ready to put to sea. He hoped by this means to relieve the colonyfrom the idle and disaffected; to weaken the party of Roldan, and toretain none about him but such as were sound-hearted and well-disposed. 

He wrote at the same time to Miguel Ballester, the staunch and well-triedveteran who commanded the fortress of Conception, advising him to be uponhis guard, as the rebels were coining into his neighborhood. He empoweredhim also to have an interview with Roldan; to offer him pardon andoblivion of the past, on condition of his immediate return to duty; and toinvite him to repair to San Domingo to have an interview with the admiral, under a solemn, and, if required, a written assurance from the latter, ofpersonal safety. Columbus was sincere in his intentions. He was of abenevolent and placable disposition, and singularly free from allvindictive feelings towards the many worthless and wicked men who heapedsorrow on his head. 

Ballester had scarcely received this letter, when the rebels began toarrive at the village of Bonao. This was situated in a beautiful valley, or Vega, bearing the same name, about ten leagues from Fort Conception, and about twenty from San Domingo, in a well-peopled and abundant country. Here Pedro Riquelme, one of the ringleaders of the sedition, had largepossessions, and his residence became the headquarters of the rebels. Adrian de Moxica, a man of turbulent and mischievous character, broughthis detachment of dissolute ruffians to this place of rendezvous. Roldanand others of the conspirators drew together there by different routes. 

No sooner did the veteran Miguel Ballester hear of the arrival of Roldan, than he set forth to meet him. Ballester was a venerable man, gray-headed, and of a soldier-like demeanor. Loyal, frank, and virtuous, of a seriousdisposition, and great simplicity of heart, he was well chosen as amediator with rash and profligate men; being calculated to calm theirpassions by his sobriety; to disarm their petulance by his age; to wintheir confidence by his artless probity; and to awe their licentiousnessby his spotless virtue. [32]

Ballester found Roldan in company with Pedro Riquelme, Pedro de Gamez, andAdrian de Moxica, three of his principal confederates. Flushed with aconfidence of his present strength, Roldan treated the proffered pardonwith contempt, declaring that he did not come there to treat of peace, butto demand the release of certain Indians captured unjustifiably, and aboutto be shipped to Spain as slaves, notwithstanding that he, in his capacityof alcalde mayor, had pledged his word for their protection. He declaredthat, until these Indians were given up, he would listen to no terms ofcompact; throwing out an insolent intimation at the same time, that heheld the admiral and his fortunes in his hand, to make and mar them as hepleased. 

The Indians he alluded to were certain subjects of Guarionex, who had beenincited by Roldan to resist the exaction of tribute, and who, under thesanction of his supposed authority, had engaged in the insurrections ofthe Vega. Roldan knew that the enslavement of the Indians was an unpopularfeature in the government of the island, especially with the queen; andthe artful character of this man is evinced in his giving his oppositionto Columbus the appearance of a vindication of the rights of the sufferingislanders. Other demands were made of a highly insolent nature, and therebels declared that, in all further negotiations, they would treat withno other intermediate agent than Carvajal, having had proofs of hisfairness and impartiality in the course of their late communications withhim at Xaragua. 

This arrogant reply to his proffer of pardon was totally different fromwhat the admiral had been led to expect, and placed him in an embarrassingsituation. He seemed surrounded by treachery and falsehood. He knew thatRoldan had friends and secret partisans even among those who professed toremain faithful; and he knew not how far the ramifications of theconspiracy might extend. A circumstance soon occurred to show the justiceof his apprehensions. He ordered the men of San Domingo to appear underarms, that he might ascertain the force with which he could take the fieldin case of necessity. A report was, immediately circulated that they wereto be led to Bonao, against the rebels. Not above seventy men appearedunder arms, and of these not forty were to be relied upon. One affected tobe lame, another ill; some had relations, and others had friends among thefollowers of Roldan: almost all were disaffected to the service. [33]

Columbus saw that a resort to arms would betray his own weakness and thepower of the rebels, and completely prostrate the dignity and authority ofgovernment. It was necessary to temporize, therefore, however humiliatingsuch conduct might be deemed. He had detained the five ships for eighteendays in port, hoping in some way to have put an end to this rebellion, soas to send home favorable accounts of the island to the sovereigns. Theprovisions of the ships, however, were wasting. The Indian prisoners onboard were suffering and perishing; several of them threw themselvesoverboard, or were suffocated with heat in the holds of the vessels. Hewas anxious, also, that as many of the discontented colonists as possibleshould make sail for Spain before any commotion should take place. 

On the 18th of October, therefore, the ships put to sea. [34] Columbuswrote to the sovereigns an account of the rebellion, and of his profferedpardon being refused. As Roldan pretended that it was a mere quarrelbetween him and the Adelantado, of which the admiral was not an impartialjudge, the latter entreated that Roldan might be summoned to Spain, wherethe sovereigns might be his judges; or that an investigation might takeplace in presence of Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, who was friendly toRoldan, and of Miguel Ballester, as witness on the part of the Adelantado. He attributed, in a great measure, the troubles of this island to his ownlong detention in Spain, and the delays thrown in his way by thoseappointed to assist him, who had retarded the departure of the ships withsupplies, until the colony had been reduced to the greatest scarcity. Hence had arisen discontent, murmuring, and finally rebellion. Heentreated the sovereigns, in the most pressing manner, that the affairs ofthe colony might not be neglected, and those at Seville, who had charge ofits concerns, might be instructed at least not to devise impedimentsinstead of assistance. He alluded to his chastisement of the contemptibleXimeno Breviesca, the insolent minion of Fonseca, and entreated thatneither that nor any other circumstance might be allowed to prejudice himin the royal favor, through the misrepresentations of designing men. Heassured them that the natural resources of the island required nothing butgood management to supply all the wants of the colonists; but that thelatter were indolent and profligate. He proposed to send home, by everyship, as in the present instance, a number of the discontented andworthless, to be replaced by sober and industrious men. He begged alsothat ecclesiastics might be sent out for the instruction and conversion ofthe Indians; and, what was equally necessary, for the reformation of thedissolute Spaniards. He required also a man learned in the law, toofficiate as judge over the island, together with several officers of theroyal revenue. Nothing could surpass the soundness and policy of thesesuggestions; but unfortunately one clause marred the moral beauty of thisexcellent letter. He requested that for two years longer the Spaniardsmight be permitted to employ the Indians as slaves; only making use ofsuch, however, as were captured in wars and insurrections. Columbus hadthe usage of the age in excuse for this suggestion; but it is at variancewith his usual benignity of feeling, and his paternal conduct towardsthese unfortunate people. 

At the same time he wrote another letter, giving an account of his recentvoyage, accompanied by a chart, and by specimens of the gold, andparticularly of the pearls found in the Gulf of Paria. He called especialattention to the latter as being the first specimens of pearls found inthe New World. It was in this letter that he described the newly-discoveredcontinent in such enthusiastic terms, as the most favored part of the east, the source of inexhaustible treasures, the supposed seat of the terrestrialParadise; and he promised to prosecute the discovery of its glorious realmswith the three remaining ships, as soon as the affairs of the island shouldpermit. 

By this opportunity, Roldan and his friends likewise sent letters toSpain, endeavoring to justify their rebellion by charging Columbus and hisbrothers with oppression and injustice, and painting their whole conductin the blackest colors. It would naturally be supposed that therepresentations of such men would have little weight in the balanceagainst the tried merits and exalted services of Columbus: but they hadnumerous friends and relatives in Spain; they had the popular prejudice ontheir side, and there were designing persons in the confidence of thesovereigns ready to advocate their cause. Columbus, to use his own simplebut affecting words was "absent, envied, and a stranger. " [35]

Chapter III. 

Negotiations and Arrangements with the Rebels. 

[1498. ]

The ships being dispatched, Columbus resumed his negotiation with therebels; determined at any sacrifice to put an end to a sedition whichdistracted the island and interrupted all his plans of discovery. Histhree remaining ships lay idle in the harbor, though a region ofapparently boundless wealth was to be explored. He had intended to sendhis brother on the discovery, but the active and military spirit of theAdelantado rendered his presence indispensable, in case the rebels shouldcome to violence. Such were the difficulties encountered at every step ofhis generous and magnanimous enterprises; impeded at one time by theinsidious intrigues of crafty men in place, and checked at another by theinsolent turbulence of a handful of ruffians. 

In his consultations with the most important persons about him, Columbusfound that much of the popular discontent was attributed to the strictrule of his brother, who was accused of dealing out justice with arigorous hand. Las Casas, however, who saw the whole of the testimonycollected from various sources with respect to the conduct of theAdelantado, acquits him of all charges of the kind, and affirms that, withrespect to Roldan in particular, he had exerted great forbearance. Be thisas it may, Columbus now, by the advice of his counselors, resolved to trythe alternative of extreme lenity. He wrote a letter to Roldan, dated the20th of October, couched in the most conciliating terms, calling to mindpast kindnesses, and expressing deep concern for the feud existing betweenhim and the Adelantado. He entreated him, for the common good, and for thesake of his own reputation, which stood well with the sovereigns, not topersist in his present insubordination, and repeated the assurance, thathe and his companions might come to him, under the faith of his word forthe inviolability of their persons. 

There was a difficulty as to who should be the bearer of this letter. Therebels had declared that they would receive no one as mediator but AlonzoSanchez de Carvajal. Strong doubts, however, existed in the minds of thoseabout Columbus as to the integrity of that officer. They observed that hehad suffered Roldan to remain two days on board of his caravel at Xaragua;had furnished him with weapons and stores; had neglected to detain him onboard, when he knew him to be a rebel; had not exerted himself to retakethe deserters; had been escorted on his way to San Domingo by the rebels, and had sent refreshments to them at Bonao. It was alleged, moreover, thathe had given himself out as a colleague of Columbus, appointed bygovernment to have a watch and control over his conduct. It was suggested, that, in advising the rebels to approach San Domingo, he had intended, incase the admiral did not arrive, to unite his pretended authority ascolleague, to that of Roldan, as chief judge, and to seize upon the reinsof government. Finally, the desire of the rebels to have him sent to themas an agent, was cited as proof that he was to join them as a leader, andthat the standard of rebellion was to be hoisted at Bonao. [36] Thesecircumstances, for some time, perplexed Columbus: but he reflected thatCarvajal, as far as he had observed his conduct, had behaved like a man ofintegrity; most of the circumstances alleged against him admitted of aconstruction in his favor; the rest were mere rumors, and he hadunfortunately experienced, in his own case, how easily the fairestactions, and the fairest characters, may be falsified by rumor. Hediscarded, therefore, all suspicion, and determined to confide implicitlyin Carvajal; nor had he ever any reason to repent of his confidence. 

The admiral had scarcely dispatched this letter, when he received one fromthe leaders of the rebels, written several days previously. In this theynot merely vindicated themselves from the charge of rebellion, but claimedgreat merit, as having dissuaded their followers from a resolution to killthe Adelantado, in revenge of his oppressions, prevailing upon them toawait patiently for redress from the admiral. A month had elapsed sincehis arrival, during which they had waited anxiously for his orders, but hehad manifested nothing but irritation against them. Considerations ofhonor and safety, therefore, obliged them to withdraw from his service, and they accordingly demanded their discharge. This letter was dated fromBonao, the 17th of October, and signed by Francisco Roldan, Adrian deMoxica, Pedro de Gamez, and Diego de Escobar. [37]

In the meantime, Carvajal arrived at Bonao, accompanied by MiguelBallester. They found the rebels full of arrogance and presumption. Theconciliating letter of the admiral, however, enforced by the earnestpersuasions of Carvajal, and the admonitions of the veteran Ballester, hada favorable effect on several of the leaders, who had more intellect thantheir brutal followers. Roldan, Gamez, Escobar, and two or three others, actually mounted their horses to repair to the admiral, but were detainedby the clamorous opposition of their men; too infatuated with their idle, licentious mode of life, to relish the idea of a return to labor anddiscipline. These insisted that it was a matter which concerned them all;whatever arrangement was to be made, therefore, should be made in public, in writing, and subject to their approbation or dissent. A day or twoelapsed before this clamor could be appeased. Roldan then wrote to theadmiral, that his followers objected to his coming, unless a writtenassurance, or passport, were sent, protecting the persons of himself andsuch as should accompany him. Miguel Ballester wrote, at the same time, tothe admiral, urging him to agree to whatever terms the rebels mightdemand. He represented their forces as continually augmenting, thesoldiers of his garrison daily deserting to them; unless, therefore, somecompromise were speedily effected, and the rebels shipped off to Spain, hefeared that not merely the authority, but even the person of the admiralwould be in danger; for though the Hidalgos and the officers and servantsimmediately about him would, doubtless, die in his service, the commonpeople were but little to be depended upon. [38]

Columbus felt the increasing urgency of the case, and sent the requiredpassport. Roldan came to San Domingo; but, from his conduct, it appearedas if his object was to make partisans, and gain deserters, rather than toeffect a reconciliation. He had several conversations with the admiral, and several letters passed between them. He made many complaints, andnumerous demands; Columbus made large concessions, but some of thepretensions were too arrogant to be admitted. [39] Nothing definite wasarranged. Roldan departed under the pretext of conferring with his people, promising to send his terms in writing. The admiral sent his Mayordomo, Diego de Salamanca, to treat in his behalf. [40]

On the 6th of November, Roldan wrote a letter from Bonao, containing histerms, and requesting that a reply might be sent to him to Conception, asscarcity of provisions obliged him to leave Bonao. He added that he shouldwait for a reply until the following Monday (the 11th). There was aninsolent menace implied in this note, accompanied as it was by insolentdemands. The admiral found it impossible to comply with the latter; but tomanifest his lenient disposition, and to take from the rebels all plea ofrigor, he had a proclamation affixed for thirty days at the gate of thefortress, promising full indulgence and complete oblivion of the past toRoldan and his followers, on condition of their presenting themselvesbefore him and returning to their allegiance to the crown within a month;together with free conveyance for all such as wished to return to Spain;but threatening to execute rigorous justice upon those who should notappear within the limited time. A copy of this paper he sent to Roldan byCarvajal, with a letter, stating the impossibility of compliance with histerms, but offering to agree to any compact drawn up with the approbationof Carvajal and Salamanca. 

When Carvajal arrived, he found the veteran Ballester actually besieged inhis fortress of Conception by Roldan, under pretext of claiming, in hisofficial character of alcalde mayor, a culprit who had taken refuge therefrom justice. He had cut off the supply of water from the fort, by way ofdistressing it into a surrender. When Carvajal posted up the proclamationof the admiral on the gate of the fortress, the rebels scoffed at theproffered amnesty, saying that, in a little while, they would oblige theadmiral to ask the same at their hands. The earnest intercessions ofCarvajal, however, brought the leaders at length to reflection, andthrough his mediation articles of capitulation were drawn up. By these itwas agreed that Roldan and his followers should embark for Spain from theport of Xaragua in two ships, to be fitted out and victualed within fiftydays. That they should each receive from the admiral a certificate of goodconduct, and an order for the amount of their pay, up to the actual date. That slaves should be given to them, as had been given to others, inconsideration of services performed; and as several of their company hadwives, natives of the island, who were pregnant, or had lately beendelivered, they might take them with them, if willing to go, in place ofthe slaves. That satisfaction should be made for property of some of thecompany which had been sequestrated, and for live-stock which had belongedto Francisco Roldan. There were other conditions, providing for thesecurity of their persons: and it was stipulated that, if no reply werereceived to these terms within eight days, the whole should be void. [41]

This agreement was signed by Roldan and his companions at Fort Conceptionon the 16th of November, and by the admiral at San Domingo on the 21st. Atthe same time, he proclaimed a further act of grace, permitting such aschose to remain in the island either to come to San Domingo, and enterinto the royal service, or to hold lands in any part of the island. Theypreferred, however, to follow the fortunes of Roldan, who departed withhis band for Xaragua, to await the arrival of the ships, accompanied byMiguel Ballester, sent by the admiral to superintend the preparations fortheir embarkation. 

Columbus was deeply grieved to have his projected enterprise to TerraFirma impeded by such contemptible obstacles, and the ships which shouldhave borne his brother to explore that newly-found continent devoted tothe use of this turbulent and worthless rabble. He consoled himself, however, with the reflection, that all the mischief which had so long beenlurking in the island, would thus be at once shipped off, and thenceforthevery thing restored to order and tranquillity. He ordered every exertionto be made, therefore, to get the ships in readiness to be sent round toXaragua; but the scarcity of sea-stores, and the difficulty of completingthe arrangements for such a voyage in the disordered state of the colony, delayed their departure far beyond the stipulated time. Feeling that hehad been compelled to a kind of deception towards the sovereigns, in thecertificate of good conduct given to Roldan and his followers, he wrote aletter to them, stating the circumstances under which that certificate hadbeen in a manner wrung from him to save the island from utter confusionand ruin. He represented the real character and conduct of those men; howthey had rebelled against his authority; prevented the Indians from payingtribute; pillaged the island; possessed themselves of large quantities ofgold, and carried off the daughters of several of the caciques. Headvised, therefore, that they should be seized, and their slaves andtreasure taken from them, until their conduct could be properlyinvestigated. This letter he intrusted to a confidential person, who wasto go in one of the ships. [42]

The rebels having left the neighborhood, and the affairs of San Domingobeing in a state of security, Columbus put his brother Don Diego intemporary command, and departed with the Adelantado on a tour of severalmonths to visit the various stations, and restore the island to order. 

The two caravels destined for the use of the rebels sailed from SanDomingo for Xaragua about the end of February; but, encountering a violentstorm, were obliged to put into one of the harbors of the island, wherethey were detained until the end of March. One was so disabled as to becompelled to return to San Domingo. Another vessel was dispatched tosupply its place, in which the indefatigable Carvajal set sail, toexpedite the embarkation of the rebels. He was eleven days in making thevoyage, and found the other caravel at Xaragua. 

The followers of Roldan had in the meantime changed their minds, and nowrefused to embark; as usual, they threw all the blame on Columbus, affirming that he had purposely delayed the ships far beyond thestipulated time; that he had sent them in a state not sea-worthy, andshort of provisions, with many other charges, artfully founded oncircumstances over which they knew he could have no control. Carvajal madea formal protest before a notary who had accompanied him, and finding thatthe ships were suffering great injury from the teredo or worm, and theirprovisions failing, he sent them back to San Domingo, and set out on hisreturn by land. Roldan accompanied him a little distance on horseback, evidently disturbed in mind. He feared to return to Spain, yet was shrewdenough to know the insecurity of his present situation at the head of aband of dissolute men, acting in defiance of authority. What tie had heupon their fidelity stronger than the sacred obligations which they hadviolated? After riding thoughtfully for some distance, he paused, andrequested some private conversation with Carvajal before they parted. Theyalighted under the shade of a tree. Here Roldan made further professionsof the loyalty of his intentions, and finally declared, that if theadmiral would once more send him a written security for his person, withthe guarantee also of the principal persons about him, he would come totreat with him, and trusted that the whole matter would be arranged onterms satisfactory to both parties. This offer, however, he added, must bekept secret from his followers. 

Carvajal, overjoyed at this prospect of a final arrangement, lost no timein conveying the proposition of Roldan to the admiral. The latterimmediately forwarded the required passport or security, sealed with theroyal seal, accompanied by a letter written in amicable terms, exhortinghis quiet obedience to the authority of the sovereigns. Several of theprincipal persons also, who were with the admiral, wrote, at his request, a letter of security to Roldan, pledging themselves for the safety ofhimself and his followers during the negotiation; provided they didnothing hostile to the royal authority or its representative. 

While Columbus was thus, with unwearied assiduity and loyal zeal, endeavoring to bring the island back to its obedience, he received a replyfrom Spain, to the earnest representations made by him, in the precedingautumn, of the distracted state of the colony and the outrages of theselawless men, and his prayers for royal countenance and support. The letterwas written by his invidious enemy, the Bishop Fonseca, superintendent ofIndian affairs. It acknowledged the receipt of his statement of thealleged insurrection of Roldan, but observed that this matter must besuffered to remain in suspense, as the sovereigns would investigate andremedy it presently. [43]

This cold reply had a disheartening effect upon Columbus. He saw that hiscomplaints had little weight with the government; he feared that hisenemies were prejudicing him with the sovereigns; and he anticipatedredoubled insolence on the part of the rebels, when they should discoverhow little influence he possessed in Spain. Full of zeal, however, for thesuccess of his undertaking, and of fidelity to the interests of thesovereigns, he resolved to spare no personal sacrifice of comfort ordignity in appeasing the troubles of the island. Eager to expedite thenegotiation with Roldan, therefore, he sailed in the latter part of Augustwith two caravels to the port of Azua, west of San Domingo, and muchnearer to Xaragua. He was accompanied by several of the most importantpersonages of the colony. Roldan repaired thither likewise, with theturbulent Adrian de Moxica, and a number of his band. The concessionsalready obtained had increased his presumption; and he had, doubtless, received intelligence of the cold manner in which the complaints of theadmiral had been received in Spain. He conducted himself more like aconqueror, exacting triumphant terms, than a delinquent seeking to procurepardon by atonement. He came on board of the caravel, and with his usualeffrontery, propounded the preliminaries upon which he and his companionswere disposed to negotiate. 

First, that he should be permitted to send several of his company, to thenumber of fifteen, to Spain, in the vessels which were at San Domingo. Secondly, that those who remained should have lands granted them, in placeof royal pay. Thirdly, that it should be proclaimed, that every thingcharged against him and his party had been grounded upon false testimony, and the machinations of person disaffected to the royal service. Fourthly, that he should be reinstated in his office of alcalde mayor, or chiefjudge. [44]

These were hard and insolent conditions to commence with, but they weregranted. Roldan then went on shore, and communicated them to hiscompanions. At the end of the two days the insurgents sent theircapitulations, drawn up in form, and couched in arrogant language, including all the stipulations granted at Fort Conception, with thoserecently demanded by Roldan, and concluding with one, more insolent thanall the rest, namely, that if the admiral should fail in the fulfillmentof any of these articles, they should have a right to assemble together, and compel his performance of them by force, or by any other means theymight think proper. [45] The conspirators thus sought not merelyexculpation of the past, but a pretext for future rebellion. 

The mind grows wearied and impatient with recording, and the heart of thegenerous reader must burn with indignation at perusing, this protractedand ineffectual struggle of a man of the exalted merits and matchlessservices of Columbus, in the toils of such miscreants. Surrounded by doubtand danger; a foreigner among a jealous people; an unpopular commander ina mutinous island; distrusted and slighted by the government he wasseeking to serve; and creating suspicion by his very services; he knew notwhere to look for faithful advice, efficient aid, or candid judgment. Thevery ground on which he stood seemed giving way under him, for he was toldof seditious symptoms among his own people. Seeing the impunity with whichthe rebels rioted in the possession of one of the finest parts of theisland, they began to talk among themselves of following their example, ofabandoning the standard of the admiral, and seizing upon the province ofHiguey, at the eastern extremity of the island, which was said to containvaluable mines of gold. 

Thus critically situated, disregarding every consideration of personalpride and dignity, and determined, at any individual sacrifice, to securethe interests of an ungrateful sovereign, Columbus forced himself to signthis most humiliating capitulation. He trusted that afterwards, when hecould gain quiet access to the royal ear, he should be able to convincethe king and queen that it had been compulsory, and forced from him by theextraordinary difficulties in which he had been placed, and the imminentperils of the colony. Before signing it, however, he inserted astipulation, that the commands of the sovereigns, of himself, and of thejustices appointed by him, should be punctually obeyed. [46]

Chapter IV. 

Grants Made to Roldan and His Followers. --Departure of Several of theRebels for Spain. 

[1499. ]

When Roldan resumed his office of alcalde mayor, or chief judge, hedisplayed all the arrogance to be expected from one who had intrudedhimself into power by profligate means. At the city of San Domingo, he wasalways surrounded by his faction; communed only with the dissolute anddisaffected; and, having all the turbulent and desperate men of thecommunity at his beck, was enabled to intimidate the quiet and loyal byhis frowns. He bore an impudent front against the authority even ofColumbus himself, discharging from office one Rodrigo Perez, a lieutenantof the admiral, declaring that none but such as he appointed should bear astaff of office in the island. [47] Columbus had a difficult and painfultask in bearing with the insolence of this man, and of the shamelessrabble which had returned, under his auspices, to the settlements. Hetacitly permitted many abuses; endeavoring by mildness and indulgence toallay the jealousies and prejudices awakened against him, and by variousconcessions to lure the factious to the performance of their duty. To suchof the colonists generally as preferred to remain in the island, heoffered a choice of either royal pay or portions of lands, with a numberof Indians, some free, others as slaves, to assist in the cultivation. Thelatter was generally preferred; and grants were made out, in which heendeavored, as much as possible, to combine the benefit of the individualwith the interests of the colony. 

Roldan presented a memorial signed by upwards of one hundred of his latefollowers, demanding grants of lands and licenses to settle, and choosingXaragua for their place of abode. The admiral feared to trust such anumerous body of factious partisans in so remote a province; he contrived, therefore, to distribute them in various parts of the island; some atBonao, where their settlement gave origin to the town of that name; otherson the bank of the Rio Verde, or Green River, in the Vega; others aboutsix leagues thence, at St. Jago. He assigned to them liberal portions ofland, and numerous Indian slaves, taken in the wars. He made anarrangement, also, by which the caciques in their vicinity, instead ofpaying tribute, should furnish parties of their subjects, free Indians, toassist the colonists in the cultivation of their lands: a kind of feudalservice, which was the origin of the repartimientos, or distributions offree Indians among the colonists, afterwards generally adopted, andshamefully abused, throughout the Spanish colonies: a source ofintolerable hardships and oppressions to the unhappy natives, and whichgreatly contributed to exterminate them from the island of Hispaniola. [48]Columbus considered the island in the light of a conquered country, andarrogated to himself all the rights of a conqueror, in the name of thesovereigns for whom he fought. Of course all his companions in theenterprise were entitled to take part in the acquired territory, and toestablish themselves there as feudal lords, reducing the natives to thecondition of villains or vassals. [49] This was an arrangement widelydifferent from his original intention of treating the natives withkindness, as peaceful subjects of the crown. But all his plans had beensubverted, and his present measures forced upon him by the exigency ofthe times, and the violence of lawless men. He appointed a captain withan armed band, as a kind of police, with orders to range the provinces;oblige the Indians to pay their tributes; watch over the conduct of thecolonists; and check the least appearance of mutiny or insurrection. [50]

Having sought and obtained such ample provisions for his followers, Roldanwas not more modest in making demands for himself. He claimed certainlands in the vicinity of Isabella, as having belonged to him before hisrebellion; also a royal farm, called La Esperanza, situated on the Vega, and devoted to the rearing of poultry. These the admiral granted him, withpermission to employ, in the cultivation of the farm, the subjects of thecacique whose ears had been cut off by Alonzo de Ojeda in his firstmilitary expedition into the Vega. Roldan received also grants of land inXaragua, and a variety of live-stock from the cattle and other animalsbelonging to the crown. These grants were made to him provisionally, untilthe pleasure of the sovereigns should be known; [51] for Columbus yettrusted, that when they should understand the manner in which theseconcessions had been extorted from him, the ringleaders of the rebelswould not merely be stripped of their ill-gotten possessions, but receivewell-merited punishment. 

Roldan, having now enriched himself beyond his hopes, requested permissionof Columbus to visit his lands. This was granted with great reluctance. Heimmediately departed for the Vega, and stopping at Bonao, his lateheadquarters, made Pedro Riquelme, one of his most active confederates, alcalde, or judge of the place, with the power of arresting alldelinquents, and sending them prisoners to the fortress of Conception, where he reserved to himself the right of sentencing them. This was anassumption of powers not vested in his office, and gave great offence toColumbus. Other circumstances created apprehensions of further troublesfrom the late insurgents. Pedro Riquelme, under pretext of erectingfarming buildings for his cattle, began to construct a strong edifice on ahill, capable of being converted into a formidable fortress. This, it waswhispered, was done in concert with Roldan, by way of securing astronghold in case of need. Being in the neighborhood of the Vega, whereso many of their late partisans were settled, it would form a dangerousrallying place for any new sedition. The designs of Riquelme weresuspected and his proceedings opposed by Pedro de Arana, a loyal andhonorable man, who was on the spot. Representations were made by bothparties to the admiral, who prohibited Riquelme from proceeding with theconstruction of his edifice. [52]

Columbus had prepared to return, with his brother Don Bartholomew, toSpain, where he felt that his presence was of the utmost importance toplace the late events of the island in a proper light; having found thathis letters of explanation were liable to be counteracted by themisrepresentations of malevolent enemies. The island, however, was stillin a feverish state. He was not well assured of the fidelity of the laterebels, though so dearly purchased; there was a rumor of a threateneddescent into the Vega, by the mountain tribes of Ciguay, to attempt therescue of their captive cacique Mayobanex, still detained a prisoner inthe fortress of Conception. Tidings were brought about the same time fromthe western parts of the island, that four strange ships had arrived atthe coast, under suspicious appearances. These circumstances obliged himto postpone his departure, and held him involved in the affairs of thisfavorite but fatal island. 

The two caravels were dispatched for Spain in the beginning of October, taking such of the colonists as chose to return, and among them a numberof Roldan's partisans. Some of these took with them slaves, others carriedaway the daughters of caciques whom they had beguiled from their familiesand homes. At these iniquities, no less than at many others which equallygrieved his spirit, the admiral was obliged to connive. He was conscious, at the same time, that he was sending home a reinforcement of enemies andfalse witnesses, to defame his character and traduce his conduct, but hehad no alternative. To counteract, as much as possible, theirmisrepresentations, he sent by the same caravel the loyal and uprightveteran Miguel Ballester, together with Garcia de Barrantés, empowered toattend to his affairs at court, and furnished with the dispositions takenrelative to the conduct of Roldan and his accomplices. 

In his letters to the sovereigns, he entreated them to inquire into thetruth of the late transactions. He stated his opinion that hiscapitulations with the rebels were null and void, for various reasons, viz. --they had been extorted from him by violence, and at sea, where hedid not exercise the office of viceroy--there had been two trials relativeto the insurrection, and the insurgents having been condemned as traitors, it was not in the power of the admiral to absolve them from theircriminality--the capitulations treated of matters touching the royalrevenue, over which he had no control, without the intervention of theproper officers;--lastly, Francisco Roldan and his companions, on leavingSpain, had taken an oath to be faithful to the sovereigns, and to theadmiral in their name, which oath they had violated. For these and similarreasons, some just, others rather sophistical, he urged the sovereigns notto consider themselves bound to ratify the compulsory terms ceded to theseprofligate men, but to inquire into their offences, and treat themaccordingly. [53]

He repeated the request made in a former letter, that a learned judgemight be sent out to administer the laws in the island, since he himselfhad been charged with rigor, although conscious of having always observeda guarded clemency. He requested also that discreet persons should be sentout to form a council, and others for certain fiscal employments, entreating, however, that their powers should be so limited and defined, as not to interfere with his dignity and privileges. He bore strongly onthis point; as his prerogatives on former occasions had been grievouslyinvaded. It appeared to him, he said, that princes ought to show muchconfidence in their governors; for without the royal favor to give themstrength and consequence, every thing went to ruin under their command; asound maxim, forced from the admiral by his recent experience, in whichmuch of his own perplexities, and the triumph of the rebels, had beencaused by the distrust of the crown, and its inattention to hisremonstrances. 

Finding age and infirmity creeping upon him, and his health much impairedby his last voyage, he began to think of his son Diego, as an activecoadjutor; who, being destined as his successor, might gain experienceunder his eye, for the future discharge of his high duties. Diego, thoughstill serving as a page at the court, was grown to man's estate, andcapable of entering into the important concerns of life. Columbusentreated, therefore, that he might be sent out to assist him, as he felthimself infirm in health and broken in constitution, and less capable ofexertion than formerly. [54]

Chapter V. 

Arrival of Ojeda with a Squadron at the Western Part of the Island. --RoldanSent to Meet Him. 

[1499. ]

Among the causes which induced Columbus to postpone his departure forSpain, has been mentioned the arrival of four ships at the western part ofthe island. These had anchored on the 5th of September in a harbor alittle below Jacquemel, apparently with the design of cutting dye-woods, which abound in that neighborhood, and of carrying off the natives forslaves. Further reports informed him that they were commanded by Alonzo deOjeda, the same hot-headed and bold-hearted cavalier who had distinguishedhimself on various occasions in the previous voyages of discovery, andparticularly in the capture of the cacique Caonabo. Knowing the daring andadventurous spirit of this man, Columbus felt much disturbed at hisvisiting the island in this clandestine manner, on what appeared to belittle better than a freebooting expedition. To call him to account, andoppose his aggressions, required an agent of spirit and address. No oneseemed better fitted for the purpose than Roldan. He was as daring asOjeda, and of a more crafty character. An expedition of the kind wouldoccupy the attention of himself and his partisans, and divert them fromany schemes of mischief. The large concessions recently made to themwould, he trusted, secure their present fidelity, rendering it moreprofitable for them to be loyal than rebellious. 

Roldan readily undertook the enterprise. He had nothing further to gain bysedition, and was anxious to secure his ill-gotten possessions and atonefor past offences by public services. He was vain as well as active, andtook a pride in acquitting himself well in an expedition which called forboth courage and shrewdness. Departing from San Domingo with two caravels, he arrived on the 29th of September within two leagues of the harbor wherethe ships of Ojeda were anchored. Here he landed with five-and-twentyresolute followers, well armed, and accustomed to range the forests. Hesent five scouts to reconnoitre. They brought word that Ojeda was severalleagues distant from his ships, with only fifteen men, employed in makingcassava bread in an Indian village. Roldan threw himself between them andthe ships, thinking to take them by surprise. They were apprised, however, of his approach by the Indians, with whom the very name of Roldan inspiredterror, from his late excesses in Xaragua. Ojeda saw his danger; hesupposed Roldan had been sent in pursuit of him, and he found himself cutoff from his ships. With his usual intrepidity he immediately presentedhimself before Roldan, attended merely by half a dozen followers. Thelatter craftily began by conversing on general topics. He then inquiredinto his motives for landing on the island, particularly on that remoteand lonely part, without first reporting his arrival to the admiral. Ojedareplied, that he had been on a voyage of discovery, and had put in therein distress, to repair his ships and procure provisions. Roldan thendemanded, in the name of the government, a sight of the license underwhich he sailed. Ojeda, who knew the resolute character of the man he hadto deal with, restrained his natural impetuosity, and replied that hispapers were on board of his ship. He declared his intention, on departingthence, to go to San Domingo, and pay his homage to the admiral, havingmany things to tell him which were for his private ear alone. He intimatedto Roldan that the admiral was in complete disgrace at court; that therewas a talk of taking from him his command, and that the queen, hispatroness, was ill beyond all hopes of recovery. This intimation, it ispresumed, was referred to by Roldan in his dispatches to the admiral, wherein he mentioned that certain things had been communicated to him byOjeda, which he did not think it safe to confide to a letter. 

Roldan now repaired to the ships. He found several persons on board withwhom he was acquainted, and who had already been in Hispaniola. Theyconfirmed the truth of what Ojeda had said, and showed a license signed bythe Bishop of Fonseca, as superintendent of the affairs of the Indias, authorizing him to sail on a voyage of discovery. [55]

It appeared, from the report of Ojeda and his followers, that the glowingaccounts sent home by Columbus of his late discoveries on the coast ofParia, his magnificent speculations with respect to the riches of thenewly-found country, and the specimen of pearls transmitted to thesovereigns, had inflamed the cupidity of various adventurers. Ojedahappened to be at that time in Spain. He was a favorite of the Bishop ofFonseca, and obtained a sight of the letter written by the admiral to thesovereigns, and the charts and maps of his route by which it wasaccompanied. Ojeda knew Columbus to be embarrassed by the seditions ofHispaniola; he found, by his conversations with Fonseca and other of theadmiral's enemies, that strong doubts and jealousies existed in the mindof the king with respect to his conduct, and that his approaching downfallwas confidently predicted. The idea of taking advantage of thesecircumstances struck Ojeda, and, by a private enterprise, he hoped to bethe first in gathering the wealth of these newly-discovered regions. Hecommunicated his project to his patron, Fonseca. The latter was but tooready for any tiling that might defeat the plans and obscure the glory ofColumbus; and it may be added that he always showed himself more disposedto patronize mercenary adventurers than upright and high-minded men. Hegranted Ojeda every facility; furnishing him with copies of the papers andcharts of Columbus, by which to direct himself in his course, and a letterof license signed with his own name, though not with that of thesovereigns. In this, it was stipulated that he should not touch at anyland belonging to the King of Portugal, nor any that had been discoveredby Columbus prior to 1495. The last provision shows the perfidiousartifice of Fonseca, as it left Paria and the Pearl Islands free to thevisits of Ojeda, they having been discovered by Columbus subsequent to thedesignated year. The ships were to be fitted out at the charges of theadventurers, and a certain proportion of the products of the voyage wereto be rendered to the crown. 

Under this license Ojeda fitted out four ships at Seville, assisted bymany eager and wealthy speculators. Among the number was the celebratedAmerigo Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, well acquainted with geographyand navigation. The principal pilot of the expedition was Juan de la Cosa, a mariner of great repute, a disciple of the admiral, whom he hadaccompanied in his first voyage of discovery, and in that along thesouthern coast of Cuba, and round the island of Jamaica. There wereseveral also of the mariners, and Bartholomew Roldan, a distinguishedpilot, who had been with Columbus in his voyage to Paria. [56] Such wasthe expedition which, by a singular train of circumstances, eventuallygave the name of this Florentine merchant, Amerigo Vespucci, to the wholeof the New World. 

This expedition had sailed in May, 1499. The adventurers had arrived onthe southern continent, and ranged along its coast, from two hundredleagues east of the Oronoco, to the Gulf of Paria. Guided by the charts ofColumbus, they had passed through this gulf, and through the Boca delDragon, and had kept along westward to Cape de la Vela, visiting theisland of Margarita and the adjacent continent, and discovering the Gulfof Venezuela. They had subsequently touched at the Caribbee Islands, wherethey had fought with the fierce natives, and made many captives, with theintention of selling them in the slave-markets of Spain. Thence, being inneed of supplies, they had sailed to Hispaniola, having performed the mostextensive voyage hitherto made along the shores of the New World. [57]

Having collected all the information that he could obtain concerning thesevoyagers, their adventures and designs, and trusting to the declaration ofOjeda, that he should proceed forthwith to present himself to the admiral, Roldan returned to San Domingo to render a report of his mission. 

Chapter VI. 

Manoevres of Roldan and Ojeda. 

[1500. ]

When intelligence was brought to Columbus of the nature of the expeditionof Ojeda, and the license under which he sailed, he considered himselfdeeply aggrieved, it being a direct infraction of his most importantprerogatives, and sanctioned by authority which ought to have held themsacred. He awaited patiently, however, the promised visit of Alonzo deOjeda to obtain fuller explanations. Nothing was further from theintention of that roving commander than to keep such promise: he had madeit merely to elude the vigilance of Roldan. As soon as he had refitted hisvessels and obtained a supply of provisions, he sailed round to the coastof Xaragua, where he arrived in February. Here he was well received by theSpaniards resident in that province, who supplied all his wants. Amongthem were many of the late comrades of Roldan; loose, random characters, impatient of order and restraint, and burning with animosity against theadmiral, for having again brought them under the wholesome authority ofthe laws. 

Knowing the rash and fearless character of Ojeda, and finding that therewere jealousies between him and the admiral, they hailed him as a newleader, come to redress their fancied grievances, in place of Roldan, whomthey considered as having deserted them. They made clamorous complaints toOjeda of the injustice of the admiral, whom they charged with withholdingfrom them the arrears of their pay. 

Ojeda was a hot-headed man, with somewhat of a vaunting spirit, andimmediately set himself up for a redresser of grievances. It is said alsothat he gave himself out as authorized by government, in conjunction withCarvajal, to act as counselors, or rather supervisors of the admiral; andthat one of the first measures they were to take, was to enforce thepayment of all salaries due to the servants of the crown. [58] It isquestionable, however, whether Ojeda made any pretension of the kind, which could so readily be disproved, and would have tended to disgracehim with the government. It is probable that he was encouraged in hisintermeddling, chiefly by his knowledge of the tottering state of theadmiral's favor at court, and of his own security in the powerfulprotection of Fonseca. He may have imbibed also the opinion, diligentlyfostered by those with whom he had chiefly communicated in Spain, justbefore his departure, that these people had been driven to extremities bythe oppression of the admiral and his brothers. Some feeling ofgenerosity, therefore, may have mingled with his usual love of action andenterprise, when he proposed to redress all their wrongs, put himself attheir head, march at once to San Domingo, and oblige the admiral to paythem on the spot, or expel him from the island. 

The proposition of Ojeda was received with acclamations of transport bysome of the rebels; others made objections. Quarrels arose: a ruffianlyscene of violence and brawl ensued, in which several were killed andwounded on both sides; but the party for the expedition to San Domingoremained triumphant. 

Fortunately for the peace and safety of the admiral, Roldan arrived in theneighborhood, just at this critical juncture, attended by a crew ofresolute fellows. He had been dispatched by Columbus to watch themovements of Ojeda, on hearing of his arrival on the coast of Xaragua. Apprised of the violent scenes which were taking place, Roldan, when onthe way, sent to his old confederate Diego de Escobar, to follow him withall the trusty force he could collect. They reached Xaragua within a dayof each other. An instance of the bad faith usual between bad men was nowevinced. The former partisans of Roldan, finding him earnest in hisintention of serving the government, and that there was no hope ofengaging him in their new sedition, sought to waylay and destroy him onhis march, but his vigilance and celerity prevented them. [59]

Ojeda, when he heard of the approach of Roldan and Escobar, retired onboard of his ships. Though of a daring spirit, he had no inclination, inthe present instance, to come to blows, where there was a certainty ofdesperate fighting, and no gain; and where he must raise his arm againstgovernment. Roldan now issued such remonstrances as had often beenineffectually addressed to himself. He wrote to Ojeda, reasoning with himon his conduct, and the confusion he was producing in the island, andinviting him on shore to an amicable arrangement of all allegedgrievances. Ojeda, knowing the crafty, violent character of Roldan, disregarded his repeated messages, and refused to venture within hispower. He even seized one of his messengers, Diego de Truxillo, andlanding suddenly at Xaragua, carried off another of his followers, namedToribio de Lenares; both of whom he detained in irons, on board of hisvessel, as hostages for a certain Juan Pintor, a one-armed sailor, who haddeserted, threatening to hang them if the deserter was not given up. [60]

Various manoeuvres took place between these two well-matched opponents;each wary of the address and prowess of the other. Ojeda made sail, andstood twelve leagues to the northward, to the province of Cahay, one ofthe most beautiful and fertile parts of the country, and inhabited by akind and gentle people. Here he landed with forty men, seizing uponwhatever he could find of the provisions of the natives. Roldan andEscobar followed along shore, and were soon at his heels. Roldan thendispatched Escobar in a light canoe, paddled swiftly by Indians, who, approaching within hail of the ship, informed Ojeda that, since he wouldnot trust himself on shore, Roldan would come and confer with him onboard, if he would send a boat for him. 

Ojeda now thought himself secure of his enemy; he immediately dispatched aboat within a short distance of the shore, where the crew lay on theiroars, requiring Roldan to come to them. "How many may accompany me?"demanded the latter. "Only five or six, " was the reply. Upon this Diego deEscobar and four others waded to the boat. The crew refused to admit more. Roldan then ordered one man to carry him to the barge, and another to walkby his side, and assist him. By this stratagem, his party was eightstrong. The instant he entered the boat, he ordered the oarsmen to row toshore. On their refusing, he and his companions attacked them sword inhand, wounded several, and made all prisoners, excepting an Indian archer, who, plunging under the water, escaped by swimming. 

This was an important triumph for Roldan. Ojeda, anxious for the recoveryof his boat, which was indispensable for the service of the ship, now madeovertures of peace. He approached the shore in his remaining boat, ofsmall size, taking with him his principal pilot, an arquebusier, and fouroarsmen. Roldan entered the boat he had just captured, with seven rowersand fifteen fighting men, causing fifteen others to be ready on shore toembark in a large canoe, in case of need. A characteristic interview tookplace between these doughty antagonists, each keeping warily on his guard. Their conference was carried on at a distance. Ojeda justified his hostilemovements by alleging that Roldan had come with an armed force to seizehim. This the latter positively denied, promising him the most amicablereception from the admiral, in case he would repair to San Domingo. Anarrangement was at length effected; the boat was restored, and mutualrestitution of the men took place, with the exception of Juan Pintor, theone-armed deserter, who had absconded; and on the following day, Ojeda, according to agreement, set sail to leave the island, threatening howeverto return at a future time with more ships and men. [61]

Roldan waited in the neighborhood, doubting the truth of his departure. Inthe course of a few days, word was brought that Ojeda had landed on adistant part of the coast. He immediately pursued him with eighty men incanoes, sending scouts by land. Before he arrived at the place, Ojeda hadagain made sail, and Roldan saw and heard no more of him. Las Casasasserts, however, that Ojeda departed either to some remote district ofHispaniola, or to the island of Porto Rico, where he made up what hecalled his _Cavalgada_, or drove of slaves; carrying off numbers ofthe unhappy natives, whom he sold in the slave-market of Cadiz. [62]

Chapter VII. 

Conspiracy of Guevara and Moxica. 

[1500. ]

When men have been accustomed to act falsely, they take great merit tothemselves for an exertion of common honesty. The followers of Roldan wereloud in trumpeting forth their unwonted loyalty, and the great servicesthey had rendered to government in driving Ojeda from the island. Like allreformed knaves, they expected that their good conduct would be amplyrewarded. Looking upon their leader as having every thing in his gift, andbeing well pleased with the delightful province of Cahay, they requestedhim to share the land among them, that they might settle there. Roldanwould have had no hesitation in granting their request, had it been madeduring his freebooting career; but he was now anxious to establish acharacter for adherence to the laws. He declined, therefore, acceding totheir wishes, until sanctioned by the admiral. Knowing, however, that hehad fostered a spirit among these men which it was dangerous tocontradict, and that their rapacity, by long indulgence, did not admit ofdelay, he shared among them certain lands of his own, in the territory ofhis ancient host Behechio, cacique of Xaragua. He then wrote to theadmiral for permission to return to San Domingo, and received a letter inreply, giving him many thanks and commendations for the diligence andaddress which he had manifested, but requesting him to remain for a timein Xaragua, lest Ojeda should be yet hovering about the coast, anddisposed to make another descent in that province. 

The troubles of the island were not yet at an end, but were destined againto break forth, and from somewhat of a romantic cause. There arrived aboutthis time, at Xaragua, a young cavalier of noble family, named DonHernando de Guevara. He possessed an agreeable person and winning manners, but was headstrong in his passions and dissolute in his principles. He wascousin to Adrian de Moxica, one of the most active ringleaders in the laterebellion of Roldan, and had conducted himself with such licentiousness atSan Domingo, that Columbus had banished him from the island. There beingno other opportunity of embarking, he had been sent to Xaragua, to returnto Spain in one of the ships of Ojeda, but arrived after their departure. Roldan received him favorably, on account of his old comrade, Adrian deMoxica, and permitted him to choose some place of residence until furtherorders concerning him should arrive from the admiral. He chose theprovince of Cahay, at the place where Roldan had captured the boat ofOjeda. It was a delightful part of that beautiful coast; but the reasonwhy Guevara chose it, was the vicinity to Xaragua. While at the latterplace, in consequence of the indulgence of Roldan, he was favorablyreceived at the house of Anacaona, the widow of Caonabo, and sister of thecacique Behechio. That remarkable woman still retained her partiality tothe Spaniards, notwithstanding the disgraceful scenes which had passedbefore her eyes; and the native dignity of her character had commanded therespect even of the dissolute rabble which infested her province. By herlate husband, the cacique Caonabo, she had a daughter named Higuenamota, just grown up, and greatly admired for her beauty. Guevara being often incompany with her, a mutual attachment ensued. It was to be near her thathe chose Cahay as a residence, at a place where his cousin Adrian deMoxica kept a number of dogs and hawks, to be employed in the chase. Guevara delayed his departure. Roldan discovered the reason, and warnedhim to desist from his pretensions and leave the province. Las Casasintimates that Roldan was himself attached to the young Indian beauty, andjealous of her preference of his rival. Anacaona, the mother, pleased withthe gallant appearance and ingratiating manners of the youthful cavalier, favored his attachment; especially as he sought her daughter in marriage. Notwithstanding the orders of Roldan, Guevara still lingered in Xaragua, in the house of Anacaona; and sending for a priest, desired him to baptizehis intended bride. 

Hearing of this, Roldan sent for Guevara, and rebuked him sharply forremaining at Xaragua, and attempting to deceive a person of the importanceof Anacaona, by ensnaring the affections of her daughter. Guevara avowedthe strength of his passion, and his correct intentions, and entreatedpermission to remain. Roldan was inflexible. He alleged that some evilconstruction might be put on his conduct by the admiral; but it isprobable his true motive was a desire to send away a rival, who interferedwith his own amorous designs. Guevara obeyed; but had scarce been threedays at Cahay, when, unable to remain longer absent from the object of hispassion, he returned to Xaragua, accompanied by four or five friends, andconcealed himself in the dwelling of Anacaona. Roldan, who was at thattime confined by a malady in his eyes, being apprised of his return, sentorders for him to depart instantly to Cahay. The young cavalier assumed atone of defiance. He warned Roldan not to make foes when he had such greatneed of friends; for, to his certain knowledge, the admiral intended tobehead him. Upon this, Roldan commanded him to quit that part of theisland, and repair to San Domingo, to present himself before the admiral. The thoughts of being banished entirely from the vicinity of his Indianbeauty checked the vehemence of the youth. He changed his tone of haughtydefiance into one of humble supplication; and Roldan, appeased by thissubmission, permitted him to remain for the present in the neighborhood. 

Roldan had instilled willfulness and violence into the hearts of his latefollowers, and now was doomed to experience the effects. Guevara, incensedat his opposition to his passion, meditated revenge. He soon made a partyamong the old comrades of Roldan, who detested, as a magistrate, the manthey had idolized as a leader. It was concerted to rise suddenly upon him, and either to kill him or put out his eyes. Roldan was apprised of theplot, and proceeded with his usual promptness. Guevara was seized in thedwelling of Anacaona, in the presence of his intended bride; seven of hisaccomplices were likewise arrested. Roldan immediately sent an account ofthe affair to the admiral, professing, at present, to do nothing withouthis authority, and declaring himself not competent to judge impartially inthe case. Columbus, who was at that time at Fort Conception, in the Vega, ordered the prisoner to be conducted to the fortress of San Domingo. 

The vigorous measures of Roldan against his old comrades producedcommotions in the island. When Adrian de Moxica heard that his cousinGuevara was a prisoner, and that, too, by command of his formerconfederate, he was highly exasperated, and resolved on vengeance. Hastening to Bonao, the old haunt of rebellion, he obtained theco-operation of Pedro Riquelme, the recently-appointed alcalde. They wentround among their late companions in rebellion, who had received lands andsettled in various parts of the Vega, working upon their ready passions, and enlisting their feelings in the cause of an old comrade. These menseem to have had an irresistible propensity to sedition. Guevara was afavorite with them all; the charms of the Indian beauty had probably theirinfluence; and the conduct of Roldan was pronounced a tyrannicalinterference, to prevent a marriage agreeable to all parties, andbeneficial to the colony. There is no being so odious to his formerassociates as a reformed robber, or a rebel, enlisted in the service ofjustice. The old scenes of faction were renewed; the weapons which hadscarce been hung up from the recent rebellions were again snatched downfrom the walls, and rash preparations were made for action. Moxica soonsaw a body of daring and reckless men ready, with horse and weapon, tofollow him on any desperate enterprise. Blinded by the impunity which hadattended their former outrages, he now threatened acts of greateratrocity, meditating not merely the rescue of his cousin, but the death ofRoldan and the admiral. 

Columbus was at Fort Conception, with an inconsiderable force, when thisdangerous plot was concerted in his very neighborhood. Not dreaming of anyfurther hostilities from men on whom he had lavished favors, he woulddoubtless have fallen into their power, had not intelligence been broughthim of the plot by a deserter from the conspirators. He saw at a glancethe perils by which he was surrounded, and the storm about to burst uponthe island. It was no longer a time for lenient measures; he determined tostrike a blow which should crush the very head of rebellion. 

Taking with him but six or seven trusty servants, and three esquires, allwell armed, he set out in the night for the place where the ringleaderswere quartered. Confiding probably in the secrecy of their plot, and thelate passiveness of the admiral, they appear to have been perfectlyunguarded. Columbus came upon them by surprise, seized Moxica and severalof his principal confederates, and bore them off to Fort Conception. Themoment was critical; the Vega was ripe for a revolt; he had the fomenterof the conspiracy in his power, and an example was called for, that shouldstrike terror into the factious. He ordered Moxica to be hanged on the topof the fortress. The latter entreated to be allowed to confess himselfprevious to execution. A priest was summoned. The miserable Moxica, whohad been so arrogant in rebellion, lost all courage at the near approachof death. He delayed to confess, beginning and pausing, and re-commencing, and again hesitating, as if he hoped, by whiling away time, to give achance for rescue. Instead of confessing his own sins, he accused othersof criminality, who were known to be innocent; until Columbus, incensed atthis falsehood and treachery, and losing all patience, in his mingledindignation and scorn, ordered the dastard wretch to be swung off from thebattlements. [63]

This sudden act of severity was promptly followed up. Several of theaccomplices of Moxica were condemned to death and thrown in irons to awaittheir fate. Before the conspirators had time to recover from theirastonishment, Pedro Riquelme was taken, with several of his compeers, inhis ruffian den at Bonao, and conveyed to the fortress of San Domingo;where was also confined the original mover of this second rebellion, Hernando de Guevara, the lover of the young Indian princess. Theseunexpected acts of rigor, proceeding from a quarter which had been long solenient, had the desired effect. The conspirators fled for the most partto Xaragua, their old and favorite retreat. They were not suffered tocongregate there again, and concert new seditions. The Adelantado, seconded by Roldan, pursued them with his characteristic rapidity ofmovement and vigor of arm. It has been said that he carried a priest withhim, in order that, as he arrested delinquents, they might be confessedand hanged upon the spot; but the more probable account is that hetransmitted them prisoners to San Domingo. He had seventeen of them at onetime confined in one common dungeon, awaiting their trial, while hecontinued in indefatigable pursuit of the remainder. [64]

These were prompt and severe measures; but when we consider how longColumbus had borne with these men; how much he had ceded and sacrificed tothem; how he had been interrupted in all his great undertakings, and thewelfare of the colony destroyed by their contemptible and seditiousbrawls; how they had abused his lenity, defied his authority, and atlength attempted his life, -we cannot wonder that he should at last letfall the sword of justice, which he had hitherto held suspended. 

The power of faction was now completely subdued; and the good effects ofthe various measures taken by Columbus, since his last arrival, for thebenefit of the island, began to appear. The Indians, seeing the inefficacyof resistance, submitted to the yoke. Many gave signs of civilization, having, in some instances, adopted clothing and embraced Christianity. Assisted by their labors, the Spaniards now cultivated their landsdiligently, and there was every appearance of settled and regularprosperity. 

Columbus considered all this happy change as brought about by the especialintervention of heaven. In a letter to Doña Juana de la Torre, a lady ofdistinction, aya or nurse of Prince Juan, he gives an instance of thosevisionary fancies to which he was subject in times of illness and anxiety. In the preceding winter, he says, about the festival of Christmas, whenmenaced by Indian war and domestic rebellion, when distrustful of thosearound him and apprehensive of disgrace at court, he sank for a time intocomplete despondency. In this hour of gloom, when abandoned to despair, heheard in the night a voice addressing him in words of comfort, "Oh man oflittle faith! why art thou cast down? Fear nothing, I will provide forthee. The seven years of the term of gold are not expired; in that, and inall other things, I will take care of thee. "

The seven years term of gold here mentioned, alludes to a vow made byColumbus on discovering the New World, and recorded by him in a letter tothe sovereigns, that within seven years he would furnish, from the profitsof his discoveries, fifty thousand foot and five thousand horse, for thedeliverance of the holy sepulchre, and an additional force of like amount, within five years afterwards. 

The comforting assurance given him by the voice was corroborated, he says, that very day, by intelligence received of the discovery of a large tractof country rich in mines. [65] This imaginary promise ofdivine aid thus mysteriously given, appeared to him at present in stillgreater progress of fulfillment. The troubles and dangers of the islandhad been succeeded by tranquillity. He now anticipated the prosperousprosecution of his favorite enterprise, so long interrupted, --theexploring of the regions of Paria, and the establishment of a fishery inthe Gulf of Pearls. How illusive were his hopes! At this moment eventswere maturing which were to overwhelm him with distress, strip him of hishonors, and render him comparatively a wreck for the remainder of hisdays!

Book XIII. 

Chapter I. 

Representations at Court Against Columbus. --Bobadilla Empowered to Examineinto His Conduct. 

[1500. ]

While Columbus was involved in a series of difficulties in the factiousisland of Hispaniola, his enemies were but too successful in undermininghis reputation in the court of Spain. The report brought by Ojeda of hisanticipated disgrace was not entirely unfounded; the event was considerednear at hand, and every perfidious exertion was made to accelerate it. Every vessel from the New World came freighted with complaints, representing Columbus and his brothers as new men, unaccustomed tocommand, inflated by their sudden rise from obscurity; arrogant andinsulting towards men of birth and lofty spirit; oppressive of the commonpeople, and cruel in their treatment of the natives. The insidious andilliberal insinuation was continually urged, that they were foreigners, who could have no interest in the glory of Spain, or the prosperity ofSpaniards; and contemptible as this plea may seem, it had a powerfuleffect. Columbus was even accused of a design to cast off all allegianceto Spain, and either make himself sovereign of the countries he haddiscovered, or yield them into the hands of some other power: a slanderwhich, however extravagant, was calculated to startle the jealous mind ofFerdinand. 

It is true, that by every ship Columbus likewise sent home statements, written with the frankness and energy of truth, setting forth the realcause and nature of the distractions of the island, and pointing out andimploring remedies, which, if properly applied, might have beenefficacious. His letters, however, arriving at distant intervals, made butsingle and transient impressions on the royal mind, which were speedilyeffaced by the influence of daily and active misrepresentation. Hisenemies at court, having continual access to the sovereigns, were enabledto place every thing urged against him in the strongest point of view, while they secretly neutralized the force of his vindications. They used aplausible logic to prove either bad management or bad faith on his part. There was an incessant drain upon the mother country for the support ofthe colony. Was this compatible with the extravagant pictures he had drawnof the wealth of the island, and its golden mountains, in which he hadpretended to find the Ophir of ancient days, the source of all the richesof Solomon? They inferred that he had either deceived the sovereigns bydesigning exaggerations, or grossly wronged them by malpractices, or wastotally incapable of the duties of government. 

The disappointment of Ferdinand, in finding his newly-discoveredpossessions a source of expense instead of profit, was known to presssorely on his mind. The wars, dictated by his ambition, had straitened hisresources, and involved him in perplexities. He had looked with confidenceto the New World for relief, and for ample means to pursue his triumphs;and grew impatient at the repeated demands which it occasioned on hisscanty treasury. For the purpose of irritating his feelings andheightening his resentment, every disappointed and repining man whoreturned from the colony was encouraged, by the hostile faction, to put inclaims for pay withheld by Columbus, or losses sustained in his service. This was especially the case with the disorderly ruffians shipped off tofree the island from sedition. Finding their way to the court of Granada, they followed the king when he rode out, filling the air with theircomplaints, and clamoring for their pay. At one time, about fifty of thesevagabonds found their way into the inner court of the Alhambra, under theroyal apartments; holding up bunches of grapes, as the meagre diet leftthem by their poverty, and railing aloud at the deceits of Columbus, andthe cruel neglect of government. The two sons of Columbus, who were pagesto the queen, happening to pass by, they followed them with imprecations, exclaiming, "There go the sons of the admiral, the whelps of him whodiscovered the land of vanity and delusion, the grave of Spanishhidalgos. " [66]

The incessant repetition of falsehood will gradually wear its way into themost candid mind. Isabella herself began to entertain doubts respectingthe conduct of Columbus. Where there was such universal and incessantcomplaint, it seemed reasonable to conclude that there must exist somefault. If Columbus and his brothers were upright, they might beinjudicious; and, in government, mischief is oftener produced througherror of judgment, than iniquity of design. The letters written byColumbus himself presented a lamentable picture of the confusion of theisland. Might not this arise from the weakness and incapacity of therulers? Even granting that the prevalent abuses arose in a great measurefrom the enmity of the people to the admiral and his brothers, and theirprejudices against them as foreigners, was it safe to intrust so importantand distant a command to persons so unpopular with the community?

These considerations had much weight in the candid mind of Isabella, butthey were all-powerful with the cautious and jealous Ferdinand. He hadnever regarded Columbus with real cordiality; and ever since he hadascertained the importance of his discoveries, had regretted the extensivepowers vested in his hands. The excessive clamors which had arisen duringthe brief administration of the Adelantado, and the breaking out of thefaction of Roldan, at length determined the king to send out some personof consequence and ability, to investigate the affairs of the colony, and, if necessary for its safety, to take upon himself the command. Thisimportant and critical measure it appears had been decided upon, and thepapers and powers actually drawn out, in the spring of 1499. It was notcarried into effect, however, until the following year. Various reasonshave been assigned for this delay. The important services rendered byColumbus in the discovery of Paria and the Pearl Islands may have had someeffect on the royal mind. The necessity of fitting out an armament just atthat moment, to co-operate with the Venetians against the Turks; themenacing movements of the new king of France, Louis XII; the rebellion ofthe Moors of the Alpuxarra mountains in the lately-conquered kingdom ofGranada; all these have been alleged as reasons for postponing a measurewhich called for much consideration, and might have important effects uponthe newly-discovered possessions. [67] The most probable reason, however, was the strong disinclination of Isabella to take so harsh a step againsta man for whom she entertained such ardent gratitude and high admiration. 

At length the arrival of the ships with the late followers of Roldan, according to their capitulation, brought matters to a crisis. It is truethat Ballester and Barrantes came in these ships, to place the affairs ofthe island in a proper light; but they brought out a host of witnesses infavor of Roldan, and letters written by himself and his confederates, attributing all their late conduct to the tyranny of Columbus and hisbrothers. Unfortunately, the testimony of the rebels had the greatestweight with Ferdinand; and there was a circumstance in the case whichsuspended for a time the friendship of Isabella, hitherto the greatestdependence of Columbus. 

Having a maternal interest in the welfare of the natives, the queen hadbeen repeatedly offended by what appeared to her pertinacity on the partof Columbus, in continuing to make slaves of those taken in warfare, incontradiction to her known wishes. The same ships which brought home thecompanions of Roldan, brought likewise a great number of slaves. Some, Columbus had been obliged to grant to these men by the articles ofcapitulation; others they had brought away clandestinely. Among them wereseveral daughters of caciques, seduced away from their families and theirnative island by these profligates. Some of these were in a state ofpregnancy, others had new-born infants. The gifts and transfers of theseunhappy beings were all ascribed to the will of Columbus, and representedto Isabella in the darkest colors. Her sensibility as a woman, and herdignity as a queen, were instantly in arms. "What power, " exclaimed sheindignantly, "has the admiral to give away my vassals?" [68] Determined, by one decided and peremptory act, to show her abhorrence of theseoutrages upon humanity, she ordered all the Indians to be restored totheir country and friends. Nay more, her measure was retrospective. Shecommanded that those formerly sent to Spain by the admiral should besought out, and sent back to Hispaniola. Unfortunately for Columbus, atthis very juncture, in one of his letters, he advised the continuance ofIndian slavery for some time longer, as a measure important for thewelfare of the colony. This contributed to heighten the indignation ofIsabella, and induced her no longer to oppose the sending out of acommission to investigate his conduct, and, if necessary, to supersedehim in command. 

Ferdinand was exceedingly embarrassed in appointing this commission, between his sense of what was due to the character and services ofColumbus, and his anxiety to retract with delicacy the powers vested inhim. A pretext at length was furnished by the recent request of theadmiral that a person of talents and probity, learned in the law, might besent out to act as chief judge; and that an impartial umpire might beappointed, to decide in the affair between himself and Roldan. Ferdinandproposed to consult his wishes, but to unite those two officers in one;and as the person he appointed would have to decide in matters touchingthe highest functions of the admiral and his brothers, he was empowered, should he find them culpable, to supersede them in the government; asingular mode of insuring partiality!

The person chosen for this momentous and delicate office was Don Franciscode Bobadilla, an officer of the royal household, and a commander of themilitary and religious order of Calatrava. Oviedo pronounces him a veryhonest and religious man; [69] but he is represented by others, and hisactions corroborate the description, as needy, passionate, and ambitious;three powerful objections to his exercising the rights of judicature in acase requiring the utmost patience, candor, and circumspection, and wherethe judge was to derive wealth and power from the conviction of one of theparties. 

The authority vested in Bobadilla is defined in letters from thesovereigns still extant, and which deserve to be noticed chronologically;for the royal intentions appear to have varied with times andcircumstances. The first was dated on the 21st of March, 1499, andmentions the complaint of the admiral, that an alcalde, and certain otherpersons, had risen in rebellion against him. "Wherefore, " adds the latter, "we order you to inform yourself of the truth of the foregoing; toascertain who and what persons they were who rose against the said admiraland our magistracy, and for what cause; and what robberies and otherinjuries they have committed; and furthermore, to extend your inquiries toall other matters relating to the premises; and the information obtained, and the truth known, whomsoever you find culpable, _arrest theirpersons, and sequestrate their effects;_ and thus taken, proceedagainst them and the absent, both civilly and criminally, and impose andinflict such fines and punishments as you may think fit. " To carry thisinto effect, Bobadilla was authorized, in case of necessity, to call inthe assistance of the admiral, and of all other persons in authority. 

The powers here given are manifestly directed merely against the rebels, and in consequence of the complaints of Columbus. Another letter, dated onthe 21st of May, two months subsequently, is of quite different purport. It makes no mention of Columbus, but is addressed to the variousfunctionaries and men of property of the islands and Terra Firma, informing them of the appointment of Bobadilla to the government, withfull civil and criminal jurisdiction. Among the powers specified, is thefollowing;--"It is our will, that if the said commander, Francisco deBobadilla, should think it necessary for our service, and the purposes ofjustice, that any cavaliers, or other persons who are at present in thoseislands, or may arrive there, should leave them, and not return and residein them, and that they should come and present themselves before us, hemay command it in our name, and oblige them to depart; and whomsoever hethus commands, we hereby order, that immediately, without waiting toinquire or consult us, or to receive from us any other letter or command, and without interposing appeal or supplication, they obey whatever heshall say and order, under the penalties which he shall impose on ourpart, " &c. &c. 

Another letter, dated likewise on the 21st of May, in which Columbus isstyled simply, "admiral of the ocean sea, " orders him and his brothers tosurrender the fortress, ships, houses, arms, ammunition, cattle, and allother royal property, into the hands of Bobadilla, as governor, underpenalty of incurring the punishments to which those subject themselves whorefuse to surrender fortresses and other trusts, when commanded by theirsovereigns. 

A fourth letter, dated on the 26th of May, and addressed to Columbus, simply by the title of admiral, is a mere letter of credence, ordering himto give faith and obedience to whatever Bobadilla should impart. 

The second and third of these letters were evidently provisional, and onlyto be produced, if, on examination, there should appear such delinquencyon the part of Columbus and his brothers as to warrant their beingdivested of command. 

This heavy blow, as has been shown, remained suspended for a year; yet, that it was whispered about, and triumphantly anticipated by the enemiesof Columbus, is evident from the assertions of Ojeda, who sailed fromSpain about the time of the signature of those letters, and had intimatecommunications with Bishop Fonseca, who was considered instrumental inproducing this measure. The very license granted by the bishop to Ojeda tosail on a voyage of discovery in contravention of the prerogatives of theadmiral, has the air of being given on a presumption of his speedydownfall; and the same presumption, as has already been observed, musthave encouraged Ojeda in his turbulent conduct at Xaragua. 

At length the long-projected measure was carried into effect. Bobadillaset sail for San Domingo about the middle of July, 1500, with twocaravels, in which were twenty-five men, enlisted for a year, to serve asa kind of guard. There were six friars likewise, who had charge of anumber of Indians sent back to their country. Besides the letters patent, Bobadilla was authorized, by royal order, to ascertain and discharge allarrears of pay due to persons in the service of the crown; and to obligethe admiral to pay what was due on his part, "so that those people mightreceive what was owing to them, and there might be no more complaints. " Inaddition to all these powers, Bobadilla was furnished with many blankletters signed by the sovereigns, to be filled up by him in such manner, and directed to such persons, as he might think advisable, in relation tothe mission with which he was intrusted. [70]

Chapter II. 

Arrival of Bobadilla at San Domingo--His Violent Assumption of the Command. 

[1500. ]

Columbus was still at Fort Conception, regulating the affairs of theVega, after the catastrophe of the sedition of Moxica; his brother, theAdelantado, accompanied by Roldan, was pursuing and arresting the fugitiverebels in Xaragua; and Don Diego Columbus remained in temporary command atSan Domingo. Faction had worn itself out; the insurgents had brought downruin upon themselves; and the island appeared delivered from thedomination of violent and lawless men. 

Such was the state of public affairs, when, on the morning of the 23d ofAugust, two caravels were descried off the harbor of San Domingo, about aleague at sea. They were standing off and on, waiting until the seabreeze, which generally prevails about ten o'clock, should carry them intoport. Don Diego Columbus supposed them to be ships sent from Spain withsupplies, and hoped to find on board his nephew Diego, whom the admiralhad requested might be sent out to assist him in his various concerns. Acanoe was immediately dispatched to obtain information; which, approachingthe caravels, inquired what news they brought, and whether Diego, the sonof the admiral, was on board. Bobadilla himself replied from the principalvessel, announcing himself as a commissioner sent out to investigate thelate rebellion. The master of the caravel then inquired about the news ofthe island, and was informed of the recent transactions. Seven of therebels, he was told, had been hanged that week, and five more were in thefortress of San Domingo, condemned to suffer the same fate. Among thesewere Pedro Riquelme and Fernando de Guevara, the young cavalier whosepassion for the daughter of Anacaona had been the original cause of therebellion. Further, conversation passed, in the course of which Bobadillaascertained that the admiral and the Adelantado were absent, and Don DiegoColumbus in command. 

When the canoe returned to the city, with the news that a commissioner hadarrived to make inquisition into the late troubles, there was a great stirand agitation throughout the community. Knots of whisperers gathered atevery corner; those who were conscious of malpractices were filled withconsternation; while those who had grievances, real or imaginary, tocomplain of, especially those whose pay was in arrear, appeared with joyfulcountenances. [71]

As the vessels entered the river, Bobadilla beheld on either bank a gibbetwith the body of a Spaniard hanging on it, apparently but lately executed. He considered these as conclusive proofs of the alleged cruelty ofColumbus. Many boats came off to the ship, every one being anxious to payearly court to this public censor. Bobadilla remained on board all day, inthe course of which he collected much of the rumors of the place; and asthose who sought to secure his favor were those who had most to fear fromhis investigations, it is evident that the nature of the rumors mustgenerally have been unfavorable to Columbus. In fact, before Bobadillalanded, if not before he arrived, the culpability of the admiral wasdecided in his mind. 

The next morning he landed with all his followers, and went to the churchto attend mass, where he found Don Diego Columbus, Rodrigo Perez, thelieutenant of the admiral, and other persons of note. Mass being ended, and those persons, with a multitude of the populace, being assembled atthe door of the church, Bobadilla ordered his letters patent to be read, authorizing him to investigate the rebellion, seize the persons, andsequestrate the property of delinquents, and proceed against them with theutmost rigor of the law; commanding also the admiral, and all others inauthority, to assist him in the discharge of his duties. The letter beingread, he demanded of Don Diego and the alcaldes, to surrender to him thepersons of Fernando Guevara, Pedro Riquelme, and the other prisoners, withthe depositions taken concerning them; and ordered that the parties bywhom they were accused, and those by whose command they had been taken, should appear before him. 

Don Diego replied, that the proceedings had emanated from the orders ofthe admiral, who held superior powers to any Bobadilla could possess, andwithout whose authority he could do nothing. He requested, at the sametime, a copy of the letter patent, that he might send it to his brother, to whom alone the matter appertained. This Bobadilla refused, observingthat, if Don Diego had power to do nothing, it was useless to give him acopy. He added, that since the office and authority he had proclaimedappeared to have no weight, he would try what power and consequence therewas in the name of governor; and would show them that he had command, notmerely over them, but over the admiral himself. 

The little community remained in breathless suspense, awaiting theportentous movements of Bobadilla. The next morning he appeared at mass, resolved on assuming those powers which were only to have been producedafter full investigation, and ample proof of the mal-conduct of Columbus. When mass was over, and the eager populace had gathered round the door ofthe church, Bobadilla, in presence of Don Diego and Rodrigo Perez, orderedhis other royal patent to be read, investing him with the government ofthe islands, and of Terra Firma. 

The patent being read, Bobadilla took the customary oath, and then claimedthe obedience of Don Diego, Rodrigo Perez, and all present, to this royalinstrument; on the authority of which he again demanded the prisonersconfined in the fortress. In reply, they professed the utmost deference tothe letter of the sovereigns, but again observed that they held theprisoners in obedience to the admiral, to whom the sovereigns had grantedletters of a higher nature. 

The self-importance of Bobadilla was incensed at this non-compliance, especially as he saw it had some effect upon the populace, who appeared todoubt his authority. He now produced the third mandate of the crown, ordering Columbus and his brothers to deliver up all fortresses, ships, and other royal property. To win the public completely to his side, heread also the additional mandate issued on the 30th of May, of the sameyear, ordering him to pay the arrears of wages due to all persons in theroyal service, and to compel the admiral to pay the arrears of those towhom he was accountable. 

This last document was received with shouts by the multitude, many havinglong arrears due to them in consequence of the poverty of the treasury. Flushed with his growing importance, Bobadilla again demanded theprisoners; threatening, if refused, to take them by force. Meeting withthe same reply, he repaired to the fortress to execute his threats. Thispost was commanded by Miguel Diaz, the same Arragonian cavalier who hadonce taken refuge among the Indians on the banks of the Ozema, won theaffections of the female cacique Catalina, received from her informationof the neighboring gold mines, and induced his countrymen to remove tothose parts. 

When Bobadilla came before the fortress, he found the gates closed, andthe alcayde, Miguel Diaz, upon the battlements. He ordered his letterspatent to be read with a loud voice, the signatures and seals to be heldup to view, and then demanded the surrender of the prisoners. Diazrequested a copy of the letters; but this Bobadilla refused, alleging thatthere was no time for delay, the prisoners being under sentence of death, and liable at any moment to be executed. He threatened, at the same time, that if they were not given up, he would proceed to extremities, and Diazshould be answerable for the consequences. The wary alcayde again requiredtime to reply, and a copy of the letters; saying that he held the fortressfor the king, by the command of the admiral, his lord, who had gainedthese territories and islands, and that when the latter arrived, he shouldobey his orders. [72]

The whole spirit of Bobadilla was roused within him at the refusal of thealcayde. Assembling all the people he had brought from Spain, togetherwith the sailors of the ships, and the rabble of the place, he exhortedthem to aid him in getting possession of the prisoners, but to harm no oneunless in case of resistance. The mob shouted assent, for Bobadilla wasalready the idol of the multitude. About the hour of vespers he set out, at the head of this motley army, to storm a fortress destitute of agarrison, and formidable only in name, being calculated to withstand onlya naked and slightly-armed people. The accounts of this transaction havesomething in them bordering on the ludicrous, and give it the air ofabsurd rhodomontade. Bobadilla assailed the portal with great impetuosity, the frail bolts and locks of which gave way at the first shock, andallowed him easy admission. In the meantime, however, his zealousmyrmidons applied ladders to the walls, as if about to carry the place byassault, and to experience a desperate defence. The alcayde, Miguel Diaz, and Don Diego de Alvarado, alone appeared on the battlements; they haddrawn swords, but offered no resistance. Bobadilla entered the fortress intriumph, and without molestation. The prisoners were found in a chamber inirons. He ordered that they should be brought up to him to the top of thefortress, where, having put a few questions to them, as a matter of form, he gave them in charge to an alguazil named Juan de Espinosa. [73]

Such was the arrogant and precipitate entrance into office of Francisco deBobadilla. He had reversed the order of his written instructions; havingseized upon the government before he had investigated the conduct ofColumbus. He continued his career in the same spirit; acting as if thecase had been prejudged in Spain, and he had been sent out merely todegrade the admiral from his employments, not to ascertain the manner inwhich he had fulfilled them. He took up his residence in the house ofColumbus, seized upon his arms, gold, plate, jewels, horses, together withhis letters, and various manuscripts, both public and private, even to hismost secret papers. He gave no account of the property thus seized; andwhich he no doubt considered already confiscated to the crown, exceptingthat he paid out of it the wages of those to whom the admiral was inarrears. [74] To increase his favor with the people, he proclaimed, on thesecond day of his assumption of power, a general license for the term oftwenty years, to seek for gold, paying merely one eleventh to government, instead of a third as heretofore. At the same time, he spoke in the mostdisrespectful and unqualified terms of Columbus, saying that he wasempowered to send him home in chains, and that neither he nor any of hislineage would ever again be permitted to govern in the island. [75]

Chapter III. 

Columbus Summoned to Appear before Bobadilla. 

[1500. ]

When the tidings reached Columbus at Fort Conception of the high-handedproceedings of Bobadilla, he considered them the unauthorized acts of somerash adventurer like Ojeda. Since government had apparently thrown openthe door to private enterprise, he might expect to have his pathcontinually crossed, and his jurisdiction infringed by bold intermeddlers, feigning or fancying themselves authorized to interfere in the affairs ofthe colony. Since the departure of Ojeda another squadron had touched uponthe coast, and produced a transient alarm, being an expedition under oneof the Pinzons, licensed by the sovereigns to make discoveries. There hadalso been a rumor of another squadron hovering about the island, whichproved, however, to be unfounded. [76]

The conduct of Bobadilla bore all the appearance of a lawless usurpationof some intruder of the kind. He had possessed himself forcibly of thefortress, and consequently of the town. He had issued extravagant licensesinjurious to the government, and apparently intended only to makepartisans among the people; and had threatened to throw Columbus himselfin irons. That this man could really be sanctioned by government, in suchintemperate measures, was repugnant to belief. The admiral's consciousnessof his own services, the repeated assurances he had received of highconsideration on the part of the sovereigns, and the perpetualprerogatives granted to him under their hand and seal, with all thesolemnity that a compact could possess, all forbade him to consider thetransactions at San Domingo otherwise than as outrages on his authority bysome daring or misguided individual. 

To be nearer to San Domingo, and obtain more correct information, heproceeded to Bonao, which was now beginning to assume the appearance of asettlement, several Spaniards having erected houses there, and cultivatedthe adjacent country. He had scarcely reached the place, when an alcalde, bearing a staff of office, arrived there from San Domingo, proclaiming theappointment of Bobadilla to the government, and bearing copies of hisletters patent. There was no especial letter or message sent to theadmiral, nor were any of the common forms of courtesy and ceremonyobserved in superseding him in the command; all the proceedings ofBobadilla towards him were abrupt and insulting. 

Columbus was exceedingly embarrassed how to act. It was evident thatBobadilla was intrusted with extensive powers by the sovereigns, but thatthey could have exercised such a sudden, unmerited, and apparentlycapricious act of severity, as that of divesting him of all his commands, he could not believe. He endeavored to persuade himself that Bobadilla wassome person sent out to exercise the functions of chief judge, accordingto the request he had written home to the sovereigns, and that they hadintrusted him likewise with provisional powers to make an inquest into thelate troubles of the island. All beyond these powers he tried to believewere mere assumptions and exaggerations of authority, as in the case ofAguado. At all events, he was determined to act upon such presumption, andto endeavor to gain time. If the monarchs had really taken any harshmeasures with respect to him, it must have been in consequence ofmisrepresentations. The least delay might give them an opportunity ofascertaining their error, and making the necessary amends. 

He wrote to Bobadilla, therefore, in guarded terms, welcoming him to theisland; cautioning him against precipitate measures, especially ingranting licenses to collect gold; informing him that he was on the pointof going to Spain, and in a little time would leave him in command, withevery thing fully and clearly explained. He wrote at the same time to thelike purport to certain monks who had come out with Bobadilla, though heobserves that these letters were only written to gain time. [77] Hereceived no replies: but while an insulting silence was observed towardshim, Bobadilla filled up several of the blank letters, of which he had anumber signed by the sovereigns, and sent them to Roldan, and other of theadmiral's enemies, the very men whom he had been sent out to judge. Theseletters were full of civilities and promises of favor. [78]

To prevent any mischief which might arise from the licenses andindulgences so prodigally granted by Bobadilla, Columbus published by wordand letter, that the powers assumed by him could not be valid, nor hislicenses availing, as he himself held superior powers granted to him inperpetuity by the crown, which could no more be superseded in thisinstance, than they had been in that of Aguado. 

For some time Columbus remained in this anxious and perplexed state ofmind, uncertain what line of conduct to pursue in so singular andunlooked-for a conjuncture. He was soon brought to a decision. FranciscoVelasquez, deputy treasurer, and Juan de Trasierra, a Franciscan friar, arrived at Bonao, and delivered to him the royal letter of credence, signed by the sovereigns on the 26th of May, 1499, commanding him to giveimplicit faith and obedience to Bobadilla; and they delivered, at the sametime, a summons from the latter to appear immediately before him. 

This laconic letter from the sovereigns struck at once at the root of allhis dignity and power. He no longer made hesitation or demur, but, complying with the peremptory summons of Bobadilla, departed, almost aloneand unattended, for San Domingo. [79]

Chapter IV. 

Columbus and His Brothers Arrested and Sent to Spain in Chains. 

[1500. ]

The tidings that a new governor had arrived, and that Columbus was indisgrace, and to be sent home in chains, circulated rapidly through theVega, and the colonists hastened from all parts to San Domingo to makeinterest with Bobadilla. It was soon perceived that there was no surer waythan that of vilifying his predecessor. Bobadilla felt that he had taken arash step in seizing upon the government, and that his own safety requiredthe conviction of Columbus. He listened eagerly, therefore, to allaccusations, public or private; and welcome was he who could bring anycharge, however extravagant, against the admiral and his brothers. 

Hearing that the admiral was on his way to the city, he made a bustle ofpreparation, and armed the troops, affecting to believe a rumor thatColumbus had called upon the caciques of the Vega to aid him with theirsubjects in a resistance to the commands of government. No grounds appearfor this absurd report, which was probably invented to give a coloring ofprecaution to subsequent measures of violence and insult. The admiral'sbrother, Don Diego, was seized, thrown in irons, and confined on board ofa caravel, without any reason being assigned for his imprisonment. 

In the meantime Columbus pursued his journey to San Domingo, traveling ina lonely manner, without guards or retinue. Most of his people were withthe Adelantado, and he had declined being attended by the remainder. Hehad heard of the rumors of the hostile intentions of Bobadilla; andalthough he knew that violence was threatened to his person, he came inthis unpretending manner, to manifest his pacific feelings, and to removeall suspicion. [80]

No sooner did Bobadilla hear of his arrival, than he gave orders to puthim in irons, and confine him in the fortress. This outrage to a person ofsuch dignified and venerable appearance, and such eminent merit, seemed, for the time, to shock even his enemies. When the irons were brought, every one present shrank from the task of putting them on him, either froma sentiment of compassion at so great a reverse of fortune, or out ofhabitual reverence for his person. To fill the measure of ingratitudemeted out to him, it was one of his own domestics, "a graceless andshameless cook, " says Las Casas, "who, with unwashed front, riveted thefetters with as much readiness and alacrity, as though he were serving himwith choice and savory viands. I knew the fellow, " adds the venerablehistorian, "and I think his name was Espinosa. " [81]

Columbus conducted himself with characteristic magnanimity under theinjuries heaped upon him. There is a noble scorn which swells and supportsthe heart, and silences the tongue of the truly great, when enduring theinsults of the unworthy. Columbus could not stoop to deprecate thearrogance of a weak and violent man like Bobadilla. He looked beyond thisshallow agent, and all his petty tyranny, to the sovereigns who hademployed him. Their injustice or ingratitude alone could wound his spirit;and he felt assured that when the truth came to be known, they would blushto find how greatly they had wronged him. With this proud assurance, hebore all present indignities in silence. 

Bobadilla, although he had the admiral and Don Diego in his power, and hadsecured the venal populace, felt anxious and ill at ease. The Adelantado, with an armed force under his command, was still in the distant provinceof Xaragua, in pursuit of the rebels. Knowing his soldier-like anddetermined spirit, he feared he might take some violent measure when heshould hear of the ignominious treatment and imprisonment of his brothers. He doubted whether any order from himself would have any effect, except toexasperate the stern Don Bartholomew. He sent a demand, therefore, toColumbus, to write to his brother, requesting him to repair peaceably toSan Domingo, and forbidding him to execute the persons he held inconfinement: Columbus readily complied. He exhorted his brother to submitquietly to the authority of his sovereigns, and to endure all presentwrongs and indignities, under the confidence that when they arrived atCastile, every thing would be explained and redressed. [82]

On receiving this letter, Don Bartholomew immediately complied. Relinquishing his command, he hastened peacefully to San Domingo, and onarriving experienced the same treatment with his brothers, being put inirons and confined on board of a caravel. They were kept separate fromeach other, and no communication permitted between them. Bobadilla did notsee them himself, nor did he allow others to visit them; but kept them inignorance of the cause of their imprisonment, the crimes with which theywere charged, and the process that was going on against them. [83]

It has been questioned whether Bobadilla really had authority for thearrest and imprisonment of the admiral and his brothers; [84]and whether such violence and indignity was in any case contemplated bythe sovereigns. He may have fancied himself empowered by the clause in theletter of instructions, dated March 21st, 1499, in which, speaking of therebellion of Roldan, "he is authorized to _seize the persons andsequestrate the property_ of those who appeared to be culpable, andthen to proceed against them and against the absent, with the highestcivil and criminal penalties. " This evidently had reference to the personsof Roldan and his followers, who were then in arms, and against whomColumbus had sent home complaints; and this, by a violent construction, Bobadilla seems to have wrested into an authority for seizing the personof the admiral himself. In fact, in the whole course of his proceedings, he reversed and confounded the order of his instructions. His first stepshould have been to proceed against the rebels; this he made the last. Hislast step should have been, in case of ample evidence against the admiral, to have superseded him in office; and this he made the first, withoutwaiting for evidence. Having predetermined, from the very outset, thatColumbus was in the wrong, by the same rule he had to presume that all theopposite parties were in the right. It became indispensable to his ownjustification to inculpate the admiral and his brothers; and the rebels hehad been sent to judge became, by this, singular perversion of rule, necessary and cherished evidences, to criminate those against whom theyhad rebelled. 

The intentions of the crown, however, are not to be vindicated at theexpense of its miserable agent. If proper respect had been felt for therights and dignities of Columbus, Bobadilla would never have beenintrusted with powers so extensive, undefined, and discretionary; norwould he have dared to proceed to such lengths, with such rudeness andprecipitation, had he not felt assured that it would not be displeasing tothe jealous-minded Ferdinand. 

The old scenes of the time of Aguado were now renewed with tenfoldvirulence, and the old charges revived, with others still moreextravagant. From the early and never-to-be-forgotten outrage uponCastilian pride, of compelling hidalgos, in time of emergency, to labor inthe construction of works necessary to the public safety, down to therecent charge of levying war against the government, there was not ahardship, abuse, nor sedition in the island, that was not imputed to themisdeeds of Columbus and his brothers. Besides the usual accusations ofinflicting oppressive labor, unnecessary tasks, painful restrictions, short allowances of food, and cruel punishments upon the Spaniards, andwaging unjust wars against the natives, they were now charged withpreventing the conversion of the latter, that they might send them slavesto Spain, and profit by their sale. This last charge, so contrary to thepious feelings of the admiral, was founded on his having objected to thebaptism of certain Indians of mature age, until they could be instructedin the doctrines of Christianity; justly considering it an abuse of thatholy sacrament to administer it thus blindly. [85]

Columbus was charged, also, with having secreted pearls, and otherprecious articles, collected in his voyage along the coast of Paria, andwith keeping the sovereigns in ignorance of the nature of his discoveriesthere, in order to exact new privileges from them; yet it was notoriousthat he had sent home specimens of the pearls, and journals and charts ofhis voyage, by which others had been enabled to pursue his track. 

Even the late tumults, now that the rebels were admitted as evidence, wereall turned into matters of accusation. They were represented as spiritedand loyal resistances to tyranny exercised upon the colonists and thenatives. The well-merited punishments inflicted upon certain of thering-leaders were cited as proofs of a cruel and revengeful disposition, and a secret hatred of Spaniards. Bobadilla believed, or affected tobelieve, all these charges. He had, in a manner, made the rebels hisconfederates in the ruin of Columbus. It was become a common cause withthem. He could no longer, therefore, conduct himself towards them as ajudge. Guevara, Riquelme, and their fellow-convicts, were dischargedalmost without the form of a trial, and it is even said were receivedinto favor and countenance. Roldan, from the very first, had beentreated with confidence by Bobadilla, and honored with hiscorrespondence. All the others, whose conduct had rendered them liableto justice, received either a special acquittal or a general pardon. Itwas enough to have been opposed in any way to Columbus, to obtain fulljustification in the eyes of Bobadilla. 

The latter had now collected a weight of testimony, and produced a crowdof witnesses, sufficient, as he conceived, to insure the condemnation ofthe prisoners, and his own continuance in command. He determined, therefore, to send the admiral and his brothers home in chains, in thevessels ready for sea, transmitting at the same time the inquest taken intheir case, and writing private letters, enforcing the charges madeagainst them, and advising that Columbus should on no account be restoredto the command, which he had so shamefully abused. 

San Domingo now swarmed with miscreants just delivered from the dungeonand the gibbet. It was a perfect jubilee of triumphant villany and dastardmalice. Every base spirit, which had been awed into obsequiousness byColumbus and his brothers when in power, now started up to revenge itselfupon them when in chains. The most injurious slanders were loudlyproclaimed in the streets; insulting pasquinades and inflammatory libelswere posted up at every corner; and horns were blown in the neighborhoodof their prisons, to taunt them with the exultings of the rabble. [86]When these rejoicings of his enemies reached him in his dungeon, andColumbus reflected on the inconsiderate violence already exhibited byBobadilla, he knew not how far his rashness and confidence might carryhim, and began to entertain apprehensions for his life. 

The vessels being ready to make sail, Alonzo de Villejo was appointed totake charge of the prisoners, and carry them to Spain. This officer hadbeen brought up by an uncle of Fonseca, was in the employ of that bishop, and had come out with Bobadilla. The latter instructed him, on arriving atCadiz, to deliver his prisoners into the hands of Fonseca, or of hisuncle, thinking thereby to give the malignant prelate a triumphantgratification. This circumstance gave weight with many to a report thatBobadilla was secretly instigated and encouraged in his violent measuresby Fonseca, and was promised his protection and influence at court, incase of any complaints of his conduct. [87]

Villejo undertook the office assigned him, but he discharged it in a moregenerous manner than was intended. "This Alonzo de Villejo, " says theworthy Las Casas, "was a hidalgo of honorable character, and my particularfriend. " He certainly showed himself superior to the low malignity of hispatrons. When he arrived with a guard to conduct the admiral from theprison to the ship, he found him in chains in a state of silentdespondency. So violently had he been treated, and so savage were thepassions let loose against him, that he feared he should be sacrificedwithout an opportunity of being heard, and his name go down sullied anddishonored to posterity. When he beheld the officer enter with the guard, he thought it was to conduct him to the scaffold. "Villejo, " said he, mournfully, "whither are you taking me?" "To the ship, your Excellency, toembark, " replied the other. "To embark!" repeated the admiral, earnestly;"Villejo! do you speak the truth?" "By the life of your Excellency, "replied the honest officer, "it is true!" With these words the admiral wascomforted, and felt as one restored from death to life. Nothing can bemore touching and expressive than this little colloquy, recorded by thevenerable Las Casas, who doubtless had it from the lips of his friendVillejo. 

The caravels set sail early in October, bearing off Columbus shackled likethe vilest of culprits, amidst the scoffs and shouts of a miscreantrabble, who took a brutal joy in heaping insults on his venerable head, and sent curses after him from the shores of the island he had so recentlyadded to the civilized world. Fortunately the voyage was favorable, and ofbut moderate duration, and was rendered less disagreeable by the conductof those to whom he was given in custody. The worthy Villejo, though inthe service of Fonseca, felt deeply moved at the treatment of Columbus. The master of the caravel, Andreas Martin, was equally grieved: they bothtreated the admiral with profound respect and assiduous attention. Theywould have taken off his irons, but to this he would not consent. "No, "said he proudly, "their majesties commanded me by letter to submit towhatever Bobadilla should order in their name; by their authority he hasput upon me these chains; I will wear them until they shall order them tobe taken off, and I will preserve them afterwards as relics and memorialsof the reward of my services. " [88]

"He did so, " adds his son Fernando; "I saw them always hanging in hiscabinet, and he requested that when he died they might be buried withhim. " [89]

Book XIV. 

Chapter I. 

Sensation in Spain on the Arrival of Columbus in Irons. --His Appearance atCourt. 

[1500. ]

The arrival of Columbus at Cadiz, a prisoner and in chains, producedalmost as great a sensation as his triumphant return from his firstvoyage. It was one of those striking and obvious facts, which speak to thefeelings of the multitude, and preclude the necessity of reflection. Noone stopped to inquire into the case. It was sufficient to be told thatColumbus was brought home in irons from the world he had discovered. Therewas a general burst of indignation in Cadiz, and in the powerful andopulent Seville, which was echoed throughout all Spain. If the ruin ofColumbus had been the intention of his enemies, they had defeated theirobject by their own violence. One of those reactions took place, sofrequent in the public mind, when persecution is pushed to an unguardedlength. Those of the populace who had recently been loud in their clamoragainst Columbus, were now as loud in their reprobation of his treatment, and a strong sympathy was expressed, against which it would have beenodious for the government to contend. 

The tidings of his arrival, and of the ignominious manner in which he hadbeen brought, reached the court at Granada, and filled the halls of theAlhambra with murmurs of astonishment. Columbus, full of his wrongs, butignorant how far they had been authorized by the sovereigns, had forborneto write to them. In the course of his voyage, however, he had penned along letter to Doña Juana de la Torre, the aya of Prince Juan, a lady highin favor with Queen Isabella. This letter, on his arrival at Cadiz, Andreas Martin, the captain of the caravel, permitted him to send offprivately by express. It arrived, therefore, before the protocol of theproceedings instituted by Bobadilla, and from this document the sovereignsderived their first intimation of his treatment. [90] It contained astatement of the late transactions of the island, and of the wrongs he hadsuffered, written with his usual artlessness and energy. To specify thecontents would be but to recapitulate circumstances already recorded. Someexpressions, however, which burst from him in the warmth of his feelings, are worthy of being noted. "The slanders of worthless men, " says he, "havedone me more injury than all my services have profited me. " Speaking ofthe misrepresentations to which he was subjected, he observes: "Such isthe evil name which I have acquired, that if I were to build hospitals andchurches, they would be called dens of robbers. " After relating inindignant terms the conduct of Bobadilla, in seeking testimony respectinghis administration from the very men who had rebelled against him, andthrowing himself and his brothers in irons, without letting them know theoffences with which they were charged, "I have been much aggrieved, " headds, "in that a person should be sent out to investigate my conduct, whoknew that if the evidence which he could send home should appear to be ofa serious nature, he would remain in the government. " He complains that, in forming an opinion of his administration, allowances had not been madefor the extraordinary difficulties with which he had to contend, and thewild state of the country over which he had to rule. "I was judged, " heobserves, "as a governor who had been sent to take charge of awell-regulated city, under the dominion of well-established laws, wherethere was no danger of every thing running to disorder and ruin; but Iought to be judged as a captain, sent to subdue a numerous and hostilepeople, of manners and religion opposite to ours, living not in regulartowns, but in forests and mountains. It ought to be considered that I havebrought all these under subjection to their majesties, giving themdominion over another world, by which Spain, heretofore poor, has suddenlybecome rich. Whatever errors I may have fallen into, they were not with anevil intention; and I believe their majesties will credit what I say. Ihave known them to be merciful to those who have willfully done themdisservice; I am convinced that they will have still more indulgence forme, who have erred innocently, or by compulsion, as they will hereafter bemore fully informed; and I trust they will consider my great services, theadvantages of which are every day more and more apparent. "

When this letter was read to the noble-minded Isabella, and she found howgrossly Columbus had been wronged and the royal authority abused, herheart was filled with mingled sympathy and indignation. The tidings wereconfirmed by a letter from the alcalde or corregidor of Cadiz, into whosehands Columbus and his brothers had been delivered, until the pleasure ofthe sovereigns should be known; [91] and by another letter from Alonzo deVillejo, expressed in terms accordant with his humane and honorableconduct towards his illustrious prisoner. 

However Ferdinand might have secretly felt disposed against Columbus, themomentary tide of public feeling was not to be resisted. He joined withhis generous queen in her reprobation of the treatment of the admiral, andboth sovereigns hastened to give evidence to the world, that hisimprisonment had been without their authority, and contrary to theirwishes. Without waiting to receive any documents that might arrive fromBobadilla, they sent orders to Cadiz that the prisoners should beinstantly set at liberty, and treated with all distinction. They wrote aletter to Columbus, couched in terms of gratitude and affection, expressing their grief at all that he had suffered, and inviting him tocourt. They ordered, at the same time, that two thousand ducats should beadvanced to defray his expenses. [92]

The loyal heart of Columbus was again cheered by this declaration of hissovereigns. He felt conscious of his integrity, and anticipated animmediate restitution of all his rights and dignities. He appeared atcourt in Granada on the 17th of December, not as a man ruined anddisgraced, but richly dressed, and attended by an honorable retinue. Hewas received by the sovereigns with unqualified favor and distinction. When the queen beheld this venerable man approach, and thought on all hehad deserved and all he had suffered, she was moved to tears. Columbus hadborne up firmly against the rude conflicts of the world, -he had enduredwith lofty scorn the injuries and insults of ignoble men; but he possessedstrong and quick sensibility. When he found himself thus kindly receivedby his sovereigns, and beheld tears in the benign eyes of Isabella, hislong-suppressed feelings burst forth: he threw himself on his knees, andfor some time could not utter a word for the violence of his tears andsobbings. [93]

Ferdinand and Isabella raised him from the ground, and endeavored toencourage him by the most gracious expressions. As soon as he regainedself-possession, he entered into an eloquent and high-minded vindicationof his loyalty, and the zeal he had ever felt for the glory and advantageof the Spanish crown, declaring that if at any time he had erred, it hadbeen through inexperience in government, and the extraordinarydifficulties by which he had been surrounded. 

There needed no vindication on his part. The intemperance of his enemieshad been his best advocate. He stood in presence of his sovereigns adeeply-injured man, and it remained for them to vindicate themselves tothe world from the charge of ingratitude towards their most deservingsubject. They expressed their indignation at the proceedings of Bobadilla, which they disavowed, as contrary to their instructions, and declared thathe should be immediately dismissed from his command. 

In fact, no public notice was taken of the charges sent home by Bobadilla, nor of the letters written in support of them. The sovereigns took everyoccasion to treat Columbus with favor and distinction, assuring him thathis grievances should be redressed, his property restored, and hereinstated in all his privileges and dignities. 

It was on the latter point that Columbus was chiefly solicitous. Mercenaryconsiderations had scarcely any weight in his mind. Glory had been thegreat object of his ambition, and he felt that, as long as he remainedsuspended from his employments, a tacit censure rested on his name. Heexpected, therefore, that the moment the sovereigns should be satisfied ofthe rectitude of his conduct, they would be eager to make him amends; thata restitution of his viceroyalty would immediately take place, and heshould return in triumph to San Domingo. Here, however, he was doomed toexperience a disappointment which threw a gloom over the remainder of hisdays. To account for this flagrant want of justice and gratitude in thecrown, it is expedient to notice a variety of events which had materiallyaffected the interests of Columbus in the eyes of the politic Ferdinand. 

Chapter II. 

Contemporary Voyages of Discovery. 

The general license granted by the Spanish sovereigns in 1495, toundertake voyages of discovery, had given rise to various expeditions byenterprising individuals, chiefly persons who had sailed with Columbus inhis first voyages. The government, unable to fit out many armamentsitself, was pleased to have its territories thus extended, free of cost, and its treasury at the same time benefited by the share of the proceedsof these voyages, reserved as a kind of duty to the crown. Theseexpeditions had chiefly taken place while Columbus was in partial disgracewith the sovereigns. His own charts and journal served as guides to theadventurers; and his magnificent accounts of Paria and the adjacent coastshad chiefly excited their cupidity. 

Beside the expedition of Ojeda, already noticed, in the course of which hetouched at Xaragua, one had been undertaken at the same time by PedroAlonzo Niño, native of Moguer, an able pilot, who had been with Columbusin the voyages to Cuba and Paria. Having obtained a license, he interesteda rich merchant of Seville in the undertaking, who fitted out a caravel offifty tons burden, under condition that his brother Christoval Guevrashould have the command. They sailed from the bar of Saltes, a few daysafter Ojeda had sailed from Cadiz, in the spring of 1499, and arriving onthe coast of Terra Firma, to the south of Paria, ran along it for somedistance, passed through the Gulf, and thence went one hundred and thirtyleagues along the shore of the present republic of Columbia, visiting whatwas afterwards called the Pearl Coast. They landed in various places;disposed of their European trifles to immense profit, and returned with alarge store of gold and pearls; having made, in their diminutive bark, oneof the most extensive and lucrative voyages yet accomplished. 

About the same time, the Pinzons, that family of bold and opulentnavigators, fitted out an armament of four caravels at Palos, manned in agreat measure by their own relations and friends. Several experiencedpilots embarked in it who had been with Columbus to Paria, and it wascommanded by Vicente Yañez Pinzon, who had been captain of a caravel inthe squadron of the admiral on his first voyage. 

Pinzon was a hardy and experienced seaman, and did not, like the others, follow closely in the track of Columbus. Sailing in December, 1499, hepassed the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, standing southwest until he lostsight of the polar star. Here he encountered a terrible storm, and wasexceedingly perplexed and confounded by the new aspect of the heavens. Nothing was yet known of the southern hemisphere, nor of the beautifulconstellation of the cross, which in those regions has since supplied tomariners the place of the north star. The voyagers had expected to find atthe south pole a star correspondent to that of the north. They weredismayed at beholding no guide of the kind, and thought there must be someprominent swelling of the earth, which hid the pole from their view. [94]

Pinzon continued on, however, with great intrepidity. On the 26th ofJanuary, 1500, he saw, at a distance, a great headland, which he calledCape Santa Maria de la Consolacion, but which has since been named CapeSt. Augustine. He landed and took possession of the country in the name oftheir catholic majesties; being a part of the territories since called theBrazils. Standing thence westward, he discovered the Maragnon, sincecalled the River of the Amazons; traversed the Gulf of Paria, andcontinued across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, until he foundhimself among the Bahamas, where he lost two of his vessels on the rocks, near the island of Jumeto. He returned to Palos in September, having addedto his former glory that of being the first European who had crossed theequinoctial line in the western ocean, and of having discovered the famouskingdom of Brazil, from its commencement at the River Maragnon to its mosteastern point. As a reward for his achievements, power was granted to himto colonize and govern the lands which he had discovered, and whichextended southward from a little beyond the River of Maragnon to Cape St. Augustine. [95]

The little port of Palos, which had been so slow in furnishing the firstsquadron for Columbus, was now continually agitated by the passion fordiscovery. Shortly after the sailing of Pinzon, another expedition wasfitted out there, by Diego Lepe, a native of the place, and manned by hisadventurous townsmen. He sailed in the same direction with Pinzon; butdiscovered more of the southern continent than any other voyager of theday, or for twelve years afterwards. He doubled Cape St. Augustine, andascertained that the coast beyond ran to the southwest. He landed andperformed the usual ceremonies of taking possession in the name of theSpanish sovereigns, and in one place carved their names on a magnificenttree, of such enormous magnitude, that seventeen men with their handsjoined could not embrace the trunk. What enhanced the merit of hisdiscoveries was, that he had never sailed with Columbus. He had with him, however, several skillful pilots, who had accompanied the admiral in hisvoyage. [96]

Another expedition of two vessels sailed from Cadiz, in October, 1500, under the command of Rodrigo Bastides of Seville. He explored the coast ofTerra Firma, passing Cape de la Vela, the western limits of the previousdiscoveries on the main-land, continuing on to a port since called TheRetreat, where afterwards was founded the seaport of Nombre de Dios. Hisvessels being nearly destroyed by the teredo, or worm which abounds inthose seas, he had great difficulty in reaching Xaragua in Hispaniola, where he lost his two caravels, and proceeded with his crew by land to SanDomingo. Here he was seized and imprisoned by Bobadilla, under pretextthat he had treated for gold with the natives of Xaragua. [97]

Such was the swarm of Spanish expeditions immediately resulting from theenterprises of Columbus; but others were also undertaken by foreignnations. In the year 1497, Sebastian Cabot, son of a Venetian merchantresident in Bristol, sailing in the service of Henry VII of England, navigated to the northern seas of the New World. Adopting the idea ofColumbus, he sailed in quest of the shores of Cathay, and hoped to find anorthwest passage to India. In this voyage he discovered Newfoundland, coasted Labrador to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, and thenreturning, ran down southwest to the Floridas, when, his provisionsbeginning to fail, he returned to England. [98] But vague and scantyaccounts of this voyage exist, which was important as including the firstdiscovery of the northern continent of the New World. 

The discoveries of rival nations, however, which most excited theattention and jealousy of the Spanish crown, were those of the Portuguese. Vasco de Gama, a man of rank and consummate talent and intrepidity, had, at length, accomplished the great design of the late Prince Henry ofPortugal, and by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1497, hadopened the long-sought-for route to India. 

Immediately after Gama's return, a fleet of thirteen sail was fitted outto visit the magnificent countries of which he brought accounts. Thisexpedition sailed on the 9th of March, 1500, for Calicut, under thecommand of Pedro Alvarez de Cabral. Having passed the Cape de VerdeIslands, he sought to avoid the calms prevalent on the coast of Guinea, bystretching far to the west. Suddenly, on the 25th of April, he came insight of land unknown to any one in his squadron; for, as yet, they hadnot heard of the discoveries of Pinzon and Lepe. He at first supposed itto be some great island; but after coasting it for some time, he becamepersuaded that it must be part of a continent. Having ranged along itsomewhat beyond the fifteenth degree of southern latitude, he landed at aharbor which he called Porto Securo, and taking possession of the countryfor the crown of Portugal, dispatched a ship to Lisbon with the importanttidings. [99] In this way did the Brazils come into the possession ofPortugal, being to the eastward of the conventional line settled withSpain as the boundaries of their respective territories. Dr. Robertson, in recording this voyage of Cabral, concludes with one of his just andelegant remarks. 

"Columbus's discovery of the New World was, " he observes, "the effort ofan active genius, guided by experience, and acting upon a regular plan, executed with no less courage than perseverance. But from this adventureof the Portuguese, it appears that chance might have accomplished thatgreat design, which it is now the pride of human reason to have formed andperfected. If the sagacity of Columbus had not conducted mankind toAmerica, Cabral, by a fortunate accident, might have led them, a few yearslater, to the knowledge of that extensive continent. " [100]

Chapter III. 

Nicholas de Ovando Appointed to Supersede Bobadilla. 

[1501. ]

The numerous discoveries briefly noticed in the preceding chapter hadproduced a powerful effect upon the mind of Ferdinand. His ambition, hisavarice, and his jealousy were equally inflamed. He beheld boundlessregions, teeming with all kinds of riches, daily opening before theenterprises of his subjects; but he beheld at the same time other nationslaunching forth into competition, emulous for a share of the golden worldwhich he was eager to monopolize. The expeditions of the English, and theaccidental discovery of the Brazils by the Portuguese, caused him muchuneasiness. To secure his possession of the continent, he determined toestablish local governments or commands, in the most important places, allto be subject to a general government, established at San Domingo, whichwas to be the metropolis. 

With these considerations, the government, heretofore granted to Columbus, had risen vastly in importance; and while the restitution of it was themore desirable in his eyes, it became more and more a matter of repugnanceto the selfish and jealous monarch. He had long repented having vestedsuch great powers and prerogatives in any subject, particularly in aforeigner. At the time of granting them, he had no anticipation of suchboundless countries to be placed under his command. He appeared almost toconsider himself outwitted by Columbus in the arrangement; and everysucceeding discovery, instead of increasing his grateful sense of theobligation, only made him repine the more at the growing magnitude of thereward. At length, however, the affair of Bobadilla had effected atemporary exclusion of Columbus from his--high office, and that withoutany odium to the crown, and the wary monarch, secretly determined that thedoor thus closed between him and his dignities should never again beopened. 

Perhaps Ferdinand may really have entertained doubts as to the innocenceof Columbus, with respect to the various charges made against him. He mayhave doubted also the sincerity of his loyalty, being a stranger, when heshould find himself strong in his command, at a great distance from theparent country, with immense and opulent regions under his control. Columbus, himself, in his letters, alludes to reports circulated by hisenemies, that he intended either to set up an independent sovereignty, orto deliver his discoveries into the hands of other potentates; and heappears to fear that these slanders might have made some impression on themind of Ferdinand. But there was one other consideration which had no lessforce with the monarch in withholding this great act of justice--Columbuswas no longer indispensable to him. He had made his great discovery; hehad struck out the route to the New World, and now any one could followit. A number of able navigators had sprung up under his auspices, andacquired experience in his voyages. They were daily besieging the thronewith offers to fit out expeditions at their own cost, and to yield a shareof the profits to the crown. Why should he, therefore, confer princelydignities and prerogatives for that which men were daily offering toperform gratuitously?

Such, from his after conduct, appears to have been the jealous and selfishpolicy which actuated Ferdinand in forbearing to reinstate Columbus inthose dignities and privileges so solemnly granted to him by treaty, andwhich it was acknowledged he had never forfeited by misconduct. 

This deprivation, however, was declared to be but temporary; and plausiblereasons were given for the delay in his reappointment. It was observedthat the elements of those violent factions, recently in arms against him, yet existed in the island; his immediate return might produce freshexasperation; his personal safety might be endangered, and the islandagain thrown into confusion. Though Bobadilla, therefore, was to beimmediately dismissed from command, it was deemed advisable to send outsome officer of talent and discretion to supersede him, who mightdispassionately investigate the recent disorders, remedy the abuses whichhad arisen, and expel all dissolute and factious persons from the colony. He should hold the government for two years, by which time it was trustedthat all angry passions would be allayed, and turbulent individualsremoved: Columbus might then resume the command with comfort to himselfand advantage to the crown. With these reasons, and the promise whichaccompanied them, Columbus was obliged to content himself. There can be nodoubt that they were sincere on the part of Isabella, and that it was herintention to reinstate him in the full enjoyment of his rights anddignities, after his apparently necessary suspension. Ferdinand, however, by his subsequent conduct, has forfeited all claim to any favorableopinion of the kind. 

The person chosen to supersede Bobadilla was Don Nicholas de Ovando, commander of Lares, of the order of Alcantara. He is described as of themiddle size, fair complexioned, with a red beard, and a modest look, yet atone of authority. He was fluent in speech, and gracious and courteous inhis manners. A man of great prudence, says Las Casas, and capable ofgoverning many people, but not of governing the Indians, on whom heinflicted incalculable injuries. He possessed great veneration forjustice, was an enemy to avarice, sober in his mode of living, and of suchhumility, that when he rose afterwards to be grand commander of the orderof Alcantara, he would never allow himself to be addressed by the title ofrespect attached to it. [101] Such is the picture drawn of him byhistorians; but his conduct in several important instances is in directcontradiction to it. He appears to have been plausible and subtle, as wellas fluent and courteous; his humility concealed a great love of command, and in his transactions with Columbus he was certainly both ungenerous andunjust. 

The various arrangements to be made, according to the new plan of colonialgovernment, delayed for some time the departure of Ovando. In themeantime, every arrival brought intelligence of the disastrous state ofthe island, under the mal-administration of Bobadilla. He had commencedhis career by an opposite policy to that of Columbus. Imagining thatrigorous rule had been the rock on which his predecessors had split, hesought to conciliate the public by all kinds of indulgence. Having at thevery outset relaxed the reins of justice and morality, he lost all commandover the community; and such disorder and licentiousness ensued, thatmany, even of the opponents of Columbus, looked back with regret upon thestrict but wholesome rule of himself and the Adelantado. 

Bobadilla was not so much a bad as an imprudent and a weak man. He had notconsidered the dangerous excesses to which his policy would lead. Rash ingrasping authority, he was feeble and temporizing in the exercise of it:he could not look beyond the present exigency. One dangerous indulgencegranted to the colonists called for another; each was ceded in its turn, and thus he went on from error to error, --showing that in government thereis as much danger to be apprehended from a weak as from a bad man. 

He had sold the farms and estates of the crown at low prices, observingthat it was not the wish of the monarchs to enrich themselves by them, butthat they should redound to the profit of their subjects. He granteduniversal permission to work the mines, exacting only an eleventh of theproduce for the crown. To prevent any diminution in the revenue, it becamenecessary, of course, to increase the quantity of gold collected. Heobliged the caciques, therefore, to furnish each Spaniard with Indians, toassist him both in the labors of the field and of the mine. To carry thisinto more complete effect, he made an enumeration of the natives of theisland, reduced them into classes, and distributed them, according to hisfavor or caprice, among the colonists. The latter, at his suggestion, associated themselves in partnerships of two persons each, who were toassist one another with their respective capitals and Indians, onesuperintending the labors of the field, and the other the search for gold. The only injunction of Bobadilla was, to produce large quantities of ore. He had one saying continually in his mouth, which shows the pernicious andtemporizing principle upon which he acted: "Make the most of your time, "he would say, "there is no knowing how long it will last, " alluding to thepossibility of his being speedily recalled. The colonists acted up to hisadvice, and so hard did they drive the poor natives, that the eleventhyielded more revenue to the crown than had ever been produced by the thirdunder the government of Columbus. In the meantime, the unhappy nativessuffered under all kinds of cruelties from their inhuman taskmasters. Little used to labor, feeble of constitution, and accustomed in theirbeautiful and luxuriant island to a life of ease and freedom, they sankunder the toils imposed upon them, and the severities by which they wereenforced. Las Casas gives an indignant picture of the capricious tyrannyexercised over the Indians by worthless Spaniards, many of whom had beentransported convicts from the dungeons of Castile. These wretches, who intheir own countries had been the vilest among the vile, here assumed thetone of grand cavaliers. They insisted upon being attended by trains ofservants. They took the daughters and female relations of caciques fortheir domestics, or rather for their concubines, nor did they limitthemselves in number. When they traveled, instead of using the horses andmules with which they were provided, they obliged the natives to transportthem upon their shoulders in litters, or hammocks, with others attendingto hold umbrellas of palm-leaves over their heads to keep off the sun, andfans of feathers to cool them; and Las Casas affirms that he has seen thebacks and shoulders of the unfortunate Indians who bore these litters rawand bleeding from the task. When these arrogant upstarts arrived at anIndian village, they consumed and lavished away the provisions of theinhabitants, seizing upon whatever pleased their caprice, and obliging thecacique and his subjects to dance before them for their amusement. Theirvery pleasures were attended with cruelty. They never addressed thenatives but in the most degrading terms, and on the least offence, or theleast freak of ill-humor, inflicted blows and lashes, and even deathitself. [102]

Such is but a faint picture of the evils which sprang up under the feeblerule of Bobadilla; and are sorrowfully described by Las Casas, from actualobservation, as he visited the island just at the close of hisadministration. Bobadilla had trusted to the immense amount of gold, wrungfrom the miseries of the natives, to atone for all errors, and securefavor with the sovereigns; but he had totally mistaken his course. Theabuses of his government soon reached the royal ear, and above all, thewrongs of the natives reached the benevolent heart of Isabella. Nothingwas more calculated to arouse her indignation, and she urged the speedydeparture of Ovando, to put a stop to these enormities. 

In conformity to the plan already mentioned, the government of Ovandoextended over the islands and Terra Firma, of which Hispaniola was to bethe metropolis. He was to enter upon the exercise of his powersimmediately upon his arrival, by procuration, sending home Bobadilla bythe return of the fleet. He was instructed to inquire diligently into thelate abuses, punishing the delinquents without favor or partiality, andremoving all worthless persons from the island. He was to revokeimmediately the license granted by Bobadilla for the general search aftergold, it having been given without royal authority. He was to require, forthe crown, a third of what was already collected, and one half of all thatshould be collected in future. He was empowered to build towns, grantingthem the privileges enjoyed by municipal corporations of Spain, andobliging the Spaniards, and particularly the soldiers, to reside in them, instead of scattering themselves over the island. Among many sageprovisions, there were others injurious and illiberal, characteristic ofan age when the principles of commerce were but little understood; butwhich were continued by Spain long after the rest of the world haddiscarded them as the errors of dark and unenlightened times. The crownmonopolized the trade of the colonies. No one could carry merchandisesthere on his own account. A royal factor was appointed, through whom alonewere to be obtained supplies of European articles. The crown reserved toitself not only exclusive property in the mines, but in precious stones, and like objects of extraordinary value, and also in dyewoods. Nostrangers, and above all, no Moors nor Jews, were permitted to establishthemselves in the island, nor to go upon voyages of discovery. Such weresome of the restrictions upon trade which Spain imposed upon her colonies, and which were followed up by others equally illiberal. Her commercialpolicy has been the scoff of modern times; but may not the presentrestrictions on trade, imposed by the most intelligent nations, be equallythe wonder and the jest of future ages?

Isabella was particularly careful in providing for the kind treatment ofthe Indians. Ovando was ordered to assemble the caciques, and declare tothem, that the sovereigns took them and their people under their especialprotection. They were merely to pay tribute like other subjects of thecrown, and it was to be collected with the utmost mildness and gentleness. Great pains were to be taken in their religious instruction; for whichpurpose twelve Franciscan friars were sent out, with a prelate namedAntonio de Espinal, a venerable and pious man. This was the first formalintroduction of the Franciscan order into the New World. [103]

All these precautions with respect to the natives were defeated by oneunwary provision. It was permitted that the Indians might be compelled towork in the mines, and in other employments; but this was limited to theroyal service. They were to be engaged as hired laborers, and punctuallypaid. This provision led to great abuses and oppressions, and wasultimately as fatal to the natives as could have been the most absoluteslavery. 

But, with that inconsistency frequent in human conduct, while thesovereigns were making regulations for the relief of the Indians, theyencouraged a gross invasion of the rights and welfare of another race ofhuman beings. Among their various decrees on this occasion, we find thefirst trace of negro slavery in the New World. It was permitted to carryto the colony negro slaves born among Christians; [104] that is to say, slaves born in Seville and other parts of Spain, the children anddescendants of natives brought from the Atlantic coast of Africa, wheresuch traffic had for some time been carried on by the Spaniards andPortuguese. There are signal events in the course of history, whichsometimes bear the appearance of temporal judgments. It is a fact worthyof observation, that Hispaniola, the place where this flagrant sin againstnature and humanity was first introduced into the New World, has been thefirst to exhibit an awful retribution. 

Amidst the various concerns which claimed the attention of the sovereigns, the interests of Columbus were not forgotten. Ovando was ordered toexamine into all his accounts, without undertaking to pay them off. He wasto ascertain the damages he had sustained by his imprisonment, theinterruption of his privileges, and the confiscation of his effects. Allthe property confiscated by Bobadilla was to be restored; or if it hadbeen sold, to be made good. If it had been employed in the royal service, Columbus was to be indemnified out of the treasury; if Bobadilla hadappropriated it to his own use, he was to account for it out of hisprivate purse. Equal care was to be taken to indemnify the brothers of theadmiral for the losses they had wrongfully suffered by their arrest. 

Columbus was likewise to receive the arrears of his revenues; and the samewere to be punctually paid to him in future. He was permitted to have afactor resident in the island, to be present at the melting and marking ofthe gold, to collect his dues, and in short to attend to all his affairs. To this office he appointed Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal; and the sovereignscommanded that his agent should be treated with great respect. 

The fleet appointed to convey Ovando to his government was the largestthat had yet sailed to the New World. It consisted of thirty sail, five ofthem from ninety to one hundred and fifty tons burden, twenty-fourcaravels from thirty to ninety, and one bark of twenty-five tons. [105]The number of souls embarked in this fleet was about twenty-five hundred;many of them persons of rank and distinction, with their families. 

That Ovando might appear with dignity in his new office, he was allowed touse silks, brocades, precious stones, and other articles of sumptuousattire, prohibited at that time in Spain, in consequence of the ruinousostentation of the nobility. He was permitted to have seventy-twoesquires, as his body-guard, ten of whom were horsemen. With thisexpedition sailed Don Alonzo Maldonado, appointed as alguazil mayor, orchief justice, in place of Roldan, who was to be sent to Spain. There wereartisans of various kinds: to these were added a physician, surgeon, andapothecary; and seventy-three married men [106] with their families, allof respectable character, destined to be distributed in four towns, and toenjoy peculiar privileges, that they might form the basis of a sound anduseful population. They were to displace an equal number of the idle anddissolute who were to be sent from the island: this excellent measure hadbeen especially urged and entreated by Columbus. There was alsolive-stock, artillery, arms, munitions of all kinds; every thing, inshort, that was required for the supply of the island. 

Such was the style in which Ovando, a favorite of Ferdinand, and a nativesubject of rank, was fitted out to enter upon the government withheld fromColumbus. The fleet put to sea on the thirteenth of February, 1502. In theearly part of the voyage it was encountered by a terrible storm; one ofthe ships foundered, with one hundred and twenty passengers; the otherswere obliged to throw overboard every thing on deck, and were completelyscattered. The shores of Spain were strewed with articles from the fleet, and a rumor spread that all the ships had perished. When this reached thesovereigns, they were so overcome with grief that they shut themselves upfor eight days, and admitted no one to their presence. The rumor proved tobe incorrect: but one ship was lost. The others assembled again at theisland of Gomera in the Canaries, and, pursuing their voyage, arrived atSan Domingo on the 15th of April. [107]

Chapter IV. 

Proposition of Columbus Relative to the Recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. 

[1500-1501. ]

Columbus remained in the city of Granada upwards of nine months, endeavoring to extricate his affairs from the confusion into which theyhad been thrown by the rash conduct of Bobadilla, and soliciting therestoration of his offices and dignities. During this time he constantlyexperienced the smiles and attentions of the sovereigns, and promises wererepeatedly made him that he should ultimately be reinstated in all hishonors. He had long since, however, ascertained the great interval thatmay exist between promise and performance in a court. Had he been of amorbid and repining spirit, he had ample food for misanthropy. He beheldthe career of glory which he had opened, thronged by favored adventurers;he witnessed preparations making to convey with unusual pomp a successorto that government from which he had been so wrongfully and rudelyejected; in the meanwhile his own career was interrupted, and as far aspublic employ is a gauge of royal favor, he remained apparently indisgrace. 

His sanguine temperament was not long to be depressed; if checked in onedirection it broke forth in another. His visionary imagination was aninternal light, which, in the darkest times, repelled all outward gloom, and filled his mind with splendid images and glorious speculations. Inthis time of evil, his vow to furnish, within seven years from the time ofhis discovery, fifty thousand foot-soldiers, and five thousand horse, forthe recovery of the holy sepulchre, recurred to his memory with peculiarforce. The time had elapsed, but the vow remained unfulfilled, and themeans to perform it had failed him. The New World, with all its treasures, had as yet produced expense instead of profit; and so far from being in asituation to set armies on foot by his own contributions, he found himselfwithout property, without power, and without employ. 

Destitute of the means of accomplishing his pious intentions, heconsidered it his duty to incite the sovereigns to the enterprise; and hefelt emboldened to do so, from having originally proposed it as the greatobject to which the profits of his discoveries should be dedicated. He setto work, therefore, with his accustomed zeal, to prepare arguments for thepurpose. During the intervals of business, he sought into the propheciesof the holy Scriptures, the writings of the fathers, and all kinds ofsacred and speculative sources, for mystic portents and revelations whichmight be construed to bear upon the discovery of the New World, theconversion of the Gentiles, and the recovery of the holy sepulchre: threegreat events which he supposed to be predestined to succeed each other. These passages, with the assistance of a Carthusian friar, he arranged inorder, illustrated by poetry, and collected into a manuscript volume, tobe delivered to the sovereigns. He prepared, at the same time, a longletter, written with his usual fervor of spirit and simplicity of heart. It is one of those singular compositions which lay open the visionary partof his character, and show the mystic and speculative reading with whichhe was accustomed to nurture his solemn and soaring imagination. 

In this letter he urged the sovereigns to set on foot a crusade for thedeliverance of Jerusalem from the power of the unbelievers. He entreatedthem not to reject his present advice as extravagant and impracticable, nor to heed the discredit that might be cast upon it by others; remindingthem that his great scheme of discovery had originally been treated withsimilar contempt. He avowed in the fullest manner his persuasion, that, from his earliest infancy, he had been chosen by Heaven for theaccomplishment of those two great designs, the discovery of the New World, and the rescue of the holy sepulchre. For this purpose, in his tenderyears, he had been guided by a divine impulse to embrace the profession ofthe sea, a mode of life, he observes, which produces an inclination toinquire into the mysteries of nature; and he had been gifted with acurious spirit, to read all kinds of chronicles, geographical treatises, and works of philosophy. In meditating upon these, his understanding hadbeen opened by the Deity, "as with a palpable hand, " so as to discover thenavigation to the Indies, and he had been inflamed with ardor to undertakethe enterprise. "Animated as by a heavenly fire, " he adds, "I came to yourhighnesses: all who heard of my enterprise mocked at it; all the sciencesI had acquired profited me nothing; seven years did I pass in your royalcourt, disputing the case with persons of great authority and learned inall the arts, and in the end they decided that all was vain. In yourhighnesses alone remained faith and constancy. Who will doubt that thislight was from the holy Scriptures, illumining you as well as myself withrays of marvelous brightness?"

These ideas, so repeatedly, and solemnly, and artlessly expressed, by aman of the fervent piety of Columbus, show how truly his discovery arosefrom the working of his own mind, and not from information furnished byothers. He considered it a divine intimation, a light from Heaven, and thefulfillment of what had been fortold by our Saviour and the prophets. Still he regarded it but as a minor event, preparatory to the greatenterprise, the recovery of the holy sepulchre. He pronounced it a miracleeffected by Heaven, to animate himself and others to that holyundertaking; and he assured the sovereigns that, if they had faith in hispresent as in his former proposition, they would assuredly be rewardedwith equally triumphant success. He conjured them not to heed the sneersof such as might scoff at him as one unlearned, as an ignorant mariner, aworldly man; reminding them that the Holy Spirit works not merely in thelearned, but also in the ignorant; nay, that it reveals things to come, not merely by rational beings, but by prodigies in animals, and by mysticsigns in the air and in the heavens. 

The enterprise here suggested by Columbus, however idle and extravagant itmay appear in the present day, was in unison with the temper of the times, and of the court to which it was proposed. The vein of mystic erudition bywhich it was enforced, likewise, was suited to an age when the reveries ofthe cloister still controlled the operations of the cabinet and the camp. The spirit of the crusades had not yet passed away. In the cause of thechurch, and at the instigation of its dignitaries, every cavalier wasready to draw his sword; and religion mingled a glowing and devotedenthusiasm with the ordinary excitement of warfare. Ferdinand was areligious bigot; and the devotion of Isabella went as near to bigotry asher liberal mind and magnanimous spirit would permit. Both the sovereignswere under the influence of ecclesiastical politicians, constantly guidingtheir enterprises in a direction to redound to the temporal power andglory of the church. The recent conquest of Granada had been considered aEuropean crusade, and had gained to the sovereigns the epithet ofCatholic. It was natural to think of extending their sacred victoriesstill further, and retaliating upon the infidels their domination of Spainand their long triumphs over the cross. In fact, the Duke of MedinaSidonia had made a recent inroad into Barbary, in the course of which hehad taken the city of Melilla, and his expedition had been pronounced arenewal of the holy wars against the infidels in Africa. [108]

There was nothing, therefore, in the proposition of Columbus that could beregarded as preposterous, considering the period and circumstances inwhich it was made, though it strongly illustrates his own enthusiastic andvisionary character. It must be recollected that it was meditated in thecourts of the Alhambra, among the splendid remains of Moorish grandeur, where, but a few years before, he had beheld the standard of the faithelevated in triumph above the symbols of infidelity. It appears to havebeen the offspring of one of those moods of high excitement, when, as hasbeen observed, his soul was elevated by the contemplation of his great andglorious office; when he considered himself under divine inspiration, imparting the will of Heaven, and fulfilling the high and holy purposesfor which he had been predestined. [109]

Chapter V. 

Preparations of Columbus for a Fourth Voyage of Discovery. 

[1501-1502. ]

The speculation relative to the recovery of the holy sepulchre held but atemporary sway over the mind of Columbus. His thoughts soon returned, withrenewed ardor, to their wonted channel. He became impatient of inaction, and soon conceived a leading object for another enterprise of discovery. The achievement of Vasco de Gama, of the long-attempted navigation toIndia by the Cape of Good Hope, was one of the signal events of the day. Pedro Alvarez Cabral, following in his track, had made a most successfulvoyage, and returned with his vessels laden with the precious commoditiesof the East. The riches of Calicut were now the theme of every tongue, andthe splendid trade now opened in diamonds and precious stones from themines of Hindostan; in pearls, gold, silver, amber, ivory, and porcelain;in silken stuffs, costly woods, gums, aromatics, and spices of all kinds. The discoveries of the savage regions of the New World, as yet, broughtlittle revenue to Spain; but this route, suddenly opened to the luxuriouscountries of the East, was pouring immediate wealth into Portugal. 

Columbus was roused to emulation by these accounts. He now conceived theidea of a voyage, in which, with his usual enthusiasm, he hoped to surpassnot merely the discovery of Vasco de Gama, but even those of his ownprevious expeditions. According to his own observations in his voyage toParia, and the reports of other navigators, who had pursued the same routeto a greater distance, it appeared that the coast of Terra Firma stretchedfar to the west. The southern coast of Cuba, which he considered a part ofthe Asiatic continent, stretched onwards towards the same point. Thecurrents of the Caribbean sea must pass between those lands. He waspersuaded, therefore, that there must be a strait existing somewherethereabout, opening into the Indian sea. The situation in which he placedhis conjectural strait, was somewhere about what at present is called theIsthmus of Darien. [110] Could he but discover such a passage, and thuslink the New world he had discovered with the opulent oriental regions ofthe old, he felt that he should make a magnificent close to his labors, and consummate this great object of his existence. 

When he unfolded his plan to the sovereigns, it was listened to with greatattention. Certain of the royal council, it is said, endeavored to throwdifficulties in the way; observing that the various exigencies of thetimes, and the low state of the royal treasury, rendered any newexpedition highly inexpedient. They intimated also that Columbus ought notto be employed, until his good conduct in Hispaniola was satisfactorilyestablished by letters from Ovando. These narrow-minded suggestions failedin their aim: Isabella had implicit confidence in the integrity ofColumbus. As to the expense, she felt that while furnishing so powerful afleet and splendid retinue to Ovando, to take possession of hisgovernment, it would be ungenerous and ungrateful to refuse a few ships tothe discoverer of the New World, to enable him to prosecute hisillustrious enterprises. As to Ferdinand, his cupidity was roused at theidea of being soon put in possession of a more direct and safe route tothose countries with which the crown of Portugal was opening so lucrativea trade. The project also would occupy the admiral for a considerabletime, and, while it diverted him from claims of an inconvenient nature, would employ his talents in a way most beneficial to the crown. Howeverthe king might doubt his abilities as a legislator, he had the highestopinion of his skill and judgment as a navigator. If such a strait as theone supposed were really in existence, Columbus vas, of all men in theworld, the one to discover it. His proposition, therefore, was promptlyacceded to; he was authorized to fit out an armament immediately; andrepaired to Seville in the autumn of 1501, to make the necessarypreparations. 

Though this substantial enterprise diverted his attention from hisromantic expedition for the recovery of the holy sepulchre, it stillcontinued to haunt his mind. He left his manuscript collection ofresearches among the prophecies in the hands of a devout friar of the nameof Gaspar Gorricio, who assisted to complete it. In February, also, hewrote a letter to Pope Alexander VII, in which he apologizes, on accountof indispensable occupations, for not having repaired to Rome, accordingto his original intention, to give an account of his grand discoveries. After briefly relating them, he adds that his enterprises had beenundertaken with intent of dedicating the gains to the recovery of the holysepulchre. He mentions his vow to furnish, within seven years, fiftythousand foot and five thousand horse for the purpose, and another of likeforce within five succeeding years. This pious intention, he laments, hadbeen impeded by the arts of the devil, and he feared, without divine aid, would be entirely frustrated, as the government which had been granted tohim in perpetuity had been taken from him. He informs his Holiness of hisbeing about to embark on another voyage, and promises solemnly, on hisreturn, to repair to Rome without delay, to relate everything by word ofmouth, as well as to present him with an account of his voyages, which hehad kept from the commencement to the present time, in the style of theCommentaries of Caesar. [111]

It was about this time, also, that he sent his letter on the subject ofthe sepulchre to the sovereigns, together with the collection ofprophecies. [112] We have no account of the manner in which theproposition was received. Ferdinand, with all his bigotry, was a shrewdand worldly prince. Instead of a chivalrous crusade against Jerusalem, he preferred making a pacific arrangement with the Grand Soldan of Egypt, who had menaced the destruction of the sacred edifice. He dispatched, therefore, the learned Peter Martyr, so distinguished for his historicalwritings, as ambassador to the Soldan, by whom all ancient grievancesbetween the two powers were satisfactorily adjusted, and arrangementsmade for the conservation of the holy sepulchre, and the protection ofall Christian pilgrims resorting to it. 

In the meantime Columbus went on with the preparations for hiscontemplated voyage, though but slowly, owing, as Charlevoix intimates, tothe artifices and delays of Fonseca and his agents. He craved permissionto touch at the island of Hispaniola for supplies on his outward voyage. This, however, the sovereigns forbade, knowing that he had many enemies inthe island, and that the place would be in great agitation from thearrival of Ovando, and the removal of Bobadilla. They consented, however, that he should touch there briefly on his return, by which time they hopedthe island would be restored to tranquillity. He was permitted to takewith him, in this expedition, his brother the Adelantado, and his sonFernando, then in his fourteenth year; also two or three persons learnedin Arabic, to serve as interpreters, in case he should arrive at thedominions of the Grand Khan, or of any other Eastern prince where thatlanguage might be spoken, or partially known. In reply to letters relativeto the ultimate restoration of his rights, and to matters concerning hisfamily, the sovereigns wrote him a letter, dated March 14, 1502, fromValencia de Torre, in which they again solemnly assured him that theircapitulations with him should be fulfilled to the letter, and thedignities therein ceded enjoyed by him, and his children after him; and ifit should be necessary to confirm them anew, they would do so, and securethem to his son. Beside which, they expressed their disposition to bestowfurther honors and rewards upon himself, his brothers, and his children. They entreated him, therefore, to depart in peace and confidence, and toleave all his concerns in Spain to the management of his son Diego. [113]

This was the last letter that Columbus received from the sovereigns, andthe assurances it contained were as ample and absolute as he could desire. Recent circumstances, however, had apparently rendered him dubious of thefuture. During the time that he passed in Seville, previous to hisdeparture, he took measures to secure his fame, and preserve the claims ofhis family, by placing them under the guardianship of his native country. He had copies of all the letters, grants, and privileges from thesovereigns, appointing him admiral, viceroy, and governor of the Indies, copied and authenticated before the alcaldes of Seville. Two sets of thesewere transcribed, together with his letter to the nurse of Prince Juan, containing a circumstantial and eloquent vindication of his rights; andtwo letters to the Bank of St. George, at Genoa, assigning to it the tenthof his revenues, to be employed in diminishing the duties on corn andother provisions;--a truly benevolent and patriotic donation, intended forthe relief of the poor of his native city. These two sets of documents hesent by different individuals to his friend, Doctor Nicolo Oderigo, formerly ambassador from Genoa to the court of Spain, requesting him topreserve them in some safe deposit, and to apprise his son Diego of thesame. His dissatisfaction at the conduct of the Spanish court may havebeen the cause of this precautionary measure, that an appeal to the world, or to posterity, might be in the power of his descendants, in case heshould perish in the course of his voyage. [114]

Book XV. 

Chapter I. 

Departure of Columbus on His Fourth Voyage. --Refused Admission to theHarbor of San Domingo. --Exposed to a Violent Tempest. 

[1502. ]

Age was rapidly making its advances upon Columbus when he undertook hisfourth and last voyage of discovery. He had already numbered sixty-sixyears, and they were years filled with care and trouble, in which ageoutstrips the march of time. His constitution, originally vigorous in theextreme, had been impaired by hardships and exposures in every clime, andsilently preyed upon by the sufferings of the mind. His frame, oncepowerful and commanding, and retaining a semblance of strength and majestyeven in its decay, was yet crazed by infirmities and subject to paroxysmsof excruciating pain. His intellectual forces alone retained their wontedhealth and energy, prompting him, at a period of life when most men seekrepose, to sally forth with youthful ardor, on the most toilsome andadventurous of expeditions. 

His squadron for the present voyage consisted of four caravels, thesmallest of fifty tons burden, the largest not exceeding seventy, and thecrews amounting in all to one hundred and fifty men. With this littlearmament and these slender barks did the venerable discoverer undertakethe search after a strait, which, if found, must conduct him into the mostremote seas, and lead to a complete circumnavigation of the globe. 

In this arduous voyage, however, he had a faithful counselor, and anintrepid and vigorous coadjutor, in his brother Don Bartholomew, while hisyounger son Fernando cheered him with his affectionate sympathy. He hadlearnt to appreciate such comforts, from being too often an isolatedstranger, surrounded by false friends and perfidious enemies. 

The squadron sailed from Cadiz on the 9th of May, and passed over toErcilla, on the coast of Morocco, where it anchored on the 13th. Understanding that the Portuguese garrison was closely besieged in thefortress by the Moors, and exposed to great peril, Columbus was ordered totouch there, and render all the assistance in his power. Before hisarrival the siege had been raised, but the governor lay ill, having beenwounded in an assault. Columbus sent his brother, the Adelantado, his sonFernando, and the captains of the caravels on shore, to wait upon thegovernor, with expressions of friendship and civility, and offers of theservices of his squadron. Their visit and message gave high satisfaction, and several cavaliers were sent to wait upon the admiral in return, someof whom were relatives of his deceased wife, Doña Felippa Muñoz. Afterthis exchange of civilities, the admiral made sail on the same day, andcontinued his voyage. [115] On the 25th of May, he arrived at the GrandCanary, and remained at that and the adjacent islands for a few days, taking in wood and water. On the evening of the 25th, he took hisdeparture for the New World. The trade winds were so favorable, that thelittle squadron swept gently on its course, without shifting a sail, andarrived on the 15th of June at one of the Caribbee Islands, called by thenatives Mantinino. [116] After stopping here for three days, to take inwood and water, and allow the seamen time to wash their clothes, thesquadron passed to the west of the island, and sailed to Dominica, aboutten leagues distant. [117] Columbus continued hence along the inside ofthe Antilles, to Santa Cruz, then along the south side of Porto Rico, andsteered for San Domingo. This was contrary to the original plan of theadmiral, who had intended to steer to Jamaica, [118] and thence to take adeparture for the continent, and explore its coasts in search of thesupposed strait. It was contrary to the orders of the sovereigns also, prohibiting him on his outward voyage to touch at Hispaniola. His excusewas, that his principal vessel sailed extremely ill, could not carry anycanvas, and continually embarrassed and delayed the rest of thesquadron. [119] He wished, therefore, to exchange it for one of thefleet which had recently conveyed Ovando to his government, or topurchase some other vessel at San Domingo; and he was persuaded that hewould not be blamed for departing from his orders, in a case of suchimportance to the safety and success of his expedition. 

It is necessary to state the situation of the island at this moment. Ovando had reached San Domingo on the 15th of April. He had been receivedwith the accustomed ceremony on the shore, by Bobadilla, accompanied bythe principal inhabitants of the town. He was escorted to the fortress, where his commission was read in form, in presence of all the authorities. The usual oaths were taken, and ceremonials observed; and the new governorwas hailed with great demonstrations of obedience and satisfaction. Ovandoentered upon the duties of his office with coolness and prudence; andtreated Bobadilla with a courtesy totally opposite to the rudeness withwhich the latter had superseded Columbus. The emptiness of mere officialrank, when unsustained by merit, was shown in the case of Bobadilla. Themoment his authority was at an end, all his importance vanished. He foundhimself a solitary and neglected man, deserted by those whom he had mostfavored, and he experienced the worthlessness of the popularity gained bycourting the prejudices and passions of the multitude. Still there is norecord of any suit having been instituted against him; and Las Casas, whowas on the spot, declares that he never heard any harsh thing spoken ofhim by the colonists. [120]

The conduct of Roldan and his accomplices, however, underwent a strictinvestigation, and many were arrested to be sent to Spain for trial. Theyappeared undismayed, trusting to the influence of their friends in Spainto protect them, and many relying on the well-known disposition of theBishop of Fonseca to favor all who had been opposed to Columbus. 

The fleet which had brought out Ovando was now ready for sea; and was totake out a number of the principal delinquents, and many of the idlers andprofligates of the island. Bobadilla was to embark in the principal ship, on board of which he put an immense amount of gold, the revenue collectedfor the crown during his government, and which he confidently expectedwould atone for all his faults. There was one solid mass of virgin gold onboard of this ship, which is famous in the old Spanish chronicles. It hadbeen found by a female Indian in a brook, on the estate of Francisco deGaray and Miguel Diaz, and had been taken by Bobadilla to send to theking, making the owners a suitable compensation. It was said to weighthree thousand six hundred castellanos. [121]

Large quantities of gold were likewise shipped in the fleet, by thefollowers of Roldan, and other adventurers; the wealth gained by thesufferings of the unhappy natives. Among the various persons who were tosail in the principal ship, was the unfortunate Guarionex, the oncepowerful cacique of the Vega. He had been confined in Fort Conception, ever since his capture after the war of Higuey, and was now to be sent acaptive in chains to Spain. In one of the ships, Alonzo Sanchez deCarvajal, the agent of Columbus, had put four thousand pieces of gold, tobe remitted to him; being part of his property, either recently collected, or recovered from the hands of Bobadilla. [122]

The preparations were all made, and the fleet was ready to put to sea, when, on the 29th of June, the squadron of Columbus arrived at the mouthof the river. He immediately sent Pedro de Terreros, captain of one of thecaravels, on shore, to wait on Ovando, and explain to him that the purposeof his coming was to procure a vessel in exchange for one of his caravels, which was extremely defective. He requested permission also to shelter hissquadron in the harbor; as he apprehended, from various indications, anapproaching storm. This request was refused by Ovando. Las Casas thinks itprobable that he had instructions from the sovereigns not to admitColumbus, and that he was further swayed by prudent considerations, as SanDomingo was at that moment crowded with the most virulent enemies of theadmiral, many of them in a high state of exasperation, from recentproceedings which had taken place against them. [123]

When the ungracious refusal of Ovando was brought to Columbus, and hefound all shelter denied him, he sought at least to avert the danger ofthe fleet, which was about to sail. He sent back the officer therefore tothe governor, entreating him not to permit the fleet to put to sea forseveral days; assuring him that there were indubitable signs of animpending tempest. This second request was equally fruitless with thefirst. The weather, to an inexperienced eye, was fair and tranquil; thepilots and seamen were impatient to depart. They scoffed at the predictionof the admiral, ridiculing him as a false prophet, and they persuadedOvando not to detain the fleet on so unsubstantial a pretext. 

It was hard treatment of Columbus, thus to be denied the relief which thestate of his ships required, and to be excluded in time of distress fromthe very harbor he had discovered. He retired from the river full of griefand indignation. His crew murmured loudly at being shut out from a port oftheir own nation, where even strangers, tinder similar circumstances, would be admitted. They repined at having embarked with a commander liableto such treatment; and anticipated nothing but evil from a voyage, inwhich they were exposed to the dangers of the sea, and repulsed from theprotection of the land. 

Being confident, from his observations of those natural phenomena in whichhe was deeply skilled, that the anticipated storm could not be distant, and expecting it from the land side, Columbus kept his feeble squadronclose to the shore, and sought for secure anchorage in some wild bay orriver of the island. 

In the meantime, the fleet of Bobadilla set sail from San Domingo, andstood out confidently to sea. Within two days, the predictions of Columbuswere verified. One of those tremendous hurricanes, which sometimes sweepthose latitudes, had gradually gathered up. The baleful appearance of theheavens, the wild look of the ocean, the rising murmur of the winds, allgave notice of its approach. The fleet had scarcely reached the easternpoint of Hispaniola, when the tempest burst over it with awful fury, involving every thing in wreck and ruin. The ship on board of which wereBobadilla, Roldan, and a number of the most inveterate enemies ofColumbus, was swallowed up with all its crew, and with the celebrated massof gold, and the principal part of the ill-gotten treasure, gained by themiseries of the Indians. Many of the ships were entirely lost, somereturned to San Domingo, in shattered condition, and only one was enabledto continue her voyage to Spain. That one, according to Fernando Columbus, was the weakest of the fleet, and had on board the four thousand pieces ofgold, the property of the admiral. 

During the early part of this storm, the little squadron of Columbusremained tolerably well sheltered by the land. On the second day thetempest increased in violence, and the night coming on with unusualdarkness, the ships lost sight of each other and were separated. Theadmiral still kept close to the shore, and sustained no damage. Theothers, fearful of the land in such a dark and boisterous night, ran outfor sea-room, and encountered the whole fury of the elements. For severaldays they were driven about at the mercy of wind and wave, fearful eachmoment of shipwreck, and giving up each other as lost. The Adelantado, whocommanded the ship already mentioned as being scarcely seaworthy, ran themost imminent hazard, and nothing but his consummate seamanship enabledhim to keep her afloat. At length, after various vicissitudes, they allarrived safe at Port Hermoso, to the west of San Domingo. The Adelantadohad lost his long boat; and all the vessels, with the exception of that ofthe admiral, had sustained more or less injury. 

When Columbus learnt the signal destruction that had overwhelmed hisenemies, almost before his eyes, he was deeply impressed with awe, andconsidered his own preservation as little less than miraculous. Both hisson Fernando, and the venerable historian Las Casas, looked upon the eventas one of those awful judgments, which seem at times to deal forthtemporal retribution. They notice the circumstance, that while the enemiesof the admiral were swallowed up by the raging sea, the only ship of thefleet which was enabled to pursue her voyage, and reach her port ofdestination, was the frail bark freighted with the property of Columbus. The evil, however, in this, as in most circumstances, overwhelmed theinnocent as well as the guilty. In the ship with Bobadilla and Roldanperished the captive Guarionex, the unfortunate cacique of the Vega. [124]

Chapter II. 

Voyage along the Coast of Honduras. 

[1502. ]

For several days Columbus remained in Port Hermosa to repair his vessels, and permit his crews to repose and refresh themselves after the latetempest. He had scarcely left this harbor, when he was obliged to takeshelter from another storm in Jacquemel, or, as it was called by theSpaniards, Port Brazil. Hence he sailed on the 14th of July, steering forTerra Firma. The weather falling perfectly calm, he was borne away by thecurrents until he found himself in the vicinity of some little islandsnear Jamaica, [125] destitute of springs, but where the seamen obtained asupply of water by digging holes in the sand on the beach. 

The calm continuing, he was swept away to the group of small islands, orkeys, on the southern coast of Cuba, to which, in 1494, he had given thename of The Gardens. He had scarcely touched there, however, when the windsprang up from a favorable quarter, and he was enabled to make sail on hisdestined course. He now stood to the southwest, and after a few daysdiscovered, on the 30th of July, a small but elevated island, agreeable tothe eye from the variety of trees with which it was covered. Among thesewas a great number of lofty pines, from which circumstance Columbus namedit Isla de Pinos. It has always, however, retained its Indian name ofGuanaja, [126] which has been extended to a number of smaller islandssurrounding it. This group is within a few leagues of the coast ofHonduras, to the east of the great bay or gulf of that name. 

The Adelantado, with two launches full of people, landed on the principalisland, which was extremely verdant and fertile. The inhabitants resembledthose of other islands, excepting that their foreheads were narrower. While the Adelantado was on shore, he beheld a great canoe arriving, asfrom a distant and important voyage. He was struck with its magnitude andcontents. It was eight feet wide, and as long as a galley, though formedof the trunk of a single tree. In the centre was a kind of awning or cabinof palm-leaves, after the manner of those in the gondolas of Venice, andsufficiently close to exclude both sun and rain. Under this sat a caciquewith his wives and children. Twenty-five Indians rowed the canoe, and itwas filled with all kinds of articles of the manufacture and naturalproduction of the adjacent countries. It is supposed that this bark hadcome from the province of Yucatan, which is about forty leagues distantfrom this island. 

The Indians in the canoe appeared to have no fear of the Spaniards, andreadily went alongside of the admiral's caravel. Columbus was overjoyed atthus having brought to him at once, without trouble or danger, acollection of specimens of all the important articles of this part of theNew World. He examined, with great curiosity and interest, the contents ofthe canoe. Among various utensils and weapons similar to those alreadyfound among the natives, he perceived others of a much superior kind. There were hatchets for cutting wood, formed not of stone but copper;wooden swords, with channels on each side of the blade, in which sharpflints were firmly fixed by cords made of the intestines of fishes; beingthe same kind of weapon afterwards found among the Mexicans. There werecopper bells and other articles of the same metal, together with a rudekind of crucible in which to melt it; various vessels and utensils neatlyformed of clay, of marble, and of hard wood; sheets and mantles of cotton, worked and dyed with various colors; great quantities of cacao, a fruit asyet unknown to the Spaniards, but which, as they soon found, the nativesheld in great estimation, using it both as food and money. There was abeverage also extracted from maize or Indian corn, resembling beer. Theirprovisions consisted of bread made of maize, and roots of various kinds, similar to those of Hispaniola. From among these articles, Columbuscollected such as were important to send as specimens to Spain, giving thenatives European trinkets in exchange, with which they were highlysatisfied. They appeared to manifest neither astonishment nor alarm whenon board of the vessels, and surrounded by people who must have been sostrange and wonderful to them. The women wore mantles, with which theywrapped themselves, like the female Moors of Granada, and the men hadcloths of cotton round their loins. Both sexes appeared more particularabout these coverings, and to have a quicker sense of personal modestythan any Indians Columbus had yet discovered. 

These circumstances, together with the superiority of their implements andmanufactures, were held by the admiral as indications that he wasapproaching more civilized nations. He endeavored to gain particularinformation from these Indians about the surrounding countries; but asthey spoke a different language from that of his interpreters, he couldunderstand them but imperfectly. They informed him that they had justarrived from a country, rich, cultivated, and industrious, situated to thewest. They endeavored to impress him with an idea of the wealth andmagnificence of the regions, and the people in that quarter, and urged himto steer in that direction. Well would it have been for Columbus had hefollowed their advice. Within a day or two he would have arrived atYucatan; the discovery of Mexico and the other opulent countries of NewSpain would have necessarily followed; the Southern Ocean would have beendisclosed to him, and a succession of splendid discoveries would have shedfresh glory on his declining age, instead of its sinking amidst gloom, neglect, and disappointment. 

The admiral's whole mind, however, was at present intent upon discoveringthe strait. As the countries described by the Indians lay to the west, hesupposed that he could easily visit them at some future time, by runningwith the trade-winds along the coast of Cuba, which he imagined mustcontinue on, so as to join them. At present he was determined to seek themain-land, the mountains of which were visible to the south, andapparently not many leagues distant:[127] by keeping along it steadfastlyto the east, he must at length arrive to where he supposed it to besevered from the coast of Paria by an intervening strait; and passingthrough this, he should soon make his way to the Spice Islands and therichest parts of India. [128]

He was encouraged the more to persist in his eastern course by informationfrom the Indians, that there were many places in that direction whichabounded with gold. Much of the information which he gathered among thesepeople was derived from an old man more intelligent than the rest, whoappeared to be an ancient navigator of these seas. Columbus retained himto serve as a guide along the coast, and dismissed his companions withmany presents. 

Leaving the island of Guanaja, he stood southwardly for the main-land, andafter sailing a few leagues, discovered a cape, to which he gave the nameof Caxinas, from its being covered with fruit trees, so called by thenatives. It is at present known as Cape Honduras. Here, on Sunday the 14thof August, the Adelantado landed with the captains of the caravels andmany of the seamen, to attend mass, which was performed under the trees onthe sea-shore, according to the pious custom of the admiral, whenevercircumstances would permit. On the 17th, the Adelantado again landed at ariver about fifteen miles from the point, on the bank of which hedisplayed the banners of Castile, taking possession of the country in thename of their Catholic Majesties; from which circumstances he named thisthe River of Possession. [129]

At this place they found upwards of a hundred Indians assembled, ladenwith bread and maize, fish and fowl, vegetables, and fruits of variouskinds. These they laid down as presents before the Adelantado and hisparty, and drew back to a distance without speaking a word. The Adelantadodistributed among them various trinkets, with which they were wellpleased, and appeared the next day in the same place, in greater numbers, with still more abundant supplies of provisions. 

The natives of this neighborhood, and for a considerable distanceeastward, had higher foreheads than those of the islands. They were ofdifferent languages, and varied from each other in their decorations. Somewere entirely naked; and their bodies were marked by means of fire withthe figures of various animals. Some wore coverings about the loins;others short cotton jerkins without sleeves: some wore tresses of hair infront. The chieftains had caps of white or colored cotton. When arrayedfor any festival, they painted their faces black, or with stripes ofvarious colors, or with circles round the eyes. The old Indian guideassured the admiral that many of them were cannibals. In one part of thecoast the natives had their ears bored, and hideously distended; whichcaused the Spaniards to call that region _la Costa de la Oreja_, or"the Coast of the Ear. " [130]

From the River of Possession, Columbus proceeded along what is at presentcalled the coast of Honduras, beating against contrary winds, andstruggling with currents which swept from the east like the constantstream of a river. He often lost in one tack what he had laboriouslygained in two, frequently making but two leagues in a day, and never morethan five. At night he anchored under the land, through fear of proceedingalong an unknown coast in the dark, but was often forced out to sea by theviolence of the currents. [131] In all this time he experienced the samekind of weather that had prevailed on the coast of Hispaniola, and hadattended him more or less for upwards of sixty days. There was, he says, almost an incessant tempest of the heavens, with heavy rains, and suchthunder and lightning, that it seemed as if the end of the world was athand. Those who know any thing of the drenching rains and rending thunderof the tropics, will not think his description of the storms exaggerated. His vessels were strained so that their seams opened; the sails andrigging were rent, and the provisions were damaged by the rain and by theleakage. The sailors were exhausted with labor, and harassed with terror. They many times confessed their sins to each other, and prepared fordeath. "I have seen many tempests, " says Columbus, "but none so violentor of such long duration. " He alludes to the whole series of storms forupwards of two months, since he had been refused shelter at San Domingo. During a great part of this time, he had suffered extremely from thegout, aggravated by his watchfulness and anxiety. His illness did notprevent his attending to his duties; he had a small cabin or chamberconstructed on the stern, whence, even when confined to his bed, hecould keep a look-out and regulate the sailing of the ships. Many timeshe was so ill that he thought his end approaching. His anxious mind wasdistressed about his brother the Adelantado, whom he had persuadedagainst his will to come on this expedition, and who was in the worstvessel of the squadron. He lamented also having brought with him hisson Fernando, exposing him at so tender an age to such perils and hardships, although the youth bore them with the courage and fortitudeof a veteran. Often, too, his thoughts reverted to his son Diego, andthe cares and perplexities into which his death might plunge him. [132]At length, after struggling for upwards of forty days since leavingthe Cape of Honduras, to make a distance of about seventy leagues, theyarrived on the 14th of September at a cape where the coast making anangle, turned directly south, so as to give them an easy wind and freenavigation. Doubling the point, they swept off with flowing sails andhearts filled with joy; and the admiral, to commemorate this suddenrelief from toil and peril, gave to the Cape the name of _Gracias aDios_, or Thanks to God. [133]

Chapter III. 

Voyage along the Mosquito Coast, and Transactions at Cariari. 

[1503. ]

After doubling Cape Gracias a Dios, Columbus sailed directly south, alongwhat is at present called the Mosquito shore. The land was of variedcharacter, sometimes rugged, with craggy promontories and pointsstretching into the sea, at other places verdant and fertile, and wateredby abundant streams. In the rivers grew immense reeds, sometimes of thethickness of a man's thigh: they abounded with fish and tortoises, andalligators basked on the banks. At one place Columbus passed a cluster oftwelve small islands, on which grew a fruit resembling the lemon, on whichaccount he called them the Limonares. [134]

After sailing about sixty-two leagues along this coast, being greatly inwant of wood and water, the squadron anchored on the 16th of September, near a copious river, up which the boats were sent to procure therequisite supplies. As they were returning to their ships, a suddenswelling of the sea, rushing in and encountering the rapid current of theriver, caused a violent commotion, in which one of the boats was swallowedup, and all on board perished. This melancholy event had a gloomy effectupon the crews, already dispirited and care-worn from the hardships theyhad endured, and Columbus, sharing their dejection, gave the stream thesinister name of _El rio del Desastre_, or the River of Disaster. [135]

Leaving this unlucky neighborhood, they continued for several days alongthe coast, until, finding both his ships and his people nearly disabled bythe buffetings of the tempests, Columbus, on the 25th of September, castanchor between a small island and the main-land, in what appeared acommodious and delightful situation. The island was covered with groves ofpalm-trees, cocoanut-trees, bananas, and a delicate and fragrant fruit, which the admiral continually mistook for the mirabolane of the EastIndies. The fruits and flowers and odoriferous shrubs of the island sentforth grateful perfumes, so that Columbus gave it the name of La Huerta, or the Garden. It was called by the natives Quiribiri. Immediatelyopposite, at a short league's distance, was an Indian village, namedCariari, situated on the bank of a beautiful river. The country around wasfresh and verdant, finely diversified by noble hills and forests, withtrees of such height, that Las Casas says they appeared to reach theskies. 

When the inhabitants beheld the ships, they gathered together on thecoast, armed with bows and arrows, war-clubs, and lances, and prepared todefend their shores. The Spaniards, however, made no attempt to landduring that or the succeeding day, but remained quietly on board repairingthe ships, airing and drying the damaged provisions, or reposing from thefatigues of the voyage. When the savages perceived that these wonderfulbeings, who had arrived in this strange manner on their coast, wereperfectly pacific, and made no movement to molest them, their hostilityceased, and curiosity predominated. They made various pacific signals, waving their mantles like banners, and inviting the Spaniards to land. Growing still more bold, they swam to the ships, bringing off mantles andtunics of cotton, and ornaments of the inferior sort of gold calledguanin, which they wore about their necks. These they offered to theSpaniards. The admiral, however, forbade all traffic, making thempresents, but taking nothing in exchange, wishing to impress them with afavorable idea of the liberality and disinterestedness of the white men. The pride of the savages was touched at the refusal of their profferedgifts, and this supposed contempt for their manufactures and productions. They endeavored to retaliate, by pretending like indifference. Onreturning to shore, they tied together all the European articles which hadbeen given them, without retaining the least trifle, and left them lyingon the strand, where the Spaniards found them on a subsequent day. 

Finding the strangers still declined to come on shore, the natives triedin every way to gain their confidence, and dispel the distrust which theirhostile demonstrations might have caused. A boat approaching the shorecautiously one day, in quest of some safe place to procure water, anancient Indian, of venerable demeanor, issued from among the trees, bearing a white banner on the end of a staff, and leading two girls, oneabout fourteen years of age, the other about eight, having jewels ofguanin about their necks. These he brought to the boat and delivered tothe Spaniards, making signs that they were to be detained as hostageswhile the strangers should be on shore. Upon this the Spaniards salliedforth with confidence and filled their water-casks, the Indians remainingat a distance, and observing the strictest care, neither by word normovement to cause any new distrust. When the boats were about to return tothe ships, the old Indian made signs that the young girls should be takenon board, nor would he admit of any denial. On entering the ships thegirls showed no signs of grief nor alarm, though surrounded by what tothem must have been uncouth and formidable beings. Columbus was carefulthat the confidence thus placed in him should not be abused. Afterfeasting the young females, and ordering them to be clothed and adornedwith various ornaments, he sent them on shore. The night, however, hadfallen, and the coast was deserted. They had to return to the ship, wherethey remained all night under the careful protection of the admiral. Thenext morning he restored them to their friends. The old Indian receivedthem with joy, and manifested a grateful sense of the kind treatment theyhad experienced. In the evening, however, when the boats went on shore, the young girls appeared, accompanied by a multitude of their friends, andreturned all the presents they had received, nor could they be prevailedupon to retain any of them, although they must have been precious in theireyes; so greatly was the pride of these savages piqued at having theirgifts refused. 

On the following day, as the Adelantado approached the shore, two of theprincipal inhabitants, entering the water, took him out of the boat intheir arms, and carrying him to land, seated him with great ceremony on agrassy bank. Don Bartholomew endeavored to collect information from themrespecting the country, and ordered the notary of the squadron to writedown their replies. The latter immediately prepared pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to write; but no sooner did the Indians behold this strangeand mysterious process, than, mistaking it for some necromantic spell, intended to be wrought upon them, they fled with terror. After some timethey returned, cautiously scattering a fragrant powder in the air, andburning some of it in such a direction that the smoke should be bornetowards the Spaniards by the wind. This was apparently intended tocounteract any baleful spell, for they regarded the strangers as beings ofa mysterious and supernatural order. 

The sailors looked upon these counter-charms of the Indians with equaldistrust, and apprehended something of magic; nay, Fernando Columbus, whowas present, and records the scene, appears to doubt whether these Indianawere not versed in sorcery, and thus led to suspect it in others. [136]

Indeed, not to conceal a foible, which was more characteristic of thesuperstition of the age than of the man, Columbus himself entertained anidea of the kind, and assures the sovereigns, in his letter from Jamaica, that the people of Cariari and its vicinity are great enchanters, and heintimates, that the two Indian girls who had visited his ship had magicpowder concealed about their persons. He adds, that the sailors attributedall the delays and hardships experienced on that coast to their beingunder the influence of some evil spell, worked by the witchcraft of thenatives, and that they still remained in that belief. [137]

[138]

For several days the squadron remained at this place, during which timethe ships were examined and repaired, and the crews enjoyed repose and therecreation of the land. The Adelantado, with a band of armed men, madeexcursions on shore to collect information. There was no pure gold to bemet with here, all their ornaments were of guanin; but the natives assuredthe Adelantado, that, in proceeding along the coast, the ships would soonarrive at a country where gold was in great abundance. 

In examining one of the villages, the Adelantado found, in a large house, several sepulchres. One contained a human body embalmed; in another, therewere two bodies wrapped in cotton, and so preserved as to be free from anydisagreeable odor. They were adorned with the ornaments most precious tothem when living; and the sepulchres were decorated with rude carvings andpaintings representing various animals, and, sometimes, what appeared tobe intended for portraits of the deceased. [139] Throughout most of thesavage tribes, there appears to have been great veneration for the dead, and an anxiety to preserve their remains undisturbed. 

When about to sail, Columbus seized seven of the people, two of whom, apparently the most intelligent, he selected to serve as guides; the resthe suffered to depart. His late guide he had dismissed with presents atCape Gracias a Dios. The inhabitants of Cariari manifested unusualsensibility at this seizure of their countrymen. They thronged the shore, and sent off four of their principal men with presents to the ships, imploring the release of the prisoners. 

The admiral assured them that he only took their companions as guides, fora short distance along the coast, and would restore them soon in safety totheir homes. He ordered various presents to be given to the ambassadors;but neither his promises nor gifts could soothe the grief and apprehensionof the natives at beholding their friends carried away by beings of whomthey had such mysterious apprehensions. [140]

Chapter IV. 

Voyage along Costa Rica. --Speculations Concerning the Isthmus at Veragua. 

[1502. ]

On the 5th of October, the squadron departed from Cariari, and sailedalong what is at present called Costa Rica (or the Rich Coast), from thegold and silver mines found in after years among its mountains. Aftersailing about twenty-two leagues, the ships anchored in a great bay, aboutsix leagues in length and three in breadth, full of islands, with channelsopening between them, so as to present three or four entrances. It wascalled by the natives Caribaro, [141] and had been pointed out by thenatives of Cariari as plentiful in gold. 

The islands were beautifully verdant, covered with groves, and sent forththe fragrance of fruits and flowers. The channels between them were sodeep and free from rocks that the ships sailed along them, as if in canalsin the streets of a city, the spars and rigging brushing the overhangingbranches of the trees. After anchoring, the boats landed on one of theislands, where they found twenty canoes. The people were on shore amongthe trees. Being encouraged by the Indians of Cariari, who accompanied theSpaniards, they soon advanced with confidence. Here, for the first time onthis coast, the Spaniards met with specimens of pure gold; the nativeswearing large plates of it suspended round their necks by cotton cords;they had ornaments likewise of guanin, rudely shaped like eagles. One ofthem exchanged a plate of gold, equal in value to ten ducats, for threehawks'-bells. [142]

On the following day, the boats proceeded to the mainland at the bottom ofthe bay. The country around was high and rough, and the villages weregenerally perched on the heights. They met with ten canoes of Indians, their heads decorated with garlands of flowers, and coronets formed of theclaws of beasts and the quills of birds;[143] most of them had plates ofgold about their necks, but refused to part with them. The Spaniardsbrought two of them to the admiral to serve as guides. One had a plate ofpure gold worth fourteen ducats, another an eagle worth twenty-two ducats. Seeing the great value which the strangers set upon this metal, theyassured them it was to be had in abundance within the distance of twodays' journey; and mentioned various places along the coast, whence itwas procured, particularly Veragua, which was about twenty-five leaguesdistant. [144]

The cupidity of the Spaniards was greatly excited, and they would gladlyhave remained to barter, but the admiral discouraged all disposition ofthe kind. He barely sought to collect specimens and information of theriches of the country, and then pressed forward in quest of the greatobject of his enterprise, the imaginary strait. 

Sailing on the 17th of October, from this bay, or rather gulf, he began tocoast this region of reputed wealth, since called the coast of Veragua;and after sailing about twelve leagues, arrived at a large river, whichhis son Fernando calls the Guaig. Here, on the boats being sent to land, about two hundred Indians appeared on the shore, armed with clubs, lances, and swords of palm-wood. The forests echoed with the sound of woodendrums, and the blasts of conch shells, their usual war signals. Theyrushed into the sea up to their waists, brandishing their weapons, andsplashing the water at the Spaniards in token of defiance; but were soonpacified by gentle signs, and the intervention of the interpreters; andwillingly bartered away their ornaments, giving seventeen plates of gold, worth one hundred and fifty ducats, for a few toys and trifles. 

When the Spaniards returned the next day to renew their traffic, theyfound the Indians relapsed into hostility, sounding their drums andshells, and rushing forward to attack the boats. An arrow from across-bow, which wounded one of them in the arm, checked their fury, andon the discharge of a cannon, they fled with terror. Four of the Spaniardssprang on shore, pursuing and calling after them. They threw down theirweapons, and came, awe-struck, and gentle as lambs, bringing three platesof gold, and meekly and thankfully receiving whatever was given inexchange. 

Continuing along the coast, the admiral anchored in the mouth of anotherriver, called the Catiba. Here likewise the sound of drums and conchs fromamong the forests gave notice that the warriors were assembling. A canoesoon came off with two Indians, who, after exchanging a few words with theinterpreters, entered the admiral's ship with fearless confidence; andbeing satisfied of the friendly intentions of the strangers, returned totheir cacique with a favorable report. The boats landed, and the Spaniardswere kindly received by the cacique. He was naked like his subjects, nordistinguished in any way from them, except by the great deference withwhich he was treated, and by a trifling attention paid to his personalcomfort, being protected from a shower of rain by an immense leaf of atree. He had a large plate of gold, which he readily gave in exchange, andpermitted his people to do the same. Nineteen plates of pure gold wereprocured at this place. Here, for the first time in the New World, theSpaniards met with signs of solid architecture; finding a great mass ofstucco, formed of stone and lime, a piece of which was retained by theadmiral as a specimen, [145] considering it an indication of his approachto countries where the arts were in a higher state of cultivation. 

He had intended to visit other rivers along this coast, but the windcoming on to blow freshly, he ran before it, passing in sight of fivetowns, where his interpreters assured him he might procure greatquantities of gold. One they pointed out as Veragua, which has since givenits name to the whole province. Here, they said, were the richest mines, and here most of the plates of gold were fabricated. On the following day, they arrived opposite a village called Cubiga, and here Columbus wasinformed that the country of gold terminated. [146] He resolved not toreturn to explore it, considering it as discovered, and its mines securedto the crown, and being anxious to arrive at the supposed strait, whichhe flattered himself could be at no great distance. 

In fact, during his whole voyage along the coast, he had been under theinfluence of one of his frequent delusions. From the Indians met with atthe island of Guanaja, just arrived from Yucatan, he had received accountsof some great, and, as far as he could understand, civilized nation in theinterior. This intimation had been corroborated, as he imagined, by thevarious tribes with which he had since communicated. In a subsequentletter to the sovereigns, he informs them that all the Indians of thiscoast concurred in extolling the magnificence of the country of Ciguare, situated at ten days' journey, by land, to the west. The people of thatregion wore crowns, and bracelets, and anklets of gold, and garmentsembroidered with it. They used it for all their domestic purposes, even tothe ornamenting and embossing of their seats and tables. On being showncoral, the Indians declared that the women of Ciguare wore bands of itabout their heads and necks. Pepper and other spices being shown them, were equally said to abound there. They described it as a country ofcommerce, with great fairs and sea-ports, in which ships arrived armedwith cannon. The people were warlike also, armed like the Spaniards withswords, bucklers, cuirasses, and cross-bows, and they were mounted onhorses. Above all, Columbus understood from them that the sea continuedround to Ciguare, and that ten days beyond it was the Ganges. 

These may have been vague and wandering rumors concerning the distantkingdoms of Mexico and Peru, and many of the details may have been filledup by the imagination of Columbus. They made, however, a strong impressionon his mind. He supposed that Ciguare must be some province belonging tothe Grand Khan, or some other Eastern potentate, and as the sea reachedit, he concluded it was on the opposite side of a peninsula: bearing thesame position with respect to Veragua that Fontarabia does with Tortosa inSpain, or Pisa with Venice in Italy. By proceeding farther eastward, therefore, he must soon arrive at a strait, like that of Gibraltar, through which he could pass into another sea, and visit this country ofCiguare, and, of course, arrive at the banks of the Ganges. He accountedfor the circumstance of his having arrived so near to that river, by theidea which he had long entertained, that geographers were mistaken as tothe circumference of the globe; that it was smaller than was generallyimagined, and that a degree of the equinoctial line was but fifty-sixmiles and two-thirds. [147]

With these ideas Columbus determined to press forward, leaving the richcountry of Veragua unexplored. Nothing could evince more clearly hisgenerous ambition, than hurrying in this brief manner along a coast wherewealth was to be gathered at every step, for the purpose of seeking astrait which, however it might produce vast benefit to mankind, couldyield little else to himself than the glory of the discovery. 

Chapter V. 

Discovery of Puerto Bello and El Retrete. --Columbus Abandons the Searchafter the Strait. 

[1502. ]

On the 2d of November, the squadron anchored in a spacious and commodiousharbor, where the vessels could approach close to the shore withoutdanger. It was surrounded by an elevated country; open and cultivated, with houses within bow-shot of each other, surrounded by fruit-trees, groves of palms, and fields producing maize, vegetables, and the deliciouspine-apple, so that the whole neighborhood had the mingled appearance oforchard and garden. Columbus was so pleased with the excellence of theharbor, and the sweetness of the surrounding country, that he gave it thename of Puerto Bello. [148] It is one of the few places along this coastwhich retain the appellation given by the illustrious discoverer. It is tobe regretted that they have so generally been discontinued, as they wereso often records of his feelings, and of circumstances attending thediscovery. 

For seven days they were detained in this port by heavy rain and stormyweather. The natives repaired from all quarters in canoes, bringing fruitsand vegetables and balls of cotton, but there was no longer gold offeredin traffic. The cacique, and seven of his principal chieftains, had smallplates of gold hanging in their noses, but the rest of the natives appearto have been destitute of all ornaments of the kind. They were generallynaked and painted red; the cacique alone was painted black. [149]

Sailing hence on the 9th of November, they proceeded eight leagues to theeastward, to the point since known as Nombre de Dios; but being drivenback for some distance, they anchored in a harbor in the vicinity of threesmall islands. These, with the adjacent country of the main-land, werecultivated with fields of Indian corn, and various fruits and vegetables, whence Columbus called the harbor Puerto de Bastimentos, or Port ofProvisions. Here they remained until the 23d, endeavoring to repair theirvessels, which leaked excessively. They were pierced in all parts by theteredo or worm which abounds in the tropical seas. It is of the size of aman's finger, and bores through the stoutest planks and timbers, so assoon to destroy any vessel that is not well coppered. After leaving thisport, they touched at another called Guiga, where above three hundred ofthe natives appeared on the shore, some with provisions, and some withgolden ornaments, which they offered in barter. Without making any stay, however, the admiral urged his way forward; but rough and adverse windsagain obliged him to take shelter in a small port, with a narrow entrance, not above twenty paces wide, beset on each side with reefs of rocks, thesharp points of which rose above the surface. Within, there was not roomfor more than five or six ships; yet the port was so deep, that they hadno good anchorage, unless they approached near enough to the land for aman to leap on shore. 

From the smallness of the harbor, Columbus gave it the name of _ElRetrete_, or The Cabinet. He had been betrayed into this inconvenientand dangerous port by the misrepresentations of the seamen sent to examineit, who were always eager to come to anchor, and have communication withthe shore. [150]

The adjacent country was level and verdant, covered with herbage, but withfew trees. The port was infested with alligators, which basked in thesunshine on the beach, filling the air with a powerful and musky odor. They were timorous, and fled on being attacked, but the Indians affirmedthat if they found a man sleeping on shore they would seize and drag himinto the water. These alligators Columbus pronounced to be the same as thecrocodiles of the Nile. For nine days the squadron was detained in thisport, by tempestuous weather. The natives of this place were tall, wellproportioned, and graceful; of gentle and friendly manners, and broughtwhatever they possessed to exchange for European trinkets. 

As long as the admiral had control over the actions of his people, theIndians were treated with justice and kindness, and every thing went onamicably. The vicinity of the ships to land, however, enabled the seamento get on shore in the night without license. The natives received them intheir dwellings with their accustomed hospitality; but the roughadventurers, instigated by avarice and lust, soon committed excesses thatroused their generous hosts to revenge. Every night there were brawls andfights on shore, and blood was shed on both sides. The number of theIndians daily augmented by arrivals from the interior. They became morepowerful and daring as they became more exasperated; and seeing that thevessels lay close to the shore, approached in a great multitude to attackthem. 

The admiral thought at first to disperse them by discharging cannonwithout ball, but they were not intimidated by the sound, regarding it asa kind of harmless thunder. They replied to it by yells and howlings, beating their lances and clubs against the trees and bushes in furiousmenace. The situation of the ships so close to the shore exposed them toassaults, and made the hostility of the natives unusually formidable. Columbus ordered a shot or two, therefore, to be discharged among them. When they saw the havoc made, they fled in terror, and offered no furtherhostility. [151]

The continuance of stormy winds from the east and the northeast, inaddition to the constant opposition of the currents, disheartened thecompanions of Columbus, and they began to murmur against any furtherprosecution of the voyage. The seamen thought that some hostile spell wasoperating, and the commanders remonstrated against attempting to forcetheir way in spite of the elements, with ships crazed and worm-eaten, andcontinually in need of repair. Few of his companions could sympathize withColumbus in his zeal for mere discovery. They were actuated by moregainful motives, and looked back with regret on the rich coast they hadleft behind, to go in search of an imaginary strait. It is probable thatColumbus himself began to doubt the object of his enterprise. If he knewthe details of the recent voyage of Bastides, he must have been aware thathe had arrived from an opposite quarter to about the place where thatnavigator's exploring voyage from the east had terminated; consequentlythat there was but little probability of the existence of the strait hehad imagined. [152]

At all events, he determined to relinquish the further prosecution of hisvoyage eastward for the present, and to return to the coast of Veragua, tosearch for those mines of which he had heard so much, and seen so manyindications. Should they prove equal to his hopes, he would havewherewithal to return to Spain in triumph, and silence the reproaches ofhis enemies, even though he should fail in the leading object of hisexpedition. 

Here, then, ended the lofty anticipations which had elevated Columbusabove all mercenary interests; which had made him regardless of hardshipsand perils, and given an heroic character to the early part of thisvoyage. It is true, he had been in pursuit of a mere chimera, but it wasthe chimera of a splendid imagination, and a penetrating judgment. If hewas disappointed in his expectation of finding a strait through theIsthmus of Darien, it was because nature herself had been disappointed, for she appears to have attempted to make one, but to have attempted it invain. 

Chapter VI. 

Return to Veragua. --The Adelantado Explores the Country. 

[1502. ]

On the 5th of December, Columbus sailed from El Retrete, and relinquishinghis course to the east, returned westward, in search of the gold mines ofVeragua. On the same evening he anchored in Puerto Bello, about tenleagues distant; whence departing on the succeeding day, the wind suddenlyveered to the west, and began to blow directly adverse to the new coursehe had adopted. For three months he had been longing in vain for such awind, and now it came merely to contradict him. Here was a temptation toresume his route to the east, but he did not dare trust to the continuanceof the wind, which, in these parts, appeared but seldom to blow from thatquarter. He resolved, therefore, to keep on in the present direction, trusting that the breeze would soon change again to the eastward. 

In a little while the wind began to blow with dreadful violence, and toshift about in such manner as to baffle all seamanship. Unable to reachVeragua, the ships were obliged to put back to Puerto Bello, and when theywould have entered that harbor, a sudden veering of the gale drove themfrom the land. For nine days they were blown and tossed about, at themercy of a furious tempest, in an unknown sea, and often exposed to theawful perils of a lee-shore. It is wonderful that such open vessels, socrazed and decayed, could outlive such a commotion of the elements. Nowhere is a storm so awful as between the tropics. The sea, according tothe description of Columbus, boiled at times like a caldron; at othertimes it ran in mountain waves, covered with foam. At night the ragingbillows resembled great surges of flame, owing to those luminous particleswhich cover the surface of the water in these seas, and throughout thewhole course of the Gulf Stream. For a day and night the heavens glowed asa furnace with the incessant flashes of lightning; while the loud claps ofthunder were often mistaken by the affrighted mariners for signal guns ofdistress from their foundering companions. During the whole time, saysColumbus, it poured down from the skies, not rain, but as it were a seconddeluge. The seamen were almost drowned in their open vessels. Haggard withtoil and affright, some gave themselves over for lost; they confessedtheir sins to each other according to the rites of the Catholic religion, and prepared themselves for death; many, in their desperation, called upondeath as a welcome relief from such overwhelming horrors. In the midst ofthis wild tumult of the elements, they beheld a new object of alarm. Theocean in one place became strangely agitated. The water was whirled upinto a kind of pyramid or cone, while a livid cloud, tapering to a point, bent down to meet it. Joining together, they formed a vast column, whichrapidly approached the ships, spinning along the surface of the deep, anddrawing up the waters with a rushing sound. The affrighted mariners, whenthey beheld this water-spout advancing towards them, despaired of allhuman means to avert it, and began to repeat passages from St. John theevangelist. The water-spout passed close by the ships without injuringthem, and the trembling mariners attributed their escape to the miraculousefficacy of their quotations from the Scriptures. [153]

In this same night, they lost sight of one of the caravels, and for threedark and stormy days gave it up for lost. At length, to their greatrelief, it rejoined the squadron, having lost its boat, and been obligedto cut its cable, in an attempt to anchor on a boisterous coast, andhaving since been driven to and fro by the storm. For one or two days, there was an interval of calm, and the tempest-tossed mariners had time tobreathe. They looked upon this tranquillity, however, as deceitful, and, in their gloomy mood, beheld every thing with a doubtful and forebodingeye. Great numbers of sharks, so abundant and ravenous in these latitudes, were seen about the ships. This was construed into an evil omen; for amongthe superstitions of the seas, it is believed that these voracious fishcan smell dead bodies at a distance; that they have a kind of presentimentof their prey; and keep about vessels which have sick persons on board, orwhich are in danger of being wrecked. Several of these fish they caught, using large hooks fastened to chains, and sometimes baited merely with apiece of colored cloth. From the maw of one they took out a livingtortoise; from that of another the head of a shark, recently thrown fromone of the ships; such is the indiscriminate voracity of these terrors ofthe ocean. Notwithstanding their superstitious fancies, the seamen wereglad to use a part of these sharks for food, being very short ofprovisions. The length of the voyage had consumed the greater part oftheir sea-stores; the heat and humidity of the climate, and the leakage ofthe ships, had damaged the remainder, and their biscuit was so filled withworms, that, notwithstanding their hunger, they were obliged to eat it inthe dark, lest their stomachs should revolt at its appearance. [154]

At length, on the 17th, they were enabled to enter a port resembling agreat canal, where they enjoyed three days of repose. The natives of thisvicinity built their cabins in trees, on stakes or poles laid from onebranch to another. The Spaniards supposed this to be through the fear ofwild beasts, or of surprisals from neighboring tribes; the differentnations of these coasts being extremely hostile to one another. It mayhave been a precaution against inundations caused by floods from themountains. After leaving this port, they were driven backwards andforwards, by the changeable and tempestuous winds, until the day afterChristmas; when they sheltered themselves in another port, where theyremained until the 3d of January, 1503, repairing one of the caravels, andprocuring wood, water, and a supply of maize or Indian corn. Thesemeasures being completed, they again put to sea, and on the day ofEpiphany, to their great joy, anchored at the mouth of a river called bythe natives Yebra, within a league or two of the river Veragua, and in thecountry said to be so rich in mines. To this river, from arriving at it onthe day of Epiphany, Columbus gave the name of Belen or Bethlehem. 

For nearly a month he had endeavored to accomplish the voyage from PuertoBello to Veragua, a distance of about thirty leagues; and had encounteredso many troubles and adversities, from changeable winds and currents, andboisterous tempests, that he gave this intermediate line of sea-board thename of _La Costa de los Contrastes_, or The Coast of Contradictions. [155]

Columbus immediately ordered the mouths of the Belen, and of itsneighboring river of Veragua, to be sounded. The latter proved too shallowto admit his vessels, but the Belen was somewhat deeper, and it wasthought they might enter it with safety. Seeing a village on the banks ofthe Belen, the admiral sent the boats on shore to procure information. Ontheir approach, the inhabitants issued forth with weapons in hand tooppose their landing, but were readily pacified. They seemed unwilling togive any intelligence about the gold mines; but, on being importuned, declared that they lay in the vicinity of the river of Veragua. To thatriver the boats were dispatched on the following day. They met with thereception so frequent along this coast, where many of the tribes werefierce and warlike, and are supposed to have been of Carib origin. As theboats entered the river, the natives sallied forth in their canoes, andothers assembled in menacing style on the shores. The Spaniards, however, had brought with them an Indian of that coast, who put an end to this showof hostility by assuring his countrymen that the strangers came only totraffic with them. 

The various accounts of the riches of these parts appeared to beconfirmed by what the Spaniards saw and heard among these people. Theyprocured in exchange for the veriest trifles twenty plates of gold, withseveral pipes of the same metal, and crude masses of ore. The Indiansinformed them that the mines lay among distant mountains; and that whenthey went in quest of it they were obliged to practice rigorous fastingand continence. [156]

The favorable report brought by the boats determined the admiral to remainin the neighborhood. The river Belen having the greatest depth, two of thecaravels entered it on the 9th of January, and the two others on thefollowing day at high tide, which on that coast does not rise above half afathom. [157] The natives came to them in the most friendly manner, bringing great quantities of fish, with which that river abounded. Theybrought also golden ornaments to traffic; but continued to affirm thatVeragua was the place whence the ore was procured. 

The Adelantado, with his usual activity and enterprise, set off on thethird day, with the boats well armed, to ascend the Veragua about a leagueand a half, to the residence of Quibian, the principal cacique. Thechieftain, hearing of his intention, met him near the entrance of theriver, attended by his subjects, in several canoes. He was tall, ofpowerful frame, and warlike demeanor: the interview was extremelyamicable. The cacique presented the Adelantado with the golden ornamentswhich he wore, and received as magnificent presents a few Europeantrinkets. They parted mutually well pleased. On the following day Quibianvisited the ships, where he was hospitably entertained by the admiral. They could only communicate by signs, and as the chieftain was of ataciturn and cautious character, the interview was not of long duration. Columbus made him several presents; the followers of the cacique exchangedmany jewels of gold for the usual trifles, and Quibian returned, withoutmuch ceremony, to his home. 

On the 24th of January, there was a sudden swelling of the river. Thewaters came rushing from the interior like a vast torrent; the ships wereforced from their anchors, tossed from side to side, and driven againsteach other; the foremast of the admiral's vessel was carried away, and thewhole squadron was in imminent danger of shipwreck. While exposed to thisperil in the river, they were prevented from running out to sea by aviolent storm, and by the breakers which beat upon the bar. This suddenrising of the river, Columbus attributed to some heavy fall of rain amonga range of distant mountains, to which he had given the name of themountains of San Christoval. The highest of these rose to a peak far abovethe clouds. [158]

The weather continued extremely boisterous for several days. At length, onthe 6th of February, the sea being tolerably calm, the Adelantado, attended by sixty-eight men well armed, proceeded in the boats to explorethe Veragua, and seek its reputed mines. When he ascended the river anddrew near to the village of Quibian, situated on the side of a hill, thecacique came down to the bank to meet him, with a great train of hissubjects, unarmed, and making signs of peace. Quibian was naked, andpainted after the fashion of the country. One of his attendants drew agreat stone out of the river, and washed and rubbed it carefully, uponwhich the chieftain seated himself as upon a throne. [159] He received theAdelantado with great courtesy; for the lofty, vigorous, and iron form ofthe latter, and his look of resolution and command, were calculated toinspire awe and respect in an Indian warrior. The cacique, however, waswary and politic. His jealousy was awakened by the intrusion of thesestrangers into his territories; but he saw the futility of any openattempt to resist them. He acceded to the wishes of the Adelantado, therefore, to visit the interior of his dominions, and furnished him withthree guides to conduct him to the mines. 

Leaving a number of his men to guard the boats, the Adelantado departed onfoot with the remainder. After penetrating into the interior about fourleagues and a half, they slept for the first night on the banks of ariver, which seemed to water the whole country with its windings, as theyhad crossed it upwards of forty times. On the second day, they proceeded aleague and a half farther, and arrived among thick forests, where theirguides informed them the mines were situated. In fact, the whole soilappeared to be impregnated with gold. They gathered it from among theroots of the trees, which were of an immense height, and magnificentfoliage. In the space of two hours each man had collected a littlequantity of gold, gathered from the surface of the earth. Hence the guidestook the Adelantado to the summit of a high hill, and showing him anextent of country as far as the eye could reach, assured him that thewhole of it, to the distance of twenty days' journey westward, abounded ingold, naming to him several of the principal places. [160] The Adelantadogazed with enraptured eye over a vast wilderness of continued forest, whereonly here and there a bright column of smoke from amidst the trees gavesign of some savage hamlet, or solitary wigwam, and the wild unappropriatedaspect of this golden country delighted him more than if he had beheld itcovered with towns and cities, and adorned with all the graces ofcultivation. He returned with his party, in high spirits, to the ships, andrejoiced the admiral with the favorable report of his expedition. It wassoon discovered, however, that the politic Quibian had deceived them. Hisguides, by his instructions, had taken the Spaniards to the mines of aneighboring cacique with whom he was at war, hoping to divert them into theterritories of his enemy. The real mines of Veragua, it was said, werenearer and much more wealthy. 

The indefatigable Adelantado set forth again on the 16th of February, withan armed band of fifty-nine men, marching along the coast westward, a boatwith fourteen men keeping pace with him. In this excursion he explored anextensive tract of country, and visited the dominions of various caciques, by whom he was hospitably entertained. He met continually with proofs ofabundance of gold; the natives generally wearing great plates of itsuspended round their necks by cotton cords. There were tracts of land, also, cultivated with Indian corn, --one of which continued for the extentof six leagues; and the country abounded with excellent fruits. He againheard of a nation in the interior, advanced in arts and arms, wearingclothing, and being armed like the Spaniards. Either these were vague andexaggerated rumors concerning the great empire of Peru, or the Adelantadohad misunderstood the signs of his informants. He returned, after anabsence of several days, with a great quantity of gold, and with animatingaccounts of the country. He had found no port, however, equal to the riverof Belen, and was convinced that gold was nowhere to be met with in suchabundance as in the district of Veragua [161]. 

Chapter VII. 

Commencement of a Settlement on the River Belen. --Conspiracy of theNatives. --Expedition of the Adelantado to Surprise Quiban. 

[1503. ]

The reports brought to Columbus, from every side, of the wealth of theneighborhood; the golden tract of twenty days' journey in extent, shown tohis brother from the mountain; the rumors of a rich and civilized countryat no great distance, all convinced him that he had reached one of themost favored parts of the Asiatic continent. Again his ardent mind kindledup with glowing anticipations. He fancied himself arrived at afountain-head of riches, at one of the sources of the unbounded wealth ofKing Solomon. Josephus, in his work on the antiquities of the Jews, hadexpressed an opinion, that the gold for the building of the temple ofJerusalem had been procured from the mines of the Aurea Chersonesus. Columbus supposed the mines of Veragua to be the same. They lay, as heobserved, "within the same distance from the pole and from the line;" andif the information which he fancied he had received from the Indians wasto be depended on, they were situated about the same distance from theGanges [162]. 

Here, then, it appeared to him, was a place at which to found a colony, and establish a mart that should become the emporium of a vast tract ofmines. Within the two first days after his arrival in the country, as hewrote to the sovereigns, he had seen more signs of gold than in Hispanioladuring four years. That island, so long the object of his pride and hopes, had been taken from him, and was a scene of confusion; the pearl coast ofParia was ravaged by mere adventurers; all his plans concerning both hadbeen defeated; but here was a far more wealthy region than either, and onecalculated to console him for all his wrongs and deprivations. 

On consulting with his brother, therefore, he resolved immediately tocommence an establishment here, for the purpose of securing the possessionof the country, and exploring and working the mines. The Adelantado agreedto remain with the greater part of the people, while the admiral shouldreturn to Spain for reinforcements and supplies. The greatest dispatch wasemployed in carrying this plan into immediate operation. Eighty men wereselected to remain. They were separated into parties of about ten each, and commenced building houses on a small eminence, situated on the bank ofa creek, about a bow-shot within the mouth of the river Belen. The houseswere of wood, thatched with the leaves of palm-trees. One larger than therest was to serve as a magazine, to receive their ammunition, artillery, and a part of their provisions. The principal part was stored, for greatersecurity, on board of one of the caravels, which was to be left for theuse of the colony. It was true they had but a scanty supply of Europeanstores remaining, consisting chiefly of biscuit, cheese, pulse, wine, oil, and vinegar; but the country produced bananas, plantains, pine-apples, cocoanuts, and other fruit. There was also maize in abundance, togetherwith various roots, such as were found in Hispaniola. The rivers andsea-coast abounded with fish. The natives, too, made beverages of variouskinds. One from the juice of the pine-apple, having a vinous flavor;another from maize, resembling beer; and another from the fruit of aspecies of palm-tree. [163] There appeared to be no danger, therefore, of suffering from famine. Columbus took pains to conciliate the good-willof the Indians, that they might supply the wants of the colony during hisabsence, and he made many presents to Quibian, by way of reconciling himto this intrusion into his territories. [164]

The necessary arrangements being made for the colony, and a number of thehouses being roofed, and sufficiently finished for occupation, the admiralprepared for his departure, when an unlooked-for obstacle presenteditself. The heavy rains which had so long distressed him during thisexpedition had recently ceased. The torrents from the mountains were over;and the river which had once put him to such peril by its sudden swelling, had now become so shallow that there was not above half a fathom water onthe bar. Though his vessels were small, it was impossible to draw themover the sands, which choked the mouth of the river, for there was a swellrolling and tumbling upon them, enough to dash his worm-eaten barks topieces. He was obliged, therefore, to wait with patience, and pray for thereturn of those rains which he had lately deplored. 

In the meantime, Quibian beheld, with secret jealousy and indignation, these strangers erecting habitations, and manifesting an intention ofestablishing themselves in his territories. He was of a bold and warlikespirit, and had a great force of warriors at his command; and beingignorant of the vast superiority of the Europeans in the art of war, thought it easy, by a well-concerted artifice, to overwhelm and destroythem. He sent messengers round, and ordered all his fighting-men toassemble at his residence on the river Veragua, under pretext of makingwar upon a neighboring province. Numbers of the warriors, in repairing tohis headquarters, passed by the harbor. No suspicions of their real designwere entertained by Columbus or his officers; but their movementsattracted the attention of the chief notary, Diego Mendez, a man of ashrewd and prying character, and zealously devoted to the admiral. Doubting some treachery, he communicated his surmises to Columbus, andoffered to coast along in an armed boat to the river Veragua, andreconnoitre the Indian camp. His offer was accepted, and he sallied fromthe river accordingly, but had scarcely advanced a league, when hedescried a large force of Indians on the shore. Landing alone, andordering that the boat should be kept afloat, he entered among them. Therewere about a thousand armed and supplied with provisions, as if for anexpedition. He offered to accompany them with his armed boat; his offerwas declined with evident signs of impatience. Returning to his boat, hekept watch upon them all night, until, seeing they were vigilantlyobserved, they returned to Veragua. 

Mendez hastened back to the admiral, and gave it as his opinion that theIndians had been on their way to surprise the Spaniards. The admiral wasloth to believe in such treachery, and was desirous of obtaining clearerinformation, before he took any step that might interrupt the apparentlygood understanding that existed with the natives. Mendez now undertook, with a single companion, to penetrate by land to the headquarters ofQuibian, and endeavor to ascertain his intentions. Accompanied by oneRodrigo de Escobar, he proceeded on foot along the seaboard, to avoid thetangled forests, and arriving at the mouth of the Veragua, found twocanoes with Indians, whom he prevailed on, by presents, to convey him andhis companion to the village of the cacique. It was on the bank of theriver; the houses were detached and interspersed among trees. There was abustle of warlike preparation in the place, and the arrival of the twoSpaniards evidently excited surprise and uneasiness. The residence of thecacique was larger than the others, and situated on a hill which rose fromthe water's edge. Quibian was confined to the house by indisposition, having been wounded in the leg by an arrow. Mendez gave himself out as asurgeon come to cure the wound: with great difficulty and by force ofpresents he obtained permission to proceed. On the crest of the hill andin front of the cacique's dwelling, was a broad, level, open place, roundwhich, on posts, were the heads of three hundred enemies slain in battle. Undismayed by this dismal array, Mendez and his companion crossed theplace towards the den of this grim warrior. A number of women and childrenabout the door fled into the house with piercing cries. A young andpowerful Indian, son of the cacique, sallied forth in a violent rage, andstruck Mendez a blow which made him recoil several paces. The latterpacified him by presents and assurances that he came to cure his father'swound, in proof of which he produced a box of ointment. It was impossible, however, to gain access to the cacique, and Mendez returned with all hasteto the harbor to report to the admiral what he had seen and learnt. It wasevident there was a dangerous plot impending over the Spaniards, and asfar as Mendez could learn from the Indians who had taken him up the riverin their canoe, the body of a thousand warriors which he had seen on hisprevious reconnoitring expedition, had actually been on a hostileenterprise against the harbor, but had given it up on finding themselvesobserved. 

This information was confirmed by an Indian of the neighborhood, who hadbecome attached to the Spaniards and acted as interpreter. He revealed tothe admiral the designs of his countrymen, which he had overheard. Quibianintended to surprise the harbor at night with a great force, burn theships and houses, and make a general massacre. Thus forewarned, Columbusimmediately set a double watch upon the harbor. The military spirit of theAdelantado suggested a bolder expedient. The hostile plan of Quibian wasdoubtless delayed by his wound, and in the meantime he would maintain thesemblance of friendship. The Adelantado determined to march at once to hisresidence, capture him, his family, and principal warriors, send themprisoners to Spain, and take possession of his village. 

With the Adelantado, to conceive a plan was to carry it into immediateexecution, and, in fact, the impending danger admitted of no delay. Takingwith him seventy-four men, well armed, among whom was Diego Mendez, andbeing accompanied by the Indian interpreter who had revealed the plot, heset off on the 30th of March, in boats, to the mouth of the Veragua, ascended it rapidly, and before the Indians could have notice of hismovements, landed at the foot of the hill on which the house of Quibianwas situated. 

Lest the cacique should take alarm and fly at the sight of a large force, he ascended the hill, accompanied by only five men, among whom was DiegoMendez; ordering the rest to come on, with great caution and secrecy, twoat a time, and at a distance from each other. On the discharge of anarquebuse, they were to surround the dwelling and suffer no one to escape. 

As the Adelantado drew near to the house, Quibian came forth, and seatinghimself in the portal, desired the Adelantado to approach singly. DonBartholomew now ordered Diego Mendez and his four companions to remain ata little distance, and when they should see him take the cacique by thearm, to rush immediately to his assistance. He then advanced with hisIndian interpreter, through whom a short conversation took place, relativeto the surrounding country. The Adelantado then adverted to the wound ofthe cacique, and pretending to examine it, took him by the arm. At theconcerted signal four of the Spaniards rushed forward, the fifthdischarged the arquebuse. The cacique attempted to get loose, but wasfirmly held in the iron grasp of the Adelantado. Being both men of greatmuscular power, a violent struggle ensued. Don Bartholomew, however, maintained the mastery, and Diego Mendez and his companions coming to hisassistance, Quibian was bound hand and foot. At the report of thearquebuse, the main body of the Spaniards surrounded the house, and seizedmost of those who were within, consisting of fifty persons, old and young. Among these were the wives and children of Quibian, and several of hisprincipal subjects. No one was wounded, for there was no resistance, andthe Adelantado never permitted wanton bloodshed. When the poor savages sawtheir prince a captive, they filled the air with lamentations; imploringhis release, and offering for his ransom a great treasure, which they saidlay concealed in a neighboring forest. 

The Adelantado was deaf to their supplications and their offers. Quibianwas too dangerous a foe to be set at liberty; as a prisoner, he would be ahostage for the security of the settlement. Anxious to secure his prize, he determined to send the cacique and the other prisoners on board of theboats, while he remained on shore with a part of his men to pursue theIndians who had escaped. Juan Sanchez, the principal pilot of thesquadron, a powerful and spirited man, volunteered to take charge of thecaptives. On committing the chieftain to his care, the Adelantado warnedhim to be on his guard against any attempt at rescue or escape. The sturdypilot replied that if the cacique got out of his hands, he would give themleave to pluck out his beard, hair by hair; with this vaunt he departed, bearing off Quibian bound hand and foot. On arriving at the boat, hesecured him by a strong cord to one of the benches. It was a dark night. As the boat proceeded down the river, the cacique complained piteously ofthe painfulness of his bonds. The rough heart of the pilot was touchedwith compassion, and he loosened the cord by which Quibian was tied to thebench, keeping the end of it in his hand. The wily Indian watched hisopportunity, and when Sanchez was looking another way, plunged into thewater and disappeared. So sudden and violent was his plunge, that thepilot had to let go the cord, lest he should be drawn in after him. Thedarkness of the night, and the bustle which took place, in preventing theescape of the other prisoners, rendered it impossible to pursue thecacique, or even to ascertain his fate. Juan Sanchez hastened to the shipswith the residue of the captives, deeply mortified at being thus outwittedby a savage. 

The Adelantado remained all night on shore. The following morning, when hebeheld the wild, broken, and mountainous nature of the country, and thescattered situation of the habitations, perched on different heights, hegave up the search after the Indians, and returned to the ships with thespoils of the cacique's mansion. These consisted of bracelets, anklets, and massive plates of gold, such as were worn round the neck, togetherwith two golden coronets. The whole amounted to the value of three hundredducats. [165] One fifth of the booty was set apart for thecrown. The residue was shared among those concerned in the enterprise. Tothe Adelantado one of the coronets was assigned, as a trophy of hisexploit. [166]

Chapter VIII. 

Disasters of the Settlement. 

[1503. ]

It was hoped by Columbus that the vigorous measure of the Adelantado wouldstrike terror into the Indians of the neighborhood, and prevent anyfurther designs upon the settlement. Quibian had probably perished. If hesurvived, he must be disheartened by the captivity of his family, andseveral of his principal subjects, and fearful of their being maderesponsible for any act of violence on his part. The heavy rains, therefore, which fall so frequently among the mountains of this isthmus, having again swelled the river, Columbus made his final arrangements forthe management of the colony, and having given much wholesome counsel tothe Spaniards who were to remain, and taken an affectionate leave of hisbrother, got under weigh with three of the caravels, leaving the fourthfor the use of the settlement. As the water was still shallow at the bar, the ships were lightened of a great part of their cargoes, and towed outby the boats in calm weather, grounding repeatedly. When fairly releasedfrom the river, and their cargoes re-shipped, they anchored within aleague of the shore, to await a favorable wind. It was the intention ofthe admiral to touch at Hispaniola, on his way to Spain, and send thencesupplies and reinforcements. The wind continuing adverse, he sent a boaton shore on the 6th of April, under the command of Diego Tristan, captainof one of the caravels, to procure wood and water, and make somecommunications to the Adelantado. The expedition of this boat proved fatalto its crew, but was providential to the settlement. 

The cacique Quibian had not perished as some had supposed. Though bothhands and feet were bound, yet in the water he was as in his naturalelement. Plunging to the bottom, he swam below the surface untilsufficiently distant to be out of view in the darkness of the night, andthen emerging made his way to shore. The desolation of his home, and thecapture of his wives and children, filled him with anguish; but when hesaw the vessels in which they were confined leaving the river, and bearingthem off, he was transported with fury and despair. Determined on a signalvengeance, he assembled a great number of his warriors, and came secretlyupon the settlement. The thick woods by which it was surrounded enabledthe Indians to approach unseen within ten paces. The Spaniards, thinkingthe enemy completely discomfited and dispersed, were perfectly off theirguard. Some had strayed to the sea-shore, to take a farewell look at theships; some were on board of the caravel in the river; others werescattered about the houses: on a sudden, the Indians rushed from theirconcealment with yells and howlings, launched their javelins through theroofs of palm-leaves, hurled them in at the windows, or thrust themthrough the crevices of the logs which composed the walls. As the houseswere small, several of the inhabitants were wounded. On the first alarm, the Adelantado seized a lance, and sallied forth with seven or eight ofhis men. He was joined by Diego Mendez and several of his companions, andthey drove the enemy into the forest, killing and wounding several ofthem. The Indians kept up a brisk fire of darts and arrows from among thetrees, and made furious sallies with their war-clubs; but there was nowithstanding the keen edge of the Spanish weapons, and a fierce blood-houndbeing let loose upon them, completed their terror. They fled howlingthrough the forest, leaving a number dead on the field, having killed oneSpaniard, and wounded eight. Among the latter was the Adelantado, whoreceived a slight thrust of a javelin in the breast. 

Diego Tristan arrived in his boat during the contest, but feared toapproach the land, lest the Spaniards should rush on board in such numbersas to sink him. When the Indians had been put to flight, he proceeded upthe river in quest of fresh water, disregarding the warnings of those onshore, that he might be cut off by the enemy in their canoes. 

The river was deep and narrow, shut in by high banks, and overhangingtrees. The forests on each side were thick and impenetrable; so that therewas no landing-place, excepting here and there where a footpath wound downto some fishing-ground, or some place where the natives kept their canoes. 

The boat had ascended about a league above the village, to a part of theriver where it was completely overshadowed by lofty banks and spreadingtrees. Suddenly, yells and war-whoops and blasts of conch shells rose onevery side. Light canoes darted forth in every direction from darkhollows, and overhanging thickets, each dextrously managed by a singlesavage, while others stood up brandishing and hurling their lances. Missiles were launched also from the banks of the river, and the branchesof the trees. There were eight sailors in the boat, and three soldiers. Galled and wounded by darts and arrows, confounded by the yells and blastsof conchs, and the assaults which thickened from every side, they lost allpresence of mind, neglected to use either oars or fire-arms, and onlysought to shelter themselves with their bucklers. Diego Tristan hadreceived several wounds; but still displayed great intrepidity, and wasendeavoring to animate his men, when a javelin pierced his right eye; andstruck him dead. The canoes now closed upon the boat, and a generalmassacre ensued. But one Spaniard escaped, Juan de Noya, a cooper ofSeville. Having fallen overboard in the midst of the action, he dived tothe bottom, swam under water, gained the bank of the river unperceived, and made his way down to the settlement, bringing tidings of the massacreof his captain and comrades. 

The Spaniards were completely dismayed, were few in number, several ofthem were wounded, and they were in the midst of tribes of exasperatedsavages, far more fierce and warlike than those to whom they had beenaccustomed. The admiral, being ignorant of their misfortunes, would sailaway without yielding them assistance, and they would be left to sinkbeneath the overwhelming force of barbarous foes, or to perish with hungeron this inhospitable coast. In their despair they determined to take thecaravel which had been left with them, and abandon the place altogether. The Adelantado remonstrated with them in vain; nothing would content thembut to put to sea immediately. Here a new alarm awaited them. The torrentshaving subsided, the river was again shallow, and it was impossible forthe caravel to pass over the bar. They now took the boat of the caravel, to bear tidings of their danger to the admiral, and implore him not toabandon them; but the wind was boisterous, a high sea was rolling, and aheavy surf, tumbling and breaking at the mouth of the river, prevented theboat from getting out. Horrors increased upon them. The mangled bodies ofDiego Tristan and his men came floating down the stream, and driftingabout the harbor, with flights of crows, and other carrion birds, feedingon them, and hovering, and screaming, and fighting about their prey. Theforlorn Spaniards contemplated this scene with shuddering; it appearedominous of their own fate. 

In the meantime the Indians, elated by their triumph over the crew of theboat, renewed their hostilities. Whoops and yells answered each other fromvarious parts of the neighborhood. The dismal sound of conchs andwar-drums in the deep bosom of the woods showed that the number of theenemy was continually augmenting. They would rush forth occasionally uponstraggling parties of Spaniards, and make partial attacks upon the houses. It was considered no longer safe to remain in the settlement, the closeforest which surrounded it being a covert for the approaches of the enemy. The Adelantado chose, therefore, an open place on the shore at somedistance from the wood. Here he caused a kind of bulwark to be made of theboat of the caravel, and of chests, casks, and similar articles. Twoplaces were left open as embrasures, in which were placed a couple offalconets, or small pieces of artillery, in such a manner as to commandthe neighborhood. In this little fortress the Spaniards shut themselvesup; its walls were sufficient to screen them from the darts and arrows ofthe Indians, but mostly they depended upon their firearms, the sound ofwhich struck dismay into the savages, especially when they saw the effectof the balls, splintering and rending the trees around them, and carryinghavoc to such a distance. The Indians were thus kept in check for thepresent, and deterred from venturing from the forest; but the Spaniards, exhausted by constant watching and incessant alarms, anticipated all kindsof evil when their ammunition should be exhausted, or they should bedriven forth by hunger to seek for food. [167]

Chapter IX. 

Distress of the Admiral on Board of His Ship. --Ultimate Relief of theSettlement. 

[1503. ]

While the Adelantado and his men were exposed to such imminent peril onshore, great anxiety prevailed on board of the ships. Day after dayelapsed without the return of Diego Tristan and his party, and it wasfeared some disaster had befallen them. Columbus would have sent on shoreto make inquiries; but there was only one boat remaining for the serviceof the squadron, and he dared not risk it in the rough sea and heavy surf. A dismal circumstance occurred to increase the gloom and uneasiness of thecrews. On hoard of one of the caravels were confined the family andhousehold of the cacique Quibian. It was the intention of Columbus tocarry them to Spain, trusting that as long as they remained in the powerof the Spaniards, their tribe would be deterred from further hostilities. They were shut up at night in the forecastle of the caravel, the hatchwayof which was secured by a strong chain and padlock. As several of the crewslept upon the hatch, and it was so high as to be considered out of reachof the prisoners, they neglected to fasten the chain. The Indiansdiscovered their negligence. Collecting a quantity of stones from theballast of the vessel, they made a great heap directly under the hatchway. Several of the most powerful warriors mounted upon the top, and, bendingtheir backs, by a sudden and simultaneous effort forced up the hatch, flinging the seamen who slept upon it to the opposite side of the ship. Inan instant the greater part of the Indians sprang forth, plunged into thesea, and swam for shore. Several, however, were prevented from sallyingforth; others were seized on the deck, and forced back into theforecastle; the hatchway was carefully chained down, and a guard was setfor the rest of the night. In the morning, when the Spaniards went toexamine the captives, they were all found dead. Some had hanged themselveswith the ends of ropes, their knees touching the floor; others hadstrangled themselves by straining the cords tight with their feet. Suchwas the fierce, unconquerable spirit of these people, and their horror ofthe white men. [168]

The escape of the prisoners occasioned great anxiety to the admiral, fearing they would stimulate their countrymen to some violent act ofvengeance; and he trembled for the safety of his brother. Still thispainful mystery reigned over the land. The boat of Diego Tristan did notreturn, and the raging surf prevented all communication. At length, onePedro Ledesma, a pilot of Seville, a man of about forty-five years of age, and of great strength of body and mind, offered, if the boat would takehim to the edge of the surf, to swim to shore, and bring off news. He hadbeen piqued by the achievement of the Indian captives, in swimming to landat a league's distance, in defiance of sea and surf. "Surely, " he said, "if they dare venture so much to procure their individual liberties, Iought to brave at least a part of the danger, to save the lives of so manycompanions. " His offer was gladly accepted by the admiral, and was boldlyaccomplished. The boat approached with him as near to the surf as safetywould permit, where it was to await his return. Here, stripping himself, he plunged into the sea, and after buffeting for some time with thebreakers, sometimes rising upon their surges, sometimes buried beneaththem and dashed upon the sand, he succeeded in reaching the shore. 

He found his countrymen shut up in their forlorn fortress, beleaguered bysavage foes, and learnt the tragical fate of Diego Tristan and hiscompanions. Many of the Spaniards, in their horror and despair, had thrownoff all subordination, refused to assist in any measure that had in view acontinuance in this place, and thought of nothing but escape. When theybeheld Ledesma, a messenger from the ships, they surrounded him withfrantic eagerness, urging him to implore the admiral to take them onboard, and not abandon them on a coast where their destruction wasinevitable. They were preparing canoes to take them to the ships, when theweather should moderate, the boat of the caravel being too small; andswore that, if the admiral refused to take them on board, they wouldembark in the caravel, as soon as it could be extricated from the river, and abandon themselves to the mercy of the seas, rather than remain uponthat fatal coast. 

Having heard all that his forlorn countrymen had to say, and communicatedwith the Adelantado and his officers, Ledesma set out on his perilousreturn. He again braved the surf and the breakers, reached the boat whichwas waiting for him, and was conveyed back to the ships. The disastroustidings from the land filled the heart of the admiral with grief andalarm. To leave his brother on shore would be to expose him to the mutinyof his own men, and the ferocity of the savages. He could spare noreinforcement from his ships, the crews being so much weakened by the lossof Tristan and his companions. Rather than the settlement should be brokenup, he would gladly have joined the Adelantado with all his people; but insuch case how could intelligence be conveyed to the sovereigns of thisimportant discovery, and how could supplies be obtained from Spain? Thereappeared no alternative, therefore, but to embark all the people, abandonthe settlement for the present, and return at some future day, with aforce competent to take secure possession of the country. [169] The stateof the weather rendered the practicability even of this plan doubtful. Thewind continued high, the sea rough, and no boat could pass between thesquadron and the land. The situation of the ships was itself a matter ofextreme solicitude. Feebly manned, crazed by storms, and ready to fall topieces from the ravages of the teredo, they were anchored on a lee shore, with a boisterous wind and sea, in a climate subject to tempests, andwhere the least augmentation of the weather might drive them among thebreakers. Every hour increased the anxiety of Columbus for his brother, his people, and his ships, and each hour appeared to render the impendingdangers more imminent. Days of constant perturbation, and nights ofsleepless anxiety, preyed upon a constitution broken by age, by maladies, and hardships, and produced a fever of the mind, in which he was visitedby one of those mental hallucinations deemed by him mysterious andsupernatural. In a letter to the sovereigns he gives a solemn account ofa kind of vision by which he was comforted in a dismal night, when fullof despondency and tossing on a couch of pain:----

"Wearied and sighing, " says he, "I fell into a slumber, when I heard apiteous voice saying to me, 'O fool, and slow to believe and serve thyGod, who is the God of all! What did he more for Moses, or for his servantDavid, than he has done for thee? From the time of thy birth he has everhad thee under his peculiar care. When he saw thee of a fitting age, hemade thy name to resound marvelously throughout the earth, and thou wertobeyed in many lands, and didst acquire honorable fame among Christians. Of the gates of the Ocean Sea, shut up with such mighty chains, hedelivered thee the keys; the Indies, those wealthy regions of the world, he gave thee for thine own, and empowered thee to dispose of them toothers, according to thy pleasure. What did he more for the great peopleof Israel when he led them forth from Egypt? Or for David, whom, frombeing a shepherd, he made a king in Judea? Turn to him, then, andacknowledge thine error; his mercy is infinite. He has many and vastinheritances yet in reserve. Fear not to seek them. Thine age shall be noimpediment to any great undertaking. Abraham was above an hundred yearswhen he begat Isaac; and was Sarah youthful? Thou urgest despondingly forsuccor. Answer! who hath afflicted thee so much, and so many times?--God, or the world? The privileges and promises which God hath made thee he hathnever broken; neither hath he said, after having received thy services, that his meaning was different, and to be understood in a different sense. He performs to the very letter. He fulfills all that he promises, and withincrease. Such is his custom. I have shown thee what thy creator hath donefor thee, and what he doeth for all. The present is the reward of thetoils and perils thou hast endured in serving others. ' I heard all this, "adds Columbus, "as one almost dead, and had no power to reply to words sotrue, excepting to weep for my errors. Whoever it was that spake to me, finished by saying, 'Fear not! Confide! All these tribulations are writtenin marble, and not without cause. '"

Such is the singular statement which Columbus gave to the sovereigns ofhis supposed vision. It has been suggested that this was a mere ingeniousfiction, adroitly devised by him to convey a lesson to his prince; butsuch an idea is inconsistent with his character. He was too deeply imbuedwith awe of the Deity, and with reverence for his sovereign, to make useof such an artifice. The words here spoken to him by the supposed voice, are truths which dwelt upon his mind, and grieved his spirit during hiswaking hours. It is natural that they should recur vividly and coherentlyin his feverish dreams; and in recalling and relating a dream one isunconsciously apt to give it a little coherency. Besides, Columbus had asolemn belief that he was a peculiar instrument in the hands ofProvidence, which, together with a deep tinge of superstition, common tothe age, made him prone to mistake every striking dream for a revelation. He is not to be measured by the same standard with ordinary men inordinary circumstances. It is difficult for the mind to realize hissituation, and to conceive the exaltations of spirit to which he must havebeen subjected. The artless manner in which, in his letter to thesovereigns, he mingles up the rhapsodies and dreams of his imagination, with simple facts, and sound practical observations, pouring them forthwith a kind of scriptural solemnity and poetry of language, is one of themost striking illustrations of a character richly compounded ofextraordinary and apparently contradictory elements. 

Immediately after this supposed vision, and after a duration of nine days, the boisterous weather subsided, the sea became calm, and thecommunication with the land was restored. It was found impossible toextricate the remaining caravel from the river; but every exertion wasmade to bring off the people, and the property, before there should be areturn of bad weather. In this, the exertions of the zealous Diego Mendezwere eminently efficient. He had been for some days preparing for such anemergency. Cutting up the sails of the caravel, he made great sacks toreceive the biscuit. He lashed two Indian canoes together with spars, sothat they could not be overturned by the waves, and made a platform onthem capable of sustaining a great burden. This kind of raft was ladenrepeatedly with the stores, arms, and ammunition, which had been left onshore, and with the furniture of the caravel, which was entirelydismantled. When well freighted, it was towed by the boat to the ships. Inthis way, by constant and sleepless exertions, in the space of two days, almost every thing of value was transported on board the squadron, andlittle else left than the hull of the caravel, stranded, decayed, androtting in the river. Diego Mendez superintended the whole embarkationwith unwearied watchfulness and activity. He, and five companions, werethe last to leave the shore, remaining all night at their perilous post, and embarking in the morning with the last cargo of effects. 

Nothing could equal the transports of the Spaniards, when they foundthemselves once more on board of the ships, and saw a space of oceanbetween them and those forests which had lately seemed destined to betheir graves. The joy of their comrades seemed little inferior to theirown; and the perils and hardships which yet surrounded them, wereforgotten for a time in mutual congratulations. The admiral was so muchimpressed with a sense of the high services rendered by Diego Mendez, throughout the late time of danger and disaster, that he gave him thecommand of the caravel, vacant by the death of the unfortunate DiegoTristan. [170]

Chapter X. 

Departure from the Coast of Veragua. --Arrival at Jamaica. --Stranding ofthe Ships. 

[1503. ]

The wind at length becoming favorable, Columbus set sail, towards the endof April, from the disastrous coast of Veragua. The wretched condition ofthe ships, the enfeebled state of the crews, and the scarcity ofprovisions, determined him to make the best of his way to Hispaniola, where he might refit his vessels and procure the necessary supplies forthe voyage to Europe. To the surprise of his pilot and crews, however, onmaking sail, he stood again along the coast to the eastward, instead ofsteering north, which they considered the direct route to Hispaniola. Theyfancied that he intended to proceed immediately for Spain, and murmuredloudly at the madness of attempting so long a voyage, with ships destituteof stores and consumed by the worms. Columbus and his brother, however, had studied the navigation of those seas with a more observant andexperienced eye. They considered it advisable to gain a considerabledistance to the east, before standing across for Hispaniola, to avoidbeing swept away, far below their destined port, by the strong currentssetting constantly to the west. [171] The admiral, however, did not imparthis reasons to the pilots, being anxious to keep the knowledge of hisroutes as much to himself as possible, seeing that there were so manyadventurers crowding into the field, and ready to follow on his track. Heeven took from the mariners their charts, [172] and boasts, in a letter tothe sovereigns, that none of his pilots would be able to retrace the routeto and from Veragua, nor to describe where it was situated. 

Disregarding the murmurs of his men, therefore, he continued along thecoast eastward as far as Puerto Bello. Here he was obliged to leave one ofthe caravels, being so pierced by worms, that it was impossible to keepher afloat. All the crews were now crowded into two caravels, and thesewere little better than mere wrecks. The utmost exertions were necessaryto keep them free from water; while the incessant labor of the pumps borehard on men enfeebled by scanty diet, and dejected by various hardships. Continuing onward, they passed Port Retrete, and a number of islands towhich the admiral gave the name of Las Barbas, now termed the Mulatas, alittle beyond Point Blas. Here he supposed that he had arrived at theprovince of Mangi in the territories of the Grand Khan, described by MarcoPolo as adjoining to Cathay. [173] He continued on about ten leaguesfarther, until he approached the entrance of what is at present calledthe Gulf of Darien. Here he had a consultation with his captains andpilots, who remonstrated at his persisting in this struggle againstcontrary winds and currents, representing the lamentable plight of theships, and the infirm state of the crews. [174] Bidding farewell, therefore, to the main-land, he stood northward on the 1st of May, inquest of Hispaniola. As the wind was easterly, with a strong currentsetting to the west, he kept as near the wind as possible. So little didhis pilots know of their situation, that they supposed themselves to theeast of the Caribbee Islands, whereas the admiral feared that, with allhis exertions, he should fall to the westward of Hispaniola. [175] Hisapprehensions proved to be well founded; for, on the 10th of the month, he came in sight of two small low islands to the northwest of Hispaniola, to which, from the great quantities of tortoises seen aboutthem, he gave the name of the Tortugas; they are now known as the Caymans. Passing wide of these, and continuing directly north, he found himself, onthe 30th of May, among the cluster of islands on the south side of Cuba, to which he had formerly given the name of the Queen's Gardens; havingbeen carried between eight and nine degrees west of his destined port. Here he cast anchor near one of the Keys, about ten leagues from the mainisland. His crews were suffering excessively through scanty provisions andgreat fatigue; nothing was left of the sea-stores but a little biscuit, oil, and vinegar; and they were obliged to labor incessantly at the pumps, to keep the vessels afloat. They had scarcely anchored at these islands, when there came on, at midnight, a sudden tempest, of such violence, that, according to the strong expression of Columbus, it seemed as if the worldwould dissolve. [176] They lost three of their anchors almost immediately, and the caravel Bermuda was driven with such violence upon the ship ofthe admiral, that the bow of the one, and the stern of the other, weregreatly shattered. The sea running high, and the wind being boisterous, the vessels chafed and injured each other dreadfully, and it was withgreat difficulty that they were separated. One anchor only remained tothe admiral's ship, and this saved him from being driven upon the rocks;but at daylight the cable was found nearly worn asunder. Had the darknesscontinued an hour longer, he could scarcely have escaped shipwreck. [177]

At the end of six days, the weather having moderated, he resumed hiscourse, standing eastward for Hispaniola: "his people, " as he says, "dismayed and down-hearted; almost all his anchors lost, and his vesselsbored as full of holes as a honeycomb. " After struggling against contrarywinds and the usual currents from the east, he reached Cape Cruz, andanchored at a village in the province of Macaca, [178] where he hadtouched in 1494, in his voyage along the southern coast of Cuba. Here hewas detained by head winds for several days, during which he was suppliedwith cassava bread by the natives. Making sail again, he endeavored tobeat up to Hispaniola; but every effort was in vain. The winds andcurrents continued adverse; the leaks continually gained upon hisvessels, though the pumps were kept incessantly going, and the seameneven baled the water out with buckets and kettles. The admiral now stood, in despair, for the island of Jamaica, to seek some secure port; forthere was imminent danger of foundering at sea. On the eve of St. John, the 23d of June, they put into Puerto Bueno, now called Dry Harbor, butmet with none of the natives from whom they could obtain provisions, norwas there any fresh water to be had in the neighborhood. Suffering fromhunger and thirst, they sailed eastward, on the following day, to anotherharbor, to which the admiral on his first visit to the island had giventhe name of Port Santa Gloria. 

Here, at last, Columbus had to give up his long and arduous struggleagainst the unremitting persecution of the elements. His ships, reduced tomere wrecks, could no longer keep the sea, and were ready to sink even inport. He ordered them, therefore, to be run aground, within a bow-shot ofthe shore, and fastened together, side by side. They soon filled withwater to the decks. Thatched cabins were then erected at the prow andstern for the accommodation of the crews, and the wreck was placed in thebest possible state of defence. Thus castled in the sea, he trusted to beable to repel any sudden attack of the natives, and at the same time tokeep his men from roving about the neighborhood and indulging in theirusual excesses. No one was allowed to go on shore without especiallicense, and the utmost precaution was taken to prevent any offence beinggiven to the Indians. Any exasperation of them might be fatal to theSpaniards in their present forlorn situation. A firebrand thrown intotheir wooden fortress might wrap it in flames, and leave them defencelessamidst hostile thousands. 

Book XVI. 

Chapter I. 

Arrangement of Diego Mendez with the Caciques for Supplies of Provisions. --Sent to San Domingo by Columbus in Quest of Relief. 

[1503. ]

The island of Jamaica was extremely populous and fertile; and the harborsoon swarmed with Indians, who brought provisions to barter with theSpaniards. To prevent any disputes in purchasing or sharing thesesupplies, two persons were appointed to superintend all bargains, and theprovisions thus obtained were divided every evening among the people. Thisarrangement had a happy effect in promoting a peaceful intercourse. Thestores thus furnished, however, coming from a limited neighborhood ofimprovident beings, were not sufficient for the necessities of theSpaniards, and were so irregular as often to leave them in pinching want. They feared, too, that the neighborhood might soon be exhausted, in whichcase they should be reduced to famine. In this emergency, Diego Mendezstepped forward with his accustomed zeal, and volunteered to set off, withthree men, on a foraging expedition about the island. His offer beinggladly accepted by the admiral, he departed with his comrades well armed. He was every where treated with the utmost kindness by the natives. Theytook him to their houses, set meat and drink before him and hiscompanions, and performed all the rites of savage hospitality. Mendez madean arrangement with the cacique of a numerous tribe, that his subjectsshould hunt and fish, and make cassava bread, and bring a quantity ofprovisions every day to the harbor. They were to receive, in exchange, knives, combs, beads, fishhooks, hawks'-bells, and other articles, from aSpaniard, who was to reside among them for that purpose. The agreementbeing made, Mendez dispatched one of his comrades to apprise the admiral. He then pursued his journey three leagues farther, when he made a similararrangement, and dispatched another of his companions to the admiral. Proceeding onward, about thirteen leagues from the ships, he arrived atthe residence of another cacique, called Huarco, where he was generouslyentertained. The cacique ordered his subjects to bring a large quantity ofprovisions, for which Mendez paid him on the spot, and made arrangementsfor a like supply at stated intervals. He dispatched his third companionwith this supply to the admiral, requesting, as usual, that an agent mightbe sent to receive and pay for the regular deliveries of provisions. 

Mendez was now left alone, but he was fond of any enterprise that gaveindividual distinction. He requested of the cacique two Indians toaccompany him to the end of the island; one to carry his provisions, andthe other to bear the hammac, or cotton net in which he slept. These beinggranted, he pushed resolutely forward along the coast, until he reachedthe eastern extremity of Jamaica. Here he found a powerful cacique of thename of Ameyro. Mendez had buoyant spirits, great address, and aningratiating manner with the savages. He and the cacique became greatfriends, exchanged names, which is a kind of token of brotherhood, andMendez engaged him to furnish provisions to the ships. He then bought anexcellent canoe of the cacique, for which he gave a splendid brass basin, a short frock or cassock, and one of the two shirts which formed his stockof linen. The cacique furnished him with six Indians to navigate his bark, and they parted mutually well pleased. Diego Mendez coasted his way back, touching at the various places where he had made his arrangements. Hefound the Spanish agents already arrived at them, loaded his canoe withprovisions, and returned in triumph to the harbor, where he was receivedwith acclamations by his comrades, and with open arms by the admiral. Theprovisions he brought were a most seasonable supply, for the Spaniardswere absolutely fasting; and thenceforward Indians arrived daily, wellladen, from the marts which he had established. [179]

The immediate wants of his people being thus provided for, Columbusrevolved in his anxious mind the means of getting from this island. Hisships were beyond the possibility of repair, and there was no hope of anychance sail arriving to his relief, on the shores of a savage island, inan unfrequented sea. The most likely measure appeared to be, to sendnotice of his situation to Ovando, the governor at San Domingo, entreatinghim to dispatch a vessel to his relief. But how was this message to beconveyed? The distance between Jamaica and Hispaniola was forty leagues, across a gulf swept by contrary currents; there were no means oftransporting a messenger, except in the light canoes of the savages; andwho would undertake so hazardous a voyage in a frail bark of the kind?Suddenly the idea of Diego Mendez, and the canoe he had recentlypurchased, presented itself to the mind of Columbus. He knew the ardor andintrepidity of Mendez, and his love of distinction by any hazardousexploit. Taking him aside, therefore, he addressed him in a mannercalculated both to stimulate his zeal, and flatter his self-love. Mendezhimself gives an artless account of this interesting conversation, whichis full of character. 

"Diego Mendez, my son, " said the venerable admiral, "none of those whom Ihave here understand the great peril in which we are placed, excepting youand myself. We are few in number, and these savage Indians are many, andof fickle and irritable natures. On the least provocation they may throwfirebrands from the shore, and consume us in our straw-thatched cabins. The arrangement which you have made with them for provisions, and which atpresent they fulfill so cheerfully, to-morrow they may break in theircaprice, and may refuse to bring us any thing; nor have we the means tocompel them by force, but are entirely at their pleasure. I have thoughtof a remedy, if it meets with your views. In this canoe, which you havepurchased, some one may pass over to Hispaniola, and procure a ship, bywhich we may all be delivered from this great peril into which we havefallen. Tell me your opinion on the matter. "

"To this, " says Diego Mendez, "I replied: 'Señor, the danger in which weare placed, I well know, is far greater than is easily conceived. As topassing from this island to Hispaniola, in so small a vessel as a canoe, Ihold it not merely difficult, but impossible; since it is necessary totraverse a gulf of forty leagues, and between islands where the sea isextremely impetuous, and seldom in repose. I know not who there is wouldadventure upon so extreme a peril. '"

Columbus made no reply, but from his looks and the nature of his silence, Mendez plainly perceived himself to be the person whom the admiral had inview; "Whereupon, " continues he, "I added: 'Señor, I have many times putmy life in peril of death to save you and all those who are here, and Godhas hitherto preserved me in a miraculous manner. There are, nevertheless, murmurers, who say that your Excellency intrusts to me all affairs whereinhonor is to be gained, while there are others in your company who wouldexecute them as well as I do. Therefore I beg that you would summon allthe people, and propose this enterprise to them, to see if among themthere is any one who will undertake it, which I doubt. If all decline it, I will then come forward and risk my life in your service, as I many timeshave done. '" [180]

The admiral gladly humored the wishes of the worthy Mendez, for never wassimple egotism accompanied by more generous and devoted loyalty. On thefollowing morning, the crew was assembled, and the proposition publiclymade. Every one drew back at the thoughts of it, pronouncing it the heightof rashness. Upon this, Diego Mendez stepped forward. "Señor, " said he, "Ihave but one life to lose, yet I am willing to venture it for your serviceand for the good of all here present, and I trust in the protection ofGod, which I have experienced on so many other occasions. "

Columbus embraced this zealous follower, who immediately set aboutpreparing for his expedition. Drawing his canoe on shore, he put on afalse keel, nailed weather-boards along the bow and stern, to prevent thesea from breaking over it; payed it with a coat of tar; furnished it witha mast and sail; and put in provisions for himself, a Spanish comrade, andsix Indians. 

In the meantime, Columbus wrote letters to Ovando, requesting that a shipmight be immediately sent to bring him and his men to Hispaniola. He wrotea letter likewise to the sovereigns; for, after fulfilling his mission atSan Domingo, Diego Mendez was to proceed to Spain on the admiral'saffairs. In the letter to the sovereigns, Columbus depicted his deplorablesituation, and entreated that a vessel might be dispatched to Hispaniola, to convey himself and his crew to Spain. He gave a comprehensive accountof his voyage, most particulars of which have already been incorporated inthis history, and he insisted greatly on the importance of the discoveryof Veragua. He gave it as his opinion, that here were the mines of theAurea Chersonesus, whence Solomon had derived such wealth for the buildingof the Temple. He entreated that this golden coast might not, like otherplaces which he had discovered, be abandoned to adventurers, or placedunder the government of men who felt no interest in the cause. "This isnot a child, " he adds, "to be abandoned to a step-mother. I never think ofHispaniola and Paria without weeping. Their case is desperate and pastcure; I hope their example may cause this region to be treated in adifferent manner. " His imagination becomes heated. He magnifies thesupposed importance of Veragua, as transcending all his formerdiscoveries; and he alludes to his favorite project for the deliverance ofthe Holy Sepulchre: "Jerusalem, " he says, "and Mount Sion, are to berebuilt by the hand of a Christian. Who is he to be? God, by the mouth ofthe Prophet, in the fourteenth Psalm, declares it. The abbot Joachim[181] says that he is to come out of Spain. " His thoughts then revert tothe ancient story of the Grand Khan, who had requested that sages mightbe sent to instruct him in the Christian faith. Columbus, thinking thathe had been in the very vicinity of Cathay, exclaims with sudden zeal, "Who will offer himself for this task? If our Lord permit me to return toSpain, I engage to take him there, God helping, in safety. "

Nothing is more characteristic of Columbus than his earnest, artless, attimes eloquent, and at times almost incoherent letters. What an instanceof soaring enthusiasm and irrepressible enterprise is here exhibited! Atthe time that he was indulging in these visions, and proposing new andromantic enterprises, he was broken down by age and infirmities, racked bypain, confined to his bed, and shut up in a wreck on the coast of a remoteand savage island. No stronger picture can be given of his situation, thanthat which shortly follows this transient glow of excitement; when, withone of his sudden transitions of thought, he awakens, as it were, to hisactual condition. 

"Hitherto, " says he, "I have wept for others; but now, have pity upon me, heaven, and weep for me, O earth! In niy temporal concerns, without afarthing to offer for a mass; cast away here in the Indies; surrounded bycruel and hostile savages; isolated, infirm, expecting each day will be mylast: in spiritual concerns, separated from the holy sacraments of thechurch, so that my soul, if parted here from my body, must be for everlost! Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice! I came not onthis voyage to gain honor or estate, that is most certain, for all hope ofthe kind was already dead within me. I came to serve your majesties with asound intention and an honest zeal, and I speak no falsehood. If it shouldplease God to deliver me hence, I humbly supplicate your majesties topermit me to repair to Rome, and perform other pilgrimages. "

The dispatches being ready, and the preparations of the canoe completed, Diego Mendez embarked, with his Spanish comrade and his six Indians, anddeparted along the coast to the eastward. The voyage was toilsome andperilous. They had to make their way against strong currents. Once theywere taken by roving canoes of Indians, but made their escape, and atlength arrived at the end of the island; a distance of thirty-four leaguesfrom the harbor. Here they remained, waiting for calm weather to ventureupon the broad gulf, when they were suddenly surrounded and takenprisoners by a number of hostile Indians, who carried them off a distanceof three leagues, where they determined to kill them. Some dispute aroseabout the division of the spoils taken from the Spaniards, whereupon thesavages agreed to settle it by a game of chance. While they were thusengaged, Diego Mendez escaped, found his way to his canoe, embarked in it, and returned alone to the harbor after fifteen days' absence. What becameof his companions he does not mention, being seldom apt to speak of anyperson but himself. This account is taken from the narrative inserted inhis last will and testament. 

Columbus, though grieved at the failure of his message, was rejoiced atthe escape of the faithful Mendez. The latter, nothing daunted by theperils and hardships he had undergone, offered to depart immediately on asecond attempt, provided he could have persons to accompany him to the endof the island, and protect him from the natives. This the Adelantadooffered to undertake, with a large party well armed. Bartholomew Fiesco, aGenoese, who had been captain of one of the caravels, was associated withMendez in this second expedition. He was a man of great worth, stronglyattached to the admiral, and much esteemed by him. Each had a large canoeunder his command, in which were six Spaniards and ten Indians--the latterwere to serve as oarsmen. The canoes were to keep in company. On reachingHispaniola, Fiesco was to return immediately to Jamaica, to relieve theanxiety of the admiral and his crew, by tidings of the safe arrival oftheir messenger. In the meantime, Diego Mendez was to proceed to SanDomingo, deliver his letter to Ovando, procure and dispatch a ship, andthen depart for Spain with a letter to the sovereigns. 

All arrangements being made, the Indians placed in the canoes their frugalprovision of cassava bread, and each his calabash of water. The Spaniards, beside their bread, had a supply of the flesh of utias, and each his swordand target. In this way they launched forth upon their long and perilousvoyage, followed by the prayers of their countrymen. 

The Adelantado, with his armed band, kept pace with them along the coast. There was no attempt of the natives to molest them, and they arrived insafety at the end of the island. Here they remained three days before thesea was sufficiently calm for them to venture forth in their feeble barks. At length, the weather being quite serene, they bade farewell to theircomrades, and committed themselves to the broad sea. The Adelantadoremained watching them, until they became mere specks on the ocean, andthe evening hid them from his view. The next day he set out on his returnto the harbor, stopping at various villages on the way, and endeavoring toconfirm the good-will of the natives. [182]

Chapter II. 

Mutiny of Porras. 

[1503. ]

It might have been thought that the adverse fortune which had so longpersecuted Columbus was now exhausted. The envy which had once sickened athis glory and prosperity could scarcely have devised for him a moreforlorn heritage in the world he had discovered. The tenant of a wreck ona savage coast, in an untraversed ocean, at the mercy of barbarous hordes, who, in a moment, from precarious friends, might be transformed intoferocious enemies; afflicted, too, by excruciating maladies which confinedhim to his bed, and by the pains and infirmities which hardship andanxiety had heaped upon his advancing age. But he had not yet exhaustedhis cup of bitterness. He had yet to experience an evil worse than storm, or shipwreck, or bodily anguish, or the violence of savage hordes, --theperfidy of those in whom he confided. 

Mendez and Fiesco had not long departed when the Spaniards in the wreckbegan to grow sickly, partly from the toils and exposures of the recentvoyage, partly from being crowded in narrow quarters in a moist and sultryclimate, and partly from want of their accustomed food, for they could nothabituate themselves to the vegetable diet of the Indians. Their maladieswere rendered more insupportable by mental suffering, by that suspensewhich frets the spirit, and that hope deferred which corrodes the heart. Accustomed to a life of bustle and variety, they had now nothing to do butloiter about the dreary hulk, look out upon the sea, watch for the canoeof Fiesco, wonder at its protracted absence, and doubt its return. A longtime elapsed, much more than sufficient for the voyage, but nothing wasseen or heard of the canoe. Fears were entertained that their messengerhad perished. If so, how long were they to remain here, vainly looking forrelief which was never to arrive? Some sank into deep despondency, othersbecame peevish and impatient. Murmurs broke forth, and, as usual with menin distress, murmurs of the most unreasonable kind. Instead ofsympathizing with their aged and infirm commander, who was involved in thesame calamity, who in suffering transcended them all, and yet who wasincessantly studious of their welfare, they began to rail against him asthe cause of all their misfortunes. 

The factious feeling of an unreasonable multitude would be of littleimportance if left to itself, and might end in idle clamor; it is theindustry of one or two evil spirits which generally directs it to anobject, and makes it mischievous. Among the officers of Columbus were twobrothers, Francisco and Diego de Porras. They were related to the royaltreasurer Morales, who had married their sister, and had made interestwith the admiral to give them some employment in the expedition. [183] To gratify the treasurer, he had appointed Francisco de Porrascaptain of one of the caravels, and had obtained for his brother Diegothe situation of notary and accountant-general of the squadron. He hadtreated them, as he declares, with the kindness of relatives, thoughboth proved incompetent to their situations. They were vain and insolentmen, and, like many others whom Columbus had benefited, requited hiskindness with black ingratitude. [184]

These men, finding the common people in a highly impatient anddiscontented state, wrought upon them with seditious insinuations, assuring them that all hope of relief through the agency of Mendez wasidle; it being a mere delusion of the admiral to keep them quiet, andrender them subservient to his purposes. He had no desire nor intention toreturn to Spain; and in fact was banished thence. Hispaniola was equallyclosed to him, as had been proved by the exclusion of his ships from itsharbor in a time of peril. To him, at present, all places were alike, andhe was content to remain in Jamaica until his friends could make interestat court, and procure his recall from banishment. As to Mendez and Fiesco, they had been sent to Spain by Columbus on his own private affairs, not toprocure a ship for the relief of his followers. If this were not the case, why did not the ships arrive, or why did not Fiesco return, as had beenpromised? Or if the canoes had really been sent for succor, the long timethat had elapsed without tidings of them, gave reason to believe they hadperished by the way. In such case, their only alternative would be, totake the canoes of the Indians and endeavor to reach Hispaniola. There wasno hope, however, of persuading the admiral to such an undertaking; he wastoo old, and too helpless from the gout, to expose himself to thehardships of such a voyage. What then? were they to be sacrificed to hisinterests or his infirmities?--to give up their only chance for escape, and linger and perish with him in this desolate wreck? If they succeededin reaching Hispaniola, they would be the better received for having leftthe admiral behind. Ovando was secretly hostile to him, fearing that hewould regain the government of the island; on their arrival in Spain, thebishop Fonseca, from his enmity to Columbus, would be sure to take theirpart; the brothers Porras had powerful friends and relatives at court, tocounteract any representations that might be made by the admiral; and theycited the case of Roldan's rebellion, to show that the prejudices of thepublic, and of men in power, would always be against him. Nay, theyinsinuated that the sovereigns, who, on that occasion, had deprived him ofpart of his dignities and privileges, would rejoice at a pretext forstripping him of the remainder. [185]

Columbus was aware that the minds of his people were imbittered againsthim. He had repeatedly been treated with insolent impatience, andreproached with being the cause of their disasters. Accustomed, however, to the unreasonableness of men in adversity, and exercised, by manytrials, in the mastery of his passions, he bore with their petulance, soothed their irritation, and endeavored to cheer their spirits by thehopes of speedy succor. A little while longer, and he trusted that Fiescowould arrive with good tidings, when the certainty of relief would put anend to all these clamors. The mischief, however, was deeper than heapprehended: a complete mutiny had been organized. 

On the 2d of January, 1504, he was in his small cabin, on the stern of hisvessel, being confined to his bed by the gout, which had now rendered hima complete cripple. While ruminating on his disastrous situation, Francisco de Porras suddenly entered. His abrupt and agitated mannerbetrayed the evil nature of his visit. He had the flurried impudence of aman about to perpetrate an open crime. Breaking forth into bittercomplaints, at their being kept, week after week, and month after month, to perish piecemeal in that desolate place, he accused the admiral ofhaving no intention to return to Spain. Columbus suspected somethingsinister from this unusual arrogance; he maintained, however, hiscalmness, and, raising himself in his bed, endeavored to reason withPorras. He pointed out the impossibility of departing until those who hadgone to Hispaniola should send them vessels. He represented how much moreurgent must be his desire to depart, since he had not merely his ownsafety to provide for, but was accountable to God and his sovereigns forthe welfare of all who had been committed to his charge. He remindedPorras that he had always consulted with them all, as to the measures tobe taken for the common safety, and that what he had done, had been withthe general approbation; still, if any other measure appeared advisable, he recommended that they should assemble together, and consult upon it, and adopt whatever course appeared most judicious. 

The measures of Porras and his comrades, however, were already concerted, and when men are determined on mutiny, they are deaf to reason. He bluntlyreplied, that there was no time for further consultations. "Embarkimmediately or remain in God's name, were the only alternatives. " "For mypart, " said he, turning his back upon the admiral, and elevating his voiceso that it resounded all over the vessel, "I am for Castile! those whochoose may follow me!" shouts arose immediately from all sides, "I willfollow you! and I! and I!" Numbers of the crew sprang upon the mostconspicuous parts of the ship, brandishing weapons, and uttering mingledthreats and cries of rebellion. Some called upon Porras for orders what todo; others shouted "To Castile! to Castile!" while, amidst the generaluproar, the voices of some desperadoes were heard menacing the life of theadmiral. 

Columbus, hearing the tumult, leaped from his bed, ill and infirm as hewas, and tottered out of the cabin, stumbling and falling in the exertion, hoping by his presence to pacify the mutineers. Three or four of hisfaithful adherents, however, fearing some violence might he offered him, threw themselves between him and the throng, and taking him in their arms, compelled him to return to his cabin. 

The Adelantado likewise sallied forth, but in a different mood. He plantedhimself, with lance in hand, in a situation to take the whole brunt of theassault. It was with the greatest difficulty that several of the loyalpart of the crew could appease his fury, and prevail upon him torelinquish his weapon, and retire to the cabin of his brother. They nowentreated Porras and his companions to depart peaceably, since no onesought to oppose them. No advantage could be gained by violence; butshould they cause the death of the admiral, they would draw uponthemselves the severest punishment from the sovereigns. [186]

These representations moderated the turbulence of the mutineers, and theynow proceeded to carry their plans into execution. Taking ten canoes whichthe admiral had purchased of the Indians, they embarked in them with asmuch exultation as if certain of immediately landing on the shores ofSpain. Others, who had not been concerned in the mutiny, seeing so large aforce departing, and fearing to remain behind, when so reduced in number, hastily collected their effects, and entered likewise into the canoes. Itthis way forty-eight abandoned the admiral. Many of those who remainedwere only detained by sickness, for, had they been well, most of themwould have accompanied the deserters. [187] The few who remained faithfulto the admiral, and the sick, who crawled forth from their cabins, saw thedeparture of the mutineers with tears and lamentations, giving themselvesup for lost. Notwithstanding his malady, Columbus left his bed, minglingamong those who were loyal, and visiting those who were ill, endeavoringin every way to cheer and comfort them. He entreated them to put theirtrust in God, who would yet relieve them; and he promised, on his returnto Spain, to throw himself at the feet of the queen, represent theirloyalty and constancy, and obtain for them rewards that should compensatefor all their sufferings. [188]

In the meantime, Francisco de Porras and his followers, in their squadronof canoes, coasted the island to the eastward, following the route takenby Mendez and Fiesco. Wherever they landed, they committed outrages uponthe Indians, robbing them of their provisions, and of whatever theycoveted of their effects. They endeavored to make their own crimes redoundto the prejudice of Columbus, pretending to act under his authority, andaffirming that he would pay for every thing they took. If he refused, theytold the natives to kill him. They represented him as an implacable foe tothe Indians; as one who had tyrannized over other islands, causing themisery and death of the natives, and who only sought to gain a sway herefor the purpose of inflicting like calamities. 

Having reached the eastern extremity of the island, they waited until theweather should be perfectly calm, before they ventured to cross the gulf. Being unskilled in the management of canoes, they procured several Indiansto accompany them. The sea being at length quite smooth, they set forthupon their voyage. Scarcely had they proceeded four leagues from land whena contrary wind arose, and the waves began to swell. They turnedimmediately for shore. The canoes, from their light structure, and beingnearly round and without keels, were easily overturned, and required to becarefully balanced. They were now deeply freighted by men unaccustomed tothem, and as the sea rose, they frequently let in the water. The Spaniardswere alarmed, and endeavored to lighten them, by throwing overboard everything that could be spared; retaining only their arms, and a part of theirprovisions. The danger augmented with the wind. They now compelled theIndians to leap into the sea, excepting such as were absolutely necessaryto navigate the canoes. If they hesitated, they drove them overboard withthe edge of the sword. The Indians were skillful swimmers, but thedistance to land was too great for their strength. They kept about thecanoes, therefore, taking hold of them occasionally to rest themselves andrecover breath. As their weight disturbed the balance of the canoes, andendangered their overturning, the Spaniards cut off their hands, andstabbed them with their swords. Some died by the weapons of these cruelmen, others were exhausted and sank beneath the waves; thus eighteenperished miserably, and none survived but such as had been retained tomanage the canoes. 

When the Spaniards got back to land, different opinions arose as to whatcourse they should next pursue. Some were for crossing to Cuba, for whichisland the wind was favorable. It was thought they might easily crossthence to the end of Hispaniola. Others advised that they should returnand make their peace with the admiral, or take from him what remained ofarms and stores, having thrown almost every thing overboard during theirlate danger. Others counseled another attempt to cross over to Hispaniola, as soon as the sea should become tranquil. 

This last advice was adopted. They remained for a month at an Indianvillage near the eastern point of the island, living on the substance ofthe natives, and treating them in the most arbitrary and capriciousmanner. When at length the weather became serene, they made a secondattempt, but were again driven back by adverse winds. Losing all patience, therefore, and despairing of the enterprise, they abandoned their canoes, and returned westward; wandering from village to village, a dissolute andlawless gang, supporting themselves by fair means or foul, according asthey met with kindness or hostility, and passing like a pestilence throughthe island. [189]

Chapter III. 

Scarcity of Provisions. --Strategem of Columbus to Obtain Supplies from theNatives. 

[1504. ]

While Porras and his crew were raging about with that desperate andjoyless licentiousness which attends the abandonment of principle, Columbus presented the opposite picture of a man true to others and tohimself, and supported, amidst hardships and difficulties, by consciousrectitude. Deserted by the healthful and vigorous portion of his garrison, he exerted himself to soothe and encourage the infirm and despondingremnant which remained. Regardless of his own painful maladies, he wasonly attentive to relieve their sufferings. The few who were fit forservice were required to mount guard on the wreck, or attend upon thesick; there were none to forage for provisions. The scrupulous good faithand amicable conduct maintained by Columbus towards the natives had nowtheir effect. Considerable supplies of provisions were brought by themfrom time to time, which he purchased at a reasonable rate. The mostpalatable and nourishing of these, together with the small stock ofEuropean biscuit that remained, he ordered to be appropriated to thesustenance of the infirm. Knowing how much the body is affected by theoperations of the mind, he endeavored to rouse the spirits, and animatethe hopes, of the drooping sufferers. Concealing his own anxiety, hemaintained a serene and even cheerful countenance, encouraging his men bykind words, and holding forth confident anticipations of speedy relief. Byhis friendly and careful treatment, he soon recruited both the health andspirits of his people, and brought them into a condition to contribute tothe common safety. Judicious regulations, calmly but firmly enforced, maintained every thing in order. The men became sensible of the advantagesof wholesome discipline, and perceived that the restraints imposed uponthem by their commander were for their own good, and ultimately productiveof their own comfort. 

Columbus had thus succeeded in guarding against internal ills, whenalarming evils began to menace from without. The Indians, unused to lay upany stock of provisions, and unwilling to subject themselves to extralabor, found it difficult to furnish the quantity of food daily requiredfor so many hungry men. The European trinkets, once so precious, losttheir value, in proportion as they became common. The importance of theadmiral had been greatly diminished by the desertion of so many of hisfollowers; and the malignant instigations of the rebels had awakenedjealousy and enmity in several of the villages which had been accustomedto furnish provisions. 

By degrees, therefore, the supplies fell off. The arrangements for thedaily delivery of certain quantities, made by Diego Mendez, wereirregularly attended to, and at length ceased entirely. The Indians nolonger thronged to the harbor with provisions, and often refused them whenapplied for. The Spaniards were obliged to forage about the neighborhoodfor their daily food; but found more and more difficulty in procuring it;thus, in addition to their other causes for despondency, they began toentertain horrible apprehensions of famine. 

The admiral heard their melancholy forebodings, and beheld the growingevil, but was at a loss for a remedy. To resort to force was analternative full of danger, and of but temporary efficacy. It wouldrequire all those who were well enough to bear arms to sally forth, whilehe and the rest of the infirm would be left defenceless on board of thewreck, exposed to the vengeance of the natives. 

In the meantime, the scarcity daily increased. The Indians perceived thewants of the white men, and had learnt from them the art of makingbargains. They asked ten times the former quantity of European articlesfor any amount of provisions, and brought their supplies in scantyquantities, to enhance the eagerness of the hungry Spaniards. At length, even this relief ceased, and there was an absolute distress for food. Thejealousy of the natives had been universally roused by Porras and hisfollowers, and they withheld all provisions, in hopes either of starvingthe admiral and his people, or of driving them from the island. In thisextremity, a fortunate idea presented itself to Columbus. From hisknowledge of astronomy, he ascertained that, within three days, therewould be a total eclipse of the moon in the early part of the night. Hesent, therefore, an Indian of Hispaniola, who served as his interpreter, to summon the principal caciques to a grand conference, appointing for itthe day of the eclipse. When all were assembled, he told them by hisinterpreter, that he and his followers were worshipers of a Deity whodwelt in the skies; who favored such as did well, but punished alltransgressors. That, as they must all have noticed, he had protected DiegoMendez and his companions in their voyage, because they went in obedienceto the orders of their commander; but had visited Porras and hiscompanions with all kinds of afflictions, in consequence of theirrebellion. This great Deity, he added, was incensed against the Indianswho refused to furnish his faithful worshipers with provisions, andintended to chastise them with famine and pestilence. Lest they shoulddisbelieve this warning, a signal would be given that night. They wouldbehold the moon change its color, and gradually lose its light; a token ofthe fearful punishment which awaited them. 

Many of the Indians were alarmed at the prediction, others treated it withderision, --all, however, awaited with solicitude the coming of the night. When they beheld a dark shadow stealing over the moon, they began totremble; with the progress of the eclipse their fears increased, and whenthey saw a mysterious darkness covering the whole face of nature, therewere no bounds to their terror. Seizing upon whatever provisions were athand, they hurried to the ships, threw themselves at the feet of Columbus, and implored him to intercede, with his God to withhold the threatenedcalamities, assuring him they would thenceforth bring him whatever herequired. Columbus shut himself up in his cabin, as if to commune with theDeity, and remained there during the increase of the eclipse, the forestsand shores all the while resounding with the bowlings and supplications ofthe savages. When the eclipse was about to diminish, he came forth andinformed the natives that his God had deigned to pardon them, on conditionof their fulfilling their promises; in sign of which he would withdraw thedarkness from the moon. 

When the Indians saw that planet restored to its brightness, and rollingin all its beauty through the firmament, they overwhelmed the admiral withthanks for his intercession, and repaired to their homes, joyful at havingescaped such great disasters. Regarding Columbus with awe and reverence, as a man in the peculiar favor and confidence of the Deity, since he knewupon earth what was passing in the heavens, they hastened to propitiatehim with gifts; supplies again arrived daily at the harbor, and from thattime forward, there was no want of provisions. [190]

Chapter IV. 

Mission of Diego de Escobar to the Admiral. 

[1504. ]

Eight months had now elapsed since the departure of Mendez and Fiesco, without any tidings of their fate. For a long time the Spaniards had kepta wistful look-out upon the ocean, flattering themselves that every Indiancanoe, gliding at a distance, might be the harbinger of deliverance. Thehopes of the most sanguine were now fast sinking into despondency. Whatthousand perils awaited such frail barks, and so weak a party, on anexpedition of the kind! Either the canoes had been swallowed up byboisterous waves and adverse currents, or their crews had perished amongthe rugged mountains and savage tribes of Hispaniola. To increase theirdespondency, they were informed that a vessel had been seen, bottomupwards, drifting with the currents along the coasts of Jamaica. Thismight be the vessel sent to their relief; and if so, all their hopes wereshipwrecked with it. This rumor, it is affirmed, was invented andcirculated in the island by the rebels, that it might reach the ears ofthose who remained faithful to the admiral, and reduce them to despair. [191] It no doubt had its effect. Losing all hope of aid from a distance, and considering themselves abandoned and forgotten by the world, manygrew wild and desperate in their plans. Another conspiracy was formed byone Bernardo, an apothecary of Valencia, with two confederates, Alonzode Zamora and Pedro de Villatoro. They designed to seize upon theremaining canoes, and seek their way to Hispaniola. [192]

The mutiny was on the very point of breaking out, when one evening, towards dusk, a sail was seen standing towards the harbor. The transportsof the poor Spaniards may be more easily conceived than described. Thevessel was of small size; it kept out to sea, but sent its boat to visitthe ships. Every eye was eagerly bent to hail the countenances ofChristians and deliverers. As the boat approached, they descried in itDiego de Escobar, a man who had been one of the most active confederatesof Roldan in his rebellion, who had been condemned to death under theadministration of Columbus, and pardoned by his successor Bobadilla. Therewas bad omen in such a messenger. 

Coming alongside of the ships, Escobar put a letter on board from Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, together with a barrel of wine and a side ofbacon, sent as presents to the admiral. He then drew off, and talked withColumbus from a distance. He told him that he was sent by the governor toexpress his great concern at his misfortunes, and his regret at not havingin port a vessel of sufficient size to bring off himself and his people, but that he would send one as soon as possible. Escobar gave the admiralassurances likewise, that his concerns in Hispaniola had been faithfullyattended to. He requested him, if he had any letter to write to thegovernor in reply, to give it to him as soon as possible, as he wished toreturn immediately. 

There was something extremely singular in this mission, but there was notime for comments; Escobar was urgent to depart. Columbus hastened, therefore, to write a reply to Ovando, depicting the dangers anddistresses of his situation, increased as they were by the rebellion ofPorras, but expressing his reliance on his promise to send him relief, confiding in which he should remain patiently on board of his wreck. Herecommended Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco to his favor, assuring himthat they were not sent to San Domingo with any artful design, but simplyto represent his perilous situation, and to apply for succor. WhenEscobar received this letter, he returned immediately on board of hisvessel, which made all sail, and soon disappeared in the gathering gloomof the night. 

If the Spaniards had hailed the arrival of this vessel with transport, itssudden departure and the mysterious conduct of Escobar inspired no lesswonder and consternation. He had kept aloof from all communication withthem, as if he felt no interest in their welfare, or sympathy in theirmisfortunes. Columbus saw the gloom that had gathered in theircountenances, and feared the consequences. He eagerly sought, therefore, to dispel their suspicions, professing himself satisfied with thecommunications received from Ovando, and assuring them that vessels wouldsoon arrive to take them all away. In confidence of this, he said, he haddeclined to depart with Escobar, because his vessel was too small to takethe whole, preferring to remain with them and share their lot, and haddispatched the caravel in such haste that no time might be lost inexpediting the necessary ships. These assurances, and the certainty thattheir situation was known in San Domingo, cheered the hearts of thepeople. Their hopes again revived, and the conspiracy, which had been onthe point of breaking forth, was completely disconcerted. 

In secret, however, Columbus was exceedingly indignant at the conduct ofOvando. He had left him for many months in a state of the utmost danger, and most distressing uncertainty, exposed to the hostilities of thenatives, the seditions of his men, and the suggestions of his own despair. He had, at length, sent a mere tantalizing message, by a man known to beone of his bitterest enemies, with a present of food, which, from itsscantiness, seemed intended to mock their necessities. 

Columbus believed that Ovando had purposely neglected him, hoping that hemight perish on the island, being apprehensive that, should he return insafety, he would be reinstated in the government of Hispaniola; and heconsidered Escobar merely as a spy sent to ascertain the state of himselfand his crew, and whether they were yet in existence. Las Casas, who wasthen at San Domingo, expresses similar suspicions. He says that Escobarwas chosen because Ovando was certain that, from ancient enmity, he wouldhave no sympathy for the admiral. That he was ordered not to go on boardof the vessels, nor to land, neither was he to hold conversation with anyof the crew, nor to receive any letters, except those of the admiral. In aword, that he was a mere scout to collect information. [193]

Others have ascribed the long neglect of Ovando to extreme caution. Therewas a rumor prevalent that Columbus, irritated at the suspension of hisdignities by the court of Spain, intended to transfer his newly-discoveredcountries into the hands of his native republic Genoa, or of some otherpower. Such rumors had long been current, and to their recent circulationColumbus himself alludes in his letter sent to the sovereigns by DiegoMendez. The most plausible apology given, is, that Ovando was absent forseveral months in the interior, occupied in wars with the natives, andthat there were no ships at San Domingo of sufficient burden to takeColumbus and his crew to Spain. He may have feared that, should they cometo reside for any length of time on the island, either the admiral wouldinterfere in public affairs, or endeavor to make a party in his favor; orthat, in consequence of the number of his old enemies still residentthere, former scenes of faction and turbulence might be revived. [194] In the meantime the situation of Columbus in Jamaica, while itdisposed of him quietly until vessels should arrive from Spain, couldnot, he may have thought, be hazardous. He had sufficient force and armsfor defence, and he had made amicable arrangements with the natives forthe supply of provisions, as Diego Mendez, who had made thosearrangements, had no doubt informed him. Such may have been thereasoning by which Ovando, under the real influence of his interest, mayhave reconciled his conscience to a measure which excited the strongreprobation of his contemporaries, and has continued to draw upon himthe suspicions of mankind. 

Chapter V. 

Voyage of Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco in a Canoe to Hispaniola. 

[1504. ]

It is proper to give here some account of the mission of Diego Mendez andBartholomew Fiesco, and of the circumstances which prevented the latterfrom returning to Jamaica. Having taken leave of the Adelantado at theeast end of the island, they continued all day in a direct course, animating the Indians who navigated their canoes, and who frequentlypaused at their labor. There was no wind, the sky was without a cloud, andthe sea perfectly calm; the heat was intolerable, and the rays of the sun, reflected from the surface of the ocean, seemed to scorch their very eyes. The Indians, exhausted by heat and toil, would often leap into the waterto cool and refresh themselves, and, after remaining there a short time, would return with new vigor to their labors. At the going down of the sunthey lost sight of land. During the night the Indians took turns, one halfto row while the others slept. The Spaniards, in like manner, dividedtheir forces: while one half took repose, the others kept guard with theirweapons in hand, ready to defend themselves in case of any perfidy on thepart of their savage companions. 

Watching and toiling in this way through the night, they were exceedinglyfatigued at the return of day. Nothing was to be seen but sea and sky. Their frail canoes, heaving up and down with the swelling and sinking ofthe ocean, seemed scarcely capable of sustaining the broad undulations ofa calm; how would they be able to live amid waves and surges, should thewind arise? The commanders did all they could to keep up the flaggingspirits of the men. Sometimes they permitted them a respite; at othertimes they took the paddles and shared their toils. But labor and fatiguewere soon forgotten in a new source of suffering. During the precedingsultry day and night, the Indians, parched and fatigued, had drunk up allthe water. They now began to experience the torments of thirst. Inproportion as the day advanced, their thirst increased; the calm, whichfavored the navigation of the canoes, rendered this misery the moreintense. There was not a breeze to fan the air, nor counteract the ardentrays of a tropical sun. Their sufferings were irritated by the prospectaround them--nothing but water, while they were perishing with thirst. Atmid-day their strength failed them, and they could work no longer. Fortunately, at this time the commanders of the canoes found, or pretendedto find, two small kegs of water, which they had perhaps secretly reservedfor such an extremity. Administering the precious contents from time totime, in sparing mouthfuls, to their companions, and particularly to thelaboring Indians, they enabled them to resume their toils. They cheeredthem with the hopes of soon arriving at a small island called Navasa, which lay directly in their way, and was only eight leagues fromHispaniola. Here they would be able to procure water, and might takerepose. 

For the rest of the day they continued faintly and wearily laboringforward, and keeping an anxious look-out for the island. The day passedaway, the sun went down, yet there was no sign of land, not even a cloudon the horizon that might deceive them into a hope. According to theircalculations, they had certainly come the distance from Jamaica at whichNavasa lay. They began to fear that they had deviated from their course. If so, they should miss the island entirely, and perish with thirst beforethey could reach Hispaniola. 

The night closed upon them without any sight of the island. They nowdespaired of touching at it, for it was so small and low that, even ifthey were to pass near, they would scarcely be able to perceive it in thedark. One of the Indians sank and died, under the accumulated sufferingsof labor, heat, and raging thirst. His body was thrown into the sea. Others lay panting and gasping at the bottom of the canoes. Theircompanions, troubled in spirit, and exhausted in strength, feeblycontinued their toils. Sometimes they endeavored to cool their parchedpalates by taking sea-water in their mouths, but its briny acrimony ratherincreased their thirst. Now and then, but very sparingly, they wereallowed a drop of water from the kegs; but this was only in cases of theutmost extremity, and principally to those who were employed in rowing. The night had far advanced, but those whose turn it was to take reposewere unable to sleep, from the intensity of their thirst; or if theyslept, it was but to be tantalized with dreams of cool fountains andrunning brooks, and to awaken in redoubled torment. The last drop of waterhad been dealt out to the Indian rowers, but it only served to irritatetheir sufferings. They scarce could move their paddles; one after anothergave up, and it seemed impossible they should live to reach Hispaniola. 

The commanders, by admirable management, had hitherto kept up this wearystruggle with suffering and despair: they now, too, began to despond. Diego Mendez sat watching the horizon, which was gradually lighting upwith those faint rays which precede the rising of the moon. As that planetrose, he perceived it to emerge from behind some dark mass elevated abovethe level of the ocean. He immediately gave the animating cry of "land!"His almost expiring companions were roused by it to new life. It proved tobe the island of Navasa, but so small, and low, and distant, that had itnot been thus revealed by the rising of the moon, they would never havediscovered it. The error in their reckoning with respect to the island hadarisen from miscalculating the rate of sailing of the canoes, and from notmaking sufficient allowance for the fatigue of the rowers and theopposition of the current. 

New vigor was now diffused throughout the crews. They exerted themselveswith feverish impatience; by the dawn of day they reached the land, and, springing on shore, returned thanks to God for such signal deliverance. The island was a mere mass of rocks half a league in circuit. There wasneither tree, nor shrub, nor herbage, nor stream, nor fountain. Hurryingabout, however, with anxious search, they found to their joy abundance ofrain-water in the hollows of the rocks. Eagerly scooping it up with theircalabashes, they quenched their burning thirst by immoderate draughts. Invain the more prudent warned the others of their danger. The Spaniardswere in some degree restrained; but the poor Indians, whose toils hadincreased the fever of their thirst, gave way to a kind of franticindulgence. Several died upon the spot, and others fell dangerously ill. [195]

Having allayed their thirst, they now looked about in search of food. Afew shell-fish were found along the shore, and Diego Mendez, striking alight, and gathering drift-wood, they were enabled to boil them, and tomake a delicious banquet. All day they remained reposing in the shade ofthe rocks, refreshing themselves after their intolerable sufferings, andgazing upon Hispaniola, whose mountains rose above the horizon, at eightleagues distance. 

In the cool of the evening they once more embarked, invigorated by repose, and arrived safely at Cape Tiburon on the following day, the fourth sincetheir departure from Jamaica. Here they landed on the banks of a beautifulriver, where they were kindly received and treated by the natives. Suchare the particulars, collected from different sources, of this adventurousand interesting voyage, on the precarious success of which depended thedeliverance of Columbus and his crews. [196] The voyagers remained for twodays among the hospitable natives on the banks of the river to refreshthemselves. Fiesco would have returned to Jamaica, according to promise, to give assurance to the Admiral and his companions of the safe arrival oftheir messenger; but both Spaniards and Indians had suffered so muchduring the voyage, that nothing could induce them to encounter the perilsof a return in the canoes. 

Parting with his companions, Diego Mendez took six Indians of the island, and set off resolutely to coast in his canoe one hundred and thirtyleagues to San Domingo. After proceeding for eighty leagues, with infinitetoil, always against the currents, and subject to perils from the nativetribes, he was informed that the governor had departed for Xaragua, fiftyleagues distant. Still undaunted by fatigues and difficulties, heabandoned his canoe, and proceeded alone and on foot through forests andover mountains, until he arrived at Xaragua, achieving one of the mostperilous expeditions ever undertaken by a devoted follower for the safetyof his commander. 

Ovando received him with great kindness, expressing the utmost concern atthe unfortunate situation of Columbus. He made many promises of sendingimmediate relief, but suffered day after day, week after week, and evenmonth after month to elapse, without carrying his promises into effect. Hewas at that time completely engrossed by wars with the natives, and had aready plea that there were no ships of sufficient burden at San Domingo. Had he felt a proper zeal, however, for the safety of a man like Columbus, it would have been easy, within eight months, to have devised some means, if not of delivering him from his situation, at least of conveying to himample reinforcements and supplies. 

The faithful Mendez remained for seven months in Xaragua, detained thereunder various pretexts by Ovando, who was unwilling that he should proceedto San Domingo; partly, as is intimated, from his having some jealousy ofhis being employed in secret agency for the admiral, and partly from adesire to throw impediments in the way of his obtaining the requiredrelief. At length, by daily importunity, he obtained permission to go toSan Domingo, and await the arrival of certain ships which were expected, of which he proposed to purchase one on account of the admiral. Heimmediately set out on foot a distance of seventy leagues, part of histoilsome journey lying through forests and among mountains infested byhostile and exasperated Indians. It was after his departure that Ovandodispatched the caravel commanded by the pardoned rebel Escobar, on thatsingular and equivocal visit, which, in the eyes of Columbus, had the airof a mere scouting expedition to spy into the camp of an enemy. 

Chapter VI. 

Overtures of Columbus to the Mutineers. --Battle of the Adelantado withPorras and His Followers. 

[1503. ]

When Columbus had soothed the disappointment of his men at the brief andunsatisfactory visit and sudden departure of Escobar he endeavored to turnthe event to some advantage with the rebels. He knew them to bedisheartened by the inevitable miseries attending a lawless and dissolutelife; that many longed to return to the safe and quiet path of duty; andthat the most malignant, seeing how he had foiled all their intriguesamong the natives to produce a famine, began to fear his ultimate triumphand consequent vengeance. A favorable opportunity, he thought, nowpresented to take advantage of these feelings, and by gentle means tobring them back to their allegiance. He sent two of his people, therefore, who were most intimate with the rebels, to inform them of the recentarrival of Escobar with letters from the Governor of Hispaniola, promisinghim a speedy deliverance from the island. He now offered a free pardon, kind treatment, and a passage with him in the expected ships, on conditionof their immediate return to obedience. To convince them of the arrival ofthe vessel, he sent them a part of the bacon which had been brought byEscobar. 

On the approach of these ambassadors, Francisco de Porras came forth tomeet them, accompanied solely by a few of the ringleaders of his party. Heimagined that there might be some propositions from the admiral, and hewas fearful of their being heard by the mass of his people, who, in theirdissatisfied and repentant mood, would be likely to desert him on theleast prospect of pardon. Having listened to the tidings and overturesbrought by the messengers, he and his confidential confederates consultedfor some time together. Perfidious in their own nature, thev suspected thesincerity of the admiral; and conscious of the extent of their offences, doubted his having the magnanimity to pardon them. Determined, therefore, not to confide in his proffered amnesty, they replied to the messengers, that they had no wish to return to the ships, but preferred living atlarge about the island. They offered to engage, however, to conductthemselves peaceably and amicably, on receiving a solemn promise from theadmiral, that should two vessels arrive, they should have one to departin: should but one arrive, that half of it should be granted to them; andthat, moreover, the admiral should share with them the stores and articlesof Indian traffic remaining in the ships, having lost all that they had, in the sea. These demands were pronounced extravagant and inadmissible, upon which they replied insolently that, if they were not peaceablyconceded, they would take them by force; and with this menace theydismissed the ambassadors. [197]

This conference was not conducted so privately, but that the rest of therebels learnt the purport of the mission; and the offer of pardon anddeliverance occasioned great tumult and agitation. Porras, fearful oftheir desertion, assured them that these offers of the admiral were alldeceitful; that he was naturally cruel and vindictive, and only sought toget them into his power to wreak on them his vengeance. He exhorted themto persist in their opposition to his tyranny; reminding them, that thosewho had formerly done so in Hispaniola, had eventually triumphed, and senthim home in irons; he assured them that they might do the same; and againmade vaunting promises of protection in Spain, through the influence ofhis relatives. But the boldest of his assertions was with respect to thecaravel of Escobar. It shows the ignorance of the age, and thesuperstitious awe which the common people entertained with respect toColumbus and his astronomical knowledge. Porras assured them that no realcaravel had arrived, but a mere phantasm conjured up by the admiral, whowas deeply versed in necromancy. In proof of this, he adverted to itsarriving in the dusk of the evening; its holding communication 'with noone but the admiral, and its sudden disappearance in the night. Had itbeen a real caravel, the crew would have sought to talk with theircountrymen; the admiral, his son and brother, would have eagerly embarkedon board, and it would at any rate have remained a little while in port, and not have vanished so suddenly and mysteriously. [198]

By these, and similar delusions, Porras succeeded in working upon thefeelings and credulity of his followers. Fearful, however, that they mightyield to after reflection, and to further offers from the admiral, hedetermined to involve them in some act of violence which would commit thembeyond all hopes of forgiveness. He marched them, therefore, to an Indianvillage called Maima, [199] about a quarter of a league from the ships, intending to plunder the stores remaining on board the wreck, and to takethe admiral prisoner. [200]

Columbus had notice of the designs of the rebels, and of their approach. Being confined by his infirmities, he sent his brother to endeavor withmild words to persuade them from their purpose, and win them to obedience;but with sufficient force to resist any violence. The Adelantado, who wasa man rather of deeds than of words, took with him fifty followers, men oftried resolution, and ready to fight in any cause. They were well armedand full of courage, though many were pale and debilitated from recentsickness, and from long confinement to the ships. Arriving on the side ofa hill, within a bow-shot of the village, the Adelantado discovered therebels, and dispatched the same two messengers to treat with them, who hadalready carried them the offer of pardon. Porras and his fellow-leaders, however, would not permit them to approach. They confided in thesuperiority of their numbers, and in their men being, for the most part, hardy sailors, rendered robust and vigorous by the roving life they hadbeen leading in the forests and the open air. They knew that many of thosewho were with the Adelantado were men brought up in a softer mode of life. They pointed to their pale countenances, and persuaded their followersthat they were mere household men, fair-weather troops, who could neverstand before them. They did not reflect that, with such men, pride andlofty spirit often more than supply the place of bodily force, and theyforgot that their adversaries had the incalculable advantage of justiceand law upon their side. Deluded by their words, their followers wereexcited to a transient glow of courage, and, brandishing their weapons, refused to listen to the messengers. 

Six of the stoutest rebels made a league to stand by one another andattack the Adelantado; for, he being killed, the rest would be easilydefeated. The main body formed themselves into a squadron, drawing theirswords and shaking their lances. They did not wait to be assailed, but, uttering shouts and menaces, rushed upon the enemy. They were so wellreceived, however, that at the first shock four or five were killed, mostof them the confederates who had leagued to attack the Adelantado. Thelatter, with his own hand, killed Juan Sanchez, the same powerful marinerwho had carried off the cacique Quibian; and Juan Barber also, who hadfirst drawn a sword against the admiral in this rebellion. The Adelantadowith his usual vigor and courage was dealing his blows about him in thethickest of the affray, where several lay killed and wounded, when he wasassailed by Francisco de Porras. The rebel with a blow of his sword cleftthe buckler of Don Bartholomew, and wounded the hand which grasped it. Thesword remained wedged in the shield, and before Porras could withdraw it, the Adelantado closed upon him, grappled him, and, being assisted byothers, after a severe struggle, took him prisoner. [201]

When the rebels beheld their leader a captive, their transient courage wasat an end, and they fled in confusion. The Adelantado would have pursuedthem, but was persuaded to let them escape with the punishment they hadreceived; especially as it was necessary to guard against the possibilityof an attack from the Indians. 

The latter had taken arms and drawn up in battle array, gazing withastonishment at this fight between white men, but without taking part oneither side. When the battle was over, they approached the field, gazingupon the dead bodies of the beings they had once fancied immortal. Theywere curious in examining the wounds made by the Christian weapons. Amongthe wounded insurgents was Pedro Ledesma, the same pilot who so bravelyswam ashore at Veragua, to procure tidings of the colony. He was a man ofprodigious muscular force and a hoarse deep voice. As the Indians, whothought him dead, were inspecting the wounds with which he was literallycovered, he suddenly uttered an ejaculation in his tremendous voice, atthe sound of which the savages fled in dismay. This man, having falleninto a cleft or ravine, was not discovered by the white men until thedawning of the following day, having remained all that time without a dropof water. The number and severity of the wounds he is said to havereceived would seem incredible, but they are mentioned by FernandoColumbus, who was an eye-witness, and by Las Casas, who had the accountfrom Ledesma himself. For want of proper remedies, his wounds were treatedin the roughest manner, yet, through the aid of a vigorous constitution, he completely recovered. Las Casas conversed with him several yearsafterwards at Seville, when he obtained from him various particularsconcerning this voyage of Columbus. Some few days after this conversation, however, he heard that Ledesma had fallen under the knife of an assassin. [202]

The Adelantado returned in triumph to the ships, where he was received bythe admiral in the most affectionate manner; thanking him as hisdeliverer. He brought Porras and several of his followers prisoners. Ofhis own party only two had been wounded; himself in the hand, and theadmiral's steward, who had received an apparently slight wound with alance, equal to one of the most insignificant of those with which Ledesmawas covered; yet, in spite of careful treatment, he died. 

On the next day, the 20th of May, the fugitives sent a petition to theadmiral, signed with all their names, in which, says Las Casas, theyconfessed all their misdeeds, and cruelties, and evil intentions, supplicating the admiral to have pity on them and pardon them for theirrebellion, for which God had already punished them. They offered to returnto their obedience and to serve him faithfully in future, making an oathto that effect upon a cross and a missal, accompanied by an imprecationworthy of being recorded: "They hoped, should they break their oath, thatno priest nor other Christian might ever confess them; that repentancemight be of no avail; that they might be deprived of the holy sacramentsof the church; that at their death they might receive no benefit frombulls nor indulgences; that their bodies might be cast out into the fieldslike those of heretics and renegadoes, instead of being buried in holyground; and that they might not receive absolution from the pope, nor fromcardinals, nor archbishops, nor bishops, nor any other Christian priests. "[203] Such were the awful imprecations by which these men endeavored toadd validity to an oath. The worthlessness of a man's word may always beknown by the extravagant means he uses to enforce it. 

The admiral saw, by the abject nature of this petition, how completely thespirit of these misguided men was broken; with his wonted magnanimity, hereadily granted their prayer, and pardoned their offences; but on onecondition, that their ringleader, Francisco Porras, should remain aprisoner. 

As it was difficult to maintain so many persons on board of the ships, andas quarrels might take place between persons who had so recently been atblows, Columbus put the late followers of Porras under the command of adiscreet and faithful man; and giving in his charge a quantity of Europeanarticles for the purpose of purchasing food of the natives, directed himto forage about the island until the expected vessels should arrive. 

At length, after a long year of alternate hope and despondency, the doubtsof the Spaniards were joyfully dispelled by the sight of two vesselsstanding into the harbor. One proved to be a ship hired and wellvictualed, at the expense of the admiral, by the faithful andindefatigable Diego Mendez; the other had been subsequently fitted out byOvando, and put under the command of Diego de Salcedo, the admiral's agentemployed to collect his rents in San Domingo. 

The long neglect of Ovando to attend to the relief of Columbus had, itseems, roused the public indignation, insomuch that animadversions hadbeen made upon his conduct even in the pulpits. This is affirmed by LasCasas, who was at San Domingo at the time. If the governor had reallyentertained hopes that, during the delay of relief, Columbus might perishin the island, the report brought back by Escobar must have completelydisappointed him. No time was to be lost if he wished to claim any meritin his deliverance, or to avoid the disgrace of having totally neglectedhim. He exerted himself, therefore, at the eleventh hour, and dispatched acaravel at the same time with the ship sent by Diego Mendez. The latter, having faithfully discharged this part of his mission, and seen the shipsdepart, proceeded to Spain on the further concerns of the admiral. [204]

Book XVII. 

Chapter I. 

Administration of Ovando in Hispaniola. --Oppression of the Natives. 

[1503. ]

Before relating the return of Columbus to Hispaniola, it is proper tonotice some of the principal occurrences which took place in that islandunder the government of Ovando. A great crowd of adventurers of variousranks had thronged his fleet--eager speculators, credulous dreamers, andbroken-down gentlemen of desperate fortunes; all expecting to enrichthemselves suddenly in an island where gold was to be picked up from thesurface of the soil, or gathered from the mountain-brooks. They hadscarcely landed, says Las Casas, who accompanied the expedition, when theyall hurried off to the mines, about eight leagues distant. The roadsswarmed like ant-hills, with adventurers of all classes. Every one had hisknapsack stored with biscuit or flour, and his mining implements on hisshoulders. Those hidalgos, or gentlemen, who had no servants to carrytheir burdens, bore them on their own backs, and lucky was he who had ahorse for the journey; he would be able to bring back the greater load oftreasure. They all set out in high spirits, eager who should first reachthe golden land; thinking they had but to arrive at the mines, and collectriches; "for they fancied, " says Las Casas, "that gold was to be gatheredas easily and readily as fruit from the trees. " When they arrived, however, they discovered, to their dismay, that it was necessary to digpainfully into the bowels of the earth--a labor to which most of them hadnever been accustomed; that it required experience and sagacity to detectthe veins of ore; that, in fact, the whole process of mining wasexceedingly toilsome, demanded vast patience and much experience, and, after all, was full of uncertainty. They digged eagerly for a time, butfound no ore. They grew hungry, threw by their implements, sat down toeat, and then returned to work. It was all in vain. "Their labor, " saysLas Casas, "gave them a keen appetite and quick digestion, but no gold. "They soon consumed their provisions, exhausted their patience, cursedtheir infatuation, and in eight days set off drearily on their returnalong the roads they had lately trod so exultingly. They arrived at SanDomingo without an ounce of gold, half-famished, downcast, and despairing. [205] Such is too often the case of those who ignorantly engage inmining--of all speculations the most brilliant, promising, and fallacious. 

Poverty soon fell upon these misguided men. They exhausted the littleproperty brought from Spain. Many suffered extremely from hunger, and wereobliged to exchange even their apparel for bread. Some formed connectionswith the old settlers of the island; but the greater part were like menlost and bewildered, and just awakened from a dream. The miseries of themind, as usual, heightened the sufferings of the body. Some wasted awayand died broken-hearted; others were hurried off by raging fevers, so thatthere soon perished upwards of a thousand men. 

Ovando was reputed a man of great prudence and sagacity, and he certainlytook several judicious measures for the regulation of the island, and therelief of the colonists. He made arrangements for distributing the marriedpersons and the families which had come out in his fleet, in four towns inthe interior, granting them important privileges. He revived the droopingzeal for mining, by reducing the royal share of the product from one-halfto a third, and shortly after to a fifth; but he empowered the Spaniardsto avail themselves, in the most oppressive manner, of the labor of theunhappy natives in working the mines. The charge of treating the nativeswith severity had been one of those chiefly urged against Columbus. It isproper, therefore, to notice, in this respect, the conduct of hissuccessor, a man chosen for his prudence, and his supposed capacity togovern. 

It will be recollected, that when Columbus was in a manner compelled toassign lands to the rebellious followers of Francisco Roldan, in 1499, hehad made an arrangement that the caciques in their vicinity should, inlieu of tribute, furnish a number of their subjects to assist them incultivating their estates. This, as has been observed, was thecommencement of the disastrous system of repartimientos, or distributionsof Indians. When Bobadilla administered the government, he constrained thecaciques to furnish a certain number of Indians to each Spaniard, for thepurpose of working the mines; where they were employed like beasts ofburden. He made an enumeration of the natives, to prevent evasion; reducedthem into classes, and distributed them among the Spanish inhabitants. Theenormous oppressions which ensued have been noticed. They roused theindignation of Isabella; and when Ovando was sent out to supersedeBobadilla, in 1502, the natives were pronounced free; they immediatelyrefused to labor in the mines. 

Ovando represented to the Spanish sovereigns, in 1503, that ruinousconsequences resulted to the colony from this entire liberty granted tothe Indians. He stated that the tribute could not be collected, for theIndians were lazy and improvident; that they could only be kept from vicesand irregularities by occupation; that they now kept aloof from theSpaniards, and from all instruction in the Christian faith. 

The last representation had an influence with Isabella, and drew a letterfrom the sovereigns to Ovando, in 1503, in which he was ordered to spareno pains to attach the natives to the Spanish nation and the Catholicreligion. To make them labor moderately, if absolutely essential to theirown good; but to temper authority with persuasion and kindness. To paythem regularly and fairly for their labor, and to have them instructed inreligion on certain days. 

Ovando availed himself of the powers given him by this letter, to theirfullest extent. He assigned to each Castilian a certain number of Indians, according to the quality of the applicant, the nature of the application, or his own pleasure. It was arranged in the form of an order on a caciquefor a certain number of Indians, who were to be paid by their employer, and instructed in the Catholic faith. The pay was so small as to be littlebetter than nominal; the instruction was little more than the mereceremony of baptism; and the term of labor was at first six months, andthen eight months in the year. Under cover of this hired labor, intendedfor the good both of their bodies and their souls, more intolerable toilwas exacted from them, and more horrible cruelties were inflicted, than inthe worst days of Bobadilla. They were separated often the distance ofseveral days' journey from their wives and children, and doomed tointolerable labor of all kinds, extorted by the cruel infliction of thelash. For food they had the cassava bread, an unsubstantial support formen obliged to labor; sometimes a scanty portion of pork was distributedamong a great number of them, scarce a mouthful to each. When theSpaniards who superintended the mines were at their repast, says LasCasas, the famished Indians scrambled under the table, like dogs, for anybone thrown to them. After they had gnawed and sucked it, they pounded itbetween stones and mixed it with their cassava bread, that nothing of soprecious a morsel might be lost. As to those who labored in the fields, they never tasted either flesh or fish; a little cassava bread and a fewroots were their support. While the Spaniards thus withheld thenourishment necessary to sustain their health and strength, they exacted adegree of labor sufficient to break down the most vigorous man. If theIndians fled from this incessant toil and barbarous coercion, and tookrefuge in the mountains, they were hunted out like wild beasts, scourgedin the most inhuman manner, and laden with chains to prevent a secondescape. Many perished long before their term of labor had expired. Thosewho survived their term of six or eight months, were permitted to returnto their homes, until the next term commenced. But their homes were oftenforty, sixty, and eighty leagues distant. They had nothing to sustain themthrough the journey but a few roots or agi peppers, or a little cassavabread. Worn down by long toil and cruel hardships, which their feebleconstitutions were incapable of sustaining, many had not strength toperform the journey, but sank down and died by the way; some by the sideof a brook, others under the shade of a tree, where they had crawled forshelter from the sun. "I have found many dead in the road, " says LasCasas, "others gasping under the trees, and others in the pangs of death, faintly crying, Hunger! hunger!" [206] Those who reached their homes mostcommonly found them desolate. During the eight months they had beenabsent, their wives and children had either perished or wandered away;the fields on which they depended for food were overrun with weeds, andnothing was left them but to lie down, exhausted and despairing, and dieat the threshold of their habitations. [207]

It is impossible to pursue any further the picture drawn by the venerableLas Casas, not of what he had heard, but of what he had seen; nature andhumanity revolt at the details. Suffice it to say that, so intolerablewere the toils and sufferings inflicted upon this weak and unoffendingrace, that they sank under them, dissolving, as it were, from the face ofthe earth. Many killed themselves in despair, and even mothers overcamethe powerful instinct of nature, and destroyed the infants at theirbreasts, to spare them a life of wretchedness. Twelve years had notelapsed since the discovery of the island, and several hundred thousand ofits native inhabitants had perished, miserable victims to the graspingavarice of the white men. 

Chapter II. 

Massacre at Xaragua. --Fate of Anacaona. 

[1503. ]

The sufferings of the natives under the civil policy of Ovando have beenbriefly shown; it remains to give a concise view of the militaryoperations of this commander, so lauded by certain of the early historiansfor his prudence. By this notice a portion of the eventful history of thisisland will be recounted which is connected with the fortunes of Columbus, and which comprises the thorough subjugation, and, it may also be said, extermination of the native inhabitants. And first, we must treat of thedisasters of the beautiful province of Xaragua, the seat of hospitality, the refuge of the suffering Spaniards; and of the fate of the femalecacique, Anacaona, once the pride of the island, and the generous friendof white men. 

Behechio, the ancient cacique of this province, being dead, Anacaona, hissister, had succeeded to the government. The marked partiality which sheonce manifested for the Spaniards had been greatly weakened by the generalmisery they had produced in her country; and by the brutal profligacyexhibited in her immediate dominions by the followers of Roldan. Theunhappy story of the loves of her beautiful daughter Higuenamota, with theyoung Spaniard Hernando de Guevara, had also caused her great affliction;and, finally, the various and enduring hardships inflicted on her oncehappy subjects by the grinding systems of labor enforced by Bobadilla andOvando, had at length, it is said, converted her friendship into absolutedetestation. 

This disgust was kept alive and aggravated by the Spaniards who lived inher immediate neighborhood, and had obtained grants of land there; aremnant of the rebel faction of Roldan, who retained the grosslicentiousness and open profligacy in which they had been indulged underthe loose misrule of that commander, and who made themselves odious to theinferior caciques, by exacting services tyrannically and capriciouslyunder the baneful system of repartimientos. 

The Indians of this province were uniformly represented as a moreintelligent, polite, and generous-spirited race than any others of theislands. They were the more prone to feel and resent the overbearingtreatment to which they were subjected. Quarrels sometimes took placebetween the caciques and their oppressors. These were immediately reportedto the governor as dangerous mutinies; and a resistance to any capriciousand extortionate exaction was magnified into a rebellious resistance tothe authority of government. Complaints of this kind were continuallypouring in upon Ovando, until he was persuaded by some alarmist, or somedesigning mischief-maker, that there was a deep-laid conspiracy among theIndians of this province to rise upon the Spaniards. 

Ovando immediately set out for Xaragua at the head of three hundredfoot-soldiers, armed with swords, arquebuses, and cross-bows, and seventyhorsemen, with cuirasses, bucklers, and lances. He pretended that he wasgoing on a mere visit of friendship to Anacaona, and to make arrangementsabout the payment of tribute. 

When Anacaona heard of the intended visit, she summoned all her tributarycaciques, and principal subjects, to assemble at her chief town, that theymight receive the commander of the Spaniards with becoming homage anddistinction. As Ovando, at the head of his little army, approached, shewent forth to meet him, according to the custom of her nation, attended bya great train of her most distinguished subjects, male and female; who, ashas been before observed, were noted for superior grace and beauty. Theyreceived the Spaniards with their popular areytos, their national songs;the young women waving palm branches and dancing before them, in the waythat had so much charmed the followers of the Adelantado, on his firstvisit to the province. 

Anacaona treated the governor with that natural graciousness and dignityfor which she was celebrated. She gave him the largest house in the placefor his residence, and his people were quartered in the houses adjoining. For several days the Spaniards were entertained with all the naturalluxuries that the province aiforded. National songs and dances and gameswere performed for their amusement, and there was every outwarddemonstration of the same hospitality, the same amity, that Anacaona haduniformly shown to white men. 

Notwithstanding all this kindness, and notwithstanding her uniformintegrity of conduct, and open generosity of character, Ovando waspersuaded that Anacaoua was secretly meditating a massacre of himself andhis followers. Historians tell us nothing of the grounds for such abelief. It was too probably produced by the misrepresentations of theunprincipled adventurers who infested the province. Ovando should havepaused and reflected before he acted upon it. He should have consideredthe improbability of such an attempt by naked Indians against so large aforce of steel-clad troops, armed with European weapons: and he shouldhave reflected upon the general character and conduct of Anacaona. At anyrate, the example set repeatedly by Columbus and his brother theAdelantado, should have convinced him that it was a sufficient safeguardagainst the machinations of the natives, to seize upon their caciques anddetain them as hostages. The policy of Ovando, however, was of a more rashand sanguinary nature; he acted upon suspicion as upon conviction. Hedetermined to anticipate the alleged plot by a counter-artifice, and tooverwhelm this defenceless people in an indiscriminate and bloodyvengeance. 

As the Indians had entertained their guests with various national games, Ovando invited them in return to witness certain games of his country. Among these was a tilting match or joust with reeds; a chivalrous gamewhich the Spaniards had learnt from the Moors of Granada. The Spanishcavalry, in those days, were as remarkable for the skillful management, asfor the ostentatious caparison of their horses. Among the troops broughtout from Spain by Ovando, one horseman had disciplined his horse to pranceand curvet in time to the music of a viol. [208] The joust was appointedto take place of a Sunday after dinner, in the public square, before thehouse where Ovando was quartered. The cavalry and foot-soldiers had theirsecret instructions. The former were to parade, not merely with reeds orblunted tilting lances, but with weapons of a more deadly character. Thefoot-soldiers were to come apparently as mere spectators, but likewisearmed and ready for action at a concerted signal. 

At the appointed time the square was crowded with the Indians, waiting tosee this military spectacle. The caciques were assembled in the house ofOvando, which looked upon the square. None were armed; an unreservedconfidence prevailed among them, totally incompatible with the darktreachery of which they were accused. To prevent all suspicion, and takeoff all appearance of sinister design, Ovando, after dinner, was playingat quoits with some of his principal officers, when the cavalry havingarrived in the square, the caciques begged the governor to order the joustto commence. [209] Anacaona, and her beautiful daughter Higuenamota, withseveral of her female attendants, were present and joined in the request. 

Ovando left his game and came forward to a conspicuous place. When he sawthat every thing was disposed according to his orders, he gave the fatalsignal. Some say it was by taking hold of a piece of gold which wassuspended about his neck; [210] others by laying his hand on the cross ofAlcantara, which was embroidered on his habit. [211] A trumpet wasimmediately sounded. The house in which Anacaona and all the principalcaciques were assembled was surrounded by soldiery, commanded by DiegoVelasquez and Rodrigo Mexiatrillo, and no one was permitted to escape. They entered, and seizing upon the caciques, bound them to the posts whichsupported the roof. Anacaona was led forth a prisoner. The unhappycaciques were then put to horrible tortures, until some of them, in theextremity of anguish, were made to accuse their queen and themselves ofthe plot with which they were charged. When this cruel mockery ofjudicial form had been executed, instead of preserving them forafter-examination, fire was set to the house, and all the caciquesperished miserably in the flames. 

While these barbarities were practised upon the chieftains, a horriblemassacre took place among the populace. At the signal of Ovando, thehorsemen rushed into the midst of the naked and defenceless throng, trampling them under the hoofs of their steeds, cutting them down withtheir swords, and transfixing them with their spears. No mercy was shownto age or sex; it was a savage and indiscriminate butchery. Now and then aSpanish horseman, either through an emotion of pity, or an impulse ofavarice, caught up a child, to bear it off in safety; but it wasbarbarously pierced by the lances of his companions. Humanity turns withhorror from such atrocities, and would fain discredit them; but they arecircumstantially and still more minutely recorded by the venerable bishopLas Casas, who was resident in the island at the time, and conversant withthe principal actors in this tragedy. He may have colored the picturestrongly, in his usual indignation when the wrongs of the Indians are inquestion; yet, from all concurring accounts, and from many precise factswhich speak for themselves, the scene must have been most sanguinary andatrocious. Oviedo, who is loud in extolling the justice, and devotion, andcharity, and meekness of Ovando, and his kind treatment of the Indians;and who visited the province of Xaragua a few years afterwards, recordsseveral of the preceding circumstances; especially the cold-blooded gameof quoits played by the governor on the verge of such a horrible scene, and the burning of the caciques, to the number, he says, of more thanforty. Diego Mendez, who was at Xaragua at the time, and doubtless presenton such an important occasion, says incidentally, in his last will andtestament, that there were eighty-four caciques either burnt or hanged. [212] Las Casas says, that there were eighty who entered the house withAnacaona. The slaughter of the multitude must have been great; and thiswas inflicted on an unarmed and unresisting throng. Several who escapedfrom the massacre fled in their canoes to an island about eight leaguesdistant, called Guanabo. They were pursued and taken, and condemned toslavery. 

As to the princess Anacaona, she was carried in chains to San Domingo. Themockery of a trial was given her, in which she was found guilty on theconfessions wrung by tortures from her subjects, and on the testimony oftheir butchers; and she was ignominiously hanged in the presence of thepeople whom she had so long and so signally befriended. [213] Oviedo hassought to throw a stigma on the character of this unfortunate princess, accusing her of great licentiousness; but he was prone to criminate thecharacter of the native princes, who fell victims to the ingratitude andinjustice of his countrymen. Contemporary writers of greater authorityhave concurred in representing Anacaona as remarkable for her nativepropriety and dignity. She was adored by her subjects, so as to hold akind of dominion over them even during the lifetime of her brother; sheis said to have been skilled in composing the areytos, or legendaryballads of her nation, and may have conduced much towards producing thatsuperior degree of refinement remarked among her people. Her grace andbeauty had made her renowned throughout the island, and had excited theadmiration both of the savage and the Spaniard. Her magnanimous spiritwas evinced in her amicable treatment of the white men, although herhusband, the brave Caonabo, had perished a prisoner in their hands; anddefenceless parties of them had been repeatedly in her power, and livedat large in her dominions. After having, for several years, neglectedall safe opportunities of vengeance, she fell a victim to the absurdcharge of having conspired against an armed body of nearly four hundredmen, seventy of them horsemen; a force sufficient to have subjugatedlarge armies of naked Indians. 

After the massacre of Xaragua, the destruction of its inhabitants stillcontinued. The favorite nephew of Anacaona, the cacique Guaora, who hadfled to the mountains, was hunted like a wild beast, until he was taken, and likewise hanged. For six months the Spaniards continued ravaging thecountry with horse and foot, under pretext of quelling insurrections; for, wherever the affrighted natives took refuge in their despair, herding indismal caverns and in the fastnesses of the mountains, they wererepresented as assembling in arms to make a head of rebellion. Having atlength hunted them out of their retreats, destroyed many, and reduced thesurvivors to the most deplorable misery and abject submission, the wholeof that part of the island was considered as restored to good order; andin commemoration of this great triumph, Ovando founded a town near to thelake, which he called Santa Maria de la Verdadera Paz (St. Mary of theTrue Peace). [214]

Such is the tragical history of the delightful region of Xaragua, and ofits amiable and hospitable people. A place which the Europeans, by theirown account, found a perfect paradise, but which, by their vile passions, they filled with horror and desolation. 

Chapter III. 

War with the Natives of Higuey. 

[1504. ]

The subjugation of four of the Indian sovereignties of Hispaniola, and thedisastrous fate of their caciques, have been already related. Under theadministration of Ovando, was also accomplished the downfall of Higuey, the last of those independent districts; a fertile province whichcomprised the eastern extremity of the island. 

The people of Higuey were of a more warlike spirit than those of the otherprovinces, having learned the effectual use of their weapons, fromfrequent contests with their Carib invaders. They were governed by acacique named Cotabanama. Las Casas describes this chieftain from actualobservation, and draws the picture of a native hero. He was, he says, thestrongest of his tribe, and more perfectly formed than one man in athousand of any nation whatever. He was taller in stature than the tallestof his countrymen, a yard in breadth from shoulder to shoulder, and therest of his body in admirable proportion. His aspect was not handsome, butgrave and courageous. His bow was not easily bent by a common man; hisarrows were three-pronged, tipped with the bones of fishes, and hisweapons appeared to be intended for a giant. In a word, he was so noblyproportioned, as to be the admiration even of the Spaniards. 

While Cloumbus was engaged in his fourth voyage, and shortly after theaccession of Ovando to office, there was an insurrection of this caciqueand his people. A shallop, with eight Spaniards, was surprised at thesmall island of Saona, adjacent to Higuey, and all the crew slaughtered. This was in revenge for the death of a cacique, torn to pieces by a dogwantonly set upon him by a Spaniard, and for which the natives had in vainsued for redress. 

Ovando immediately dispatched Juan de Esquibel, a courageous officer, atthe head of four hundred men, to quell the insurrection, and punish themassacre. Cotabanama assembled his warriors, and prepared for vigorousresistance. Distrustful of the mercy of the Spaniards, the chieftainrejected all overtures of peace, and the war was prosecuted with someadvantage to the natives. The Indians had now overcome their superstitiousawe of the white men as supernatural beings, and though they could illwithstand the superiority of European arms, they manifested a courage anddexterity that rendered them enemies not to be despised. Las Casas andother historians relate a bold and romantic encounter between a singleIndian and two mounted cavaliers named Valtenebro and Portevedra, in whichthe Indian, though pierced through the body by the lances and swords ofboth his assailants, retained his fierceness, and continued the combat, until he fell dead in the possession of all their weapons. [215] Thisgallant action, says Las Casas, was public and notorious. 

The Indians were soon defeated and driven to their mountain retreats. TheSpaniards pursued them into their recesses, discovered their wives andchildren, wreaked on them the most indiscriminate slaughter, and committedtheir chieftains to the flames. An aged female cacique of greatdistinction, named Higuanama, being taken prisoner, was hanged. 

A detachment was sent in a caravel to the island of Saona, to takeparticular vengeance for the destruction of the shallop and its crew. Thenatives made a desperate defence and fled. The island was mountainous, andfull of caverns, in which the Indians vainly sought for refuge. Six orseven hundred were imprisoned in a dwelling, and all put to the sword orponiarded. Those of the inhabitants who were spared were carried off asslaves; and the island was left desolate and deserted. 

The natives of Higuey were driven to despair, seeing that there was noescape for them even in the bowels of the earth: [216] they sued forpeace, which was granted them, and protection promised on condition oftheir cultivating a large tract of land, and paying a great quantity ofbread in tribute. The peace being concluded, Cotabanama visited theSpanish camp, where his gigantic proportions and martial demeanor madehim an object of curiosity and admiration. He was received with greatdistinction by Esquibel, and they exchanged names; an Indian league offraternity and perpetual friendship. The natives thenceforward called thecacique Juan de Esquibel, and the Spanish commander Cotabanama. Esquibelthen built a wooden fortress in an Indian village near the sea, and leftin it nine men, with a captain named Martin de Villaman. After this, thetroops dispersed, every man returning home, with his proportion of slavesgained in this expedition. 

The pacification was not of long continuance, About the time that succorswere sent to Columbus, to rescue him from the wrecks of his vessels atJamaica, a new revolt broke out in Higuey, in consequence of theoppressions of the Spaniards, and a violation of the treaty made byEsquibel. Martin de Villaman demanded that the natives should not onlyraise the grain stipulated for by the treaty, but convey it to SanDomingo, and he treated them with the greatest severity on their refusal. He connived also at the licentious conduct of his men towards the Indianwomen; the Spaniards often taking from the natives their daughters andsisters, and even their wives. [217] The Indians, roused at last to fury, rose on their tyrants, slaughtered them, and burnt their wooden fortressto the ground. Only one of the Spaniards escaped, and bore the tidingsof this catastrophe to the city of San Domingo. 

Ovando gave immediate orders to carry fire and sword into the province ofHiguey. The Spanish troops mustered from various quarters on the confinesof that province, when Juan de Esquibel took the command, and had a greatnumber of Indians with him as allies. The towns of Higuey were generallybuilt among the mountains. Those mountains rose in terraces, from ten tofifteeen leagues in length and breadth; rough and rocky, interspersed withglens of a red soil, remarkably fertile, where they raised their cassavabread. The ascent from terrace to terrace was about fifty feet; steep andprecipitous, formed of the living rock, and resembling a wall wrought withtools into rough diamond points. Each village had four wide streets, astone's throw in length, forming a cross, the trees being cleared awayfrom them, and from a public square in the centre. 

When the Spanish troops arrived on the frontiers, alarm-fires along themountains and columns of smoke spread the intelligence by night and day. The old men, the women, and children, were sent off to the forests andcaverns, and the warriors prepared for battle. The Castilians paused inone of the plains clear of forests, where their horses could be of use. They made prisoners of several of the natives, and tried to learn fromthem the plans and forces of the enemy. They applied tortures for thepurpose, but in vain, so devoted was the loyalty of these people to theircaciques. The Spaniards penetrated into the interior. They found thewarriors of several towns assembled in one, and drawn up in the streetswith their bows and arrows, but perfectly naked, and without defensivearmor. They uttered tremendous yells, and discharged a shower of arrows;but from such a distance, that they fell short of their foe. The Spaniardsreplied with their cross-bows, and with two or three arquebuses, for atthis time they had but few firearms. When the Indians saw several of theircomrades fall dead, they took to flight, rarely waiting for the attackwith swords: some of the wounded, in whose bodies the arrows from thecross-bows had penetrated to the very feather, drew them out with theirhands, broke them with their teeth, and hurling them at the Spaniards withimpotent fury, fell dead upon the spot. 

The whole force of the Indians was routed and dispersed, each family, orband of neighbors, fled in its own direction, and concealed itself in thefastness of the mountains. The Spaniards pursued them, but found the chasedifficult amidst the close forests, and the broken and stony heights. Theytook several prisoners as guides, and inflicted incredible torments onthem, to compel them to betray their countrymen. They drove them beforethem, secured by cords fastened round their necks; and some of them, asthey passed along the brinks of precipices, suddenly threw themselvesheadlong down, in hopes of dragging after them the Spaniards. When atlength the pursuers came upon the unhappy Indians in their concealments, they spared neither age nor sex; even pregnant women, and mothers withinfants in their arms, fell beneath their merciless swords. Thecold-blooded acts of cruelty which followed this first slaughter would beshocking to relate. 

Hence Esquibel marched to attack the town where Cotabanama resided, andwhere that cacique had collected a great force to resist him. He proceededdirect for the place along the sea-coast, and came to where two roads ledup the mountain to the town. One of the roads was open and inviting; thebranches of the trees being lopped, and all the underwood cleared away. Here the Indians had stationed an ambuscade to take the Spaniards in therear. The other road was almost closed up by trees and bushes cut down andthrown across each other. Esquibel was wary and distrustful; he suspectedthe stratagem, and chose the encumbered road. The town was about a leagueand a half from the sea. The Spaniards made their way with greatdifficulty for the first half league. The rest of the road was free fromall embarrassment, which confirmed their suspicion of a stratagem. Theynow advanced with great rapidity, and, having arrived near the village, suddenly turned into the other road, took the party in ambush by surprise, and made great havoc among them with their cross-bows. 

The warriors now sallied from their concealment, others rushed out of thehouses into the streets, and discharged flights of arrows, but from such adistance as generally to fall harmless. They then approached nearer, andhurled stones with their hands, being unacquainted with the use of slings. Instead of being dismayed at seeing their companions fall, it ratherincreased their fury. An irregular battle, probably little else than wildskirmishing and bush-fighting, was kept up from two o'clock in theafternoon until night. Las Casas was present on the occasion, and, fromhis account, the Indians must have shown instances of great personalbravery, though the inferiority of their weapons, and the want of alldefensive armor, rendered their valor totally ineffectual. As the eveningshut in, their hostilities gradually ceased, and they disappeared in theprofound gloom and close thickets of the surrounding forest. A deepsilence succeeded to their yells and war-whoops, and throughout the nightthe Spaniards remained in undisturbed possession of the village. 

Chapter IV. 

Close of the War with Higuey. --Fate of Cotabanama. 

[1504. ]

On the morning after the battle, not an Indian was to be seen. Findingthat even their great chief, Cotabanama, was incapable of vying with theprowess of the white men, they had given up the contest in despair, andfled to the mountains. The Spaniards, separating into small parties, hunted them with the utmost diligence; their object was to seize thecaciques, and, above all, Cotabanama. They explored all the glens andconcealed paths leading into the wild recesses where the fugitives hadtaken refuge. The Indians were cautious and stealthy in their mode ofretreating, treading in each other's foot-prints, so that twenty wouldmake no more track than one, and stepping so lightly as scarce to disturbthe herbage; yet there were Spaniards so skilled in hunting Indians, thatthey could trace them even by the turn of a withered leaf, and among theconfused tracks of a thousand animals. 

They could scent afar off, also, the smoke of the fires which the Indiansmade whenever they halted, and thus they would come upon them in theirmost secret haunts. Sometimes they would hunt down a straggling Indian, and compel him, by torments, to betray the hiding-place of his companions, binding him and driving him before them as a guide. Wherever theydiscovered one of these places of refuge, filled with the aged and theinfirm, with feeble women and helpless children, they massacred themwithout mercy. They wished to inspire terror throughout the land, and tofrighten the whole tribe into submission. They cut off the hands of thosewhom they took roving at large, and sent them, as they said, to deliverthem as letters to their friends, demanding their surrender. Numberlesswere those, says Las Casas, whose hands were amputated in this manner, andmany of them sank down and died by the way, through anguish and loss ofblood. 

The conquerors delighted in exercising strange and ingenious cruelties. They mingled horrible levity with their blood-thirstiness. They erectedgibbets long and low, so that the feet of the sufferers might reach theground, and their death be lingering. They hanged thirteen together, inreverence, says the indignant Las Casas, of our blessed Saviour and thetwelve apostles. While their victims were suspended, and still living, they hacked them with their swords, to prove the strength of their armsand the edge of their weapons. They wrapped them in dry straw, and settingfire to it, terminated their existence by the fiercest agony. 

These are horrible details, yet a veil is drawn over others still moredetestable. They are related circumstantially by Las Casas, who was aneye-witness. He was young at the time, but records them in his advancedyears. "All these things, " says the venerable Bishop, "and othersrevolting to human nature, did my own eyes behold; and now I almost fearto repeat them, scarce believing myself, or whether I have not dreamtthem. " [218]

These details would have been withheld from the present work asdisgraceful to human nature, and from an unwillingness to advance anything which might convey a stigma upon a brave and generous nation. But itwould be a departure from historical veracity, having the documents beforemy eyes, to pass silently over transactions so atrocious, and vouched forby witnesses beyond all suspicion of falsehood. Such occurrences show theextremity to which human cruelty may extend, when stimulated by avidity ofgain; by a thirst of vengeance; or even by a perverted zeal in the holycause of religion. Every nation has in turn furnished proofs of thisdisgraceful truth. As in the present instance, they are commonly thecrimes of individuals rather than of the nation. Yet it behoovesgovernments to keep a vigilant eye upon those to whom they delegate powerin remote and helpless colonies. It is the imperious duty of the historianto place these matters upon record, that they may serve as warning beaconsto future generations. 

Juan de Esquibel found that, with all his severities, it would beimpossible to subjugate the tribe of Higuey, as long as the caciqueCotabanama was at large. That chieftain had retired to the little islandof Saona, about two leagues from the coast of Higuey, in the centre ofwhich, amidst a labyrinth of rocks and forests, he had taken shelter withhis wife and children in a vast cavern. 

A caravel, recently arrived from the city of San Domingo with supplies forthe camp, was employed by Esquibel to entrap the cacique. He knew that thelatter kept a vigilant look-out, stationing scouts upon the lofty rocks ofhis island to watch the movements of the caravel. Esquibel departed bynight, therefore, in the vessel, with fifty followers, and keeping underthe deep shadows cast by the land, arrived at Saona unperceived, at thedawn of morning. Here he anchored close in with the shore, hid by itscliffs and forests, and landed forty men, before the spies of Cotabanamahad taken their station. Two of these were surprised and brought toEsquibel, who, having learnt from them that the cacique was at hand, poniarded one of the spies, and bound the other, making him serve asguide. 

A number of Spaniards ran in advance, each anxious to signalize himself bythe capture of the cacique. They came to two roads, and the whole partypursued that to the right, excepting one Juan Lopez, a powerful man, skillful in Indian warfare. He proceeded in a footpath to the left, winding among little hills, so thickly wooded that it was impossible tosee any one at the distance of half a bow-shot. Suddenly, in a narrowpass, overshadowed by rocks and trees, he encountered twelve Indianwarriors, armed with bows and arrows, and following each other in singlefile according to their custom. The Indians were confounded at the sightof Lopez, imagining that there must be a party of soldiers behind him. They might readily have transfixed him with their arrows, but they hadlost all presence of mind. He demanded their chieftain. They replied thathe was behind, and, opening to let him pass, Lopez beheld the cacique inthe rear. At sight of the Spaniard, Cotabanama bent his gigantic bow, andwas on the point of launching one of his three-pronged arrows, but Lopezrushed upon him and wounded him with his sword. The other Indians, struckwith panic, had already fled. Cotabanama, dismayed at the keenness of thesword, cried out that he was Juan de Esquibel, claiming respect as havingexchanged names with the Spanish commander. Lopez seized him with one handby the hair, and with the other aimed a thrust at his body; but thecacique struck down the sword with his hand, and, grappling with hisantagonist, threw him with his back upon the rocks. As they were both menof great power, the struggle was long and violent. The sword was beneaththem, but Cotabanama, seizing the Spaniard by the throat with his mightyhand, attempted to strangle him. The sound of the contest brought theother Spaniards to the spot. They found their companion writhing andgasping, and almost dead, in the gripe of the gigantic Indian. They seizedthe cacique, bound him, and carried him captive to a deserted Indianvillage in the vicinity. They found the way to his secret cave, but hiswife and children, having received notice of his capture by the fugitiveIndians, had taken refuge in another part of the island. In the cavern wasfound the chain with which a number of Indian captives had been bound, whohad risen upon and slain three Spaniards who had them in charge, and hadmade their escape to this island. There were also the swords of the sameSpaniards, which they had brought off as trophies to their cacique. Thechain was now employed to manacle Cotabanama. 

The Spaniards prepared to execute the chieftain on the spot, in the centreof the deserted village. For this purpose a pyre was built of logs of woodlaid crossways, in form of a gridiron, on which he was to be slowlybroiled to death. On further consultation, however, they were induced toforego the pleasure of this horrible sacrifice. Perhaps they thought thecacique too important a personage to be executed thus obscurely. Grantinghim, therefore, a transient reprieve, they conveyed him to the caravel, and sent him, bound with heavy chains, to San Domingo. Ovando saw him inhis power, and incapable of doing further harm; but he had not themagnanimity to forgive a fallen enemy, whose only crime was the defence ofhis native soil and lawful territority. He ordered him to be publiclyhanged like a common culprit. [219] In this ignominious manner was thecacique Cotabanama executed, the last of the five sovereign princes ofHayti. His death was followed by the complete subjugation of his people, and sealed the last struggle of the natives against their oppressors. Theisland was almost unpeopled of its original inhabitants, and meek andmournful submission and mute despair settled upon the scanty remnant thatsurvived. 

Such was the ruthless system which had been pursued, during the absence ofthe admiral, by the commander Ovando; this man of boasted prudence andmoderation, who was sent to reform the abuses of the island, and aboveall, to redress the wrongs of the natives. The system of Columbus may haveborne hard upon the Indians, born and brought up in untasked freedom, butit was never cruel nor sanguinary. He inflicted no wanton massacres norvindictive punishments; his desire was to cherish and civilize theIndians, and to render them useful subjects; not to oppress, andpersecute, and destroy them. When he beheld the desolation that had sweptthem from the land during his suspension from authority, he could notrestrain the strong expression of his feelings. In a letter written to theking after his return to Spain, he thus expresses himself on the subject:"The Indians of Hispaniola were and are the riches of the island; for itis they who cultivate and make the bread and the provisions for theChristians; who dig the gold from the mines, and perform all the officesand labors both of men and beasts. I am informed that, since I left thisisland, six parts out of seven of the natives are dead; all through illtreatment and inhumanity; some by the sword, others by blows and cruelusage, others through hunger. The greater part have perished in themountains and glens, whither they had fled, from not being able to supportthe labor imposed upon them. " For his own part, he added, although he hadsent many Indians to Spain to be sold, it was always with a view to theirbeing instructed in the Christian faith, and in civilized arts and usages, and afterwards sent back to their island to assist in civilizing theircountrymen. [220]

The brief view that has been given of the policy of Ovando, on certainpoints on which Columbus was censured, may enable the reader to judge morecorrectly of the conduct of the latter. It is not to be measured by thestandard of right and wrong established in the present more enlightenedage. We must consider him in connection with the era in which he lived. Bycomparing his measures with those men of his own times praised for theirvirtues and abilities, placed in precisely his own situation, and placedthere expressly to correct his faults, we shall be the better able tojudge how virtuously and wisely, under the peculiar circumstances of thecase, he may be considered to have governed. 

Book XVIII. 

Chapter I. 

Departure of Columbus for San Domingo. --His Return to Spain. 

The arrival at Jamaica of the two vessels under the command of Salcedo hadcaused a joyful reverse in the situation of Columbus. He hastened to leavethe wreck in which he had been so long immured, and hoisting his flag onboard of one of the ships, felt as if the career of enterprise and glorywere once more open to him. The late partisans of Porras, when they heardof the arrival of the ships, came wistful and abject to the harbor, doubting how far they might trust to the magnanimity of a man whom theyhad so greatly injured, and who had now an opportunity of vengeance. Thegenerous mind, however, never harbors revenge in the hour of returningprosperity; but feels noble satisfaction in sharing its happiness evenwith its enemies. Columbus forgot, in his present felicity, all that hehad suffered from these men; he ceased to consider them enemies, now thatthey had lost the power to injure; and he not only fulfilled all that hehad promised them, by taking them on board the ships, but relieved theirnecessities from his own purse, until their return to Spain; andafterwards took unwearied pains to recommend them to the bounty of thesovereigns. Francisco Porras alone continued a prisoner, to be tried bythe tribunals of his country. 

Oviedo assures us that the Indians wept when they beheld the departure ofthe Spaniards; still considering them as beings from the skies. From theadmiral, it is true, they had experienced nothing but just and gentletreatment, and continual benefits; and the idea of his immediate influencewith the Deity, manifested on the memorable occasion of the eclipse, mayhave made them consider him as more than human, and his presence aspropitious to their island; but it is not easy to believe that a lawlessgang like that of Porras, could have been ranging for months among theirvillages, without giving cause for the greatest joy at their departure. 

On the 28th of June the vessels set sail for San Domingo. The adversewinds and currents which had opposed Columbus throughout this ill-starredexpedition, still continued to harass him. After a weary struggle ofseveral weeks, he reached, on the 3d of August, the little island ofBeata, on the coast of Hispaniola. Between this place and San Domingo thecurrents are so violent, that vessels are often detained months, waitingfor sufficient wind to enable them to stem the stream. Hence Columbusdispatched a letter by land to Ovando, to inform him of his approach, andto remove certain absurd suspicions of his views, which he had learnt fromSalcedo were still entertained by the governor; who feared his arrival inthe island might produce factions and disturbances. In this letter heexpresses, with his usual warmth and simplicity, the joy he felt at his, deliverance, which was so great, he says, that, since the arrival of Diegode Salcedo with succor, he had scarcely been able to sleep. The letter hadbarely time to precede the writer, for, a favorable wind springing up, thevessels again made sail, and, on the 13th of August, anchored in theharbor of San Domingo. 

If it is the lot of prosperity to awaken envy and excite detraction, it iscertainly the lot of misfortune to atone for a multitude of faults. SanDomingo had been the very hot-bed of sedition against Columbus in the dayof his power; he had been hurried from it in ignominious chains, amidstthe shouts and taunts of the triumphant rabble; he had been excluded fromits harbor, when, as commander of a squadron, he craved shelter from animpending tempest; but now that he arrived in its waters, a broken-downand shipwrecked man, all past hostility was overpowered by the popularsense of his late disasters. There was a momentary burst of enthusiasm inhis favor; what had been denied to his merits was granted to hismisfortunes; and even the envious, appeased by his present reverses, seemed to forgive him for having once been so triumphant. 

The governor and principal inhabitants came forth to meet him, andreceived him with signal distinction. He was lodged as a guest in thehouse of Ovando, who treated him with the utmost courtesy and attention. The governor was a shrewd and discreet man, and much of a courtier; butthere were causes of jealousy and distrust between him and Columbus toodeep to permit of cordial intercourse. The admiral and his son Fernandoalways pronounced the civility of Ovando overstrained and hypocritical;intended to obliterate the remembrance of past neglect, and to conceallurking enmity. While he professed the utmost friendship and sympathy forthe admiral, he set at liberty the traitor Porras, who was still aprisoner, to be taken to Spain for trial. He also talked of punishingthose of the admiral's people who had taken arms in his defence, and inthe affray at Jamaica had killed several of the mutineers. Thesecircumstances were loudly complained of by Columbus; but, in fact, theyrose out of a question of jurisdiction between him and the governor. Theirpowers were so undefined as to clash with each other, and they were bothdisposed to be extremely punctilious. Ovando assumed a right to takecognizance of all transactions at Jamaica; as happening within the limitsof his government, which included all the islands and Terra Firma. Columbus, on the other hand, asserted the absolute command, and thejurisdiction both civil and criminal given to him by the sovereigns, overall persons who sailed in his expedition, from the time of departure untiltheir return to Spain. To prove this, he produced his letter ofinstructions. The governor heard him with great courtesy and a smilingcountenance; but observed, that the letter of instructions gave him noauthority within the bounds of his government. [221] He relinquished theidea, however, of investigating the conduct of the followers of Columbus, and sent Porras to Spain, to be examined by the board which had charge ofthe affairs of the Indies. 

The sojourn of Columbus at San Domingo was but little calculated to yieldhim satisfaction. He was grieved at the desolation of the island by theoppressive treatment of the natives, and the horrible massacre which hadbeen perpetrated by Ovando and his agents. He had fondly hoped, at onetime, to render the natives civilized, industrious, and tributary subjectsto the crown, and to derive from their well-regulated labor a great andsteady revenue. How different had been the event! The five great tribeswhich peopled the mountains and the valleys at the time of the discovery, and rendered, by their mingled towns and villages and tracts ofcultivation, the rich levels of the Vegas so many "painted gardens, " hadalmost all passed away, and the native princes had perished chiefly byviolent or ignominious deaths. Columbus regarded the affairs of the islandwith a different eye from Ovando. He had a paternal feeling for itsprosperity, and his fortunes were implicated in its judicious management. He complained, in subsequent letters to the sovereigns, that all thepublic affairs were ill conducted; that the ore collected lay unguarded inlarge quantities in houses slightly built and thatched, invitingdepredation; that Ovando was unpopular, the people were dissolute, and theproperty of the crown and the security of the island in continual riskfrom mutiny and sedition. [222] While he saw all this, he had no power tointerfere, and any observation or remonstrance on his part was illreceived by the governor. 

He found his own immediate concerns in great confusion. His rents and dueswere either uncollected, or he could not obtain a clear account and a fullliquidation of them. Whatever he could collect was appropriated to thefitting out of the vessels which were to convey himself and his crews toSpain. He accuses Ovando, in his subsequent letters, of having neglected, if not sacrificed, his interests during his long absence, and of havingimpeded those who were appointed to attend to his concerns. That he hadsome grounds for these complaints would appear from two letters stillextant, [223] written by Queen Isabella to Ovando, on the 27th ofNovember, 1503, in which she informs him of the complaint of AlonzoSanchez de Carvajal, that he was impeded in collecting the rents of theadmiral; and expressly commands Ovando to observe the capitulationsgranted to Columbus; to respect his agents, and to facilitate, insteadof obstructing, his concerns. These letters, while they imply ungenerousconduct on the part of the governor towards his illustrious predecessor, evince likewise the personal interest taken by Isabella in the affairs ofColumbus, during his absence. She had, in fact, signified her displeasureat his being excluded from the port of San Domingo, when he applied therefor succor for his squadron, and for shelter from a storm; and hadcensured Ovando for not taking his advice and detaining the fleet ofBobadilla, by which it would have escaped its disastrous fate. [224] Andhere it may be observed, that the sanguinary acts of Ovando towards thenatives, in particular the massacre at Xaragua, and the execution of theunfortunate Anacaona, awakened equal horror and indignation in Isabella;she was languishing on her death-bed when she received the intelligence, and with her dying breath she exacted a promise from King Ferdinand thatOvando should immediately be recalled from his government. The promisewas tardily and reluctantly fulfilled, after an interval of about fouryears, and not until induced by other circumstances; for Ovandocontrived to propitiate the monarch, by forcing a revenue from theisland. 

The continual misunderstandings between the admiral and the governor, though always qualified on the part of the latter with great complaisance, induced Columbus to hasten as much as possible his departure from theisland. The ship in which he had returned from Jamaica was repaired andfitted out, and put under the command of the Adelantado; another vesselwas freighted, in which Columbus embarked with his son and his domestics. The greater part of his late crews remained at San Domingo; as they werein great poverty, he relieved their necessities from his own purse, andadvanced the funds necessary for the voyage home of those who chose toreturn. Many thus relieved by his generosity had been among the mostviolent of the rebels. 

On the 12th of September, he set sail; but had scarcely left the harborwhen, in a sudden squall, the mast of his ship was carried away. Heimmediately went with his family on board of the vessel commanded by theAdelantado, and, sending back the damaged ship to port, continued on hiscourse. Throughout the voyage he experienced the most tempestuous weather. In one storm the mainmast was sprung in four places. He was confined tohis bed at the time by the gout; by his advice, however, and the activityof the Adelantado, the damage was skillfully repaired; the mast wasshortened; the weak parts were fortified by wood taken from the castles orcabins which the vessels in those days carried on the prow and stern; andthe whole was well secured by cords. They were still more damaged in asucceeding tempest; in which the ship sprung her foremast. In thiscrippled state they had to traverse seven hundred leagues of a stormyocean. Fortune continued to persecute Columbus to the end of this, hislast and most disastrous expedition. For several weeks he wastempest-tossed--suffering at the same time the most excruciating painsfrom his malady--until, on the seventh day of November, his crazy andshattered bark anchored in the harbor of San Lucar. Hence he had himselfconveyed to Seville, where he hoped to enjoy repose of mind and body, andto recruit his health after such a long series of fatigues, anxieties, and hardships. [225]

Chapter II. 

Illness of Columbus at Seville. --Application to the Crown for aRestitution of His Honors. --Death of Isabella. 

[1504. ]

Broken by age and infirmities, and worn down by the toils and hardships ofhis recent expedition, Columbus had looked forward to Seville as to ahaven of rest, where he might repose awhile from his troubles. Care andsorrow, however, followed him by sea and land. In varying the scene he butvaried the nature of his distress. "Wearisome days and nights" wereappointed to him for the remainder of his life; and the very margin of hisgrave was destined to be strewed with thorns. 

On arriving at Seville, he found all his affairs in confusion. Ever sincehe had been sent home in chains from San Domingo, when his house andeffects had been taken possession of by Bobadilla, his rents and dues hadnever been properly collected; and such as had been gathered had beenretained in the hands of the governor Ovando. "I have much vexation fromthe governor, " says he, in a letter to his son Diego. [226] "All tell methat I have there eleven or twelve thousand castellanos; and I have notreceived a quarto. . . . I know well, that, since my departure, he must havereceived upwards of five thousand castellanos. " He entreated that a lettermight be written by the king, commanding the payment of these arrearswithout delay; for his agents would not venture even to speak to Ovando onthe subject, unless empowered by a letter from the sovereign. 

Columbus was not of a mercenary spirit; but his rank and situationrequired large expenditure. The world thought him in the possession ofsources of inexhaustible wealth; but, as yet, those sources had furnishedhim but precarious and scanty streams. His last voyage had exhausted hisfinances, and involved him in perplexities. All that he had been able tocollect of the money due to him in Hispaniola, to the amount of twelvehundred castellanos, had been expended in bringing home many of his latecrew, who were in distress; and for the greater part of the sum the crownremained his debtor. While struggling to obtain his mere pecuniary dues, he was absolutely suffering a degree of penury. He repeatedly urges thenecessity of economy to his son Diego, until he can obtain a restitutionof his property, and the payment of his arrears. "I receive nothing of therevenue due to me, " says he, in one letter; "I live by borrowing. " "Littlehave I profited, " he adds, in another, "by twenty years of service, withsuch toils and perils; since, at present, I do not own a roof in Spain. IfI desire to eat or sleep, I have no resort but an inn; and, for the mosttimes, have not wherewithal to pay my bill. "

Yet in the midst of these personal distresses, he was more solicitous forthe payment of his seamen than of himself. He wrote strongly andrepeatedly to the sovereigns, entreating the discharge of their arrears, and urged his son Diego, who was at court, to exert himself in theirbehalf. "They are poor, " said he, "and it is now nearly three years sincethey left their homes. They have endured infinite toils and perils, andthey bring invaluable tidings, for which their majesties ought to givethanks to God and rejoice. " Notwithstanding his generous solicitude forthese men, he knew several of them to have been his enemies; nay, thatsome of them were at this very time disposed to do him harm rather thangood; such was the magnanimity of his spirit and his forgivingdisposition. 

The same zeal, also, for the interests of his sovereigns, which had everactuated his loyal mind, mingled with his other causes of solicitude. Herepresented in his letter to the king, the mismanagement of the royalrents in Hispaniola, under the administration of Ovando. Immensequantities of ore lay unprotected in slightly-built houses, and liable todepredations. It required a person of vigor, and one who had an individualinterest in the property of the island, to restore its affairs to order, and draw from it the immense revenues which it was capable of yielding;and Columbus plainly intimated that he was the proper person. 

In fact, as to himself, it was not so much pecuniary indemnification thathe sought, as the restoration of his offices and dignities. He regardedthem as the trophies of his illustrious achievements; he had received theroyal promise that he should be reinstated in them; and he felt that aslong as they were withheld, a tacit censure rested upon his name. Had henot been proudly impatient on this subject, he would have belied theloftiest part of his character; for he who can be indifferent to thewreath of triumph, is deficient in the noble ambition which incites toglorious deeds. 

The unsatisfactory replies received to his letters disquieted his mind. Heknew that he had active enemies at court ready to turn all things to hisdisadvantage, and felt the importance of being there in person to defeattheir machinations: but his infirmities detained him at Seville. He madean attempt to set forth on the journey, but the severity of the winter andthe virulence of his malady obliged him to relinquish it in despair. Allthat he could do was to reiterate his letters to the sovereigns, and toentreat the intervention of his few but faithful friends. He feared thedisastrous occurrences of the last voyage might be represented to hisprejudice. The great object of the expedition, the discovery of a straitopening from the Caribbean to a southern sea, had failed. The secondaryobject, the acquisition of gold, had not been completed. He had discoveredthe gold mines of Veragua, it is true; but he had brought home notreasure; because, as he said, in one of his letters, "I would not rob noroutrage the country; since reason requires that it should be settled, andthen the gold may be procured without violence. "

He was especially apprehensive that the violent scenes in the island ofJamaica might, by the perversity of his enemies, and the effrontery of thedelinquents, be wrested into matters of accusation against him, as hadbeen the case with the rebellion of Roldan. Porras, the ringleader of thelate faction, had been sent home by Ovando, to appear before the board ofthe Indies; but without any written process, setting forth the offencescharged against him. While at Jamaica, Columbus had ordered an inquest ofthe affair to be taken; but the notary of the squadron who took it, andthe papers which he drew up, were on board of the ship in which theadmiral had sailed from Hispaniola, but which had put back dismasted. Nocognizance of the case, therefore, was taken by the council of the Indies;and Porras went at large, armed with the power and the disposition to domischief. Being related to Morales, the royal treasurer, he had access topeople in place, and an opportunity of enlisting their opinions andprejudices on his side. Columbus wrote to Morales, inclosing a copy of thepetition which the rebels had sent to him when in Jamaica, in which theyacknowledged their culpability, and implored his forgiveness; and heentreated the treasurer not to be swayed by the representations of hisrelative, nor to pronounce an opinion unfavorable to him, until he had anopportunity of being heard. 

The faithful and indefatigable Diego Mendez was at this time at the court, as well as Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, and an active friend of Columbusnamed Geronimo. They could bear the most important testimony as to hisconduct, and he wrote to his son Diego to call upon them for their goodoffices. "I trust, " said he, "that the truth and diligence of Diego Mendezwill be of as much avail as the lies of Porras. " Nothing can surpass theaffecting earnestness and simplicity of the general declaration ofloyalty, contained in one of his letters. "I have served their majesties, "says he, "with as much zeal and diligence as if it had been to gainParadise; and if I have failed in any thing, it has been because myknowledge and powers went no further. "

While reading these touching appeals, we can scarcely realize the fact, that the dejected individual thus wearily and vainly applying forunquestionable rights, and pleading almost like a culprit, in caseswherein he had been flagrantly injured, was the same who but a few yearspreviously had been received at this very court with almost regal honors, and idolized as a national benefactor; that this, in a word, was Columbus, the discoverer of the New World; broken in health, and impoverished in hisold days by his very discoveries. 

At length the caravel bringing the official proceedings relative to thebrothers Porras arrived at the Algarves, in Portugal, and Columbus lookedforward with hope that all matters would soon be placed in a proper light. His anxiety to get to court became every day more intense. A litter wasprovided to convey him thither, and was actually at the door, but theinclemency of the weather and his increasing infirmities obliged him againto abandon the journey. His resource of letter-writing began to fail him:he could only write at night, for in the daytime the severity of hismalady deprived him of the use of his hands. The tidings from the courtwere every day more and more adverse to his hopes; the intrigues of hisenemies were prevailing; the cold-hearted Ferdinand treated all hisapplications with indifference; the generous Isabella lay dangerously ill. On her justice and magnanimity he still relied for the full restoration ofhis rights, and the redress of all his grievances. "May it please the HolyTrinity, " says he, "to restore our sovereign queen to health; for by herwill every thing be adjusted which is now in confusion. " Alas! whilewriting that letter, his noble benefactress was a corpse!

The health of Isabella had long been undermined by the shocks of repeateddomestic calamities. The death of her only son, the prince Juan; of herbeloved daughter and bosom friend, the princess Isabella; and of hergrandson and prospective heir, the prince Miguel, had been three cruelwounds to a heart full of the tenderest sensibility. To these was addedthe constant grief caused by the evident infirmity of intellect of herdaughter Juana, and the domestic unhappiness of that princess with herhusband, the archduke Philip. The desolation which walks through palacesadmits not the familiar sympathies and sweet consolations which alleviatethe sorrows of common life. Isabella pined in state, amidst the obsequioushomages of a court, surrounded by the trophies of a glorious andsuccessful reign, and placed at the summit of earthly grandeur. A deep andincurable melancholy settled upon her, which undermined her constitution, and gave a fatal acuteness to her bodily maladies. After four months ofillness, she died on the 2eth of November, 1504, at Medina del Campo, inthe fifty-fourth year of her age; but long before her eyes closed upon theworld, her heart had closed on all its pomps and vanities. "Let my body, "said she in her will, "be interred in the monastery of San Francisco, which is in the Alhambra of the city of Granada, in a low sepulchre, without any monument except a plain stone, with the inscription cut on it. But I desire and command, that if the king, my lord, should choose asepulchre in any church or monastery in any other part or place of thesemy kingdoms, my body be transported thither, and buried beside the body ofhis highness; so that the union we have enjoyed while living, and which, through the mercy of God, we hope our souls will experience in heaven, maybe represented by our bodies in the earth. " [227]

Such was one of several passages in the will of this admirable woman, which bespoke the chastened humility of her heart; and in which, as hasbeen well observed, the affections of conjugal love were delicatelyentwined with piety, and with the most tender melancholy. [228] Shewas one of the purest spirits that ever ruled over the destinies of anation. Had she been spared, her benignant vigilance would have preventedmany a scene of horror in the colonization of the New World, and mighthave softened the lot of its native inhabitants. As it is, her fair namewill ever shine with celestial radiance in the dawning of its history. 

The news of the death of Isabella reached Columbus when he was writing aletter to his son Diego. He notices it in a postscript or memorandum, written in the haste and brevity of the moment, but in beautifullytouching and mournful terms. "A memorial, " he writes, "for thee, my dearson Diego, of what is at present to be done. The principal thing is tocommend affectionately, and with great devotion, the soul of the queen oursovereign to God. Her life was always catholic and holy, and prompt to allthings in his holy service: for this reason we may rest assured that sheis received into his glory, and beyond the cares of this rough and wearyworld. The next thing is to watch and labor in all matters for the serviceof our sovereign the king, and to endeavor to alleviate his grief. Hismajesty is the head of Christendom. Remember the proverb which says, whenthe head suffers all the members suffer. Therefore all good Christiansshould pray for his health and long life; and we, who are in his employ, ought more than others to do this with all study and diligence. "[229]

It is impossible to read this mournful letter without being moved by thesimply eloquent yet artless language in which Columbus expresses histenderness for the memory of his benefactress, his weariness under thegathering cares and ills of life, and his persevering and enduring loyaltytowards the sovereign who was so ungratefully neglecting him. It is inthese unstudied and confidential letters that we read the heart ofColumbus. 

Chapter III. 

Columbus Arrives at Court. --Fruitless Application to the King for Redress. 

[1505. ]

The death of Isabella was a fatal blow to the fortunes of Columbus. Whileshe lived, he had every thing to anticipate from her high sense ofjustice, her regard for her royal word, her gratitude for his services, and her admiration of his character. With her illness, however, hisinterests had languished, and when she died, he was left to the justiceand generosity of Ferdinand!

During the remainder of the winter and a part of the spring, he continuedat Seville, detained by painful illness, and endeavoring to obtain redressfrom the government by ineffectual letters. His brother the Adelantado, who supported him with his accustomed fondness and devotion through allhis trials, proceeded to court to attend to his interests, taking with himthe admiral's younger son Fernando, then aged about seventeen. The latter, the affectionate father repeatedly represents to his son Diego as a man inunderstanding and conduct, though but a stripling in years; and inculcatesthe strongest fraternal attachment, alluding to his own brethren with oneof those simply eloquent and affecting expressions which stamp his heartupon his letters. "To thy brother conduct thyself as the elder brothershould unto the younger. Thou hast no other, and I praise God that this issuch a one as thou dost need. Ten brothers would not be too many for thee. Never have I found a better friend to right or left, than my brothers. "

Among the persons whom Columbus employed at this time in his missions tothe court, was Amerigo Vespucci. He describes him as a worthy butunfortunate man, who had not profited as much as he deserved by hisundertakings, and who had always been disposed to render him service. Hisobject in employing him appears to have been to prove the value of hislast voyage, and that he had been in the most opulent parts of the NewWorld; Vespucci having since touched upon the same coast, in a voyage withAlonzo de Ojeda. 

One circumstance occured at this time which shed a gleam of hope andconsolation over his gloomy prospects. Diego de Deza, who had been forsome time bishop of Palencia, was expected at court. This was the sameworthy friar who had aided him to advocate his theory before the board oflearned men at Salamanca, and had assisted him with his purse when makinghis proposals to the Spanish court. He had just been promoted and madearchbishop of Seville, but had not yet been installed in office. Columbusdirects his son Diego to intrust his interests to this worthy prelate. "Two things, " says he, "require particular attention. Ascertain whetherthe queen, who is now with God, has said any thing concerning me in hertestament, and stimulate the bishop of Palencia, he who was the cause thattheir highnesses obtained possession of the Indies, who induced me toremain in Castile when I was on the road to leave it. " [230] In anotherletter he says, "If the bishop of Palencia has arrived, or should arrive, tell him how much I have been gratified by his prosperity, and that if Icome, I shall lodge with his grace, even though he should not invite me, for we must return to our ancient fraternal affection. "

The incessant applications of Columbus, both by letter and by theintervention of friends, appear to have been listened to with coolindifference. No compliance was yielded to his requests, and no deferencewas paid to his opinions, on various points concerning which he interestedhimself. New instructions were sent out to Ovando, but not a word of theirpurport was mentioned to the admiral. It was proposed to send out threebishops, and he entreated in vain to be heard previous to their election. In short, he was not in any way consulted in the affairs of the New World. He felt deeply this neglect, and became every day more impatient of hisabsence from court. To enable himself to perform the journey with moreease, he applied for permission to use a mule, a royal ordinance havingprohibited the employment of those animals under the saddle, inconsequence of their universal use having occasioned a decline in thebreed of horses. A royal permission was accordingly granted to Columbus, in consideration that his age and infirmities incapacitated him fromriding on horse-back; but it was a considerable time before the state ofhis health would permit him to avail himself of that privilege. 

The foregoing particulars, gleaned from letters of Columbus recentlydiscovered, show the real state of his affairs, and the mental and bodilyaffliction sustained by him during his winter's residence at Seville, onhis return from his last disastrous voyage. He has generally beenrepresented as reposing there from his toils and troubles. Never washonorable repose more merited, more desired, and less enjoyed. 

It was not until the month of May that he was able, in company with hisbrother the Adelantado, to accomplish his journey to court, at that timeheld at Segovia. He, who but a few years before had entered the city ofBarcelona in triumph, attended by the nobility and chivalry of Spain, andhailed with rapture by the multitude, now arrived within the gates ofSegovia, a wayworn, melancholy, and neglected man; oppressed more bysorrow than even by his years and infirmities. When he presented himselfat court, he met with none of that distinguished attention, that cordialkindness, that cherishing sympathy, which his unparalleled services andhis recent sufferings had merited. [231]

The selfish Ferdinand had lost sight of his past services, in whatappeared to him the inconvenience of his present demands. He received himwith many professions of kindness: but with those cold ineffectual smiles, which pass like wintry sunshine over the countenance, and convey no warmthto the heart. 

The admiral now gave a particular account of his late voyage; describingthe great tract of Terra Firma, which he had explored, and the riches ofthe province of Veragua. He related also the disasters sustained in theisland of Jamaica; the insurrection of the Porras and their band; and allthe other griefs and troubles of this unfortunate expedition. He had but acold-hearted auditor in the king; and the benignant Isabella was no moreat hand to soothe him with a smile of kindness, or a tear of sympathy. "Iknow not, " gays the venerable Las Casas, "what could cause this dislikeand this want of princely countenance in the king, towards one who hadrendered him such pre-eminent benefits; unless it was that his mind wasswayed by the false testimonies which had been brought against theadmiral; of which I have been enabled to learn something from persons muchin favor with the sovereign. " [232]

After a few days had elapsed, Columbus urged his suit in form; remindingthe king of all that he had done, and all that had been promised him underthe royal word and seal, and supplicating that the restitutions andindemnifications which had been so frequently solicited, might be awardedto him; offering in return to serve his majesty devotedly for the shorttime he had yet to live; and trusting, from what he felt within him, andfrom what he thought he knew with certainty, to render services whichshould surpass all that he had yet performed a hundred-fold. The king, inreply, acknowledged the greatness of his merits, and the importance of hisservices, but observed, that, for the more satisfactory adjustment of hisclaims, it would be advisable to refer all points in dispute to thedecision of some discreet and able person. The admiral immediatelyproposed as arbiter his friend the archbishop of Seville, Don Diego deDeza, one of the most able and upright men about the court, devotedlyloyal, high in the confidence of the king, and one who had always takengreat interest in the affairs of the New World. The king consented to thearbitration, but artfully extended it to questions which he knew wouldnever be put at issue by Columbus; among these was his claim to therestoration of his office of viceroy. To this Columbus objected withbecoming spirit, as compromising a right which was too clearly defined andsolemnly established to be put for a moment in dispute. It was thequestion of rents and revenues alone, he observed, which he was willing tosubmit to the decision of a learned man, not that of the government of theIndies. As the monarch persisted, however, in embracing both questions inthe arbitration, the proposed measure was never carried into effect. 

It was, in fact, on the subject of his dignities alone that Columbus wastenacious; all other matters he considered of minor importance. In aconversation with the king he absolutely disavowed all wish of enteringinto any suit or pleading as to his pecuniary dues; on the contrary, heoffered to put all his privileges and writings into the hands of hissovereign, and to receive out of the dues arising from them, whatever hismajesty might think proper to award. All that he claimed withoutqualification or reserve, were his official dignities, assured to himunder the royal seal with all the solemnity of a treaty. He entreated, atall events, that these matters might speedily be decided, so that he mightbe released from a state of miserable suspense, and enabled to retire tosome quiet corner, in search of that tranquillity and repose necessary tohis fatigues and his infirmities. 

To this frank appeal to his justice and generosity, Ferdinand replied withmany courteous expressions, and with those general evasive promises, whichbeguile the ear of the court applicant, but convey no comfort to hisheart. "As far as actions went, " observes Las Casas, "the king not merelyshowed him no signs of favor, but, on the contrary, discountenanced him asmuch as possible; yet he was never wanting in complimentary expressions. "

Many months were passed by Columbus in unavailing solicitation, duringwhich he continued to receive outward demonstrations of respect from theking, and due attention from cardinal Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo, andother principal personages; but he had learned to appreciate and distrustthe hollow civilities of a court. His claims were referred to a tribunal, called "The council of the discharges of the conscience of the deceasedqueen, and of the king. " This is a kind of tribunal, commonly known by thename of the Junta de Descargos, composed of persons nominated by thesovereign, to superintend the accomplishment of the last will of hispredecessor, and the discharge of his debts. Two consultations were heldby this body, but nothing was determined. The wishes of the king were toowell known to be thwarted. "It was believed, " says Las Casas, "that if theking could have done so with a safe conscience, and without detriment tohis fame, he would have respected few or none of the privileges which heand the queen had conceded to the admiral, and which had been so justlymerited. " [Footonte: Las Caaas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 37. ]

Columbus still flattered himself that, his claims being of suchimportance, and touching a question of sovereignty, the adjustment of themmight be only postponed by the king until he could consult with hisdaughter Juana, who had succeeded to her mother as queen of Castile, andwho, was daily expected from Flanders, with her husband, king Philip. Heendeavored, therefore, to bear his delays with patience; but he had nolonger the physical strength and glorious anticipations which oncesustained him through his long application at this court. Life itself wasdrawing to a close. 

He was once more confined to his bed by a tormenting attack of the gout, aggravated by the sorrows and disappointments which preyed upon his heart. From this couch of anguish he addressed one more appeal to the justice ofthe king. He no longer petitioned for himself: it was for his son Diego. Nor did he dwell upon his pecuniary dues; it was the honorable trophies ofhis services which he wished to secure and perpetuate in his family. Heentreated that his son Diego might be appointed, in his place, to thegovernment of which he had been so wrongfully deprived. "This, " he said, "is a matter which concerns my honor; as to all the rest, do as yourmajesty may think proper; give or withhold, as may be most for yourinterest, and I shall be content. I believe the anxiety caused by thedelay of this affair is the principal cause of my ill health. " A petitionto the same purpose was presented at the same time by his son Diego, offering to take with him such persons for counselors as the king shouldappoint, and to be guided by their advice. 

These petitions were treated by Ferdinand with his usual professions andevasions. "The more applications were made to him, " observes Las Casas, "the more favorably did he reply; but still he delayed, hoping, byexhausting their patience, to induce them to wave their privileges, andaccept in place thereof titles and estates in Castile. " Columbus rejectedall propositions of the kind with indignation, as calculated to compromisethose titles which were the trophies of his achievements. He saw, however, that all further hope of redress from Ferdinand was vain. From the bed towhich he was confined, he addressed a letter to his constant friend Diegode Deza, expressive of his despair. "It appears that his majesty does notthink fit to fulfill that which he, with the queen, who is now in glory, promised me by word and seal. For me to contend for the contrary, would beto contend with the wind. I have done all that I could do. I leave therest to God, whom I have ever found propitious to me in my necessities. "[233]

The cold and calculating Ferdinand beheld this illustrious man sinkingunder infirmity of body, heightened by that deferred hope which "makeththe heart sick. " A little more delay, a little more disappointment, and alittle longer infliction of ingratitude, and this loyal and generous heartwould cease to beat: he should then be delivered from the just claims of awell-tried servant, who, in ceasing to be useful, was considered by him tohave become importunate. 

Chapter IV. 

Death of Columbus. 

In the midst of illness and despondency, when both life and hope wereexpiring in the bosom of Columbus, a new gleam was awakened and blazed upfor the moment with characteristic fervor. He heard with joy of thelanding of king Philip and queen Juana, who had just arrived from Flandersto take possession of their throne of Castile. In the daughter of Isabellahe trusted once more to find a patroness and a friend. King Ferdinand andall the court repaired to Laredo to receive the youthful sovereigns. Columbus would gladly have done the same, but he was confined to his bedby a severe return of his malady; neither in his painful and helplesssituation could he dispense with the aid and ministry of his son Diego. His brother, the Adelantado, therefore, his main dependence in allemergencies, was sent to represent him, and to present his homage andcongratulations. Columbus wrote by him to the new king and queen, expressing his grief at being prevented by illness from coming in personto manifest his devotion, but begging to be considered among the mostfaithful of their subjects. He expressed a hope that he should receive attheir hands the restitution of his honors and estates, and assured them, that, though cruelly tortured at present by disease, he would yet be ableto render them services, the like of which had never been witnessed. 

Such was the last sally of his sanguine and unconquerable spirit; which, disregarding age and infirmities, and all past sorrows anddisappointments, spoke from his dying bed with all the confidence ofyouthful hope; and talked of still greater enterprises, as if he had along and vigorous life before him. The Adelantado took leave of hisbrother, whom he was never to behold again, and set out on his mission tothe new sovereigns. He experienced the most gracious reception. The claimsof the admiral were treated with great attention by the young king andqueen, and flattering hopes were given of a speedy and prosperoustermination to his suit. 

In the meantime the cares and troubles of Columbus were drawing to aclose. The momentary fire which had reanimated him was soon quenched byaccumulating infirmities. Immediately after the departure of theAdelantado, his illness increased in violence. His last voyage hadshattered beyond repair a frame already worn and wasted by a life ofhardship; and continual anxieties robbed him of that sweet repose sonecessary to recruit the weariness and debility of age. The coldingratitude of his sovereign chilled his heart. The continued suspensionof his honors, and the enmity and defamation experienced at every turn, seemed to throw a shadow over that glory which had been the great objectof his ambition. This shadow, it is true, could be but of transientduration; but it is difficult for the most illustrious man to look beyondthe present cloud which may obscure his fame, and anticipate its permanentlustre in the admiration of posterity. 

Being admonished by failing strength and increasing sufferings that hisend was approaching, he prepared to leave his affairs in order for thebenefit of his successors. 

It is said that on the 4th of May he wrote an informal testamentarycodicil on the blank page of a little breviary, given him by PopeAlexander VI. In this he bequeathed that book to the republic of Genoa, which he also appointed successor to his privileges and dignities, on theextinction of his male line. He directed likewise the erection of anhospital in that city with the produce of his possessions in Italy. Theauthenticity of this document is questioned, and has become a point ofwarm contest among commentators. It is not, however, of much importance. The paper is such as might readily have been written by a person likeColumbus in the paroxysm of disease, when he imagined his end suddenlyapproaching, and shows the affection with which his thoughts were bent onhis native city. It is termed among commentators a military codicil, because testamentary dispositions of this kind are executed by the soldierat the point of death, without the usual formalities required by the civillaw. About two weeks afterwards, on the eve of his death, he executed afinal and regularly authenticated codicil, in which he bequeathed hisdignities and estates with better judgment. 

In these last and awful moments, when the soul has but a brief space inwhich to make up its accounts between heaven and earth, all dissimulationis at an end, and we read unequivocal evidences of character. The lastcodicil of Columbus, made at the very verge of the grave, is stamped withhis ruling passion and his benignant virtues. He repeats and enforcesseveral clauses of his original testament, constituting his sou Diego hisuniversal heir. The entailed inheritance, or mayorazgo, in case he diedwithout male issue, was to go to his brother Don Fernando, and from him, in like case, to pass to his uncle Don Bartholomew, descending always tothe nearest male heir; in failure of which it was to pass to the femalenearest in lineage to the admiral. He enjoined upon whoever should inherithis estate never to alienate or diminish it, but to endeavor by all meansto augment its prosperity and importance. He likewise enjoined upon hisheirs to be prompt and devoted at all times, with person and estate, toserve their sovereign and promote the Christian faith. He ordered that DonDiego should devote one tenth of the revenues which might arise from hisestate, when it came to be productive, to the relief of indigent relativesand of other persons in necessity; that, out of the remainder, he shouldyield certain yearly proportions to his brother Don Fernando, and hisuncles Don Bartholomew and Don Diego; and that the part allotted to DonFernando should be settled upon him and his male heirs in an entailed andunalienable inheritance. Having thus provided for the maintenance andperpetuity of his family and dignities, he ordered that Don Diego, whenhis estates should be sufficiently productive, should erect a chapel inthe island of Hispaniola, which God had given to him so marvelously, atthe town of Conception, in the Vega, where masses should be dailyperformed for the repose of the souls of himself, his father, his mother, his wife, and of all who died in the faith. Another clause recommends tothe care of Don Diego, Beatrix Enriquez, the mother of his natural sonFernando. His connection with her had never been sanctioned by matrimony, and either this circumstance, or some neglect of her, seems to haveawakened deep compunction in his dying moments. He orders Don Diego toprovide for her respectable maintenance; "and let this be done, " he adds, "for the discharge of my conscience, for it weighs heavy on my soul. "[234] Finally, he noted with his own hand several minute sums, to be paidto persons at different and distant places, without their being toldwhence they received them. These appear to have been trivial debts ofconscience, or rewards for petty services received in times long past. Among them is one of half a mark of silver to a poor Jew, who lived atthe gate of the Jewry, in the city of Lisbon. These minute provisionsevince the scrupulous attention to justice in all his dealings, and thatlove of punctuality in the fulfillment of duties, for which he wasremarked. In the same spirit, he gave much advice to his son Diego, asto the conduct of his affairs, enjoining upon him to take every month anaccount with his own hand of the expenses of his household, and to signit with his name; for a want of regularity in this, he observed, lostboth property and servants, and turned the last into enemies. His dyingbequests were made in presence of a few faithful followers and servants, and among them we find the name of Bartholomeo Fiesco, who hadaccompanied Diego Mendez in the perilous voyage in a canoe from Jamaicato Hispaniola. 

Having thus scrupulously attended to all the claims of affection, loyalty, and justice upon earth, Columbus turned his thoughts to heaven; and havingreceived the holy sacrament, and performed all the pious offices of adevout Christian, he expired with great resignation, on the day ofascension, the 20th of May, 1506, being about seventy years of age. [235] His last words were, "_In manus tuas Domine, commendo spiritummeum:_" Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. [236]

His body was deposited in the convent of St. Francisco, and his obsequieswere celebrated with funereal pomp at Valladolid, in the parochial churchof Santa Maria de la Antigua. His remains were transported afterwards, in1513, to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas of Seville, to the chapelof St. Ann or of Santo Christo, in which chapel were likewise depositedthose of his son Don Diego, who died in the village of Montalban, on the23d of February, 1526. In the year 1536 the bodies of Columbus and his sonDiego were removed to Hispaniola, and interred in the principal chapel ofthe cathedral of the city of San Domingo; but even here they did not restin quiet, having since been again disinterred and conveyed to the Havanna, in the island of Cuba. 

We are told that Ferdinand, after the death of Columbus, showed a sense ofhis merits by ordering a monument to be erected to his memory, on whichwas inscribed the motto already cited, which had formerly been granted tohim by the sovereigns: A Castilla y a Leon nuevo mundo dio Colon (_ToCastile and Leon Columbus gave a new world_). However great an honor amonument may be for a subject to receive, it is certainly but a cheapreward for a sovereign to bestow. As to the motto inscribed upon it, itremains engraved in the memory of mankind, more indelibly than in brass ormarble; a record of the great debt of gratitude due to the discoverer, which the monarch had so faithlessly neglected to discharge. 

Attempts have been made in recent days, by loyal Spanish writers, tovindicate the conduct of Ferdinand towards Columbus. They were doubtlesswell intended, but they have been futile, nor is their failure to beregretted. To screen such injustice in so eminent a character from thereprobation of mankind, is to deprive history of one of its most importantuses. Let the ingratitude of Ferdinand stand recorded in its full extent, and endure throughout all time. The dark shadow which it casts upon hisbrilliant renown, will be a lesson to all rulers, teaching thein what isimportant to their own fame in their treatment of illustrious men. 

Chapter V. 

Observations on the Character of Columbus. 

In narrating the story of Columbus, it has been the endeavor of the authorto place him in a clear and familiar point of view; for this purpose hehas rejected no circumstance, however trivial, which appeared to evolvesome point of character; and he has sought all kinds of collateral factswhich might throw light upon his views and motives. With this view also hehas detailed many facts hitherto passed over in silence, or vaguelynoticed by historians, probably because they might be deemed instances oferror or misconduct on the part of Columbus; but he who paints a great manmerely in great and heroic traits, though he may produce a fine picture, will never present a faithful portrait. Great men are compounds of greatand little qualities. Indeed, much of their greatness arises from theirmastery over the imperfections of their nature, and, their noblest actionsare sometimes struck forth by the collision of their merits and theirdefects. 

In Columbus was singularly combined the practical and the poetical. Hismind had grasped all kinds of knowledge, whether procured by study orobservation, which bore upon his theories; impatient of the scanty alimentof the day, "his impetuous ardor, " as has well been observed, "threw himinto the study of the fathers of the church; the Arabian Jews, and theancient geographers;" while his daring but irregular genius, bursting fromthe limits of imperfect science, bore him to conclusions far beyond theintellectual vision of his contemporaries. If some of his conclusions wereerroneous, they were at least ingenious and splendid; and their errorresulted from the clouds which still hung over his peculiar path ofenterprise. His own discoveries enlightened the ignorance of the age;guided conjecture to certainty, and dispelled that very darkness withwhich he had been obliged to struggle. 

In the progress of his discoveries he has been remarked for the extremesagacity and the admirable justness with which he seized upon thephenomena of the exterior world. The variations, for instance, ofterrestrial magnetism, the direction of currents, the groupings of marineplants, fixing one of the grand climacteric divisions of the ocean, thetemperatures changing not solely with the distance to the equator, butalso with the difference of meridians: these and similar phenomena, asthey broke upon him, were discerned with wonderful quickness ofperception, and made to contribute important principles to the stock ofgeneral knowledge. This lucidity of spirit, this quick convertibility offacts to principles, distinguish him from the dawn to the close of hissublime enterprise, insomuch that, with all the sallying ardor of hisimagination, his ultimate success has been admirably characterized as a"conquest of reflection. " [237]

It has been said that mercenary views mingled with the ambition ofColumbus, and that his stipulations with the Spanish court were selfishand avaricious. The charge is inconsiderate and unjust. He aimed atdignity and wealth in the same lofty spirit in which he sought renown;they were to be part and parcel of his achievement, and palpable evidenceof its success; they were to arise from the territories he shoulddiscover, and be commensurate in importance. No condition could be morejust. He asked nothing of the sovereigns but a command of the countries hehoped to give them, and a share of the profits to support the dignity ofhis command. If there should be no country discovered, his stipulatedviceroyalty would be of no avail; and if no revenues should be produced, his labor and peril would produce no gain. If his command and revenuesultimately proved magnificent, it was from the magnificence of the regionshe had attached to the Castilian crown. What monarch would not rejoice togain empire on such conditions? But he did not risk merely a loss oflabor, and a disappointment of ambition, in the enterprise;--on hismotives being questioned, he voluntarily undertook, and, with theassistance of his coadjutors, actually defrayed, one-eighth of the wholecharge of the first expedition. 

It was, in fact, this rare union already noticed, of the practical man ofbusiness with the poetical projector, which enabled him to carry his grandenterprises into effect through so many difficulties; but the pecuniarycalculations and cares, which gave feasibility to his schemes, were neversuffered to chill the glowing aspirations of his soul. The gains thatpromised to arise from his discoveries, he intended to appropriate in thesame princely and pious spirit in which they were demanded. Hecontemplated works and achievements of benevolence and religion; vastcontributions for the relief of the poor of his native city; thefoundation of churches, where masses should be said for the souls of thedeparted; and armies for the recovery of the holy sepulchre in Palestine. Thus his ambition was truly noble and lofty; instinct with high thoughtand prone to generous deed. 

In the discharge of his office he maintained the state and ceremonial of aviceroy, and was tenacious of his rank and privileges; not from a merevulgar love of titles, but because he prized them as testimonials andtrophies of his achievements: these he jealously cherished as his greatrewards. In his repeated applications to the king, he insisted merely onthe restitution of his dignities. As to his pecuniary dues and allquestions relative to mere revenue, he offered to leave them toarbitration or even to the absolute disposition of the monarch; but not sohis official dignities; "these things, " said he nobly, "affect my honor. "In his testament, he enjoined on his son Diego, and whoever after himshould inherit his estates, whatever dignities and titles might afterwardsbe granted by the king, always to sign himself simply "the admiral, " byway of perpetuating in the family its real source of greatness. 

His conduct was characterized by the grandeur of his views, and themagnanimity of his spirit. Instead of scouring the newly-found countries, like a grasping adventurer eager only for immediate gain, as was toogenerally the case with contemporary discoverers, he sought to ascertaintheir soil and productions, their rivers and harbors: he was desirous ofcolonizing and cultivating them; of conciliating and civilizing thenatives; of building cities; introducing the useful arts; subjecting everything to the control of law, order, and religion; and thus of foundingregular and prosperous empires. In this glorious plan he was constantlydefeated by the dissolute rabble which it was his misfortune to command;with whom all law was tyranny, and all order restraint. They interruptedall useful works by their seditions; provoked the peaceful Indians tohostility; and after they had thus drawn down misery and warfare upontheir own heads, and overwhelmed Columbus with the ruins of the edifice hewas building, they charged him with being the cause of the confusion. 

Well would it have been for Spain had those who followed in the track ofColumbus possessed his sound policy and liberal views. The New World, insuch cases, would have been settled by pacific colonists, and civilized byenlightened legislators; instead of being overrun by desperateadventurers, and desolated by avaricious conquerors. 

Columbus was a man of quick sensibility, liable to great excitement, tosudden and strong impressions, and powerful impulses. He was naturallyirritable and impetuous, and keenly sensible to injury and injustice; yetthe quickness of his temper was counteracted by the benevolence andgenerosity of his heart. The magnanimity of his nature shone forth throughall the troubles of his stormy career. Though continually outraged in hisdignity, and braved in the exercise of his command; though foiled in hisplans, and endangered in his person by the seditions of turbulent andworthless men, and that too at times when suffering under anxiety of mindand anguish of body sufficient to exasperate the most patient, yet herestrained his valiant and indignant spirit, by the strong powers of hismind, and brought himself to forbear, and reason, and even to supplicate:nor should we fail to notice how free he was from all feeling of revenge, how ready to forgive and forget, on the least signs of repentance andatonement. He has been extolled for his skill in controlling others; butfar greater praise is due to him for his firmness in governing himself. 

His natural benignity made him accessible to all kinds of pleasurablesensations from external objects. In his letters and journals, instead ofdetailing circumstances with the technical precision of a mere navigator, he notices the beauties of nature with the enthusiasm of a poet or apainter. As he coasts the shores of the New World, the reader participatesin the enjoyment with which he describes, in his imperfect but picturesqueSpanish, the varied objects around him; the blandness of the temperature, the purity of the atmosphere, the fragrance of the air, "full of dew andsweetness, " the verdure of the forests, the magnificence of the trees, thegrandeur of the mountains, and the limpidity and freshness of the runningstreams. New delight springs up for him in every scene. He extols each newdiscovery as more beautiful than the last, and each as the most beautifulin the world; until, with his simple earnestness, he tells the sovereigns, that, having spoken so highly of the preceding islands, he fears that theywill not credit him, when he declares that the one he is actuallydescribing surpasses them all in excellence. 

In the same ardent and unstudied way he expresses his emotions on variousoccasions, readily affected by impulses of joy or grief, of pleasure orindignation. When surrounded and overwhelmed by the ingratitude andviolence of worthless men, he often, in the retirement of his cabin, gaveway to bursts of sorrow, and relieved his overladen heart by sighs andgroans. When he returned in chains to Spain, and came into the presenceof Isabella, instead of continuing the lofty pride with which he hadhitherto sustained his injuries, he was touched with grief and tendernessat her sympathy, and burst forth into sobs and tears. 

He was devoutly pious; religion mingled with the whole course of histhoughts and actions, and shone forth in his most private and unstudiedwritings. Whenever he made any great discovery, he celebrated it by solemnthanks to God. The voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from hisships when they first beheld the New World, and his first action onlanding was to prostrate himself upon the earth and return thanksgivings. Every evening, the _Salve Regina_, and other vesper hymns, werechanted by his crew and masses were performed in the beautiful grovesbordering the wild shores of this heathen land. All his great enterpriseswere undertaken in the name of the Holy Trinity, and he partook of thecommunion previous to embarkation. He was a firm believer in the efficacyof vows and penances and pilgrimages, and resorted to them in times ofdifficulty and danger. The religion thus deeply seated in his souldiffused a sober dignity and benign composure over his whole demeanor. Hislanguage was pure and guarded, and free from all imprecations, oaths, andother irreverent expressions. 

It cannot be denied, however, that his piety was mingled withsuperstition, and darkened by the bigotry of the age. He evidentlyconcurred in the opinion, that all nations which did not acknowledge theChristian faith were destitute of natural rights; that the sternestmeasures might be used for their conversion, and the severest punishmentsinflicted upon their obstinacy in unbelief. In this spirit of bigotry heconsidered himself justified in making captives of the Indians, andtransporting them to Spain to have them taught the doctrines ofChristianity, and in selling them for slaves if they pretended to resisthis invasions. In so doing he sinned against the natural goodness of hischaracter, and against the feelings which he had originally entertainedand expressed towards this gentle hospitable people; but he was goaded onby the mercenary impatience of the crown, and by the sneers of his enemiesat the unprofitable result of his enterprises. It is but justice to hischaracter to observe, that the enslavement of the Indians thus taken inbattle was at first openly countenanced by the crown, and that, when thequestion of right came to be discussed at the entreaty of the queen, several of the most distinguished jurists and theologians advocated thepractice; so that the question was finally settled in favor of the Indianssolely by the humanity of Isabella. As the venerable bishop Las Casasobserves, where the most learned men have doubted, it is not surprisingthat an unlearned mariner should err. 

These remarks, in palliation of the conduct of Columbus, are required bycandor. It is proper to show him in connection with the age in which helived, lest the errors of the times should be considered as his individualfaults. It is not the intention of the author, however, to justifyColumbus on a point where it is inexcusable to err. Let it remain a bloton his illustrious name, and let others derive a lesson from it. 

We have already hinted at a peculiar trait in his rich and variedcharacter; that ardent and enthusiastic imagination which threw amagnificence over his whole course of thought. Herrera intimates that hehad a talent for poetry, and some slight traces of it are on record in thebook of prophecies which he presented to the Catholic sovereigns. But hispoetical temperament is discernible throughout all his writings and in allhis actions. It spread a golden and glorious world around him, and tingedevery thing with its own gorgeous colors. It betrayed him into visionaryspeculations, which subjected him to the sneers and cavilings of men ofcooler and safer but more groveling minds. Such were the conjecturesformed on the coast of Paria about the form of the earth, and thesituation of the terrestrial paradise; about the mines of Ophir inHispaniola, and the Aurea Chersonesus in Veragua; and such was the heroicscheme of a crusade for the recovery of the holy sepulchre. It mingledwith his religion, and filled his mind with solemn and visionarymeditations on mystic passages of the Scriptures, and the shadowy portentsof the prophecies. It exalted his office in his eyes, and made himconceive himself an agent sent forth upon a sublime and awful mission, subject to impulses and supernatural intimations from the Deity; such asthe voice which he imagined spoke to him in comfort amidst the troubles ofHispaniola, and in the silence of the night on the disastrous coast ofVeragua. 

He was decidedly a visionary, but a visionary of an uncommon andsuccessful kind. The manner in which his ardent, imaginative, andmercurial nature was controlled by a powerful judgment, and directed by anacute sagacity, is the most extraordinary feature in his character. Thusgoverned, his imagination, instead of exhausting itself in idle flights, lent aid to his judgment, and enabled him to form conclusions at whichcommon minds could never have arrived, nay, which they could not perceivewhen pointed out. 

To his intellectual vision it was given to read the signs of the times, and to trace, in the conjectures and reveries of past ages, theindications of an unknown world; as soothsayers were said to readpredictions in the stars, and to foretell events from the visions of thenight. "His soul, " observes a Spanish writer, "was superior to the age inwhich he lived. For him was reserved the great enterprise of traversingthat sea which had given rise to so many fables, and of deciphering themystery of his time. " [238]

With all the visionary fervor of his imagination, its fondest dreams fellshort of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of hisdiscovery. Until his last breath he entertained the idea that he hadmerely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and haddiscovered some of the wild regions of the East. He supposed Hispaniola tobe the ancient Ophir which had been visited by the ships of Solomon, andthat Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. What visions ofglory would have broken upon his mind could he have known that he hadindeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world inmagnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hithertoknown by civilized man! And how would his magnanimous spirit have beenconsoled, amidst the afflictions of age and the cares of penury, theneglect of a fickle public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, couldhe have anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over thebeautiful world he had discovered; and the nations, and tongues, andlanguages which were to fill its lands with his renown, and revere andbless his name to the latest posterity!

Appendix:

Containing Illustrations and Documents. 

No. I. 

Transportation of the Remains of Columbus from St. Domingo to the Havana. 

At the termination of a war between France and Spain, in 1795, all theSpanish possessions in the island of Hispaniola were ceded to France, bythe 9th article of the treaty of peace. To assist in the accomplishment ofthis cession, a Spanish squadron was dispatched to the island at theappointed time, commanded by Don Gabriel de Aristizabal, lieutenant-generalof the royal armada. On the 11th December, 1795, that commander wrote tothe field-marshal and governor, Don Joaquin Garcia, resident at St. Domingo, that, being informed that the remains of the celebrated admiralDon Christopher Columbus lay in the cathedral of that city, he felt itincumbent on him as a Spaniard, and as commander-in-chief of his majesty'ssquadron of operations, to solicit the translation of the ashes of thathero to the island of Cuba, which had likewise been discovered by him, andwhere he had first planted the standard of the cross. He expressed a desirethat this should be done officially, and with great care and formality, that it might not remain in the power of any one, by a carelesstransportation of these honored remains, to lose a relic, connected withan event which formed the most glorious epoch of Spanish history, and thatit might be manifested to all nations, that Spaniards, notwithstanding thelapse of ages, never ceased to pay all honors to the remains of that"worthy and adventurous general of the seas;" nor abandoned them, when thevarious public bodies, representing the Spanish dominion, emigrated fromthe island. As he had not time, without great inconvenience, to consultthe sovereign on this subject, he had recourse to the governor, as royalvice-patron of the island, hoping that his solicitation might be granted, and the remains of the admiral exhumed and conveyed to the island of Cuba, in the ship San Lorenzo. 

The generous wishes of this high-minded Spaniard met with warm concurrenceon the part of the governor. He informed him in reply, that the duke ofVeraguas, lineal successor of Columbus, had manifested the samesolicitude, and had sent directions that the necessary measures should betaken at his expense; and had at the same time expressed a wish that thebones of the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew Columbus, should likewise beexhumed; transmitting inscriptions to be put upon the sepulchres of both. He added, that although the king had given no orders on the subject, yetthe proposition being so accordant with the grateful feelings of theSpanish nation, and meeting with the concurrence of all the authorities ofthe island, he was ready on his part to carry it into execution. Thecommandant-general Aristizabal then made a similar communication to thearchbishop of Cuba, Don Fernando Portillo y Torres, whose metropolis wasthen the city of St. Domingo, hoping to receive his countenance and aid inthis pious undertaking. The reply of the archbishop was couched in termsof high courtesy towards the gallant commander, and deep reverence for thememory of Columbus, and expressed a zeal in rendering this tribute ofgratitude and respect to the remains of one who had done so much for theglory of the nation. 

The persons empowered to act for the duke of Veraguas, the venerable deanand chapter of the cathedral, and all the other persons and authorities towhom Don Gabriel de Aristizabal made similar communications, manifestedthe same eagerness to assist in the performance of this solemn andaffecting rite. 

The worthy commander Aristizabal, having taken all these preparatory stepswith great form and punctilio, so as that the ceremony should be performedin a public and striking manner, suitable to the fame of Columbus, thewhole was carried into eflect with becoming pomp and solemnity. 

On the 20th December, 1795, the most distinguished persons of the place, the dignitaries of the church, and civil and military officers, assembledin the metropolitan cathedral. In the presence of this august assemblage, a small vault was opened above the chancel, in the principal wall on theright side of the high altar. Within were found the fragments of a leadencoffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, evidently the remainsof a human body. These were carefully collected and put into a case ofgilded lead, about half an ell in length and breadth, and a third inheight, secured by an iron lock, the key of which was delivered to thearchbishop. The case was inclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet, and ornamented with lace and fringe of gold. The whole was then placed ina temporary tomb or mansoleum. 

On the following day, there was another grand convocation at thecathedral, when the vigils and masses for the dead were solemnly chantedby the archbishop, accompanied by the commandant-general of the armada, the Dominican and Franciscan friars, and the friars of the order of Mercy, together with the rest of the distinguished assemblage. After this afuneral sermon was preached, by the archbishop. 

On the same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the coffin wastransported to the ship with the utmost state and ceremony, with a civil, religious, add military procession, banners wrapped in mourning, chantsand responses, and discharges of artillery. The most distinguished personsof the several orders took turn to support the coffin. The key was takenwith great formality from the hands of the archbishop by the governor, andgiven into the hands of the commander of the armada, to be delivered byhim to the governor of the Havana, to be held in deposit until thepleasure of the king should be known. The coffin was received on board ofa brigantine called the Discoverer, which, with all the other shipping, displayed mourning signals, and saluted the remains with the honors paidto an admiral. 

From the port of St. Domingo the coffin was conveyed to the bay of Ocoaand there transferred to the ship San Lorenzo. It was accompanied by aportrait of Columbus, sent from Spain by the duke of Veraguas, to besuspended close by the place where the remains of his illustrious ancestorshould be deposited. 

The ship immediately made sail and arrived at Havana in Cuba, on the 15thof January, 1796. Here the same deep feeling of reverence to the memory ofthe discoverer was evinced. The principal authorities repaired on board ofthe ship, accompanied by the superior naval and military officers. Everything was conducted with the same circumstantial and solemn ceremonial. The remains were removed with great reverence, and placed in a felucca, inwhich they were conveyed to land in the midst of a procession of threecolumns of feluccas and boats in the royal service, all properlydecorated, containing distinguished military and ministerial officers. Twofeluccas followed, in one of which was a marine guard of honor, withmourning banners and muffled drums; and in the other were thecommandant-general, the principal minister of marine, and the militarystaff. In passing the vessels of war in the harbor, they all paid thehonors due to an admiral and captain-general of the navy. On arriving atthe mole, the remains were met by the governor of the island, accompaniedby the generals and the military staff. The coffin was then conveyedbetween files of soldiery which lined the streets to the obelisk, in theplace of arms, where it was received in a hearse prepared for the purpose. Here the remains were formally delivered to the governor andcaptain-general of the island, the key given up to him, the coffin openedand examined, and the safe transportation of its contents authenticated. This ceremony being concluded, it was conveyed in grand procession andwith the utmost pomp to the cathedral. Masses and the solemn ceremoniesof the dead were performed by the bishop, and the mortal remains ofColumbus deposited with great reverence in the wall on the right side ofthe grand altar. "All these honors and ceremonies, " says the document, from whence this notice is digested, [239] "were attended by theecclesiastical and secular dignitaries, the public bodies and all thenobility and gentry of Havana, in proof of the high estimation andrespectful remembrance in which they held the hero who had discovered theNew World, and had been the first to plant the standard of the cross onthat island. "

This is the last occasion that the Spanish nation has had to testify itsfeelings towards the memory of Columbus, and it is with deep satisfactionthat the author of this work has been able to cite at large a ceremonialso solemn, affecting, and noble in its details, and so honorable to thenational character. 

When we read of the remains of Columbus, thus conveyed from the port ofSt. Domingo, after an interval of nearly three hundred years, as sacrednational relics, with civic and military pomp, and high religiousceremonial; the most dignified and illustrious men striving who mostshould pay them reverence; we cannot but reflect that it was from thisvery port lie was carried off loaded with ignominious chains, blastedapparently in fame and fortune, and followed by the revilings of therabble. Such honors, it is true, are nothing to the dead, nor can theyatone to the heart, now dust and ashes, for all the wrongs and sorrows itmay have suffered; but they speak volumes of comfort to the illustrious, yet slandered and persecuted living, encouraging them bravely to bear withpresent injuries, by showing them how true merit outlives all calumny, andreceives its glorious reward in the admiration of after ages. 

No. II. 

Notice of the Descendants of Columbus. 

On the death of Columbus his son Diego succeeded to his rights, asviceroy and governor of the New World, according to the expresscapitulations between the sovereigns and his father. He appears by thegeneral consent of historians to have been a man of great integrity, ofrespectable talents, and of a frank and generous nature. Herrera speaksrepeatedly of the gentleness and urbanity of his manners, and pronounceshim of a noble disposition and without deceit. This absence of all guilefrequently laid him open to the stratagems of crafty men, grown old indeception, who rendered his life a continued series of embarrassments; butthe probity of his character, with the irresistible power of truth, borehim through difficulties in which more politic and subtle men would havebeen entangled and completely lost. 

Immediately after the death of the admiral, Don Diego came forward aslineal successor, and urged the restitution of the family offices andprivileges, which had been suspended during the latter years of hisfather's life. If the cold and wary Ferdinand, however, could forget hisobligations of gratitude and justice to Columbus, he had less difficultyin turning a deaf ear to the solicitations of his son. For two years DonDiego pressed his suit with fruitless diligence. He felt the apparentdistrust of the monarch the more sensibly, from having been brought upunder his eye, as a page in the royal household, where his character oughtto be well known and appreciated. At length, on the return of Ferdinandfrom Naples in 1508, he put to him a direct question, with the franknessattributed to his character. He demanded "why his majesty would not grantto him as a favor, that which was his right, and why he hesitated toconfide in the fidelity of one who had been reared in his house. "Ferdinand replied that he could fully confide in him, but could not reposeso great a trust at a venture in his children and successors. To this DonDiego rejoined, that it was contrary to all justice and reason to make himsuffer for the sins of his children who might never be born. [240]

Still, though he had reason and justice on his side, the young admiralfound it impossible to bring the wary monarch to a compliance. Finding allappeal to all his ideas of equity or sentiments of generosity in vain, hesolicited permission to pursue his claim in the ordinary course of law. The king could not refuse so reasonable a request, and Don Diego commenceda process against king Ferdinand before the council of the Indies, foundedon the repeated capitulations between the crown and his father, andembracing all the dignities and immunities ceded by them. 

One ground of opposition to these claims was, that if the capitulation, made by the sovereigns in 1492, had granted a perpetual viceroyalty to theadmiral and his heirs, such grant could not stand; being contrary to theinterest of the state, and to an express law promulgated in Toledo in1480; wherein it was ordained that no office, involving the administrationof justice, should be given in perpetuity; that therefore, the viceroyaltygranted to the admiral could only have been for his life; and that evenduring that term it had justly been taken from him for his misconduct. That such concessions were contrary to the inherent prerogatives of thecrown, of which the government could not divest itself. To this Don Diegoreplied, that as to the validity of the capitulation, it was a bindingcontract, and none of its privileges ought to be restricted. That as byroyal schedules dated in Villa Franca, June 2d, 1506, and Almazan, Aug. 28, 1507, it had been ordered that he, Don Diego, should receive thetenths, so equally ought the other privileges to be accorded to him. As tothe allegation that his lather had been deprived of his viceroyalty forhis demerits, it was contrary to all truth. It had been audacity on thepart of Bobadilla to send him a prisoner to Spain in 1500, and contrary tothe will and command of the sovereigns, as was proved by their letter, dated from Valencia de la Torre in 1502, in which they expressed grief athis arrest, and assured him that it should be redressed, and hisprivileges guarded entire to himself and his children. [241]

This memorable suit was commenced in 1508, and continued for severalyears. In the course of it the claims of Don Diego were disputed, likewise, on the plea that his father was not the original discoverer ofTerra Firma, but only subsequently of certain portions of it. This, however, was completely controverted by overwhelming testimony. The claimsof Don Diego were minutely discussed and rigidly examined; and theunanimous decision of the council of the Indies in his favor, while itreflected honor on the justice and independence of that body, silencedmany petty cavilers at the fair fame of Columbus. [242] Notwithstandingthis decision, the wily monarch wanted neither means nor pretexts to delaythe ceding of such vast powers, so repugnant to his cautious policy. Theyoung admiral was finally indebted for his success in this suit toprevious success attained in a suit of a different nature. He had becomeenamored of Doña Maria de Toledo, daughter of Fernando de Toledo, grandcommander of Leon, and niece to Don Fadrique de Toledo, the celebratedduke of Alva, chief favorite of the king. This was aspiring to a highconnection. The father and uncle of the lady were the most powerfulgrandees of the proud kingdom of Spain, and cousins german to Ferdinand. The glory, however, which Columbus had left behind, rested upon hischildren, and the claims of Don Diego, recently confirmed by the council, involved dignities and wealth sufficient to raise him to a level with theloftiest alliance. He found no difficulty in obtaining the hand of thelady, and thus was the foreign family of Columbus ingrafted on one of theproudest races of Spain. The natural consequences followed. Diego hadsecured that magical power called "connections;" and the favor of Ferdinand, which had been so long withheld from him, as the son ofColumbus, shone upon him, though coldly, as the nephew of the duke ofAlva. The father and uncle of his bride succeeded, though with greatdifficulty, in conquering the repugnance of the monarch, and after all hebut granted in part the justice they required. He ceded to Don Diegomerely the dignities and powers enjoyed by Nicholas de Ovando, who wasrecalled; and he cautiously withheld the title of viceroy. 

The recall of Ovando was not merely a measure to make room for Don Diego;it was the tardy performance of a promise made to Isabella on herdeath-bed. The expiring queen had demanded it as a punishment for themassacre of her poor Indian subjects at Xaragua, and the cruel andignominious execution of the female cacique Anacaona. Thus retribution wascontinually going its rounds in the checkered destinies of this island, which has ever presented a little epitome of human history; its errors andcrimes, and consequent disasters. 

In complying with the request of the queen, however, Ferdinand wasfavorable towards Ovando. He did not feel the same generous sympathieswith his late consort, and, however Ovando had sinned against humanity inhis treatment of the Indians, he had been a vigilant officer, and his veryoppressions had in general proved profitable to the crown. Ferdinanddirected that the fleet which took out the new governor should returnunder the command of Ovando, and that he should retain undisturbedenjoyment of any property or Indian slaves that might be found in hispossession. Some have represented Ovando as a man far from mercenary; thatthe wealth wrung from the miseries of the natives was for his sovereign, not for himself; and it is intimated that one secret cause of his disgracewas his having made an enemy of the all-powerful and unforgiving Fonseca. [243]

The new admiral embarked at St. Lucar, June 9, 1509, with his wife, hisbrother Don Fernando, who was now grown to man's estate, and had been welleducated, and his two uncles, Don Bartholomew and Don Diego. They wereaccompanied by a numerous retinue of cavaliers, with their wives, and ofyoung ladies of rank and family, more distinguished, it is hinted, forhigh blood than large fortune, and who were sent out to find wealthyhusbands in the New World. [244]

Though the king had not granted Don Diego the dignity of viceroy, thetitle was generally given to him by courtesy, and his wife was universallyaddressed by that of vice-queen. 

Don Diego commenced his rule with a degree of splendor hitherto unknown inthe colony. The vice-queen, who was a lady of great desert, surrounded bythe noble cavaliers and the young ladies of family who had come in herretinue, established a sort of court, which threw a degree of lustre overthe half savage island. The young ladies were soon married to thewealthiest colonists, and contributed greatly to soften those rude mannerswhich had grown up in a state of society hitherto destitute of thesalutary restraint and pleasing decorum produced by female influence. 

Don Diego had considered his appointment in the light of a vice-royalty, but the king soon took measures which showed that he admitted of no suchpretension. Without any reference to Don Diego, he divided the coast ofDarien into two great provinces, separated by an imaginary line runningthrough the Gulf of Uraba, appointing Alonzo de Ojeda governor of theeastern province, which he called New Andalusia, and Diego de Nicuessagovernor of the western province, which included the rich coast ofVeragua, and which he called Castilla del Oro, or Golden Castile. Had themonarch been swayed by principles of justice and gratitude, the settlementof this coast would have been given to the Adelantado, Don BartholomewColumbus, who had assisted in the discovery of the country, and, togetherwith his brother the admiral, had suffered so greatly in the enterprise. Even his superior abilities for the task should have pointed him out tothe policy of the monarch; but the cautious and [245] calculatingFerdinand knew the lofty spirit of the Adelantado, and that he would bedisposed to demand high and dignified terms. He passed him by, therefore, and preferred more eager and accommodating adventurers. 

Don Diego was greatly aggrieved at this measure, thus adopted without hisparticipation or knowledge. He justly considered it an infringement of thecapitulations granted and repeatedly confirmed to his father and hisheirs. He had further vexations and difficulties with respect to thegovernment of the island of St. Juan, or Porto Rico, which was conqueredand settled about this time; but after a variety of cross purposes, theofficers whom he appointed were ultimately recognized by the crown. 

Like his father, he had to contend with malignant factions in hisgovernment; for the enemies of the father transferred their enmity to theson. There was one Miguel Pasamonte, the king's treasurer, who became hisavowed enemy, under the support and chiefly at the instigation of thebishop Fonseca, who continued to the son the implacable hostility which hehad manifested to the father. A variety of trivial circumstancescontributed to embroil him with some of the petty officers of the colony, and there was a remnant of the followers of Bohian who arrayed themselvesagainst him. [246]

Two factions soon arose in the island; one of the admiral, the other ofthe treasurer Pasamonte. The latter affected to call themselves the partyof the king. They gave all possible molestation to Don Diego, and senthome the most virulent and absurd misrepresentations of his conduct. Amongothers, they represented a large house with many windows which he wasbuilding, as intended for a fortress, and asserted that he had a design tomake himself sovereign of the island. King Ferdinand, who was nowadvancing in years, had devolved the affairs of the Indies in a greatmeasure on Fonseca, [247] who had superintended them from thefirst, and he was greatly guided by the advice of that prelate, which wasnot likely to be favorable to the descendants of Columbus. The complaintsfrom the colonies were so artfully enforced, therefore, that heestablished in 1510 a sovereign court at St. Domingo, called the royalaudience, to which an appeal might be made from all sentences of theadmiral, even in cases reserved hitherto exclusively for the crown. DonDiego considered this a suspicious and injurious measure intended todemolish his authority. 

Frank, open, and unsuspicious, the young admiral was not formed for acontest with the crafty politicians arrayed against him, who were readyand adroit in seizing upon his slightest errors, and magnifying them intocrimes. Difficulties were multiplied in his path which it was out of hispower to overcome. He had entered upon office full of magnanimousintentions; determined to put an end to oppression, and correct allabuses; all good men therefore had rejoiced at his appointment; but hesoon found that he had overrated his strength, and undervalued thedifficulties awaiting him. He calculated from his own good heart, but hehad no idea of the wicked hearts of others. He was opposed to therepartimientos of Indians, that source of all kinds of inhumanity; but hefound all the men of wealth in the colony, and most of the importantpersons of the court, interested in maintaining them. He perceived thatthe attempt to abolish them would be dangerous, and the resultquestionable: at the same time this abuse was a source of immense profitto himself. Self-interest, therefore, combined with other considerations, and what at first appeared difficult, seemed presently impracticable. Therepartimientos continued in the state in which he found them, exceptingthat he removed such of the superintendents as had been cruel andoppressive, and substituted men of his own appointment, who probablyproved equally worthless. His friends were disappointed, his enemiesencouraged; a hue and cry was raised against him by the friends of thosehe had displaced; and it was even said that if Ovando had not died aboutthis time, he would have been sent out to supplant Don Diego. 

The subjugation and settlement of the island of Cuba in 1510, was afortunate event in the administration of the present admiral. Hecongratulated king Ferdinand on having acquired the largest and mostbeautiful island in the world without losing a single man. Theintelligence was highly acceptable to the king; but it was accompanied bya great number of complaints against the admiral. Little affection asFerdinand felt for Don Diego, he was still aware that most of theserepresentations were false, and had their origin in the jealousy and envyof his enemies. He judged it expedient, however, in 1512, to send out DonBartholomew Columbus with minute instructions to his nephew the admiral. 

Don Bartholomew still retained the office of Adelantado of the Indies;although Ferdinand, through selfish motives, detained him in Spain, whilehe employed inferior men in voyages of discovery. He now added to hisappointments the property and government of the little island of Monaduring life, and assigned him a repartimiento of two hundred Indians, withthe superintendence of the mines which might be discovered in Cuba; anoffice which proved very lucrative. [248]

Among the instructions given by the king to Don Diego, he directed that, in consequence of the representations of the Dominican friars, the laborof the natives should be reduced to one-third; that negro slaves should beprocured from Guinea as a relief to the Indians; [249] and that Caribslaves should be branded on the leg, to prevent other Indians from beingconfounded with them and subjected to harsh treatment. [250]

The two governors, Ojeda and Nicuessa, whom the king had appointed tocolonize and command at the Isthmus of Darien, in Terra Firma, havingfailed in their undertaking, the sovereign, in 1514, wrote to Hispaniola, permitting the Adelantado, Don Bartholomew, if so inclined, to take chargeof settling the coast of Veragua, and to govern that country under theadmiral Don Diego, conformably to his privileges. Had the king consultedhis own interest, and the deference due to the talents and services of theAdelantado, this measure would have been taken at an earlier date. It wasnow too late: illness prevented Don Bartholomew from executing theenterprise; and his active and toilsome life was drawing to a close. 

Many calumnies having been sent home to Spain by Pasamonte and otherenemies of Don Diego, and various measures being taken by government, which he conceived derogatory to his dignity, and injurious to hisprivileges, he requested and obtained permission to repair to court, thathe might explain and vindicate his conduct. He departed, accordingly, onApril 9th, 1515, leaving the Adelantado with the vice-queen, Dofia Maria. He was received with great honor by the king; and he merited such areception. He had succeeded in every enterprise he had undertaken ordirected. The pearl fishery had been successfully established on the coastof Cubagua; the islands of Cuba and of Jamaica had been subjected andbrought under cultivation without bloodshed; his conduct as governor hadbeen upright; and he had only excited the representations made againsthim, by endeavoring to lessen the oppression of the natives. The kingordered that all processes against him in the court of appeal andelsewhere, for damages done to individuals in regulating therepartimientos, should be discontinued, and the cases sent to himself forconsideration. But with all these favors, as the admiral claimed a shareof the profits of the provinces of Castilla del Oro, saying that it wasdiscovered by his father, as the names of its places, such as Nombre deDios, Porto Bello, and el Retrete, plainly proved, the king ordered thatinterrogatories should be made among the mariners who had sailed withChristopher Columbus, in the hope of proving that he had not discoveredthe coast of Darien nor the Gulf of Uraba. "Thus, " adds Herrera, "DonDiego was always involved in litigations with the fiscal, so that he mighttruly say that he was heir to the troubles of his father. " [251]

Not long after the departure of Don Diego from St. Domingo, his uncle, DonBartholomew, ended his active and laborious life. No particulars are givenof his death, nor is there mention made of his age, which must have beenadvanced. King Ferdinand is said to have expressed great concern at theevent, for he had a high opinion of the character and talents of theAdelantado: "a man, " says Herrera, "of not less worth than his brother theadmiral, and who, if he had been employed, would have given great proofsof it; for he was an excellent seaman, valiant and of great heart. "[252] Charlevoix attributes the inaction in which Don Bartholomew had beensuffered to remain for several years, to the jealousy and parsimony of theking. He found the house already too powerful, and the Adelantado, had hediscovered Mexico, was a man to make as good conditions as had been madeby the admiral his brother. [253] It was said, observed Herrera, that theking rather preferred to employ him in his European affairs, though itcould only have been to divert him from other objects. On his death theking resumed to himself the island of Mona, which he had given to him forlife, and transferred his repartimiento of two hundred Indians to thevice-queen Doña Maria. 

While the admiral Don Diego was pressing for an audience in hisvindication at court, King Ferdinand died on the 23d January, 1516. Hisgrandson and successor, Prince Charles, afterwards the emperor Charles V. , was in Flanders. The government rested for a time with Cardinal Ximenes, who would not undertake to decide on the representations and claims of theadmiral. It was not until 1520 that he obtained from the emperor CharlesV. A recognition of his innocence of all the charges against him. Theemperor, finding that what Pasamonte and his party had written werenotorious calumnies, ordered Don Diego to resume his charge, although theprocess with the fiscal was still pending, and that Pasamonte should bewritten to, requesting him to forget all past passions and differences andto enter into amicable relations with Don Diego. Among other acts ofindemnification he acknowledged his right to exercise his office ofviceroy and governor in the island of Hispaniola, and in all partsdiscovered by his father. [254] His authority was, however, muchdiminished by new regulations, and a supervisor appointed over him withthe right to give information to the council against him, but with noother powers. Don Diego sailed in the beginning of September, 1520, andon his arrival at St. Domingo, finding that several of the governors, presuming on his long absence, had arrogated to themselves independence, and had abused their powers, he immediately sent persons to supersedethem, and demanded an account of their administration. This made him ahost of active and powerful enemies both in the colonies and in Spain. 

Considerable changes had taken place in the island of Hispaniola, duringthe absence of the admiral. The mines had fallen into neglect, thecultivation of the sugar-cane having been found a more certain source ofwealth. It became a by-word in Spain that the magnificent palaces erectedby Charles V. At Madrid and Toledo were built of the sugar of Hispaniola. Slaves had been imported in great numbers from Africa, being found moreserviceable in the culture of the cane than the feeble Indians. Thetreatment of the poor negroes was cruel in the extreme; and they seem tohave had no advocates even among the humane. The slavery of the Indianshad been founded on the right of the strong; but it was thought that thenegroes, from their color, were born to slavery; and that from beingbought and sold in their own country, it was their natural condition. Though a patient and enduring race, the barbarities inflated on them atlength roused them to revenge, and on the 27th December, 1522, there wasthe first African revolt in Hispaniola. It began in a sugar plantation ofthe admiral Don Diego, where about twenty slaves, joined by an equalnumber from a neighboring plantation, got possession of arms, rose ontheir superintendents, massacred them, and sallied forth upon the country. It was their intention to pillage certain plantations, to kill the whites, reinforce themselves by freeing their countrymen, and either to possessthemselves of the town of Agua, or to escape to the mountains. 

Don Diego set out from St. Domingo in search of the rebels, followed byseveral of the principal inhabitants. On the second day he stopped on thebanks of the river Nizao to rest his party and suffer reinforcements toovertake him. Here one Melchor de Castro, who accompanied the admiral, learnt that the negroes had ravaged his plantation, sacked his house, killed one of his men, and carried off his Indian slaves. Without askingleave of the admiral, he departed in the night with two companions, visited his plantation, found all in confusion, and, pursuing the negroes, sent to the admiral for aid. Eight horsemen were hastily dispatched to hisassistance, armed with bucklers and lances, and having six of the infantrymounted behind them. De Castro had three horsemen beside thisreinforcement, and at the head of this little band overtook the negroes atbreak of day. The insurgents put themselves in battle array, armed withstones and Indian spears, and uttering loud shouts and outcries. TheSpanish horsemen braced their bucklers, couched their lances, and chargedthem at full speed. The negroes were soon routed, and fled to the rocks, leaving six dead and several wounded. De Castro also was wounded in thearm. The admiral coming up, assisted in the pursuit of the fugitives. Asfast as they were taken they were hanged on the nearest trees, andremained suspended as spectacles of terror to their countrymen. Thisprompt severity checked all further attempts at revolt among the Africanslaves. [255]

In the meantime the various enemies whom Don Diego had created, both inthe colonies and in Spain, were actively and successfully employed. Hisold antagonist, the treasurer Pasnmonte, had charged him with usurpingalmost all the powers of the royal audience, and with having given to theroyal declaration, re-establishing him in his office of viceroy, an extentnever intended by the sovereign. These representations had weight atcourt, and in 1523 Don Diego received a most severe letter from thecouncil of the Indies, charging him with the various abuses and excessesalleged against him, and commanding him, on pain of forfeiting all hisprivileges and titles, to revoke the innovations he had made, and restorethings to their former state. To prevent any plea of ignorance of thismandate, the royal audience was enjoined to promulgate it and to call uponall persons to conform to it, and to see that it was properly obeyed. Theadmiral received also a letter from the council, informing him that Juspresence was necessary in Spain, to give information of the foregoingmatters, and advice relative to the reformation of various abuses, and tothe treatment and preservation of the Indians; he was requested, therefore, to repair to court without waiting for further orders. [256]

Don Diego understood this to be a peremptory recall, and obeyedaccordingly. On his arrival in Spain, he immediately presented himselfbefore the court at Victoria, with the frank and fearless spirit of anupright man, and pleaded his cause so well, that the sovereign and councilacknowledged his innocence on all the points of accusation. He convincedthem, moreover, of the exactitude with which he had discharged his duties;of his zeal for the public good, and the glory of the crown; and that allthe representations against him rose from the jealousy and enmity ofPasaraonte and other royal oflicers in the colonies, who were impatient ofany superior authority in the island to restrain them. 

Having completely established his innocence, and exposed the calumnies ofhis enemies, Don Diego trusted that he would soon obtain justice as to allhis claims. As these, however, involved a participation in the profits ofvast and richly productive provinces, he experienced the delays anddifficulties usual with such demands, for it is only when justice costsnothing that it is readily rendered. His earnest solicitations at lengthobtained an order from the emperor, that a commission should be formed, composed of the grand chancellor, the friar Loyasa, confessor to theemperor, and president of the royal council of the Indies, and a number ofother distinguished personages. They were to inquire into the variouspoints in dispute between the admiral and the fiscal, and into theproceedings which had taken place in the council of the Indies, with thepower of determining what justice required in the case. The affair, however, was protracted to such a length, and accompanied by so manytoils, vexations, and disappointments, that the unfortunate Diego, likehis father, died in the pursuit. For two years he had followed the courtfrom city to city, during its migrations from Victoria to Burgos, Valladolid, Madrid, and Toledo. In the winter of 1525, the emperor set outfrom Toledo for Seville. The admiral undertook to follow him, though hisconstitution was broken by fatigue and vexation, and he was wasting underthe attack of a slow fever. Oviedo, the historian, saw him at Toledo twodays before his departure, and joined with his friends in endeavoring todissuade him from a journey in such a state of health, and at such aseason. Their persuasions were in vain. Don Diego was not aware of theextent of his malady: he told them that he should repair to Seville by thechurch of our Lady of Guadaloupe, to offer up his devotions at thatshrine; and he trusted, through the intercession of the mother of God, soon to be restored to health. [257] He accordingly left Toledo in alitter on the 21st of February, 1526, having previously confessed andtaken the communion, and arrived the same day at Montalvan, distant aboutsix leagues. There his illness increased to such a degree that he saw hisend approaching. He employed the following day in arranging the affairsof his conscience, and expired on February 23d, being little more thanfifty years of age, his premature death having been hastened by thegriefs and troubles he had experienced. "He was worn out, " says Herrera, "by following up his claims, and defending himself from the calumnies ofhis competitors, who, with many stratagems and devices, sought to obscurethe glory of the father and the virtue of the son. " [258]

We have seen how the discovery of the New World rendered the residue ofthe life of Columbus a tissue of wrongs, hardships, and afflictions, andhow the jealousy and enmity he had awakened were inherited by his son. Itremains to show briefly in what degree the anticipations of perpetuity, wealth, and honor to his family were fulfilled. 

When Don Diego Columbus died, his wife and family were at St. Domingo. Heleft two sons, Luis and Christopher, and three daughters, Maria, whoafterwards married Don Sancho de Cardono; Juana, who married Don Luis deCneva; and Isabella, who married Don George of Portugal, count of Gelves. He had also a natural son named Christopher. [259]

After the death of Don Diego, his noble-spirited vice queen, left with anumber of young children, endeavored to assert and maintain the rights ofthe family. Understanding that, according to the privileges accorded toChristopher Columbus, they had a just claim to the vice-royalty of theprovince of Veragua, as having been discovered by him, she demanded alicense from the royal audience of Hispaniola, to recruit men and fit outan armada to colonize that country. This the audience refused, and sentinformation of the demand to the emperor. He replied, that the vice-queenshould be kept in suspense until the justice of her claim could beascertained; as, although he had at various times given commissions todifferent persons to examine the doubts and objections which had beenopposed by the fiscal, no decision had ever been made. [260] Theenterprise thus contemplated by the vice-queen was never carried intoeffect. 

Shortly afterwards she sailed for Spain, to protect the claim of hereldest son, Don Luis, then six years of age. Charles V. Was absent, butshe was most graciously received by the empress. The title of admiral ofthe Indies was immediately conferred on her son, Don Luis, and the emperoraugmented his revenues, and conferred other favors on the family. CharlesV. , however, could never be prevailed on to give Don Luis the title ofviceroy, although that dignity had been decreed to his father, a few yearsprevious to his death, as an hereditary right. [261]

In 1538, the young admiral, Don Luis, then about eighteen years of age, was at court, having instituted proceedings before the proper tribunals, for the recovery of the viceroyalty. Two years afterwards the suit wassettled by arbitration, his uncle Don Fernando, and Cardinal Loyasa, president of the council of the Indies, being umpires. By a compromise DonLuis was declared captain-general of Hispaniola, but with such limitationsthat it was little better than a bare title. Don Luis sailed forHispaniola, but did not remain there long. He found his dignities andprivileges mere sources of vexation, and finally entered into acompromise, which relieved himself and gratified the emperor. He gave upall pretensions to the viceroyalty of the New World, receiving in itsstead the titles of Duke of Veragua and Marquis of Jamaica. [262] Hecommuted also the claim to the tenth of the produce of the Indies for apension of one thousand doubloons of gold. [263]

Don Luis did not long enjoy the substitution of a certain, thoughmoderate, revenue for a magnificent but unproductive claim. He diedshortly afterwards, leaving no other male issue than an illegitimate son, named Christopher. He left two daughters by his wife, Doña Maria deMosquera, one named Phillippa, and the other Maria, which last became anun in the convent of St. Quirce, at Valladolid. 

Don Luis, having no legitimate son, was succeeded by his nephew Diego, sonto his brother Christopher. A litigation took place between this youngheir and his cousin Phillippa, daughter of the late Don Luis. The conventof St. Quirce also put in a claim, on behalf of its inmate, Doña Maria, who had taken the veil. Christopher, natural son to Don Luis, likewisebecame a prosecutor in the suit, but was set aside on account of hisillegitimacy. Don Diego and his cousin Phillippa soon thought it better tojoin claims and persons in wedlock, than to pursue a tedious contest. Theywere married, and their union was happy, though not fruitful. Diego diedwithout issue in 1578, and with him the legitimate male line of Columbusbecame extinct. 

One of the most important lawsuits that the world has ever witnessed nowarose for the estates and dignities descended from the great discoverer. Don Diego had two sisters, Francisca and Maria, the former of whom, andthe children of the latter, advanced their several claims. To theseparties was added Bernard Colombo of Cogoleto, who claimed as linealdescendant from Bartholomew Columbus, the Adelantado, brother to thediscoverer. He was, however, pronounced ineligible, as the Adelantado hadno acknowledged, and certainly no legitimate, offspring. 

Baldassar, or Balthazar, Colombo, of the house of Cuccaro and Conzano, inthe dukedom of Montferrat, in Piedmont, was an active and perseveringclaimant. He came from Italy into Spain, where he devoted himself for manyyears to the prosecution of this suit. He produced a genealogical tree ofhis family, in which was contained one Domenico Colombo, lord of Cuccaro, whom he maintained to be the identical father of Christopher Columbus, theadmiral. He proved that this Domenico was living at the requisite era, andproduced many witnesses who had heard that the navigator was born in thecastle of Cuccaro; whence, it was added, he and his two brothers hadeloped at an early age, and had never returned. [264] A monk is alsomentioned among the witnesses, who made oath that Christopher and hisbrothers were born in that castle of Cuccaro. This testimony wasafterwards withdrawn by the prosecutor; as it was found that the monk'srecollection must have extended back considerably upward of a century. [265] The claim of Balthazar was negatived. His proofs that ChristopherColumbus was a native of Cuccaro were rejected, as only hearsay, ortraditionary evidence. His ancestor Domenico, it appeared from his ownshowing, died in 1456; whereas it was established that Domenico, thefather of the admiral, was living upwards of thirty years after thatdate. 

The cause was finally decided by the council of the Indies, on the 2dDecember, 1608. The male line was declared to be extinct. Don Nuño orNugno Gelves de Portugallo was put in possession, and became duke ofVeragua. He was grandson to Isabella, third daughter of Don Diego (son ofthe discoverer) by his vice-queen, Doña Maria de Toledo. The descendantsof the two elder sisters of Isabella had a prior claim, but their linesbecame extinct previous to this decision of the suit. The Isabella justnamed had married Don George of Portugal, count of Gelves. "Thus, " saysCharlevoix, "the dignities and wealth of Columbus passed into a branch ofthe Portuguese house of Braganza, established in Spain, of which the heirsare entitled _De Portugallo, Colon, Duke de Veragua, Marques de laJamaica, y Almirante de las Indias_. " [Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming. , tom. I. Lib. Vi. P. 447. ]

The suit of Balthazar Colombo of Cuccaro was rejected under threedifferent forms, by the council of the Indies; and his application for anallowance of support, under the legacy of Columbus, in favor of poorrelations, was also refused; although the other parties had assented tothe demand. [266] He died in Spain, where he had resided many years inprosecution of this suit. His son returned to Italy, persisting in thevalidity of his claim: he said that it was in vain to seek justice inSpain; they were too much interested to keep those dignities and estatesamong themselves; but he gave out that he had received twelve thousanddoubloons of gold in compromise from the other parties. Spotorno, undersanction of Ignazio de Giovanni, a learned canon, treats this assertionas a bravado, to cover his defeat, being contradicted by his evidentpoverty. [267] The family of Cuccaro, however, still maintain theirright, and express great veneration for the memory of their illustriousancestor, the admiral; and travelers occasionally visit their old castlein Piedmont with great reverence, as the birthplace of the discoverer ofthe New World. 

No. III. 

Fernando Columbus. 

Fernando Columbus (or Colon, as he is called in Spain), the natural sonand historian of the admiral, was born in Cordova. There is an uncertaintyabout the exact time of his birth. According to his epitaph, it must havebeen on the 28th September, 1488; but according to his original paperspreserved in the library of the cathedral of Seville, and which wereexamined by Don Diego Ortiz de Zuñiga, historian of that city, it wouldappear to have been on the 29th of August, 1487. His mother, Doña BeatrixEnriquez, was of a respectable family, but was never married to theadmiral, as has been stated by some of his biographers. 

Early in 1494, Fernando was carried to court, together with his elderbrother Diego, by his uncle Don Bartholomew, to enter the royal householdin quality of page to the prince Don Juan, son and heir to Ferdinand andIsabella. He and his brother remained in this situation until the death ofthe prince; when they were taken by Queen Isabella as pages into her ownservice. Their education, of course, was well attended to, and Fernando inafter-life gave proofs of being a learned man. 

In the year 1502, at the tender age of thirteen or fourteen years, Fernando accompanied his father in his fourth voyage of discovery, andencountered all its singular and varied hardships with a fortitude that ismentioned with praise and admiration by the admiral. 

After the death of his father, it would appear that Fernando made twovoyages to the New World. He accompanied the emperor Charles V. Also, toItaly, Flanders, and Germany; and according to Zuffiga (Anales de Sevillede 1539, No. 3), traveled over all Europe and a part of Africa and Asia. Possessing talents, judgment, and industry, these opportunities were notlost upon him, and he acquired much information in geography, navigation, and natural history. Being of a studious habit, and fond of books, heformed a select, yet copious, library, of more than twenty thousandvolumes, in print and in manuscript. With the sanction of the emperorCharles V. , he undertook to establish an academy and college ofmathematics at Seville; and for this purpose commenced the construction ofa sumptuous edifice, without the walls of the city, facing theGuadalquiver, in the place where the monastery of San Laureano is nowsituated. His constitution, however, had been broken by the sufferings hehad experienced in his travels and voyages, and a premature deathprevented the completion of his plan of the academy, and broke off otheruseful labors. He died in Seville on the 12th of July, 1539, at the age, according to his epitaph, of fifty years, nine months, and fourteen days. He left no issue, and was never married. His body was interred, accordingto his request, in the cathedral of Seville. He bequeathed his valuablelibrary to the same establishment. 

Don Fernando devoted himself much to letters. According to the inscriptionon his tomb, he composed a work in four books, or volumes, the title ofwhich is defaced on the monument, and the work itself is lost. This ismuch to be regretted, as, according to Zuñiga, the fragments of theinscription specify it to have contained, among a variety of matter, historical, moral, and geographical notices of the countries he hadvisited, but especially of the New World, and of the voyages anddiscoveries of his father. 

His most important and permanent work, however, was a history of theadmiral, composed in Spanish. It was translated into Italian by Alonzo deUlloa, and from this Italian translation have proceeded the editions whichhave since appeared in various languages. It is singular that the workonly exists in Spanish, in the form of a retranslation from that of Ulloa, and full of errors in the orthography of proper names, and in dates anddistances. 

Don Fernando was an eye-witness of some of the facts which he relates, particularly of the fourth voyage, wherein he accompanied his father. Hehad also the papers and charts of his father, and recent documents of allkinds to extract from, as well as familiar acquaintance with the principalpersonages who were concerned in the events which he records. He was a manof probity and discernment, and writes more dispassionately than could beexpected, when treating of matters which affected the honor, theinterests, and happiness of his father. It is to be regretted, however, that he should have suffered the whole of his father's life, previous tohis discoveries (a period of about fifty-six years), to remain inobscurity. He appears to have wished to cast a cloud over it, and only tohave presented his father to the reader after he had rendered himselfillustrious by his actions, and his history had become in a manneridentified with the history of the world. His work, however, is aninvaluable document, entitled to great faith, and is the corner-stone ofthe history of the American Continent. 

[Illustration: Galley, from the tomb of Fernando Columbus, at Seville. ]

No. IV. 

Age of Columbus. 

As the date I have assigned for the birth of Columbus makes him about tenyears older than he is generally represented, at the time of hisdiscoveries, it is proper to state precisely my authority. In the valuablemanuscript chronicle of the reign of the Catholic sovereigns, written byAndres Bernaldes, the curate of Los Palacios, there is a long tract on thesubject of the discoveries of Columbus: it concludes with these words:_Murió en Valladolid, el año de 1506, en el mes de Mayo, in senectutebona, de edad 70 años, poco mas ó menos_. (He died in Valladolid in theyear 1506, in the month of May, in a good old age, being seventy yearsold, a little more or less. ) The curate of Los Palacios was acontemporary, and an intimate friend of Columbus, who was occasionally aguest in his house; no one was more competent, therefore, to form acorrect idea of his age. It is singular, that, while the biographers ofColumbus have been seeking to establish the epoch of his birth by variouscalculations and conjectures, this direct testimony of honest AndresBernaldes has entirely escaped their notice, though some of them had hismanuscript in their hands. It was first observed by my accurate friend DonAntonio Uguina in the course of his exact investigations, and has beenpointed out and ably supported by Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, inthe introduction to his valuable collection of voyages. 

Various circumstances in the life of Columbus will be found to corroboratethe statement of the curate; such, for example, as the increasinginfirmities with which he struggled during his voyages, and which at lastrendered him a cripple and confined him to his bed. The allusion to hisadvanced age in one of his letters to the sovereigns, wherein he relatesthe consolation he had received from a secret voice in the night season:_Tu vejez no impedira a toda cosa grande. Abraham pasaba cien añoscuando engendro a Isaac, &c_. (Thy old age shall be no impediment toany great undertaking. Abraham was above a hundred years old, when hebegat Isaac, &c. ) The permission granted him by the king the year previousto his death to travel on a mule, instead of a horse, on account of his_age_ and infirmities; and the assertion of Oviedo that at the timeof his death he was quite old. (_era ya viejo. _)

This fact of the advanced age of Columbus throws quite a new coloring overhis character and history. How much more extraordinary is the ardententhusiasm which sustained him through his long career of solicitation, and the noble pride with which he refused to descend from his dignifieddemands, and to bargain about his proposition, though life was rapidlywasting in delays. How much more extraordinary is the hardihood with whichhe undertook repeated voyages into unknown seas, amidst all kinds ofperils and hardships; the fortitude with which he bore up against anaccumulation of mental and bodily afflictions, enough to have disheartenedand destroyed the most youthful and robust, and the irrepressible buoyancyof spirit with which to the last he still rose from under the ruinedconcerns and disappointed hopes and blasted projects of one enterprise, tolaunch into another, still more difficult and perilous. 

We have been accustomed to admire all these things in Columbus when weconsidered him in the full vigor of his life; how much more are theyentitled to our wonder as the achievements of a man whom the weight ofyears and infirmities was pressing into the grave. 

No. V. 

Lineage of Columbus. 

The ancestry of Christopher Columbus has formed a point of zealouscontroversy, which is not yet satisfactorily settled. Several honorablefamilies, possessing domains in Placentia, Montferrat, and the differentparts of the Genoese territories, claim him as belonging to their houses;and to these has recently been added the noble family of Colombo inModena. [Spotorno, Hist. Mem. , p. 5. ] The natural desire to proveconsanguinity with a man of distinguished renown has excited this rivalry;but it has been heightened, in particular instances, by the hope ofsucceeding to titles and situations of wealth and honor, when his maleline of descendants became extinct. The investigation is involved inparticular obscurity, as even his immediate relatives appear to have beenin ignorance on the subject. 

Fernando Columbus, in his biography of the admiral, after a pompousprelude, in which he attempts to throw a vague and cloudy magnificenceabout the origin of his father, notices slightly the attempts of some toobscure his fame, by making him a native of various small andinsignificant villages; and dwells with more complacency upon others whomake him a native of places in which there were persons of much honor ofthe name, and many sepulchral monuments with arms and epitaphs of theColombos. He relates his having himself gone to the castle of Cucureo, tovisit two brothers of the family of Colombo, who were rich and noble, theyoungest of whom was above one hundred years of age, and who he had heardwere relatives of his father; but they could give him no information uponthe subject; whereupon he breaks forth into his professed contempt forthese adventitious claims, declaring, that he thinks it better to contenthimself with dating from the glory of the admiral, than to go aboutinquiring whether his father "were a merchant, or one who kept his hawks;"[268] since, adds he, of persons of similar pursuits, there are thousandswho die every day, whose memory, even among their own neighbors andrelatives, perishes immediately, without its being possible afterwardsto ascertain even whether they existed. 

After this, and a few more expressions of similar disdain for these emptydistinctions, he indulges in vehement abuse of Agostino Guistiniani, whomhe calls a false historian, an inconsiderate, partial, or malignantcompatriot, for having, in his psalter, traduced his father, by saying, that in his youth he had been employed in mechanical occupations. 

As, after all this discussion, Fernando leaves the question of hisfather's parentage in all its original obscurity, yet appears irritablysensitive to any derogatory suggestions of others, his whole evidencetends to the conviction that he really knew nothing to boast of in hisancestry. 

Of the nobility and antiquity of the Colombo family, of which the admiralprobably was a remote descendant, we have some account in Herrera, "Welearn, " he says, "that the emperor Otto the Second, in 940, confirmed tothe counts Pietro, Giovanni, and Alexandro Colombo, brothers, thefeudatory possessions which they held within the jurisdiction of thecities of Ayqui, Savona, Aste, Montferrato, Turin, Viceli, Parma, Cremona, and Bergamo, and all others which they held in Italy. It appears that theColombos of Cuccaro, Cucureo, and Placentia, were the same, and that theemperor in the same year, 940, made donation to the said three brothers ofthe castles of Cuccaro, Conzano, Rosignano, and others, and of the fourthpart of Bistanio, which appertained to the empire. " [269]

One of the boldest attempts of those biographers, bent on ennoblingColumbus, has been to make him son of the Lord of Cuccaro, a burgh ofMontferrat, in Piedmont, and to prove that he was born in his father'scastle at that place; whence he and his brothers eloped at an early age, and never returned. This was asserted in the course of a process broughtby a certain Baldasser, or Balthazar, Colombo, resident in Genoa, butoriginally of Cuccaro, claiming the title and estates, on the death ofDiego Colon, duke of Veragua, in 1578, the great-grandson, and lastlegitimate male descendant of the admiral. The council of the Indiesdecided against this claim to relationship. Some account of the lawsuitwill be found in another part of the work. 

This romantic story, like all others of the nobility of his parentage, isat utter variance with the subsequent events of his life, his longstruggles with indigence and obscurity, and the difficulties he enduredfrom the want of family connections. How can it be believed, says Bossi, that this same man, who, in his most cruel adversities was incessantlytaunted by his enemies with the obscurity of his birth, should not replyto this reproach, by declaring his origin, if he were really descendedfrom the Lords of Cuccaro, Conzano, and Rosignano? a circumstance whichwould have obtained him the highest credit with the Spanish nobility. [270]

The different families of Colombo which lay claim to the great navigator, seem to be various branches of one tree, and there is little doubt of hisappertaining remotely to the same respectable stock. 

It appears evident, however, that Columbus sprang immediately from a lineof humble but industrious citizens, which had existed in Genoa, even fromthe time of Giacomo Colombo the wool-carder, in 1311, mentioned bySpotorno; nor is this in any wise incompatible with the intimation ofFernando Columbus, that the family had been reduced from high estate togreat poverty, by the wars of Lombardy. The feuds of Italy, in those ages, had broken down and scattered many of the noblest families; and while somebranches remained in the lordly heritage of castles and domains, otherswere confounded with the humblest population of the cities, No. VI. 

Birthplace of Columbus. 

There has been much controversy about the birthplace of Columbus. Thegreatness of his renown has induced various places to lay claim to him asa native, and from motives of laudable pride, for nothing reflects greaterlustre upon a city than to have given birth to distinguished men. Theoriginal and long established opinion was in favor of Genoa; but suchstrenuous claims were asserted by the states of Placentia, and inparticular of Piedmont, that the Academy of Sciences and Letters of Genoawas induced, in 1812, to nominate three of its members, Signors Serra, Carrega, and Piaggio, commissioners to examine into these pretensions. 

The claims of Placentia had been first advanced in 1662, by Pietro MariaCampi, in the ecclesiastical history of that place, who maintained thatColumbus was a native of the village of Pradello, in that vicinity. Itappeared probable, on investigation, that Bertolino Colombo, great-grandfather to the admiral, had owned a small property in Pradello, the rent of which had been received by Domenico Colombo of Genoa, andafter his death by his sons Christopher and Bartholomew. Admitting thisassertion to be correct, there was no proof that either the admiral, hisfather, or grandfather, had ever resided on that estate. The verycircumstances of the case indicated, on the contrary, that their home wasin Genoa. 

The claim of Piedmont was maintained with more plausibility. It was shownthat a Domenico Colombo was lord of the castle of Cuccaro in Montferrat, at the time of the birth of Christopher Columbus, who, it was asserted, was his son, and born in his castle. Balthazar Colombo, a descendant ofthis person, instituted a lawsuit before the council of the Indies for theinheritance of the admiral, when his male line became extinct. The councilof the Indies decided against him, as is shown in an account of thatprocess given among the illustrations of this history. It was proved thatDomenico Colombo, father of the admiral, was resident in Genoa both beforeand many years after the death of this lord of Cuccaro, who bore the samename. 

The three commissioners appointed by the Academy of Sciences and Lettersof Genoa to examine into these pretensions, after a long and diligentinvestigation, gave a voluminous and circumstantial report in favor ofGenoa. An ample digest of their inquest may be found in the History ofColumbus by Signer Bossi, who, in an able dissertation on the question, confirms their opinion. It may be added, in farther corroboration, thatPeter Martyr and Bartholomew Las Casas, who were contemporaries andacquaintances of Columbus, and Juan de Barros, the Portuguese historian, all make Columbus a native of the Genoese territories. 

There has been a question fruitful of discussion among the Genoesethemselves, whether Columbus was born in the city of Genoa, or in someother part of the territory. Finale, and Oneglia, and Savona, towns on theLigurian coast to the west, Boggiasco, Cogoleto, and several other townsand villages, claim him as their own. His family possessed a smallproperty at a village or hamlet between Quinto and Nervi, called TerraRossa; in Latin, Terra Kubra; which has induced some writers to assign hisbirth to one of those places. Bossi says that there is still a towerbetween Quinto and Nervi which bears the title of Torre dei Colombi. [271] Bartholomew Columbus, brother to the admiral, styled himself ofTerra Rubra, in a Latin inscription on a map which he presented to HenryVII of England, and Fernando Columbus states, in his history of theadmiral, that he was accustomed to subscribe himself in the same mannerbefore he attained to his dignities. 

Cogoleto at one time bore away the palm. The families there claim thediscoverer and preserve a portrait of him. One or both of the two admiralsnamed Colombo, with whom he sailed, are stated to have come from thatplace, and to have been confounded with him so as to have given support tothis idea. [272]

Savona, a city in the Genoese territories, has claimed the same honor, andthis claim has recently been very strongly brought forward. SignerGiovanni Battista Belloro, an advocate of Savona, has strenuouslymaintained this claim in an ingenious disputation, dated May 12th, 1826, in form of a letter to the Baron du Zach, editor of a valuableastronomical and geographical journal, published monthly at Genoa. [273]

Signor Belloro claims it as an admitted fact, that Domenico Colombo wasfor many years a resident and citizen of Savona, in which place oneChristopher Columbus is shown to have signed a document in 1472. 

He states that a public square in that city bore the name of PlateaColumbi, toward the end of the 14th century; that the Ligurian governmentgave the name of Jurisdizione di Colombi to that district of the republic, under the persuasion that the great navigator was a native of Savona; andthat Columbus gave the name of Saona to a little island adjacent toHispaniola, among his earliest discoveries. 

He quotes many Savonese writers, principally poets, and various historiansand poets of other countries, and thus establishes the point that Columbuswas held to be a native of Savona by persons of respectable authority. Helays particular stress on the testimony of the Magnifico FranciscoSpinola, as related by the learned prelate Felippo Alberto Pollero, stating that he had seen the sepulchre of Christopher Columbus in thecathedral at Seville, and that the epitaph states him expressly to be anative of Savona: "Hic jacet Christophorus Columbus Savonensis. "[274]

The prooft advanced by Signor Belloro show his zeal for the honor of hisnative city, but do not authenticate the fact he undertakes to establish. He shows clearly that many respectable writers believed Columbus to be anative of Savona; but a far greater number can be adduced, and many ofthem contemporary with the admiral, some of them his intimate friends, others his fellow-citizens, who state him to have been born in the city ofGenoa. Among the Savonese writers, Giulio Salinorio, who investigated thesubject, comes expressly to the same conclusion: "_Geneva cittánobilissima era la patria de Colombo_. "

Signor Belloro appears to be correct in stating that Domenico, the fatherof the admiral, was several years resident in Savona. But it appears fromhis own dissertation, that the Christopher who witnessed the testament in1472, styled himself of Genoa: "_Christophorus Columbus lancrius deJanua. _" This incident is stated by other writers, who presume thisChristopher to have been the navigator on a visit to his father, in theinterval of his early voyages. In as far as the circumstance bears on thepoint, it supports the idea that he was born at Genoa. 

The epitaph on which Signor Belloro places his principal reliance, entirely fails. Christopher Columbus was not interred in the cathedral ofSeville, nor was any monument erected to him in that edifice. The tomb towhich the learned prelate Felippo Alberto Pollero alludes, may have beenthat of Fernando Columbus, son of the admiral, who, as has been alreadyobserved, was buried in the cathedral of Seville, to which he bequeathedhis noble library. The place of his sepulture is designated by a broadslab of white marble, inserted in the pavement, with an inscription, partly in Spanish, partly in Latin, recording the merits of Fernando, andthe achievements of his father. On either side of the epitaph is engravedan ancient Spanish Galley. The inscription quoted by Signor Belloro mayhave been erroneously written from memory by the Magnifico FranciscoSpinola, under the mistaken idea that he had beheld the sepulchre of thegreat discoverer. As Fernando was born at Cordova, the term Savouensismust have been another error of memory in the Magnifico; no such word isto be found in the inscription. 

This question of birthplace has also been investigated with considerableminuteness, and a decision given in favor of Genoa, by D. Gio BattistaSpotorno, of the royal university in that city, in his historical memoirof Columbus. He shows that the family of the Columbi had long beenresident in Genoa. By'an extract from the notarial register, it appearedthat one Giacomo Colombo, a woolcarder, resided without the gate of St. Andria, in the year 1311. An agreement, also published by the academy ofGenoa, proved, that in 1489, Domenico Colombo possessed a house and shop, and a garden with a well, in the street of St. Andrew's gate, ancientlywithout the walls, presumed to have been the same residence with that ofGiacomo Colombo. He rented also another house from the monks of St. Stephen, in the Via Mulcento, leading from the street of St. Andrew to theStrada Giulia. [275]

Signor Bossi states, that documents lately found in the archives of themonastery of St. Stephen, present the name of Domenico Colombo severaltimes, from 1456 to 1459, and designate him as son of Giovanni Colombo, husband of Susanna Fontanarossa, and father of Christopher, Bartholomew, and Giacomo [276] (or Diego). He states also that the receipts of thecanons show that the last payment of rent was made by Domenico Colombo forhis dwelling in 1489. He surmises that the admiral was born in thebefore-mentioned house belonging to those monks, in Via Mulcento, and thathe was baptized in the church of St. Stephen. He adds that an ancientmanuscript was submitted to the commissioners of the Genoese academy, inthe margin of which the notary had stated that the name of Christopherwas on the register of the parish as having been baptized in that church. [277]

Andres Bernaldez, the curate of los Palacios, who was an intimate friendof Columbus, says that he was of Genoa. [278] Agostino Giustiniani, acontemporary of Columbus, likewise asserts it in his Polyglot Psalter, published in Genoa, in 1516. Antonio de Herrera, an author of greataccuracy, who, though not a contemporary, had access to the bestdocuments, asserts decidedly that he was born in the city of Genoa. 

To these names may be added that of Alexander Geraldini, brother to thenuncio, and instructor to the children of Ferdinand and Isadella, a mostintimate friend of Columbus. [279] Also Antonio Gallo, [280] BartolomeoSenarega, [281] and Uberto Foglieta, [282] all contemporaries with theadmiral, and natives of Genoa, together with an anonymous writer, whopublished an account of his voyage of discovery at Venice in 1509. [283]It is unnecessary to mention historians of later date agreeing in thesame fact, as they must have derived their information from some of theseauthorities. 

The question in regard to the birthplace of Columbus has been treated thusminutely, because it has been, and still continues to be, a point of warmcontroversy. It may be considered, however, as conclusively decided by thehighest authority, the evidence of Columbus himself. In a testamentexecuted in 1498, which has been admitted in evidence before the Spanishtribunals in certain lawsuits among his descendants, he twice declaresthat he was a native of the city of Genoa: "_Siendo yo nacido enGenova. _" ("I being born in Genoa. ") And again, he repeats theassertion, as a reason for enjoining certain conditions on his heirs, which manifest the interest he takes in his native place. "I command thesaid Diego, my son, or the person who inherits the said mayorazgo (orentailed estate), that he maintain always in the city of Genoa a person ofour lineage, who shall have a house and a wife there, and to furnish himwith an income on which he can live decently, as a person connected withonr family, and hold footing and root in that city as a native of it, sothat he may have aid and favor in that city in case of need, _for fromthence I came and there was born_. " [284]

In another part of his testament he expresses himself with a filialfondness in respect to Genoa. "I command the said Don Diego, or whoevershall possess the said mayorazgo, that he labor and strive always for thehonor, and welfare, and increase of the city of Genoa, and employ all hisabilities and means in defending and augmenting the welfare and honor ofher republic, in all matters which are not contrary to the service of thechurch of God, and the state of the king and queen our sovereigns, andtheir successors. "

An informal codicil, executed by Columbus at Valladolid, May 4th, 1506, sixteen days before his death, was discovered about 1785, in the Corsinilibrary at Rome. It is termed a military codicil, from being made in themanner which the civil law allows to the soldier who executes such aninstrument on the eve of battle, or in expectation of death. It waswritten on the blank page of a little breviary presented to Columbus byPope Alexander VII. Columbus leaves the book "to his beloved country, theRepublic of Genoa. "

He directs the erection of a hospital in that city for the poor, withprovision for its support, and he declares that republic his successor inthe admiralty of the Indies, in the event of his male line becomingextinct. 

The authenticity of this paper has been questioned. It has been said, thatthere was no probability of Columbus having resort to a usage with whichhe was, most likely, unacquainted. The objections are not cogent. Columbuswas accustomed to the peculiarities of a military life, and he repeatedlywrote letters, in critical moments, as a precaution against some fataloccurrence that seemed to impend. The present codicil, from its date, musthave been written a few days previous to his death, perhaps at a momentwhen he imagined himself at extremity. This may account for any differencein the handwriting, especially as he was, at times, so affected by thegout in his hands as not to be able to write except at night. Particularstress has been laid on the signature; but it does not appear that he wasuniform in regard to that, and it is a point to which any one whoattempted a forgery would be attentive. It does not appear, likewise, thatany advantage could have been obtained by forging the paper, or that anysuch was attempted. 

In 1502, when Columbus was about to depart on his fourth and last voyage, he wrote to his friend, Doctor Nicolo Oderigo, formerly ambassador fromGenoa to Spain, and forwarded to him copies of all his grants andcommissions from the Spanish sovereigns, authenticated before the alcaldesof Seville. He, at the same time, wrote to the bank of San Giorgio, atGenoa, assigning a tenth of his revenues to be paid to that city, indiminution of the duties on corn, wine, and other provisions. 

Why should Colnmbus feel this strong interest in Genoa, had he been bornin any of the other Italian states which have laid claim to him? He wasunder no obligation to Genoa. He had resided there but a brief portion ofhis early life; and his proposition for discovery, according to somewriters, had been scornfully rejected by that republic. There is nothingto warrant so strong an interest in Genoa, but the filial tie which linksthe heart of a man to his native place, however he may be separated fromit by time or distance, and however little he may be indebted to it forfavors. 

Again, had Columbus been born in any of the towns and villages of theGenoese coast which have claimed him for a native, why should he have madethese bequests in favor of the _city_ of Genoa, and not of his nativetown or village?

These bequests were evidently dictated by a mingled sentiment of pride andaffection, which would be without all object if not directed to his nativeplace. He was at this time elevated above all petty pride on the subject. His renown was so brilliant, that it would have shed a lustre on anyhamlet, however obscure: and the strong love of country here manifestedwould never have felt satisfied until it had singled out the spot, andnestled down, in the very cradle of his infancy. These appear to bepowerful reasons, drawn from natural feeling, for deciding in favor ofGenoa. 

No. VII. 

The Colombos. 

During the early part of the life of Columbus, there were two othernavigators, bearing the same name, of some rank and celebrity, with whomhe occasionally sailed; their names occurring vaguely from time to time, during the obscure part of his career, have caused much perplexity to someof his biographers, who have supposed that they designated the discoverer. Fernando Columbus affirms them to have been family connections, [285] andhis father says, in one of his letters, "I am not the first admiral of ourfamily. "

These two were uncle and nephew; the latter being termed by historiansColombo the younger, (by the Spanish historians Colombo el mozo. ) Theywere in the Genoese service, but are mentioned, occasionally, in oldchronicles, as French commanders, because Genoa, during a great part oftheir time, was under the protection, or rather the sovereignty, ofFrance, and her ships and captains, being engaged in the expeditions ofthat power, were identified with the French marine. 

Mention is made of the elder Colombo in Zurita's Annals of Arragon, (L. Xix. P. 261, ) in the war between Spain and Portugal, on the subject of theclaim of the Princess Juana to the crown of Castile. In 1476, the king ofPortugal determined to go to the Mediterranean coast of France, to incitehis ally, Louis XI, to prosecute the war in the province of Guipuzcoa. 

The king left Toro, says Zurita, on the 13th June, and went by the riverto the city of Porto, in order to await the armada of the king of France, the captain of which was Colon, (Colombo, ) who was to navigate by thestraits of Gibraltar to pass to Marseilles. 

After some delays Colombo arrived in the latter part of July with theFrench armada at Bermeo, on the coast of Biscay, where he encountered aviolent storm, lost his principal ship, and ran to the coast of Galicia, with an intention of attacking Kibaldo, and lost a great many of his men. Thence he went to Lisbon to receive the king of Portugal, who embarked inthe fleet in August, with a number of his noblemen, and took two thousandtwo hundred foot soldiers, and four hundred and seventy horse, tostrengthen the Portuguese garrisons along the Barbary coast. There were inthe squadron twelve ships and five caravels. After touching at Ceuta thefleet proceeded to Colibre, where the king disembarked in the middle ofSeptember, the weather not permitting them to proceed to Marseilles. (Zurita, L. Xix. Ch. 51. )

This Colombo is evidently the naval commander of whom the followingmention is made by Jaques George de Chaufepie, in his supplement to Bayle, (vol. 2, p. 126 of letter C. )

"I do not know what dependence, " says Chaufepie, "is to be placed on afact reported in the _Ducatiana_, (Part 1, p. 143, ) that Columbus wasin 1474 captain of several ships for Louis XI, and that, as the Spaniardshad made at that time an irruption into Roussillon, he thought that, forreprisal, and without contravening the peace between the two crowns, hecould run down Spanish vessels. He attacked, therefore, and took twogalleys of that nation, freighted on the account of various individuals. On complaints of this action being made to king Ferdinand, he wrote on thesubject to Louis XI; his letter is dated the 9th December, 1474. Ferdinandterms Christopher Columbus a subject of Louis; it was because, as isknown, Columbus was a Genoese, and Louis was sovereign of Genoa; althoughthat city and Savona were held of him in fief by the duke of Milan. "

It is highly probable that it was the squadron of this same Colombo ofwhom the circumstance is related by Bossi, and after him by Spotorno onthe authority of a letter found in the archives of Milan, and written in1476 by two illustrious Milanese gentlemen, on their return fromJerusalem. The letter states that in the previous year 1475, as theVenetian fleet was stationed off Cyprus to guard the island, a Genoesesquadron, commanded by one Colombo, sailed by them with an air ofdefiance, shouting "Viva San Giorgia!" As the republics were then atpeace, they were permitted to pass unmolested. 

Bossi supposes that the Colombo here mentioned was Christopher Columbusthe discoverer; but it appears rather to have been the old Genoese admiralof that name, who according to Zurita was about that time cruising in theMediterranean; and who, in all probability, was the hero of both thepreceding occurrences. 

The nephew of this Colombo, called by the Spaniards Colombo el mozo, commanded a few years afterwards a squadron in the French service, as willappear in a subsequent illustration, and Columbus may at various timeshave held an inferior command under both uncle and nephew, and beenpresent on the above cited occasions. 

No. VIII. 

Expedition of John of Anjou. 

About the time that Columbus attained his twenty-fourth year, his nativecity was in a state of great alarm and peril from the threatened invasionof Alphonso V of Aragon, king of Naples. Finding itself too weak tocontend singly with such a foe, and having in vain looked for assistancefrom Italy, it placed itself under the protection of Charles the VIIth ofFrance. That monarch sent to its assistance John of Anjou, son of René orRenato, king of Naples, who had been dispossessed of his crown byAlphonso. John of Anjou, otherwise called the duke of Calabria, [286]immediately took upon himself the command of the place, repaired itsfortifications, and defended the entrance of the harbor with strongchains. In the meantime, Alplionso had prepared a large land force, andassembled an armament of twenty ships and ten galleys at Ancona, on thefrontiers of Genoa. The situation of the latter was considered eminentlyperilous, when Alphonso suddenly fell ill of a calenture and died; leavingthe kingdoms of Anjou and Sicily to his brother John, and the kingdom ofNaples to his son Ferdinand. 

The death of Alphonso, and the subsequent division of his dominions, whilethey relieved the fears of the Genoese, gave rise to new hopes on the partof the house of Anjou; and the duke John, encouraged by emissaries fromvarious powerful partisans among the Neapolitan nobility, determined tomake a bold attempt upon Naples for the recovery of the crown. The Genoeseentered into his cause with spirit, furnishing him with ships, galleys, and money. His father, René or Renato, fitted out twelve galleys for theexpedition in the harbor of Marseilles, and sent him assurance of anabundant supply of money, and of the assistance of the king of France. Thebrilliant nature of the enterprise attracted the attention of the daringand restless spirits of the times. The chivalrous nobleman, the soldier offortune, the hardy corsair, the bold adventurer, or the military partisan, enlisted under the banners of the duke of Calabria. It is stated byhistorians, that Columbus served in the armament from Genoa, in a squadroncommanded by one of the Colombos, his relations. 

The expedition sailed in October, 1459, and arrived at Sessa, between themouths of the Garigliano and the Volturno. The news of its arrival was thesignal of universal revolt; the factious barons, and their vassals, hastened to join the standard of Anjou, and the duke soon saw the finestprovinces of the Neapolitan dominions at his command, and with his armyand squadron menaced the city of Naples itself. 

In the history of this expedition we meet with one hazardous action of thefleet in which Columbus had embarked. 

The army of John of Anjou, being closely invested by a superior force, wasin a perilous predicament at the mouth of the Sarno. In this conjuncture, the captain of the armada landed with his men, and scoured theneighborhood, hoping to awaken in the populace their former enthusiasm forthe banner of Anjou; and perhaps to take Naples by surprise. A chosencompany of Neapolitan infantry was sent against them. The troops from thefleet having little of the discipline of regular soldiery, and much of thefreebooting disposition of maritime rovers, had scattered themselves aboutthe country, intent chiefly upon spoil. They were attacked by the infantryand put to rout, with the loss of many killed and wounded. Endeavoring tomake their way back to the ships, they found the passes seized and blockedup by the people of Sorento, who assailed them with dreadful havoc. Theirflight now became desperate and headlong; many threw themselves from rocksand precipices into the sea, and but a small portion regained the ships. 

The contest of John of Anjou for the crown of Naples lasted four years. For a time fortune favored him, and the prize seemed almost within hisgrasp, but reverses succeeded: he was defeated at various points; thefactious nobles, one by one, deserted him, and returned to theirallegiance to Alfonso, and the duke was finally compelled to retire to theisland of Ischia. Here he remained for some time, guarded by eightgalleys, which likewise harassed the bay of Naples. [287] In thissquadron, which loyally adhered to him until he ultimately abandoned thisunfortunate enterprise, Columbus is stated to have served. 

No. IX. 

Capture of the Venetian Galleys, by Colombo the Younger. 

As the account of the sea-fight by which Fernando Columbus asserts thathis father was first thrown upon the shores of Portugal, has been adoptedby various respectable historians, it is proper to give particular reasonsfor discrediting it. 

Fernando expressly says, that it was in an action mentioned by MarcoAntonio Sabelico, in the eighth book of his tenth Decade; that thesquadron in which Columbus served was commanded by a famous corsair, called Columbus the younger, (Colombo el mozo, ) and that an embassy wassent from Venice to thank the king of Portugal for the succor he affordedto the Venetian captains and crews. All this is certainly recorded inSabellicus, but the battle took place in 1485, after Columbus had_left_ Portugal. Zurita, in his annals of Aragon, under the date of1685, mentions this same action. He says, "At this time four Venetiangalleys sailed from the island of Cadiz and took the route for Flanders;they were laden with merchandise from the Levant, especially from theisland of Sicily, and, passing by Cape St. Vincent, they were attacked bya French corsair, son of captain Colon, (Colombo, ) who had seven vesselsin his armada; and the galleys were captured the twenty-first of August. "[288]

A much fuller account is given in the life of king John II of Portugal, byGarcia de Resende, who likewise records it as happening in 1485. He saysthe Venetian galleys were taken and robbed by the French, and the captainsand crews, wounded, plundered, and maltreated, were turned on shore atCascoes. Here they were succored by Doña Maria de Meneses, countess ofMonsanto. 

When king John II heard of the circumstance, being much grieved that suchan event should have happened on his coast, and being disposed to show hisfriendship for the republic of Venice, he ordered that the Venetiancaptains should be furnished with rich raiment of silks and costly cloths, and provided with horses and mules, that they might make their appearancebefore him in a style befitting themselves and their country. He receivedthem with great kindness and distinction, expressing himself with princelycourtesy, both as to themselves and the republic of Venice; and havingheard their account of the battle, and of their destitute situation, heassisted them with a large sum of money to ransom their galleys from theFrench cruisers. The latter took all the merchandises on board of theirships, but king John prohibited any of the spoil from being purchasedwithin his dominions. Having thus generously relieved and assisted thecaptains, and administered to the necessities of their crews, he enabledthem all to return in their own galleys to Venice. 

The dignitaries of the republic were so highly sensible of thismunificence, on the part of king John, that they sent a stately embassy tothat monarch, with rich presents and warm expressions of gratitude. Geronimo Donate was charged with this mission, a man eminent for learningand eloquence; he was honorably received and entertained by king John, anddismissed with royal presents, among which were jenets, and mules withsumptuous trappings and caparisons, and many negro slaves richly clad. [289]

The following is the account of this action as given by Sabellicus, in hishistory of Venice: [290]

Erano andate quatro Galee delle quali Bartolommeo Minio era capitano. Queste navigando per l'Iberico mare, Colombo il piu giovane, nipote diquel Colombo famoso corsale, fecesi incontro a' Veniziani di notte, appresso il sacro Promontorio, che chiamasi ora capo di san Vincenzo, consette navi guernite da combattere. Egli quantunque nel primo incontroavesse seco disposto d'opprimere le navi Veniziane, si ritenne però delcombattere sin al giorno: tuttavia per esser alia battaglia più acconciocosì le seguia, che le prode del corsale toccavano le poppe de Veniziani. Venuto il giorno incontanente i Barbari diedero 1' assalto. Sostennero iVeniziani allora 1' empito del nemico, per numero di navi e di combattentisuperiore, e durò il conflitto atroce per molte ore. Rare fiate fucombattuto contro simili nemici con tanta uccisione, perchè a pena sicostuina d'attaccarsi contro di loro, se non per occasione. Affermanoalcuni, che vi furono presenti, esser morte deile ciurme Veniziane datrecento uomini. Altri dicono che fu meno: morì in quella zuffa LorenzoMichele capitano d'una galera e Giovanni Delfino, d'altro capitanofratello. Era durata la zuffa dal fare del giorno fin' ad ore venti, eerano le genti Veneziane mal Initiate. Era gia la nave Delfina in poterede' nemici quando le altre ad una ad una si renderono. Narrano alcuni, chefurono di quel aspro conflitto participi, aver numerato nelle loro navi daprode a poppe ottanta valorosi uomini estinti, i quali dal nemico vedutilo mossero a gemere e dire con sdegno, che cosi avevano voluto, iVeniziani. I corpi morti furono gettati nel mare, e i feriti posti nellido. Quei che rimasero vivi seguirono con le navi il capitano vittoriososin' a Lisbona e ivi furono tutti licenziati. . . . Quivi furono i Veniziauibenignamente ricevuti dal Re, gli infermi furono medicati, gli altriebbero abiti e denari secondo la loro condizione. . . . Oltre cio vietd intutto il Regno, che alcuno non comprasse della preda Veniziana, portatadai corsali. La nuova dell' avuta rovina non poco afflisse la città, eranoperduti in quella mercatanzia da ducento mila ducati; ma il dannoparticolare degldi nomini uccisi diede maggior afflizione. _Marc. Ant. Sabelico, Hist, Venet. , decad. Iv. Lib. Iii. _

No. X. 

Amerigo Vespucci. 

Among the earliest and most intelligent of the voyagers who followed thetrack of Columbus, was Amerigo Vespucci. He has been considered by many asthe first discoverer of the southern continent, and by a singular capriceof fortune, his name has been given to the whole of the New World. It hasbeen strenuously insisted, however, that he had no claim to the title of adiscoverer; that he merely sailed in a subordinate capacity in a squadroncommanded by others; that the account of his first voyage is afabrication; and that he did not visit the main-land until after it hadbeen discovered and coasted by Columbus. As this question has been made amatter of warm and voluminous controversy, it is proper to take a summaryview of it in the present work. 

Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, March 9th, 1451, of a noble, butnot at that time a wealthy, family; his father's name was Anastatio; hismother's was Elizabetta Mini. He was the third of their sons, and receivedan excellent education under his uncle, Georgio Antonio Vespucci, alearned friar of the fraternity of San Marco, who was instructor toseveral illustrious personages of that period. 

Amerigo Vespucci visited Spain, and took up his residence in Seville, toattend to some commercial transactions on account of the family of theMedici of Florence, and to repair, by his ingenuity, the losses andmisfortunes of an unskillful brother. [291]

The date of his arrival in Spain is uncertain, but from comparing datesand circumstances mentioned in his letters, he must have been at Sevillewhen Columbus returned from his first voyage. 

Padre Stanislaus Canovai, Professor of Mathematics at Florence, who haspublished the life and voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, says that he wascommissioned by king Ferdinand, and sent with Columbus in his secondvoyage in 1493. He states this on the authority of a passage in theCosmography of Sebastian Munster, published at Basle in 1550;[292] butMunster mentions Vespucci as having accompanied Columbus in his firstvoyage; the reference of Canovai is therefore incorrect; and thesuggestion of Munster is disproved by the letters of Vespucci, in which hestates his having been stimulated by the accounts brought of thenewly-discovered regions. He never mentions such a voyage in any of hisletters; which he most probably would have done, or rather would havemade it the subject of a copious letter, had he actually performed it. 

The first notice of a positive form which we have of Vespucci, as residentin Spain, is early in 1496. He appears, from documents in the royalarchives at Seville, to have acted as agent or factor for the house ofJuanoto Berardi, a rich Florentine merchant, resident in Seville; who hadcontracted to furnish the Spanish sovereigns with three several armaments, of four vessels each, for the service of the newly-discovered countries. He may have been one of the principals in this affair, which wastransacted in the name of this established house. Berardi died inDecember, 1495, and in the following January we find Amerigo Vespucciattending to the concerns of the expeditions, and settling with themasters of the ships for their pay and maintenance, according to theagreements made between them and the late Juanoto Berardi. On the 12thJanuary, 1496, he received on this account 10, 000 maravedis from BernardoPinelo, the royal treasurer. He went on preparing all things for thedispatch of four caravels to sail under the same contract between thesovereigns and the house of Berardi, and sent them to sea on the 3dFebruary, 1496; but on the 8th they met with a storm and were wrecked; thecrews were saved with the loss of only three men. [293] While thusemployed, Amerigo Vespucci, of course, had occasional opportunity ofconversing with Columbus, with whom, according to the expression of theadmiral himself, in one of his letters to his son Diego, he appears tohave been always on friendly terms. From these conversations, and from hisagency in these expeditions, he soon became excited to visit thenewly-discovered countries, and to participate in enterprises, which werethe theme of every tongue. Having made himself well acquainted withgeographical and nautical science, he prepared to launch into the careerof discovery. It was not very long before he carried this design intoexecution. 

In 1498, Columbus, in his third voyage, discovered the coast of Paria, onTerra Firma; which he at that time imagined to be a great island, but thata vast continent lay immediately adjacent. He sent to Spain specimens ofpearls found on this coast, and gave the most sanguine accounts of thesupposed riches of the country. 

In 1499, an expedition of four vessels, under command of Alonzo de Ojeda, was fitted out from Spain, and sailed for Paria, guided by charts andletters sent to the government by Columbus. These were communicated toOjeda, by his patron, the bishop Fonseca, who had the superintendence ofIndia affairs, and who furnished him also with a warrant to undertake thevoyage. 

It is presumed that Vespucci aided in fitting, out the armament, andsailed in a vessel belonging to the house of Berardi, and in this way wasenabled to take a share in the gains and losses of the expedition; forIsabella, as queen of Castile, had rigorously forbidden all strangers totrade with her transatlantic possessions, not even excepting the nativesof the kingdom of Aragon. 

This squadron visited Paria and several hundred miles of the coast, whichthey ascertained to be Terra Firma. They returned in June, 1500; and onthe 18th of July, in that year, Amerigo Vespucci wrote an account of hisvoyage to Lorenzo de Pier Francisco de Medici of Florence, which remainedconcealed in manuscript, until brought to light and published by Bandiniin 1745. 

In his account of this voyage, and in every other narrative of hisdifferent expeditions, Vespucci never mentions any other person concernedin the enterprise. He gives the time of his sailing, and states that hewent with two caravels, which were probably his share of the expedition, or rather vessels sent by the house of Berardi. He gives an interestingnarrative of the voyage, and of the various transactions with the natives, which corresponds, in many substantial points, with the accounts furnishedby Ojeda and his mariners of their voyage, in a lawsuit hereaftermentioned. 

In May, 1501, Vespucci, having suddenly left Spain, sailed in the serviceof Emanuel, king of Portugal; in the course of which expedition he visitedthe coast of Brazil. He gives an account of this voyage in a second letterto Lorenzo de Pier Francisco de Medici, which also remained in manuscriptuntil published by Bartolozzi in 1789. [294]

No record nor notice of any such voyage undertaken by Amerigo Vespucci, atthe command of Emanuel, is to be found in the archives of the Torre doTombo, the general archives of Portugal, which have been repeatedly anddiligently searched for the purpose. It is singular also that his name isnot to be found in any of the Portuguese historians, who in general werevery particular in naming all navigators who held any important stationamong them, or rendered any distinguished services. That Vespucci did sailalong the coasts, however, is not questioned. His nephew, after his death, in the course of evidence on some points in dispute, gave the correctlatitude of Cape St. Augustine, which he said he had extracted from hisuncle's journal. 

In 1504, Vespucci wrote a third letter to the same Lorenzo de Medici, containing a more extended account of the voyage just alluded to in theservice of Portugal. This was the first of his narratives that appearedin print. It appears to have been published in Latin, at Strasburgh, asearly as 1505, under the title "Americus Vesputius de Orbe Antarctica perRegem Portugalliæ pridem inventa. " [295]

An edition of this letter was printed in Vicenza in 1507, in an anonymouscollection of voyages edited by Francanzio di Monte Alboddo, aninhabitant of Vicenza. It was re-printed in Italian in 1508, at Milan, and also in Latin, in a book entitled "Itinerarium Portugalensium. " Inmaking the present illustration, the Milan edition in Italian [296] hasbeen consulted, and also a Latin translation of it by Simon Grinæus, inhis Novus Orbis, published at Basle in 1532. It relates entirely thefirst voyage of Vespucci from Lisbon to the Brazils in 1501. 

It is from this voyage to the Brazils that Amerigo Vespucci was firstconsidered the discoverer of Terra Firma; and his name was at firstapplied to these southern regions, though afterwards extended to thewhole continent. The merits of his voyage were, however, greatlyexaggerated. The Brazils had been previously discovered, and formallytaken possession of for Spain in 1500, by Vincente Yañez Pinzon; andalso in the same year, by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on the part of Portugal;circumstances unknown, however, by Vespucci and his associates. Thecountry remained in possession of Portugal, in conformity to the lineof demarcation agreed on between the two nations. 

Vespucci made a second voyage in the service of Portugal. He says thathe commanded a caravel in a squadron of six vessels destined for thediscovery of Malacca, which they had heard to be the great depot andmagazine of all the trade between the Ganges and the Indian sea. Suchan expedition did sail about this time, under the command of GonzaloCoelho. The squadron sailed, according to Vespucci, on the 10th of May, 1503. It stopped at the Cape de Verd islands for refreshments, andafterwards sailed by the coast of Sierra Leone, but was prevented fromlanding by contrary winds and a turbulent sea. Standing to thesouthwest, they ran three hundred leagues until they were three degreesto the southward of the equinoctial line, where they discovered anuninhabited island, about two leagues in length and one in breadth. Here, on the 10th of August, by mismanagement, the commander of thesquadron ran his vessel on a rock and lost her. While the other vesselswere assisting to save the crew and property from the wreck, AmerigoVespucci was dispatched in his caravel to search for a safe harbor inthe island. He departed in his vessel without his long-boat, and withless than half of his crew, the rest having gone in the boat to theassistance of the wreck. Vespucci found a harbor, but waited in vainfor several days for the arrival of the ships. Standing out to sea, hemet with a solitary vessel, and learnt that the ship of the commanderhad sunk, and the rest had proceeded onwards. In company with thisvessel he stood for the Brazils, according to the command of the king, in case that any vessel should be parted from the fleet. Arriving onthe coast, he discovered the famous bay of All Saints, where heremained upwards of two months, in hopes of being joined by the restof the fleet. He at length ran 260 leagues farther south, where heremained five months building a fort and taking in cargo ofBrazil-wood. Then, leaving in the fortress a garrison of 24 men witharms and ammunition, he set sail for Lisbon, where he arrived in June, 1504. [297] The commander of the squadron and the other four ships werenever heard of afterwards. 

Vespucci does not appear to have received the reward from the king ofPortugal that his services merited, for we find him at Seville early in1505, on his way to the Spanish court, in quest of employment: and hewas bearer of a letter from Columbus to his son Diego, dated February 5, which, while it speaks warmly of him as a friend, intimates his havingbeen unfortunate. The following is the letter:

My Dear Son, --Diego Mendez departed hence on Monday, the third of thismonth. After his departure I conversed with Amerigo Vespucci, the bearerof this, who goes there (to court) summoned on affairs of navigation. Fortune has been adverse to him as to many others. His labors have notprofited him as much as they reasonably should have done. He goes on myaccount, and with much desire to do something that may result to myadvantage, if within his power. I cannot ascertain here in what I canemploy him, that will be serviceable to me, for I do not know what maybe there required. He goes with the determination to do all that ispossible for me; see in what he may be of advantage, and co-operatewith him, that he may say and do every thing, and put his plans inoperation; and let all be done secretly, that he may not be suspected. I have said every thing to him that I can say touching the business, and have informed him of the pay I have received, and what is due, &c. [298]

About this time Amerigo Vespucci received letters of naturalization fromking Ferdinand, and shortly afterwards he and Vincente Yafiez Pinzon werenamed captains of an armada about to be sent out in the spice trade and tomake discoveries. There is a royal order, dated Toro, 11th April, 1507, for 12, 000 maravedis for an outfit for "Americo de Vespuche, resident ofSeville. " Preparations were made for this voyage, and vessels procured andfitted out, but it was eventually abandoned. There are memoranda existingconcerning it, dated in 1506, 1507, and 1508, from which it appears thatAmerigo Vespucci remained at Seville, attending to the fluctuatingconcerns of this squadron, until the destination of the vessels waschanged, their equipments were sold, and the accounts settled. During thistime he had a salary of 30, 000 maravedis. On the 22d of March, 1508, hereceived the appointment of principal pilot, with a salary of 70, 000maravedis. His chief duties were to prepare charts, examine pilots, superintend the fitting out of expeditions, and prescribe the route thatvessels were to pursue in their voyages to the New World. He appears tohave remained at Seville, and to have retained this office until hisdeath, on the 22d of February, 1512. His widow, Maria Corezo, enjoyed apension of 10, 000 maravedis. After his death, his nephew, Juan Vespucci, was nominated pilot, with a salary of 20, 000 maravedis, commencing on the22d of May, 1512. Peter Martyr speaks with high commendation of this youngman. "Young Vesputius is one to whom Americus Vesputius his uncle left theexact knowledge of the mariner's faculties, as it were by inheritance, after his death; for he was a very expert master in the knowledge of hiscarde, his compasse and the elevation of the pole starre by thequadrant. . . . Vesputius is my very familiar friend, and a wittie young man, in whose company I take great pleasure, and therefore use him oftentymesfor my guest. He hath also made many voyages into these coasts, anddiligently noted such things as he hath seen. " [299]

Vespucci, the nephew, continued in this situation during the lifetime ofFonseca, who had been the patron of his uncle and his family. He wasdivested of his pay and his employ by a letter of the council, dated the18th of March, 1525, shortly after the death of the bishop. No furthernotice of Vespucci is to be found in the archives of the Indies. 

Such is a brief view of the career of Amerigo Vespucci; it remains tonotice the points of controversy. Shortly after his return from his lastexpedition to the Brazils, he wrote a letter dated Lisbon, 4th September, 1504, containing a summary account of all his voyages. This letter is ofspecial importance to the matters under investigatiod, as it is the onlyone known that relates to the disputed voyage, which would establish himas the discoverer of Terra Firma. It is presumed to have been written inLatin, and was addressed to René, duke of Lorraine, who assumed the titleof king of Sicily and Jerusalem. 

The earliest known edition of this letter was published in Latin, in 1507, at St. Diez in Lorraine. A copy of it has been found in the library of theVatican (No. 9688) by the abbe Cancellieri. In preparing the presentillustration, a reprint of this letter in Latin has been consulted, inserted in the Novus Orbis of Grinæus, published at Bath in 1532. Theletter contains a spirited narrative of four voyages which he asserts tohave made to the New World. In the prologue he excuses the liberty ofaddressing king René by calling to his recollection the ancient intimacyof their youth, when studying the rudiments of science together, under thepaternal uncle of the voyager; and adds that if the present narrativeshould not altogether please his Majesty, he must plead to him as Plinysaid to Mæcenas, that he used formerly to be amused with his triflings. 

In the prologue to this letter, he informs king René that affairs ofcommerce had brought him to Spain, where he had experienced the variouschanges of fortune attendant on such transactions, and was induced toabandon that pursuit and direct his labors to objects of a more elevatedand stable nature. He therefore purposed to contemplate various parts ofthe world, and to behold the marvels which it contains. To this objectboth time and place were favorable; for king Ferdinand was then preparingfour vessels for the discovery of new lands in the west, and appointed himamong the number of those who went in the expedition. "We departed, " headds, "from the port of Cadiz, May 20, 1497, taking our course on thegreat gulf of ocean; in which voyage we employed eighteen months, discovering many lands and innumerable islands, chiefly inhabited, ofwhich our ancestors make no mention. "

A duplicate of this letter appears to have been sent at the same time(written, it is said, in Italian) to Piere Soderini, afterwardsGonfalonier of Florence, which was some years subsequently published inItaly, not earlier than 1510, and entitled "Lettera de Amerigo Vespuccidelle Isole nuovamente trovate in quatro suoi viaggi. " We have consultedthe edition of this letter in Italian, inserted in the publication ofPadre Stanislaus Canovai, already referred to. 

It has been suggested by an Italian writer, that this letter was writtenby Vespucci to Soderini only, and the address altered to king René throughthe flattery or mistake of the Lorraine editor, without perceiving howunsuitable the reference to former intimacy, intended for Soderini, was, when applied to a sovereign. The person making this remark can hardly haveread the prologue to the Latin edition, in which the title of "yourmajesty" is frequently repeated, and the term "illustrious king" employed. It was first published also in Lorraine, the domains of René, and thepublisher would not probably have presumed to take such a liberty with hissovereign's name. It becomes a question, whether Vespucci addressed thesame letter to king René and to Piere Soderini, both of them having beeneducated with him, or whether he sent a copy of this letter to Soderini, which subsequently found its way into print. The address to Soderini mayhave been substituted, through mistake, by the Italian publisher. Neitherof the publications could have been made under the supervision ofVespucci. 

The voyage specified in this letter as having taken place in 1497, is thegreat point in controversy. It is strenuously asserted that no such voyagetook place; and that the first expedition of Vespucci to the coast ofParia was in the enterprise commanded by Ojeda, in 1499. The books of thearmadas existing in the archives of the Indies at Seville, have beendiligently examined, but no record of such voyage has been found, nor anyofficial documents relating to it. Those most experienced in Spanishcolonial regulations insist that no command like that pretended byVespucci could have been given to a stranger, till he had first receivedletters of naturalization from the sovereigns for the kingdom of Castile, and he did not obtain such till 1505, when they were granted to him aspreparatory to giving him the command in conjunction with Pinzon. 

His account of a voyage made by him in 1497, therefore, is alleged to be afabrication for the purpose of claiming the discovery of Paria; or ratherit is affirmed that he has divided the voyage which he actually made withOjeda, in 1499, into two; taking a number of incidents from his realvoyage, altering them a little, and enlarging them with descriptions ofthe countries and people, so as to make a plausible narrative, which hegives as a distinct voyage; and antedating his departure to 1497, so as tomake himself appear the first discoverer of Paria. 

In support of this charge various coincidences have been pointed outbetween his voyage said to have taken place in 1497, and that described inhis first letter to Lorenzo de Medici in 1499. These coincidences are withrespect to places visited, transactions and battles with the natives, andthe number of Indians carried to Spain and sold as slaves. 

But the credibility of this voyage has been put to a stronger test. About1508 a suit was instituted against the crown of Spain by Don Diego, sonand heir of Columbus, for the government of certain parts of Terra Firma, and for a share in the revenue arising from them, conformably to thecapitulations made between the sovereigns and his father. It was theobject of the crown to disprove the discovery of the coast of Paria andthe pearl islands by Columbus; as it was maintained, that unless he haddiscovered them, the claim of his heir with respect to them would be of novalidity. 

In the course of this suit, a particular examination of witnesses tookplace in 1512-13 in the fiscal court. Alonzo de Ojeda, and nearly ahundred other persons, were interrogated on oath; that voyager having beenthe first to visit the coast of Paria after Columbus had left it, and thatwithin a very few months. The interrogatories of these witnesses, andtheir replies, are still extant, in the archives of the Indies at Seville, in a packet of papers entitled "Papers belonging to the admiral Don LuisColon, about the conservation of his privileges, from ann. 1515 to 1564. "The author of the present work has two several copies of theseinterrogatories lying before him. One made by the late historian Muñoz, and the other made in 1826, and signed by Don Jose de la Higuera y Lara, keeper of the general archives of the Indies in Seville. In the course ofthis testimony, the fact that Amerigo Vespucci accompanied Ojeda in thisvoyage of 1499, appears manifest, first from the deposition of Ojedahimself. The following are the words of the record: "In this voyage whichthis said witness made, he took with him Juan de la Cosa and MoregoVespuche [Amerigo Vespucci] and other pilots. " [300] Secondly, from thecoincidence of many parts of the narrative of Vespucci with events inthis voyage of Ojeda. Among these coincidences, one is particularlystriking. Vespucci, in his letter to Lorenzo de Medici, and also in thatto René or Soderini, says, that his ships, after leaving the coast ofTerra Firma, stopped at Hispaniola, where they remained about two monthsand a half, procuring provisions, during which time, he adds, "we hadmany perils and troubles with the very Christians who were in thatisland with Columbus, and I believe through envy. " [301]

Now it is well known that Ojeda passed some time on the western end of theisland victualing his ships; and that serious dissensions took placebetween him and the Spaniards in those parts, and the party sent byColumbus under Roldan to keep a watch upon his movements. If thenVespucci, as is stated upon oath, really accompanied Ojeda in this voyage, the inference appears almost irresistible, that he had not made theprevious voyage of 1497, for the fact would have been well known to Ojeda;he would have considered Vespucci as the original discoverer, and wouldhave had no motive for depriving him of the merit of it, to give it toColumbus, with whom Ojeda was not upon friendly terms. 

Ojeda, however, expressly declares that the coast had been discovered byColumbus. On being asked how he knew the fact, he replied, because he sawthe chart of the country discovered, which Columbus sent at the time tothe king and queen, and that he came off immediately on a voyage ofdiscovery, and found what was therein set down as discovered by theadmiral was correct. [302]

Another witness, Bernaldo de Haro, states that he had been with theadmiral, and had written (or rather copied) a letter for the admiral tothe king and queen, designating, in an accompanying sea-chart, the coursesand steerings and winds by which he had arrived at Paria; and that thiswitness had heard that from this chart others had been made, and thatPedro Alonzo Niño and Ojeda, and others, who had since, visited thesecountries, had been guided by the same. [303]

Francisco de Molares, one of the best and most credible of all the pilots, testified that he saw a sea-chart which Columbus had made of the coast ofParia, _and he believed that all governed themselves by it_. [304]

Numerous witnesses in this process testify to the fact that Paria wasfirst discovered by Columbus. Las Casas, who has been at the pains ofcounting them, says that the fact was established by twenty-fiveeye-witnesses and sixty ear-witnesses. Many of them testify also that thecoast south of Paria, and that extending west of the island of Margarita, away to Venezuela, which Vespucci states to have been discovered byhimself, in 1497, was now first discovered by Ojeda, and had never beforebeen visited either by the admiral "or any other Christian whatever. "

Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal says that all the voyages of discovery whichwere made to the Terra Firma, were made by persons who had sailed with theadmiral, or been benefited by his instructions and directions, followingthe course he had laid down;[305] and the same is testified by many otherpilots and mariners of reputation and experience. 

It would be a singular circumstance, if none of these witnesses, many ofwhom must have sailed in the same squadron with Vespucci along this coastin 1499, should have known that he had discovered and explored it twoyears previously. If that had really been the case, what motive could hehave for concealing the fact? and why, if they knew it, should they notproclaim it? Vespucci states his voyage in 1497 to have been made withfour caravels; that they returned in October, 1498, and that he sailedagain with two caravels in May, 1499, (the date of Ojeda's departure. )Many of the mariners would therefore have been present in both voyages. Why, too, should Ojeda and the other pilots guide themselves by the chartsof Columbus, when they had a man on board so learned in nautical science, and who, from his own recent observations, was practically acquainted withthe coast? Not a word, however, is mentioned of the voyage and discoveryof Vespucci by any of the pilots, though every other voyage and discoveryis cited; nor does there even a seaman appear who has accompanied him inhis asserted voyage. 

Another strong circumstance against the reality of this voyage is, that itwas not brought forward in this trial to defeat the claims of the heirs ofColumbus. Vespucci states the voyage to have been undertaken with theknowledge and countenance of king Ferdinand; it must, therefore, have beenavowed and notorious. Vespucci was living at Seville in 1508, at the timeof the commencement of this suit, and, for four years afterward, asalaried servant of the crown. Many of the pilots and mariners must havebeen at hand, who sailed with him in his pretended enterprise. If thisvoyage had once been proved, it would completely have settled thequestion, as far as concerned the coast of Paria, in favor of the crown. Yet no testimony appears ever to have been taken from Vespucci whileliving; and when the interrogatories were made in the fiscal court in1512-13, not one of his seamen is brought up to give evidence. A voyage soimportant in its nature, and so essential to the question in dispute, isnot even alluded to, while useless pains are taken to wrest evidence fromthe voyage of Ojeda, undertaken at a subsequent period. 

It is a circumstance worthy of notice, that Vespucci commences his firstletter to Lorenzo de Medici in 1500, within a month after his return fromthe voyage he had actually made to Paria, and apologizes for his longsilence, by saying that nothing had occurred worthy of mention, ("e grantempo che non ho scritto à vostra magnifizensa, e non lo ha causato altracosa ne nessuna salvo non mi essere occorso cosa degna di memoria, ") andproceeds eagerly to tell him the wonders he had witnessed in theexpedition from which he had but just returned. It would be a singularforgetfulness to say that nothing had occurred of importance, if he hadmade a previous voyage of eighteen months in 1497-8 to thisnewly-discovered world; and it would be almost equally strange that heshould not make the slightest allusion to it in this letter. 

It has been the endeavor of the author to examine this questiondispassionately; and after considering the statements and argumentsadvanced on either side, he cannot resist a conviction, that the voyagestated to have been made in 1497 did not take place, and that Vespucci hasno title to the first discovery of the coast of Paria. 

The question is extremely perplexing from the difficulty of assigningsufficient motives for so gross a deception. When Vespucci wrote hisletters there was no doubt entertained but that Columbus had discoveredthe main-land in his first voyage; Cuba being always considered theextremity of Asia, until circumnavigated in 1508. Vespucci may havesupposed Brazil, Paria, and the rest of that coast, part of a distinctcontinent, and have been anxious to arrogate to himself the fame of itsdiscovery. It has been asserted, that, on his return from his voyage tothe Brazils, he prepared a maritime chart, in which he gave his name tothat part of the mainland; but this assertion does not appear to be wellsubstantiated. It would rather seem that his name was given to that partof the continent by others, as a tribute paid to his supposed merit, inconsequence of having read his own account of his voyages. [306]

It is singular that Fernando, the son of Columbus, in his biography of hisfather, should bring no charge against Vespucci of endeavoring to supplantthe admiral in this discovery. Herrera has been cited as the first tobring the accusation, in his history of the Indies, first published in1601, and has been much criticized in consequence, by the advocates ofVespucci, as making the charge on his mere assertion. But, in fact, Herrera did but copy what he found written by Las Casas, who had theproceedings of the fiscal court lying before him, and was moved toindignation against Vespucci, by what he considered proofs of greatimposture. 

It has been suggested that Vespucci was instigated to this deception atthe time when he was seeking employment in the colonial service of Spain;and that he did it to conciliate the bishop Fonseca, who was desirous ofany thing that might injure the interests of Columbus. In corroboration ofthis opinion, the patronage is cited which was ever shown by Fonseca toVespucci and his family. This is not, however, a satisfactory reason, since it does not appear that the bishop ever made any use of thefabrication. Perhaps some other means might be found of accounting forthis spurious narration, without implicating the veracity of Vespucci. Itmay have been the blunder of some editor, or the interpolation of somebook-maker, eager, as in the case of Trivigiani with the manuscripts ofPeter Martyr, to gather together disjointed materials, and fabricate awork to gratify the prevalent passion of the day. 

In the various editions of the letters of Vespucci, the grossestvariations and inconsistencies in dates will be found, evidently theerrors of hasty and careless publishers. Several of these have beencorrected by the modern authors who have inserted these letters in theirworks. [307] The same disregard to exactness which led to these blunders, may have produced the interpolation of this voyage, garbled out of theletters of Vespucci and the accounts of other voyagers. This is merelysuggested as a possible mode of accounting for what appears so decidedlyto be a fabrication, yet which we are loath to attribute to a man of thegood sense, the character, and the reputed merit of Vespucci. 

After all, this is a question more of curiosity than of real moment, although it is one of those perplexing points about which grave men willcontinue to write weary volumes, until the subject acquires a fictitiousimportance from the mountain of controversy heaped upon it. It has becomea question of local pride with the literati of Florence; and they emulateeach other with patriotic zeal, to vindicate the fame of theirdistinguished countryman. This zeal is laudable when kept within properlimits; but it is to be regretted that some of them have so far beenheated by controversy as to become irascible against the very memory ofColumbus, and to seek to disparage his general fame, as if the ruin of itwould add any thing to the reputation of Vespucci. This is discreditableto their discernment and their liberality; it injures their cause, andshocks the feelings of mankind, who will not willingly see a name likethat of Columbus lightly or petulantly assailed in the course of theseliterary contests. It is a name consecrated in history, and is no longerthe property of a city, or a state, or a nation, but of the whole world. 

Neither should those who have a proper sense of the merit of Columbus putany part of his great renown at issue upon this minor dispute. Whether ornot he was the discoverer of Paria, was a question of interest to hisheirs, as a share of the government and revenues of that country dependedupon it; but it is of no importance to his fame. In fact, the European whofirst reached the mainland of the New World was most probably SebastianCabot, a native of Venice, sailing in the employ of England. In 1497 hecoasted its shores from Labrador to Florida; yet the English have neverset up any pretensions on his account. 

The glory of Columbus does not depend upon the parts of the country hevisited or the extent of coast along which he sailed; it embraces thediscovery of the whole western world. With respect to him, Vespucci is asYañez Pinzon, Bastides, Ojeda, Cabot, and the crowd of secondarydiscoverers, who followed in his track, and explored the realms to whichhe had led the way. When Columbus first touched a shore of the New World, even though a frontier island, he had achieved his enterprises; he hadaccomplished all that was necessary to his fame: the great problem of theocean was solved; the world which lay beyond its western waters wasdiscovered. 

No. XI. 

Martin Alonzo Pinzon. 

In the course of the trial in the fiscal court, between Don Diego and thecrown, an attempt was made to depreciate the merit of Columbus, and toascribe the success of the great enterprise of discovery to theintelligence and spirit of Martin Alonzo Pinzon. It was the interest ofthe crown to do so, to justify itself in withholding from the heirs ofColumbus the extent of his stipulated reward. The examinations ofwitnesses in this trial were made at various times and places, and upon aset of interrogatories formally drawn up by order of the fiscal. They tookplace upwards of twenty years after the first voyage of Columbus, and thewitnesses testified from recollection. 

In reply to one of the interrogatories, Arias Perez Pinzon, son of MartinAlonzo, declared, that, being once in Rome with his father on commercialaffairs, before the time of the discovery, they had frequent conversationswith a person learned in cosmography who was in the service of PopeInnocent VIII, and that being in the library of the pope, this personshowed them many manuscripts, from one of which his father gatheredintimation of these new lands; for there was a passage by an historian asold as the time of Solomon, which said, "Navigate the Mediterranean Sea tothe end of Spain and thence towards the setting sun, in a directionbetween north and south, until ninety-five degrees of longitude, and youwill find the land of Cipango, fertile and abundant, and equal ingreatness to Africa and Europe. " A copy of this writing, he added, hisfather brought from Rome with an intention of going in search of thatland, and frequently expressed such determination; and that, when Columbuscame to Palos with his project of discovery, Martin Alonzo Pinzon showedhim the manuscript, and ultimately gave it to him just before they sailed. 

It is extremely probable that this manuscript, of which Arias Perez givesso vague an account from recollection, but which he appears to think themain thing that prompted Columbus to his undertaking, was no other thanthe work of Marco Polo, which, at that time, existed in manuscript in mostof the Italian libraries. Martin Alonzo was evidently acquainted with thework of the Venetian, and it would appear, from various circumstances, that Columbus had a copy of it with him in his voyages, which may havebeen the manuscript above mentioned. Columbus had long before, however, had a knowledge of the work, if not by actual inspection, at least throughhis correspondence with Toscanelli in 1474, and had derived from it allthe light it was capable of furnishing, before he ever came to Palos. Itis questionable, also, whether the visit of Martin Alonzo to Rome, was notafter his mind had been heated by conversations with Columbus in theconvent of La Rabida. The testimony of Arias Perez is so worded as toleave it in doubt whether the visit was not in the very year prior to thediscovery: "fue el dicho su padre á Roma aquel dicho año antes que fuese adescubrir. " Arias Perez always mentions the manuscript as having beenimparted to Columbus, after he had come to Palos with an intention ofproceeding on the discovery. 

Certain witnesses who were examined on behalf of the crown, and to whomspecific interrogatories were put, asserted, as has already been mentionedin a note to this work, that had it not been for Martin Alonzo Pinzon andhis brothers, Columbus would have turned back for Spain, after having runseven or eight hundred leagues; being disheartened at not finding land, and dismayed by the mutiny and menaces of his crew. This is stated by twoor three as from personal knowledge, and by others from hearsay. It issaid especially to have occurred on the 6th of October. On this day, according to the journal of Columbus, he had some conversation with MartinAlonzo, who was anxious that they should stand more to the southwest. Theadmiral refused to do so, and it is very probable that some angry wordsmay have passed between them. Various disputes appear to have taken placebetween Columbus and his colleagues respecting their route, previous tothe discovery of land; in one or two instances he acceded to their wishes, and altered his course, but in general he was inflexible in standing tothe west. The Pinzons also, in all probability, exerted their influence inquelling the murmurs of their townsmen and encouraging them to proceed, when ready to rebel against Columbus. These circumstances may have becomemixed up in the vague recollections of the seamen who gave the foregoingextravagant testimony, and who were evidently disposed to exalt the meritsof the Pinzons at the expense of Columbus. They were in some measureprompted also in their replies by the written interrogatories put by orderof the fiscal, which specified the conversations said to have passedbetween Columbus and the Pizons, and notwithstanding these guides, theydiffered widely in their statements, and ran into many absurdities. In amanuscript record in possession of the Pinzon family, I have even read theassertion of an old seaman, that Columbus, in his eagerness to compel thePinzons to turn back to Spain, _fired upon_ _their ships_, but, they continuing on, he was obliged to follow, and within two daysafterwards discovered the island of Hispaniola. 

It is evident the old sailor, if he really spoke conscientiously, mingledin his cloudy remembrance the disputes in the early part of the voyageabout altering their course to the southwest, and the desertion of MartinAlonzo, subsequent to the discovery of the Lucayos and Cuba, when afterparting company with the admiral, he made the island of Hispaniola. 

The witness most to be depended upon as to these points of inquiry is thephysician of Palos, Garcia Fernandez, a man of education, who sailed withMartin Alonzo Pinzon as steward of his ship, and of course was present atall the conversations which passed between the commanders. He testifiesthat Martin Alonzo urged Columbus to stand more to the southwest, and thatthe admiral at length complied, but, finding no land in that direction, they turned again to the west; a statement which completely coincideswith the journal of Columbus. He adds that the admiral continuallycomforted and animated Martin Alonzo, and all others in his company. (Siempre los consolaba el dicho Almirante esforzandolos al dicho MartinAlonzo e â todos los que en su compania iban. ) When the physician wasspecifically questioned as to the conversations pretended to have passedbetween the commanders, in which Columbus expressed a desire to turn backto Spain, he referred to the preceding statement, as the only answer hehad to make to these interrogatories. 

The extravagant testimony before mentioned appears never to have had anyweight with the fiscal; and the accurate historian Muñoz, who extractedall these points of evidence from the papers of the lawsuit, has notdeemed them worthy of mention in his work. As these matters, however, remain on record in the archives of the Indies, and in the archives of thePinzon family, in both of which I have had a full opportunity ofinspecting them, I have thought it advisable to make these fewobservations on the subject; lest, in the rage for research, they mighthereafter be drawn forth as a new discovery, on the strength of which toimpugn the merits of Columbus. 

No. XII. 

Rumor of the Pilot Said to Have Died in the House of Columbus. 

Among the various attempts to injure Columbus by those who were envious ofhis fame, was one intended to destroy all his merit as an originaldiscoverer. It was said that he had received information of the existenceof land in the western parts of the ocean from a tempest-tossed pilot, whohad been driven there by violent easterly winds, and who on his return toEurope, had died in the house of Columbus, leaving in his possession thechart and journal of his voyage, by which he was guided to his discovery. 

This story was first noticed by Oviedo, a contemporary of Columbus, in hishistory of the Indies, published in 1535. He mentions it as a rumorcirculating among the vulgar, without foundation in truth. 

Fernando Lopez de Gomara first brought it forward against Columbus. In hishistory of the Indies, published in 1552, he repeats the rumor in thevaguest terms, manifestly from Oviedo, but without the contradiction givento it by that author. He says that the name and country of the pilot wereunknown, some terming him an Andalusian, sailing between the Canaries andMadeira, others a Biscayan, trading to England and France; and others aPortuguese, voyaging between Lisbon and Mina, on the coast of Guinea. Heexpresses equal uncertainty whether the pilot brought the caravel toPortugal, to Madeira, or to one of the Azores. The only point on which thecirculators of the rumor agreed was, that he died in the house ofColumbus. Gomara adds that by this event Columbus was led to undertake hisvoyage to the new countries. [308]

The other early historians who mention Columbus and his voyages, and werehis contemporaries, viz. Sabellicus, Peter Martyr, Giustiniani, Bernaldez, commonly called the curate of los Palacios, Las Casas, Fernando, the sonof the admiral, and the anonymous author of a voyage of Columbus, translated from the Italian into Latin by Madrignano, [309] are all silentin regard to this report. 

Benzoni, whose history of the New World was published in 1565, repeats thestory from Gomara, with whom he was contemporary; but decidedly expresseshis opinion, that Gomara had mingled up much falsehood with some truth, for the purpose of detracting from the fame of Columbus, through jealousythat any one but a Spaniard should enjoy the honor of the discovery. [310]

Acosta notices the circumstance slightly in his Natural and Moral Historyof the Indies, published in 1591, and takes it evidently from Gomara. [311]

Mariana, in his history of Spain, published in 1592, also mentions it, butexpresses a doubt of its truth, and derives his information manifestlyfrom Gomara. [312]

Herrera, who published his history of the Indies in 1601, takes no noticeof the story. In not noticing it, he may be considered as rejecting it;for he is distinguished for his minuteness, and was well acquainted withGomara's history, which he expressly contradicts on a point ofconsiderable interest. [313]

Garcilasso de la Vega, a native of Cusco in Peru, revived the tale withvery minute particulars, in his Commentaries of the Incas, published in1609. He tells it smoothly and circumstantially; fixes the date of theoccurrence 1484, "one year more or less;" states the name of theunfortunate pilot, Alonzo Sanchez de Huelva; the destination of hisvessel, from the Canaries to Madeira; and the unknown land to which theywere driven, the island of Hispaniola. The pilot, he says, landed, took analtitude, and wrote an account of all he saw, and all that had occurred inthe voyage. He then took in wood and water, and set out to seek his wayhome. He succeeded in returning, but the voyage was long and tempestuous, and twelve died of hunger and fatigue, out of seventeen, the originalnumber of the crew. The five survivors arrived at Tercera, where they werehospitably entertained by Columbus, but all died in his house inconsequence of the hardships they had sustained; the pilot was the lastthat died, leaving his host heir to his papers. Columbus kept themprofoundly secret, and by pursuing the route therein prescribed, obtainedthe credit of discovering the New World. [314]

Such are the material points of the circumstantial relation furnished byGarcilasso de la Vega, one hundred and twenty years after the event. Inregard to authority, he recollects to have heard the story when he was achild, as a subject of conversation between his father and the neighbors, and he refers to the histories of the Indies, by Acosta and Gomara, forconfirmation. As the conversations to which he listened must have takenplace sixty or seventy years after the date of the report, there had beensufficient time for the vague rumors to become arranged into a regularnarrative, and thus we have not only the name, country, and destination ofthe pilot, but also the name of the unknown land to which his vessel wasdriven. 

This account, given by Garcilasso de la Vega, has been adopted by many oldhistorians, who have felt a confidence in the peremptory manner in whichhe relates it, and in the authorities to whom he refers. [315]These have been echoed by others of more recent date; and thus a weightycharge of fraud and imposture has been accumulated against Columbus, apparently supported by a crowd of respectable accusers. The whole chargeis to be traced to Gomara, who loosely repeated a vague rumor, withoutnoticing the pointed contradiction given to it seventeen years before, byOviedo, an ear-witness, from whose book he appears to have actuallygathered the report. 

It is to be remarked that Goinara bears the character, among historians, of inaccuracy, and of great credulity in adopting unfounded stories. [316]

It is unnecessary to give further refutation to this charge, especially asit is clear that Columbus communicated his idea of discovery to PauloToscanelli of Florence, in 1474, ten years previous to the date assignedby Garcilasso de la Vega for this occurrence. 

No. XIII. 

Martin Behem. 

This able geographer was born in Nuremburg, in Germany, about thecommencement of the year 1430. His ancestors were from the circle ofPilsner, in Bohemia, hence he is called by some writers Martin of Bohemia, and the resemblance of his own name to that of the country of hisancestors frequently occasions a confusion in the appellation. 

It has been said by some that he studied under Philip Bervalde the elder, and by others under John Muller, otherwise called Regiomontanus, though DeMurr, who has made diligent inquiry into his history, discredits bothassertions. According to a correspondence between Behem and his unclediscovered of late years by De Murr, it appears that the early part of hislife was devoted to commerce. Some have given him the credit ofdiscovering the island of Fayal, but this is an error, arising probablyfrom the circumstance that Job de Huertar, father-in-law of Behem, colonized that island in 1466. 

He is supposed to have arrived at Portugal in 1481, while Alphonso V wasstill on the throne; it is certain that shortly afterwards he was in highrepute for his science in the court of Lisbon, insomuch that he was one ofthe council appointed by king John II to improve the art of navigation, and by some he has received the whole credit of the memorable servicerendered to commerce by that council, in the introduction of the astrolabeinto nautical use. 

In 1484 king John sent an expedition under Diego Cam, as Barros calls him, Cano according to others, to prosecute discoveries along the coast ofAfrica. In this expedition Behem sailed as cosmographer. They crossed theequinoctial line, discovered the coast of Congo, advanced to twenty-twodegrees forty-five minutes of south latitude, [317] and erected twocolumns, on which were engraved the arms of Portugal, in the mouth of theriver Zagra, in Africa, which thence, for some time, took the name of theRiver of Columns. [318]

For the services rendered on this and on previous occasions, it is saidthat Behem was knighted by king John in 1485, though no mention is made ofsuch a circumstance in any of the contemporary historians. The principalproof of his having received this mark of distinction, is his having givenhimself the title on his own globe of _Eques Lusitanus_. 

In 1486 he married at Fayal the daughter of Job de Huerter, and issupposed to have remained there for some few years, where he had a sonnamed Martin, born in 1489. During his residence at Lisbon and Fayal, itis probable the acquaintance took place between him and Columbus, to whichHerrera and others allude; and the admiral may have heard from him some ofthe rumors circulating in the islands, of indications of western landsfloating to their shores. 

In 1491 he returned to Nuremburg to see his family, and while there, in1492, he finished a terrestrial globe, considered a masterpiece in thosedays, which he had undertaken at the request of the principal magistratesof his native city. 

In 1493 he returned to Portugal, and from thence proceeded to Fayal. 

In 1494 king John II, who had a high opinion of him, sent him to Flandersto his natural son prince George, the intended heir of his crown. In thecourse of his voyage Behem was captured and carried to England, where heremained for three months detained by illness. Having recovered, he againput to sea, but was captured by a corsair and carried to France. Havingransomed himself, he proceeded to Antwerp and Bruges, but returned almostimmediately to Portugal. Nothing more is known of him for several years, during which time it is supposed he remained with his family in Fayal, tooold to make further voyages. In 1506 he went from Fayal to Lisbon, wherehe died. 

The assertion that Behem had discovered the western world previous toColumbus, in the course of the voyage with Cam, was founded on amisinterpretation of a passage interpolated in the chronicle of HartmannSchedel, a contemporary writer. This passage mentions, that when thevoyagers were in the Southern Ocean not far from the coast, and had passedthe line, they came into another hemisphere, where, when they lookedtowards the east, their shadows fell towards the south, on their righthand; that here they discovered a new world, unknown until then, and whichfor many years had never been sought except by the Genoese, and by themunsuccessfully. 

"Hii duo, bono deorum auspicio, mare meridionale sulcantes, a littore nonlonge evagantes, superato circulo equinoctiali, in alterum orbem exceptistint. Ubi ipsis stantibus orientem versus, umbra ad meridiem et dextramprojiciebatur. Aperuêre igitur sua industria, alium orbem hactenus nobisincognitum et multis annis, a nullis quam Januensibus, licet frustratemptatum. "

These lines are part of a passage which it is said is interpolated by adifferent hand, in the original manuscript of the chronicle of Schedel. DeMurr assures us that they are not to be found in the German translation ofthe book by George Alt, which was finished the 5th October, 1493. But evenif they were, they relate merely to the discovery which Diego Cam made ofthe southern hemisphere, previously unknown, and of the coast of Africabeyond the equator, all which appeared like a new world, and as such wastalked of at the time. 

The Genoese alluded to, who had made an unsuccessful attempt were Antoniode Nolle with Bartholomeo his brother, and Raphael de Nolle his nephew. Antonio was of a noble family, and, for some disgust, left his country andwent to Lisbon with his before-mentioned relatives in two caravels;sailing whence in the employ of Portugal, they discovered the island ofSt. Jago, &c. [319]

This interpolated passage of Schedel was likewise inserted into the workDe Europa sub Frederico III of Æneas Silvius, afterwards Pope Pius II, who died in 1464, long before the voyage in question. Themisinterpretation of the passage first gave rise to the incorrectassertion that Behem had discovered the New World prior to Columbus; as ifit were possible such a circumstance could have happened without Behem'slaying claim to the glory of the discovery, and without the worldimmediately resounding with so important an event. This error had beenadopted by various authors without due examination, some of whom hadlikewise taken from Magellan the credit of having discovered the straitwhich goes by his name, and had given it to Behem. The error was toopalpable to be generally prevalent, but was suddenly revived in the year1786 by a French gentleman of highly respectable character of the name ofOtto, then resident in New York, who addressed a letter to Dr. Franklin, to be submitted to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, in which heundertook to establish the title of Behem to the discovery of the NewWorld. His memoir was published in the Transactions of the AmericanPhilosophical Society, vol. Ii. , for 1786, article No. 35, and has beencopied into the journals of most of the nations of Europe. 

The authorities cited by M. Otto in support of his assertion are generallyfallacious, and for the most part given without particular specification. His assertion has been diligently and satisfactorily refuted by DonChristoval Cladera. [320]

The grand proof of M. Otto is a globe which Behem made during hisresidence in Nuremburg, in 1492, the very year that Columbus set out onhis first voyage of discovery. This globe, according to M. Otto, is stillpreserved in the library of Nuremburg, and on it are painted all thediscoveries of Behem, which are so situated that they can be no other thanthe coast of Brazil and the straits of Magellan. This authority staggeredmany, and, if supported, would demolish the claims of Columbus. 

Unluckily for M. Otto, in his description of the globe, he depended on theinspection of a correspondent. The globe in the library of Nuremburg wasmade in 1520, by John Schoener, professor of mathematics, [321] long afterthe discoveries and death of Columbus and Behem. The real globe of Behem, made in 1492, does not contain any of the islands or shores of the NewWorld, and thus proves that he was totally unacquainted with them. A copy, or planisphere, of Behem's globe is given by Cladera in hisinvestigations. 

No. XIV. 

Voyages of the Scandinavians. 

Many elaborate dissertations have been written to prove that discoverieswere made by the Scandinavians on the northern coast of America longbefore the era of Columbus; but the subject appears still to be wrapped inmuch doubt and obscurity. 

It has been asserted that the Norwegians, as early as the ninth century, discovered a great tract of land to the west of Iceland, which they calledGrand Iceland; but this has been pronounced a fabulous tradition. The mostplausible account is one given by Snorro Sturleson, in his Saga orChronicle of King Olaus. According to this writer, one Biorn of Iceland, sailing to Greenland in search of his father, from whom he had beenseparated by a storm, was driven by tempestuous weather far to thesouthwest, until he came in sight of a low country, covered with wood, with an island in its vicinity. The weather becoming favorable, he turnedto the northeast without landing, and arrived safe at Greenland. Hisaccount of the country he had beheld, it is said, excited the enterpriseof Leif, son of Eric Rauda (or Redhead), the first settler of Greenland. Avessel was fitted out, and Leif and Biorn departed alone in quest of thisunknown land. They found a rocky and sterile island, to which they gavethe name of Helleland; also a low sandy country covered with wood, towhich they gave the name of Markland; and, two days afterwards, theyobserved a continuance of the coast, with an island to the north of it. This last they described as fertile, well wooded, producing agreeablefruits, and particularly grapes, a fruit with which they wereunacquainted. On being informed by one of their companions, a German, ofits qualities and name, they called the country, from it, Vinland. Theyascended a river, well stored with fish, particularly salmon, and came toa lake from which the river took its origin, where they passed the winter. The climate appeared to them mild and pleasant; being accustomed to therigorous climates of the north. On the shortest day, the sun was eighthours above the horizon. Hence it has been concluded that the country wasabout the 49th degree of north latitude, and was either Newfoundland, orsome part of the coast of North America, about the Gulf of St. Lawrence. [322] It is added that the relatives of Leif made severalvoyages to Vinland; that they traded with the natives for furs; and that, in 1121, a bishop named Eric went from Greenland to Vinland to convertthe inhabitants to Christianity. From this time, says Forster, we knownothing of Vinland, and there is every appearance that the tribe whichstill exists in the interior of Newfoundland, and which is so differentfrom the other savages of North America, both in their appearance andmode of living, and always in a state of warfare with the Esquimaux ofthe northern coast, are descendants of the ancient Normans. 

The author of the present work has not had the means of tracing this storyto its original sources. He gives it on the authority of M. Malte-Brun, and Mr. Forster. The latter extracts it from the Saga or Chronicle ofSnorro, who was born in 1179, and wrote in 1215; so that his account wasformed long after the event is said to have taken place. Forster says, "The facts which we report have been collected from a great number ofIcelandic manuscripts, and transmitted to us by Torfreus in his two worksentitled Veleris Groenlandiae Descriptio, Hafnia, 1706, and HistoriaWinlandiae Antiquae, Hafnia, 1705. " Forster appears to have no doubt ofthe authenticity of the facts. As far as the author of the present workhas had experience in tracing these stories of early discoveries ofportions of the New World, he has generally found them very confidentdeductions drawn from very vague and questionable facts. Learned men aretoo prone to give substance to mere shadows, when they assist somereconceived theory. Most of these accounts, when divested of the eruditecomments of their editors, have proved little better than the traditionaryfables, noticed in another part of this work, respecting the imaginaryislands of St. Borondon, and of the Seven Cities. 

There is no great improbability, however, that such enterprising androving voyagers as the Scandinavians, may have wandered to the northernshores of America, about the coast of Labrador, or the shores ofNewfoundland; and if the Icelandic manuscripts said to be of thethirteenth century can be relied upon as genuine, free from moderninterpolation, and correctly quoted, they would appear to prove the fact. But granting the truth of the alleged discoveries, they led to no moreresult than would the interchange of communication between the natives ofGreenland and the Esquimaux. The knowledge of them appears not to haveextended beyond their own nation, and to have been soon neglected andforgotten by themselves. 

Another pretension to an early discovery of the American continent hasbeen set up, founded on an alleged map and narrative of two brothers ofthe name of Zeno, of Venice; but it seems more invalid than those justmentioned. The following is the substance of this claim. 

Nicolo Zeno, a noble Venetian, is said to have made a voyage to the northin 1380, in a vessel fitted out at his own cost, intending to visitEngland and Flanders; but meeting with a terrible tempest, was driven formany days he knew not whither, until he was cast away upon Friseland, anisland much in dispute among geographers, but supposed to be thearchipelago of the Ferroe islands. The shipwrecked voyagers were assailedby the natives; but rescued by Zichmni, a prince of the islands, lying onthe south side of Friseland, and duke of another district lying overagainst Scotland. Zeno entered into the service of this prince, and aidedhim in conquering Friseland, and other northern islands. He was soonjoined by his brother Antonio Zeno, who remained fourteen years in thosecountries. 

During his residence in Friseland, Antonio Zeno wrote to his brotherCarlo, in Venice, giving an account of a report brought by a certainfisherman, about a land to the westward. According to the tale of thismariner, he had been one of a party who sailed from Friseland abouttwenty-six years before, in four fishing-boats. Being overtaken by amighty tempest, they were driven about the sea for many days, until theboat containing himself and six companions was cast upon an island calledEstotiland, about one thousand miles from Friseland. They were taken bythe inhabitants, and carried to a fair and populous city, where the kingsent for many interpreters to converse with them, but none that they couldunderstand, until a man was found who had likewise been cast away upon thecoast, and who spoke Latin. They remained several days upon the island, which was rich and fruitful, abounding with all kinds of metals, andespecially gold. [323] There was a high mountain in the centre, from whichflowed four rivers which watered the whole country. The inhabitants wereintelligent and acquainted with the mechanical arts of Europe. Theycultivated grain, made beer, and lived in houses built of stone. Therewere Latin books in the king's library, though the inhabitants had noknowledge of that language. They had many cities and castles, and carriedon a trade with Greenland for pitch, sulphur, and peltry. Though muchgiven to navigation, they were ignorant of the use of the compass, andfinding the Friselanders acquainted with it, held them in great esteem;and the king sent them with twelve barks to visit a country to the south, called Drogeo. They had nearly perished in a storm, but were cast awayupon the coast of Drogeo. They found the people to be cannibals, and wereon the point of being killed and devoured, but were spared on account oftheir great skill in fishing. 

The fisherman described this Drogeo as being a country of vast extent, orrather a new world; that the inhabitants were naked and barbarous; butthat far to the southwest there was a more civilized region, and temperateclimate, where the inhabitants had a knowledge of gold and silver, livedin cities, erected splendid temples to idols, and sacrificed human victimsto them, which they afterwards devoured. 

After the fisherman had resided many years on this continent, during whichtime he had passed from the service of one chieftain to another, andtraversed various parts of it, certain boats of Estotiland arrived on thecoast of Drogeo. The fisherman went on board of them, acted asinterpreter, and followed the trade between the main-land and Estotilandfor some time, until he became very rich: then he fitted out a bark of hisown, and with the assistance of some of the people of the island, made hisway back, across the thousand intervening miles of ocean, and arrived safeat Friseland. The account he gave of these countries, determined Zichmni, the prince of Friseland, to send an expedition thither, and Antonio Zenowas to command it. Just before sailing, the fisherman, who was to haveacted as guide, died; but certain mariners, who had accompanied him fromEstotiland, were taken in his place. The expedition sailed under commandof Zichmni; the Venetian, Zeno, merely accompanied it. It wasunsuccessful. After having discovered an island called Icaria, where theymet with a rough reception from the inhabitants, and were obliged towithdraw, the ships were driven by a storm to Greenland. No record remainsof any further prosecution of the enterprise. 

The countries mentioned in the account of Zeno, were laid down on a maporiginally engraved on wood. The island of Estotiland has been supposed byM. Malte-Brun to be Newfoundland; its partially civilized inhabitants thedescendants of the Scandinavian colonists of Vinland; and the Latin booksin the king's library to be the remains of the library of the Greenlandbishop, who emigrated thither in 1121. Drogeo, according to the sameconjecture, was Nova Scotia and New England. The civilized people to thesouthwest, who sacrificed human victims in rich temples, he surmises tohave been the Mexicans, or some ancient nation of Florida or Louisiana. 

The premises do not appear to warrant this deduction. The whole storyabounds with improbabilities; not the least of which is the civilizationprevalent among the inhabitants; their houses of stone, their Europeanarts, the library of their king; no traces of which were to be found ontheir subsequent discovery. Not to mention the information about Mexicopenetrating through the numerous savage tribes of a vast continent. It isproper to observe that this account was not published until 1558, longafter the discovery of Mexico. It was given to the world by FranciscoMarcolini, a descendant of the Zeni, from the fragments of letters said tohave been written by Antonio Zeno to Carlo his brother. "It grieves me, "says the editor, "that the book, and divers other writings concerningthese matters, are miserably lost; for being but a child when they came tomy hands, and not knowing what they were, I tore them and rent them inpieces, which now I cannot call to remembrance but to my exceeding greatgrief. " [324]

This garbled statement by Marcolini derived considerable authority bybeing introduced by Abraham Ortelius, an able geographer, in his TheatrumOrbis; but the whole story has been condemned by able commentators as agross fabrication. Mr. Forster resents this, as an instance of obstinateincredulity, saying that it is impossible to doubt the existence of thecountry of which Carlo, Nicolo and Antonio Zeno talk; as original acts inthe archives of Venice prove that the chevalier undertook a voyage to thenorth; that his brother Antonio followed him; that Antonio traced a map, which he brought back and hung up in his house, where it remained subjectto public examination, until the time of Marcolini, as an incontestableproof of the truth of what he advanced. Granting all this, it merelyproves that Antonio and his brother were at Friseland and Greenland. Theirletters never assert that Zeno made the voyage to Estotiland. The fleetwas carried by a tempest to Greenland, after which we hear no more of him;and his account of Estotiland and Drogeo rests simply on the tale of thefisherman, after whose descriptions his map must have been conjecturallyprojected. The whole story resembles much the fables circulated shortlyafter the discovery of Columbus, to arrogate to other nations andindividuals the credit of the achievement. 

M. Malte-Brun intimates that the alleged discovery of Vinland may havebeen known to Columbus when he made a voyage in the North Sea in1477, [325] and that the map of Zeno, being in the national library atLondon, in a Danish work, at the time when Bartholomew Columbus was inthat city, employed in making maps, he may have known something of it, and have communicated it to his brother. [326] Had M. Malte-Brun examinedthe history of Columbus with his usual accuracy, he would have perceived, that, in his correspondence with Paulo Toscanelli in 1474, he hadexpressed his intention of seeking India by a route directly to the west. His voyage to the north did not take place until three years afterwards. As to the residence of Bartholomew in London, it was not until afterColumbus had made his propositions of discovery to Portugal, if not to thecourts of other powers. Granting, therefore, that he had subsequentlyheard the dubious stories of Vinland, and of the fisherman's adventures, as related by Zeno, or at least by Marcolini, they evidently could nothave influenced him in his great enterprise. His route had no reference tothem, but was a direct western course, not toward Vinland, and Estotiland, and Drogeo, but in search of Cipango, and Cathay, and the other countriesdescribed by Marco Polo, as lying at the extremity of India. 

No. XV. 

Circumnavigation of Africa by the Ancients. 

The knowledge of the ancients with respect to the Atlantic coast of Africais considered by modern investigators much less extensive than had beenimagined; and it is doubted whether they had any practical authority forthe belief that Africa was circumnavigable. The alleged voyage of Endoxnsof Cyzicus, from the Red Sea to Gibraltar, though recorded by Pliny, Pomponius Mela, and others, is given entirely on the assertion ofCornelius Nepos, who does not tell from whence he derived his information. Posidonius (cited by Strabo) gives an entirely different account of thisvoyage, and rejects it with contempt. [327]

The famous voyage of Hanno, the Carthaginian, is supposed to have takenplace about a thousand years before the Christian era. The PeriplusHannonis remains, a brief and obscure record of this expedition, and asubject of great comment and controversy. By some it has been pronounced afictitious work, fabricated among the Greeks, but its authenticity hasbeen ably vindicated. It appears to be satisfactorily proved, however, that the voyage of this navigator has been greatly exaggerated, and thathe never circumnavigated the extreme end of Africa. Mons. De Bougainville[328] traces his route to a promontory which he named the West Horn, supposed to be Cape Palmas, about five or six degrees north of theequinoctial line, whence he proceeded to another promontory, under thesame parallel, which he called the South Horn, supposed to be Cape de TresPuntas. Mons. Gosselin, however, in his Researches into the Geography ofthe Ancients (Tome 1, p. 162, etc. ), after a rigid examination of thePeriplus of Hanno, determines that he had not sailed farther south thanCape Non. Pliny, who makes Hanno range the whole coast of Africa, fromthe straits to the confines of Arabia, had never seen his Periplus, buttook his idea from the works of Xenophon of Lampsaco. The Greekssurcharged the narration of the voyager with all kinds of fables, and ontheir unfaithful copies Strabo founded many of his assertions. Accordingto M. Gosselin, the itineraries of Hanno, of Scylax, Polybius, Statius, Sebosus, and Juba; the recitals of Plato, of Aristotle, of Pliny, ofPlutarch, and the tables of Ptolemy, all bring us to the same results, and, notwithstanding their apparent contradictions, fix the limit ofsouthern navigation about the neighborhood of Cape Non, or Cape Bojador. 

The opinion that Africa was a peninsula, which existed among the Persians, the Egyptians, and perhaps the Greeks, several centuries prior to theChristian era, was not, in his opinion, founded upon any known facts; butmerely on conjecture, from considering the immensity and unity of theocean; or perhaps on more ancient traditions; or on ideas produced by theCarthaginian discoveries, beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, and those ofthe Egyptians beyond the Gulf of Arabia. He thinks that there was a veryremote period when geography was much more perfect than in the time of thePhenicians and the Greeks, whose knowledge was but confused traces of whathad previously been better known. 

The opinion that the Indian Sea joined the ocean was admitted among theGreeks, and in the school of Alexandria, until the time of Hipparchus. Itseemed authorized by the direction which the coast of Africa took afterCape Aromata, always tending westward, as far as it had been explored bynavigators. 

It was supposed that the western coast of Africa rounded off to meet theeastern, and that the whole was bounded by the ocean, much to thenorthward of the equator. Such was the opinion of Crates, who lived in thetime of Alexander; of Aratus, of Cleanthes, of Cleomedes, of Strabo, ofPomponius Mela, of Macrobius, and many others. 

Hipparchus proposed a different system, and led the world into an error, which for a long time retarded the maritime communication of Europe andIndia. He supposed that the seas were separated into distinct basins, andthat the eastern shores of Africa made a circuit round the Indian Sea, soas to join those of Asia beyond the mouth of the Ganges. Subsequentdiscoveries, instead of refuting this error, only placed the junction ofthe continents at a greater distance. Marinus of Tyre, and Ptolemy, adopted this opinion in their works, and illustrated it in their maps, which for centuries controlled the general belief of mankind, andperpetuated the idea that Africa extended onward to the south pole, andthat it was impossible to arrive by sea at the coasts of India. Stillthere were geographers who leaned to the more ancient idea of acommunication between the Indian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It had itsadvocates in Spain, and was maintained by Pomponius Mela and by Isidore ofSeville. It was believed also by some of the learned in Italy, in thethirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries; and thus was kept aliveuntil it was acted upon so vigorously by Prince Henry of Portugal, and atlength triumphantly demonstrated by Vasco de Gama, in his circumnavigationof the Cape of Good Hope. 

No. XVI. 

Of the Ships of Columbus. 

In remarking on the smallness of the vessels with which Columbus made hisfirst voyage, Dr. Bobertson observes, that, "in the fifteenth century, thebulk and construction of vessels were accommodated to the short and easyvoyages along the coast, which they were accustomed to perform. " We havemany proofs, however, that even anterior to the fifteenth century, therewere large ships employed by the Spaniards, as well as by other nations. In an edict published in Barcelona, in 1354, by Pedro IV, enforcingvarious regulations for the security of commerce, mention is made ofCatalonian merchant ships of two and three decks and from 8000 to 12, 000quintals burden. 

In 1419, Alonzo of Aragon hired several merchant ships to transportartillery, horses, etc. , from Barcelona to Italy, among which were two, each carrying one hundred and twenty horses, which it is computed wouldrequire a vessel of at least 600 tons. 

In 1463, mention is made of a Venetian ship of 700 tons which arrived atBarcelona from England, laden with wheat. 

In 1497, a Castilian vessel arrived there being of 12, 000 quintals burden. These arrivals, incidentally mentioned among others of similar size, ashappening at one port, show that large ships were in use in those days. [329] Indeed, at the time of fitting out the second expedition ofColumbus, there were prepared in the port of Bermeo, a Caracca of 1250tons, and four ships, of from 150 to 450 tons burden. Their destination, however, was altered, and they were sent to convoy Muley Boabdil, the lastMoorish king of Granada, from the coast of his conquered territory toAfrica. [330]

It was not for want of large vessels in the Spanish ports, therefore, thatthose of Columbus were of so small a size. He considered them best adaptedto voyages of discovery, as they required but little depth of water, andtherefore could more easily and safely coast unknown shores, and explorebays and rivers. He had some purposely constructed of a very small sizefor this service; such was the caravel, which in his third voyage hedispatched to look out for an opening to the sea at the upper part of theGulf of Paria, when the water grew too shallow for his vessel of onehundred tons burden. 

The most singular circumstance with respect to the ships of Columbus isthat they should be open vessels; for it seems difficult to believe that avoyage of such extent and peril should be attempted in barks of so frail aconstruction. This, however, is expressly mentioned by Peter Martyr, inhis Decades written at the time; and mention is made occasionally, in thememoirs relative to the voyages written by Columbus and his son, ofcertain of his vessels being without decks. He sometimes speaks of thesame vessel as a ship, and a caravel. There has been some discussion oflate as to the precise meaning of the term caravel. The Chevalier Bossi, in his dissertations on Columbus, observes, that in the Mediterranean, caravel designates the largest class of ships of war among the Mussulmans, and that in Portugal, it means a small vessel of from 120 to 140 tonsburden; but Columbus sometimes applies it to a vessel of forty tons. 

Du Cange, in his glossary, considers it a word of Italian origin. Bossithinks it either Turkish or Arabic, and probably introduced into theEuropean languages by the Moors. Mr. Edward Everett, in a note to hisPlymouth oration, considers that the true origin of the word is given in"Ferrarii Origines Linguæ Italicæ, " as follows: "Caravela, navigiiminoris genus. Lat. Carabus: Grsece Karabron. "

That the word caravel was intended to signify a vessel of a small size isevident from a naval classification made by king Alonzo in the middle ofthe thirteenth century. In the first class he enumerates Naos, or largeships which go only with sails, some of which have two masts, and othersbut one. In the second class smaller vessels, as Carracas, Fustas, Ballenares, Pinazas, Carabelas, &c. In the third class vessels with sailsand oars, as Galleys, Galeots, Tardantes, and Saetias. [331]

Bossi gives a copy of a letter written by Columbus to Don Raphael Xansis, treasurer of the king of Spain; an edition of whicli exists in the publiclibrary at Milan. With this letter he gives several woodcuts of sketchesmade with a pen, which accompanied this letter, and which he supposes tohave been from the hand of Columbus. In these are represented vesselswhich are probably caravels. They have high bows and sterns, with castleson the latter. They have short masts with large square sails. One of them, besides sails, has benches of oars, and is probably intended to representa galley. They are all evidently vessels of small size, and lightconstruction. 

In a work called "Kecherches sur le Commerce, " published in Amsterdam, 1779, is a plate representing a vessel of the latter part of the fifteenthcentury. It is taken from a picture in the church of St. Giovanni e Paoloin Venice. The vessel bears much resemblance to those said to have beensketched by Columbus; it has two masts, one of which is extremely smallwith a latine sail. The mainmast has a large square sail. The vessel has ahigh poop and prow, is decked at each end, and is open in the centre. 

It appears to be the fact, therefore, that most of the vessels with whichColumbus undertook his long and perilous voyages, were of this light andfrail construction; and little superior to the small craft which ply onrivers and along coasts in modern days. 

No. XVII. 

Route of Columbus in His First Voyage. 

[332]

It has hitherto been supposed that one of the Bahama Islands, at presentbearing the name of San Salvador, and which is also known as Cat Island, was the first point where Columbus came in contact with the New World. Navarrete, however, in his introduction to the "Collection of SpanishVoyages and Discoveries, " recently published at Madrid, has endeavored toshow that it must have been Turk's Island, one of the same group, situatedabout 100 leagues (of 20 to the degree) S. E. Of San Salvador. Great carehas been taken to examine candidly the opinion of Navarrete, comparing itwith the journal of Columbus, as published in the above-mentioned work, and with the personal observations of the writer of this article, who hasbeen much among these islands. 

Columbus describes Guanahani, on which he landed, and to which he gave thename of San Salvador, as being a beautiful island, and very large; asbeing level, and covered with forests, many of the trees of which borefruit; as having abundance of fresh water, and a large lake in the centre;that it was inhabited by a numerous population; that he proceeded for aconsiderable distance in his boats along the shore, which trended to theN. N. E. , and as he passed, was visited by the inhabitants of severalvillages. Turk's Island does not answer to this description. 

Turk's Island is a low key composed of sand and rocks, and lying north andsouth, less than two leagues in extent. It is utterly destitute of wood, and has not a single tree of native growth. It has no fresh water, theinhabitants depending entirely on cisterns and casks in which theypreserve the rain; neither has it any lake, but several salt ponds, whichfurnish the sole production of the island. Turk's Island cannot beapproached on the east or northeast side, in consequence of the reef thatsurrounds it. It has no harbor, but has an open road on the west side, which vessels at anchor there have to leave and put to sea whenever thewind comes from any other quarter than that of the usual trade breeze ofN. E. Which blows over the island; for the shore is so bold that there isno anchorage except close to it; and when the wind ceases to blow from thelaud, vessels remaining at their anchors would be swung against the rocks, or forced high upon the shore, by the terrible surf that then prevails. The unfrequented road of the Hawk's Nest, at the south end of the island, is even more dangerous. This island, which is not susceptible of theslightest cultivation, furnishes a scanty subsistence to a few sheep andhorses. The inhabitants draw all their consumption from abroad, with theexception of fish and turtle, which are taken in abundance, and supply theprincipal food of the slaves employed in the salt-works. The whole wealthof the island consists in the produce of the salt-ponds, and in thesalvage and plunder of the many wrecks which take place in theneighborhood. Turk's Island, therefore, would never be inhabited in asavage state of society, where commerce does not exist, and where men areobliged to draw their subsistence from the spot which they people. 

Again: when about to leave Guanahani, Columbus was at a loss to choosewhich to visit of a great number of islands in sight. Now there is no landvisible from Turk's Island, excepting the two salt keys which lie south ofit, and with it form the group known as Turk's Islands. The journal ofColumbus does not tell us what course he steered in going from Guanahanito Concepcion, but he states, that it was five leagues distant from theformer, and that the current was against him in sailing to it: whereas thedistance from Turk's Island to the Gran Caico, supposed by Navarrete to bethe Concepcion of Columbus, is nearly double, and the current setsconstantly to the W. N. W. Among these islands, which would be favorablein going from Turk's Island to the Caicos. 

From Concepcion Columbus went next to an island which he saw nine leaguesoff in a westerly direction, to which he gave the name of Fernaudina. ThisNavarrete takes to be Little Inagua, distant no less than twenty-twoleagues from Gran Caico. Besides, in going to Little Inagua, it would benecessary to pass quite close to three islands, each larger than Turk'sIsland, none of which are mentioned in the journal. Columbus describesFernandina as stretching twenty-eight leagues S. E. And N. W. : whereasLittle Inagua has its greatest length of four leagues in a S. W. Direction. In a word, the description of Fernandina has nothing in commonwith Little Inagua. From Fernandina Columbus sailed S. E. To Isabella, which Navarrete takes to be Great Inagua: whereas this latter bears S. W. From Little Inagua, a course differing 90° from the one followed byColumbus. Again: Columbus, on the 20th of November, takes occasion to saythat Guanahani was distant eight leagues from Isabella: whereas Turk'sIsland is thirty-five leagues from Great Inagua. 

Leaving Isabella, Columbus stood W. S. W. For the island of Cuba, and fellin with the Islas Arenas. This course drawn from Great Inagua, would meetthe coast of Cuba about Port Nipe; whereas Navarrete supposes thatColumbus next fell in with the keys south of the Jumentos, and which bearW. N. W. From Inagua: a course differing 45° from the one steered by theships. After sailing for some time in the neighborhood of Cuba, Columbusfinds himself, on the 14th of November, in the sea of Nuestra Señora, surrounded by so many islands that it was impossible to count them:whereas, on the same day, Navarrete places him off Cape Moa, where thereis but one small island, and more than fifty leagues distant from anygroup that can possibly answer the description. 

Columbus informs us that San Salvador was distant from Port Principeforty-five leagues: whereas Turk's Island is distant from the point, supposed by Navarrete to be the same, eighty leagues. 

On taking leave of Cuba, Columbus remarks that he had followed its coastfor an extent of 120 leagues. Deducting twenty leagues for his havingfollowed its windings, there still remain 100. Now, Navarrete onlysupposes him to have coasted this island an extent of seventy leagues. 

Such are the most important difficulties which the theory of Navarreteoffers, and which appear insurmountable. Let us now take up the route ofColumbus as recorded in his journal, and, with the best charts before us, examine how it agrees with the popular and traditional opinion, that hefirst landed on the island of San Salvador. 

We learn from the journal of Columbus that, on the 11th of October, 1492, he continued steering W. S. W. Until sunset, when he returned to his oldcourse of west, the vessels running at the rate of three leagues an hour. At ten o'clock he and several of his crew saw a light, which seemed like atorch carried about on land. He continued running on four hours longer, and had made a distance of twelve leagues farther west, when at two in themorning land was discovered ahead, distant two leagues. The twelve leagueswhich, they ran since ten o'clock, with the two leagues distance from theland, form a total corresponding essentially with the distance andsituation of Waiting's Island from San Salvador; and it is thencepresumed, that the light seen at that hour was on Watling's Island, whichthey were then passing. Had the light been seen on land ahead, and theyhad kept running on four hours, at the rate of three leagues an hour, theymust have run high and dry on shore. As the admiral himself received theroyal reward for having seen this light, as the first discovery of land, Watling's Island is believed to be the point for which this premium wasgranted. 

On making land, the vessels were hove to until daylight of the same 12thof October; they then anchored off an island of great beauty, covered withforests, and extremely populous. 

It was called Guanahani by the natives, but Columbus gave it the name ofSan Salvador. Exploring its coast, where it ran to the N. N. E. He found aharbor capable of sheltering any number of ships. This descriptioncorresponds minutely with the S. E. Part of the island known as SanSalvador, or Cat Island, which lies east and west, bending at its easternextremity to the N. N. E. , and has the same verdant and fertileappearance. The vessels had probably drifted into this bay at the S. E. Side of San Salvador, on the morning of the 12th, while lying to fordaylight; nor did Columbus, while remaining at the island, or when sailingfrom it, open the land so as to discover that what he had taken for itswhole length was but a bend at one end of it, and that the main body ofthe island lay behind, stretching far to the N. W. From Guanahani, Columbus saw so many other islands that he was at a loss which next tovisit. The Indians signified that they were innumerable, and mentioned thenames of above a hundred. He determined to go to the largest in sight, which appeared to be about five leagues distant; some of the others werenearer, and some further off. The island thus selected, it is presumed, was the present island of Concepcion; and that the others were thatsingular belt of small islands, known as La Cadena (or the chain), stretching past the island of San Salvador in a S. E. And N. W. Direction:the nearest of the group being nearer than Concepcion, while the rest aremore distant. 

Leaving San Salvador in the afternoon of the 14th for the island thusselected, the ships lay by during the night, and did not reach it untillate in the following day, being retarded by adverse currents. Columbusgave this island the name of Santa Maria de la Coucepcion: he does notmention either its bearings from San Salvador, or the course which hesteered in going to it. We know that in all this neighborhood the currentsets strongly and constantly to the W. N. W. ; and since Columbus had thecurrent against him, he must have been sailing in an opposite direction, or to the E. S. E. Besides, when near Conception, Columbus sees anotherisland to the westward, the largest he had yet seen; but he tells us thathe anchored off Concepcion, and did not stand for this larger island, because he could not have sailed to the west. Hence it is rendered certainthat Columbus did not sail westward in going from San Salvador toConception; for, from the opposition of the wind, as there could be noother cause, he could not sail towards that quarter. Now, on reference tothe chart, we find the island at present known as Coucepcion situated E. S. E. From San Salvador, and at a corresponding distance of five leagues. 

Leaving Concepcion on the 16th October, Columbus steered for a very largeisland seen to the westward nine leagues off, and which extended itselftwenty-eight leagues in a S. E. And N. W. Direction. He was becalmed thewhole day, and did not reach the island until the following morning, 17thOctober. He named it Fernandina. At noon he made sail again, with a viewto run round it, and reach another island called Samoet; but the windbeing at S. E. By S. , the course he wished to steer, the natives signifiedthat it would be easier to sail round this island by running to the N. W. With a fair wind. He therefore bore up to the N. W. , and having run twoleagues, found a marvelous port, with a narrow entrance, or rather withtwo entrances, for there was an island which shut it in completely, forming a noble basin within. Sailing out of this harbor by the oppositeentrance at the N. W. , he discovered that part of the island which runseast and west. The natives signified to him that this island was smallerthan Samoet, and that it would be better to return towards the latter. Ithad now become calm, but shortly after there sprung up a breeze from W. N. W. , which was ahead for the course they had been steering; so they bore upand stood to the E. S. E. In order to get an offing; for the weatherthreatened a storm, which however dissipated itself in rain. The next day, being the 18th October, they anchored opposite the extremity ofFernandina. 

The whole of this description answers most accurately to the island ofExuma, which lies south from San Salvador, and S. W. By S. FromConcepcion. The only inconsistency is, that Columbus states thatFernandina bore nearly west from Concepcion, and was twenty-eight leaguesin extent. This mistake must have proceeded from his having taken the longchain of keys called La Cadena for part of the same Exuma; whichcontinuous appearance they naturally assume when seen from Concepcion, forthey run in the same S. E. And N. W. Direction. Their bearings, when seenfrom the same point, are likewise westerly as well as southwesterly. As aproof that such was the case, it may be observed, that, after havingapproached these islands, instead of the extent of Fernandina beingincreased to his eye, he now remarks that it was twenty leagues long, whereas before it was estimated by him at twenty-eight; he now discoversthat instead of one island there were many, and alters his coursesoutherly to reach the one that was most conspicuous. 

The identity of the island here described with Exuma is irresistiblyforced upon the mind. The distance from Concepcion, the remarkable portwith an island in front of it, and farther on its coast turning off to thewestward, are all so accurately delineated, that it would seem as thoughthe chart had been drawn from the description of Columbus. 

On the 19th October, the ships left Fernandina, steering S. E. With thewind at north. Sailing three hours on this course, they discovered Samoetto the east, and steered for it, arriving at its north point before noon. Here they found a little island surrounded by rocks, with another reef ofrocks lying between it and Samoet. To Samoet Columbus gave the name ofIsabella, and to the point of it opposite the little island, that of Cabodel Isleo; the cape at the S. W. Point of Samoet Columbus called Cabo deLaguna, and off this last his ships were brought to anchor. The littleisland lay in the direction from Fernandina to Isabella, east and west. The coast from the small island lay westerly twelve leagues to a cape, which Columbus called Fermosa from its beauty; this he believed to be anisland apart from Samoet or Isabella, with another one between them. Leaving Cabo Laguna, where he remained until the 20th October, Columbussteered to the N. E. Towards Cabo del Isleo, but meeting with shoalsinside the small island, he did not come to anchor until the dayfollowing. Near this extremity of Isabella they found a lake, from whichthe ships were supplied with water. 

This island of Isabella, or Samoet, agrees so accurately in itsdescription with Isla Larga, which lies east of Exuma, that it is onlynecessary to read it with the chart unfolded to become convinced of theidentity. 

Having resolved to visit the island which the natives called Cuba, anddescribed as bearing W. S. W. From Isabella, Columbus left Cabo del Isleoat midnight, the commencement of the 24th October, and shaped his courseaccordingly to the W. S. W. The wind continued light, with rain, untilnoon, when it freshened up, and in the evening Cape Verde, the S. W. Pointof Fernandina, bore N. W. Distant seven leagues. As the night becametempestuous, he lay to until morning, drifting according to the reckoningtwo leagues. 

On the morning of the 25th he made sail again to W. S. W. , until nineo'clock, when he had run five leagues; he then steered west until three, when he had run eleven leagues, at which hour land was discovered, consisting of seven or eight keys lying north and south, and distant fiveleagues from the ships. Here he anchored the next day, south of theseislands, which he called Islas de Arena; they were low, and five or sixleagues in extent. 

The distances run by Columbus, added to the departure taken fromFernandina and the distance from these islands of Arena at the time ofdiscovering, give a sum of thirty leagues. This sum of thirty leagues isabout three less than the distance from the S. W. Point of Fernandina orExuma, whence Columbus took his departure, to the group of Mucaras, whichlie east of Cayo Lobo on the grand bank of Bahama, and which correspond tothe description of Columbus. If it were necessary to account for thedifference of three leagues in a reckoning, where so much is given onconjecture, it would readily occur to a seaman, that an allowance of twoleagues for drift, during a long night of blowy weather, is but a smallone. The course from Exuma to the Mucaras is about S. W. By W. The coursefollowed by Columbus differs a little from this, but as it was hisintention, on setting sail from Isabella, to steer W. S. W. , and since heafterwards altered it to west, we may conclude that he did so inconsequence of having been run out of his course to the southward, whilelying to the night previous. 

Oct. 27. --At sunrise Columbus set sail from the isles Arenas or Mucaras, for an island called Cuba, steering S. S. W. At dark, having made seventeenleagues on that course, he saw the land, and hove his ships to untilmorning. On the 28th he made sail again at S. S. W. , and entered a beautifulriver with a fine harbor, which he named San Salvador. The journal in thispart does not describe the localities with the minuteness with which everything has hitherto been noted; the text also is in several places obscure. 

This port of San Salvador we take to be the one now known as CaravelasGrandes, situated eight leagues west of Nuevitas del Principe. Itsbearings and distance from the Mucaras coincide exactly with those run byColumbus; and its description agrees, as far as can be ascertained bycharts, with the port which he visited. 

Oct. 29. --Leaving this port, Columbus stood to the west, and having sailedsix leagues, he came to a point of the island running N. W. , which we taketo be the Punta Gorda; and, ten leagues farther, another stretchingeasterly, which will be Punta Curiana. One league farther he discovered asmall river, and beyond this another very large one, to which he gave thename of Rio de Mares. This river emptied into a fine basin resembling alake, and having a bold entrance: it had for landmarks two round mountainsat the S. W. , and to the W. N. W. A bold promontory, suitable for afortification, which projected far into the sea. This we take to be thefine harbor and river situated west of Point Curiana; its distancecorresponds with that run by Columbus from Caravelas Grandes, which wehave supposed identical with Port San Salvador. Leaving Rio de Mares the30th of October, Columbus stood to the N. W. For fifteen leagues, when hesaw a cape, to which he gave the name of Cabode Palmas. This, we believe, is the one which forms the eastern entrance to Laguna de Moron. Beyondthis cape was a river, distant, according to the natives, four days'journey from the town of Cuba; Columbus determined therefore to make forit. 

Having lain to all night, he reached the river on the 31st of October, butfound that it was too shallow to admit his ships. This is supposed to bewhat is now known as Laguna de Moron. Beyond this was a cape surrounded byshoals, and another projected still farther out. Between these two capeswas a bay capable of receiving small vessels. The identity here of thedescription with the coast near Laguna de Moron seems very clear. The capeeast of Laguna de Moron coincides with Cape Palmas, the Laguna de Moronwith the shoal river described by Columbus; and in the western point ofentrance, with the island of Cabrion opposite it, we recognize the twoprojecting capes he speaks of, with what appeared to be a bay betweenthem. This all is a remarkable combination, difficult to be found anywhere but in the same spot which Columbus visited and described. Further, the coast from the port of San Salvador had run west to Rio de Mares, adistance of seventeen leagues, and from Rio de Mares it had extended N. W. Fifteen leagues to Cabo de Palmos; all of which agrees fully with what hasbeen here supposed. The wind having shifted to north, which was contraryto the course they had been steering, the vessels bore up and returned toRio de Mares. 

On the 12th of November the ships sailed out of Rio de Mares to go inquest of Babeque, an island believed to abound in gold, and to lie E. ByS. From that port. Having sailed eight leagues with a fair wind, they cameto a river, in which may be recognized the one which lies just west ofPunta Gorda. Four leagues farther they saw another, which they called Riodel Sol. It appeared very large, but they did not stop to examine it, asthe wind was fair to advance. This we take to be the river now known asSabana. Columbus was now retracing his steps, and had made twelve leaguesfrom Riode Mares, but in going west from Port San Salvador to Rio deMares, he had run seventeen leagues. San Salvador, therefore, remains fiveleagues east of Rio del Sol; and, accordingly, on reference to the chart, we find Caravelas Grandes situated a corresponding distance from Sabana. 

Having run six leagues from Rio del Sol, which makes in all eighteenleagues from Rio de Mares, Columbus came to a cape which he called Cabo deCuba, probably from supposing it to be the extremity of that island. Thiscorresponds precisely in distance from Punta Curiana with the lesserisland of Guajava, situated near Cuba, and between which and the greaterGuajava Columbus must have passed in running in for Port San Salvador. Either he did not notice it, from his attention being engrossed by themagnificent island before him, or, as is also possible, his vessels mayhave been drifted through the passage, which is two leagues wide, whilelying to the night previous to their arrival at Port San Salvador. 

On the 13th of November, having hove to all night, in the morning theships passed a point two leagues in extent, and then entered into a gulfthat made into the S. S. W. , and which Columbus thought separated Cuba fromBohio. At the bottom of the gulf was a large basin between two mountains. He could not determine whether or not this was an arm of the sea; for notfinding shelter from the north wind, he put to sea again. Hence it wouldappear that Columbus must have partly sailed round the smaller Guajava, which he took to be the extremity of Cuba, without being aware that a fewhours' sail would have taken him, by this channel, to Port San Salvador, his first discovery in Cuba, and so back to the same Rio del Sol which hehad passed the day previous. Of the two mountains seen on both sides ofthis entrance, the principal one corresponds with the peak called Alto deJuan Daune which lies seven leagues west of Punta de Maternillos. The windcontinuing north, he stood east fourteen leagues from Cape Cuba, which wehave supposed the lesser island of Guajava. It is here rendered sure thatthe point of little Guajava was believed by him to be the extremity ofCuba; for he speaks of the land mentioned as lying to leeward of theabove-mentioned gulf as being the island of Bohio, and says that hediscovered twenty leagues of it running E. S. E. And W. N. W. 

On the 14th November, having lain to all night with a N. E. Wind, hedetermined to seek a port, and, if he found none, to return to those whichhe had left in the island of Cuba; for it will be remembered that all eastof little Guajava he supposed to be Bohio. He steered E. By S. Thereforesix leagues, and then stood in for the land. Here he saw many ports andislands; but as it blew fresh, with a heavy sea, he dared not enter, butran the coast down N. W. By W. For a distance of eighteen leagues, where hesaw a clear entrance and a port, in which he stood S. S. W. And afterwardsS. E. , the navigation being all clear and open. Here Columbus beheld somany islands that it was impossible to count them. They were very lofty, and covered with trees. Columbus called the neighboring sea Mar de NuestraSeñora, and to the harbor near the entrance to these islands he gave thename of Puerto del Principe. This harbor he says he did not enter untilthe Sunday following, which was four days after. This part of the text ofColumbus's journal is confused, and there are also anticipations, as if ithad been written subsequently, or mixed together in copying. It appearsevident, that while lying to the night previous, with the wind at N. E. , the ships had drifted to the N. W. , and been carried by the powerfulcurrent of the Bahama channel far in the same direction. When they boreup, therefore, to return to the ports which they had left in the island ofCuba, they fell in to leeward of them, and now first discovered thenumerous group of islands of which Cayo Romano is the principal. Thecurrent of this channel is of itself sufficient to have carried thevessels to the westward a distance of 20 leagues, which is what they hadrun easterly since leaving Cape Cuba, or Guajava, for it had acted uponthem during a period of thirty hours. There can be no doubt as to theidentity of these keys with those about Cayo Romano; for they are the onlyones in the neighborhood of Cuba that are not of a low and swampy nature, but large and lofty. They inclose a free, open navigation, and abundanceof fine harbors, in late years the resort of pirates, who found securityand concealment for themselves and their prizes in the recesses of theselofty keys. From the description of Columbus, the vessels must haveentered between the islands of Baril and Pacedon, and, sailing along CayoRomano on a S. E. Course, have reached in another day their old cruisingground in the neighborhood of lesser Guajava. Not only Columbus does nottell us here of his having changed his anchorage amongst these keys, buthis journal does not even mention his having anchored at all, until thereturn from the ineffectual search after Babeque. It is clear, from whathas been said, that it was not in Port Principe that the vessels anchoredon this occasion; but it could not have been very distant, since Columbuswent from the ships in his boats on the 18th November, to place a cross atits entrance. He had probably seen the entrance from without, when sailingeast from Guajava on the 13th of November. The identity of this port withthe one now known as Neuvitas el Principe seems certain, from thedescription of its entrance, Columbus, it appears, did not visit itsinterior. 

On the 19th November the ships sailed again, in quest of Babeque. Atsunset Port Principe bore S. S. W. Distant seven leagues, and, havingsailed all night at N. E. By N. And until ten o'clock of the next day(20th November), they had run a distance of fifteen leagues on thatcourse. The wind blowing from E. S. E. , which was the direction in whichBabeqne was supposed to lie, and the weather being foul, Columbusdetermined to return to Port Principe, which was then distant twenty-fiveleagues. He did not wish to go to Isabella, distant only twelve leagues, lest the Indians whom he had brought from San Salvador, which lay eightleagues from Isabella, should make their escape. Thus, in sailing N. E. ByN. From near Port Principe, Columbus had approached within a shortdistance of Isabella. That island was then, according to his calculations, thirty-seven leagues from Port Principe; and San Salvador was forty-fiveleagues from the same point. The first differs but eight leagues from thetruth, the latter nine; or from the actual distance of Neuvitas elPrincipe from Isla Larga and San Salvador. Again, let us now call to mindthe course made by Columbus in going from Isabella to Cuba; it was firstW. S. W. , then west, and afterwards S. S. W. Having consideration for thedifferent distances run on each, these yield a medium course notmaterially different from S. W. Sailing then S. W. From Isabella, Columbushad reached Port San Salvador, on the coast of Cuba. Making afterwards acourse of N. E. By N. From off Port Principe, he was going in thedirection of Isabella. Hence we deduce that Port San Salvador, on thecoast of Cuba, lay west of Port Principe, and the whole combination isthus bound together and established. The two islands seen by Columbus atten o'clock of the same 20th November, must have been some of the keyswhich lie west of the Jumentos. Running back towards Port Principe, Columbus made it at dark, but found that he had been carried to thewestward by the currents. This furnishes a sufficient proof of thestrength of the current in the Bahama channel; for it will be rememberedthat he ran over to Cuba with a fair wind. After contending for four days, until the 24th November, with light winds against the force of thesecurrents, he arrived at length opposite the level island whence he had setout the week before when going to Babeque. 

We are thus accidentally informed that the point from which Columbusstarted in search of Babeque was the same bland of Guajava the lesser, which lies west of Neuvitas el Principe. Farther: at first he dared notenter into the opening between the two mountains, for it seemed as thoughthe sea broke upon them; but having sent the boat ahead, the vesselsfollowed in at S. W. And then W. Into a fine harbor. The level island laynorth of it, and with another island formed a secure basin capable ofsheltering all the navy of Spain. This level island resolves itself theninto our late Cape Cuba, which we have supposed to be little Guajava, andthe entrance east of it becom'es identical with the gulf above mentionedwhich lay between two mountains, one of which we have supposed the Alto deJuan Daune, and which gulf appeared to divide Cuba from Bohio. Our coursenow becomes a plain one. On the 26th of November, Columbus sailed fromSanta Catalina (the name given by him to the port last described) atsunrise, and stood for the cape at the S. E. Which he called Cabo de Pico. In this it is easy to recognize the high peak already spoken of as theAlto de Juan Daune. Arrived off this, he saw another cape, distant fifteenleagues, and still farther another five leagues beyond it, which he calledCabo de Campana. The first must be that now known as Point Padre, thesecond Point Mulas: their distances from Alto de Juan Daune areunderrated; but it requires no little experience to estimate correctly thedistances of the bold headlands of Cuba, as seen through the pureatmosphere that surrounds the island. 

Having passed Point Mulas in the night, on the 27th Columbus looked intothe deep bay that lies S. E. Of it, and seeing the bold projectingheadland that makes out between Port Hipe and Port Banes, with those deepbays on each side of it, he supposed it to be an arm of the sea dividingone land from another with an island between them. 

Having landed at Taco for a short time, Columbus arrived in the evening ofthe 27th at Baracoa, to which he gave the name of Puerto Santo. From Cabodel Pico to Puerto Santo, a distance of sixty leagues, he had passed nofewer than nine good ports and five rivers to Cape Campana, and thence toPuerto Santo eight more rivers, each with a good port; all of which may befound on the chart between Alto de Juan Daune and Baracoa. By keeping nearthe coast he had been assisted to the S. E. By the eddy current of theBahama channel. Sailing from Puerto Santo or Baracoa on the 4th ofDecember, he reached the extremity of Cuba the following day, and strikingoff upon a wind to the S. E. In search of Babeque, which lay to the N. E. , he came in sight of Bohio, to which he gave the name of Hispaniola. 

On taking leave of Cuba, Columbus tells us that he had coasted it adistance of 120 leagues. Allowing twenty leagues of this distance for hishaving followed the undulations of the coast, the remaining 100 measuredfrom Point Maysi fall exactly upon Cabrion Key, which we have supposed thewestern boundary of his discoveries. 

The astronomical observations of Columbus form no objection to what hasbeen here advanced; for he tells us that the instrument which he made useof to measure the meridian altitudes of the heavenly bodies was out oforder and not to be depended upon. He places his first discovery, Guanahani, in the latitude of Ferro, which is about 27° 30' north. SanSalvador we find in 24° 30', and Turk's Island in 21° 30': both are verywide of the truth, but it is certainly easier to conceive an error ofthree than one of six degrees. 

Laying aside geographical demonstration, let us now examine how historicalrecords agree with the opinion here supported, that the island of SanSalvador was the first point where Columbus came in contact with the NewWorld. Herrera, who is considered the most faithful and authentic ofSpanish historians, wrote his History of the Indies towards the year 1600. In describing the voyage of Juan Ponce de Leon, made to Florida in 1512, he makes the following remarks: [333] "Leaving Agnada in Porto Rico, theysteered to the N. W. By N. , and in five days arrived at an island calledEl Viejo, in latitude 22° 30' north. The next day they arrived at a smallisland of the Lucayos, called Caycos. On the eighth day they anchored atanother island called Yaguna in 24°, on the eighth day out from PortoKico. Thence they passed to the island of Mannega, in 24° 30', and on theeleventh day they reached Guanahani, which is in 25° 40' north. Thisisland of Guanahani was the first discovered by Columbus on his firstvoyage, and which he called San Salvador. " This is the substance of theremarks of Herrera, and is entirely conclusive as to the location of SanSalvador. The latitudes, it is true, are all placed higher than we nowknow them to be; that of San Salvador being such as to correspond withno other land than that now known as the Berry Islands, which are seventyleagues distant from the nearest coast of Cuba: whereas Columbus tells usthat San Salvador was only forty-five leagues from Port Principe. But inthose infant days of navigation, the instruments for measuring thealtitudes of the heavenly bodies, and the tables of declinations fordeducing the latitude, must have been so imperfect as to place the mostscientific navigator of the time below the most mechanical one of thepresent. 

The second island arrived at by Ponce de Leon, in his northwestern course, was one of the Caycos; the first one, then, called El Viejo, must havebeen Turk's Island, which lies S. E. Of the Caycos. The third island theycame to was probably Mariguana; the fourth, Crooked Island; and the fifth, Isla Larga. Lastly they came to Guanahani, the San Salvador of Columbus. If this be supposed identical with Turk's Island, where do we find thesuccession of islands touched at by Ponce de Leon on his way from PortoRico to San Salvador? [334] No stress has been laid, in theseremarks, on the identity of name which has been preserved to San Salvador, Concepcion, and Port Principe, with those given by Columbus, thoughtraditional usage is of vast weight in such matters. Geographical proof, of a conclusive kind it is thought, has been advanced, to enable the worldto remain in its old hereditary belief that the present island of SanSalvador is the spot where Columbus first set foot upon the New World. Established opinions of the kind should not be lightly molested. It is agood old rule, that ought to be kept in mind in curious research as wellas territorial dealings, "Do not disturb the ancient landmarks. "

_Note to the Revised Edition of 1848_. --The Paron de Humboldt, in his"Examen critique de l'histoire de la geographie du nouveau continent, "published in 1837, speaks repeatedly in high terms of the abilitydisplayed in the above examination of the route of Columbus, and argues atgreat length and quite conclusively in support of the opinion contained init. Above all, he produces a document hitherto unknown, and the greatimportance of which had been discovered by M. Valeknaer and himself in1832. This is a map made in 1500 by that able mariner Juan de la Cosa, whoaccompanied Columbus in his second voyage and sailed with other of thediscoverers. In this map, of which the Baron de Humboldt gives anengraving, the islands as laid down agree completely with the bearings anddistances given in the journal of Columbus, and establishes the identityof San Salvador, or Cat Island, and Guanahani. 

"I feel happy, " says M. De Humboldt, "to be enabled to destroy theincertitudes (which rested on this subject) by a document as ancient as itis unknown; a document which confirms irrevocably the arguments which Mr. Washington Irving has given in his work against the hypotheses of theTurk's Island. " In the present revised edition the author feels at libertyto give the merit of the very masterly paper on the route of Columbus, where it is justly due. It was furnished him at Madrid by the latecommander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the United States navy, whosemodesty shrunk from affixing his name to an article so calculated to dohim credit, and which has since challenged the high eulogiums of men ofnautical science. 

No. XVIII. 

Principles upon which the Sums Mentioned in This Work Have Been Reducedinto Modern Currency. 

In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the mark of silver, which wasequal to 8 ounces or to 50 castellanos, was divided into 65 reals, andeach real into 34 maravedis; so that there were 2210 maravedis in the markof silver. Among other silver coins there was the real of 8, whichconsisting of 8 reals, was, within a small fraction, the eighth part of amark of silver, or one ounce. Of the gold coins then in circulation thecastellano or _dobla de la vanda_ was worth 490 maravedis, and theducado 383 maravedis. 

If the value of the maravedi had remained unchanged in Spain down to thepresent day, it would be easy to reduce a sum of the time of Ferdinand andIsabella into a correspondent sum of current money; but by the successivedepreciations of the coin of Vellon, or mixed metals, issued since thatperiod, the _real_ and maravedi of Vellon, which had replaced theancient currency, were reduced, towards the year 1700, to about a third ofthe old _real_ and maravedi, now known as the _real_ and maravediof silver. As, however, the ancient piece of 8 reals was equalapproximately to the ounce of silver, and the duro, or dollar of thepresent day, is likewise equal to an ounce, they may be consideredidentical. Indeed, in Spanish America, the dollar, instead of beingdivided into 20 reals, as in Spain, is divided into only 8 parts calledreals, which evidently represent the real of the time of Ferdinand andIsabella, as the dollar does the real of 8. But the ounce of silver wasanciently worth 276-1/4 maravedis; the dollar, therefore, is likewiseequal to 276 1/4 maravedis. By converting then the sums mentioned in thiswork into maravedis, they have been afterwards reduced into dollars bydividing by 276 1/4. 

There is still, however, another calculation to be made, before we canarrive at the actual value of any sum of gold and silver mentioned informer times. It is necessary to notice the variation which has takenplace in the value of the metals themselves. In Europe, previous to thediscovery of the New World, an ounce of gold commanded an amount of foodor labor which would cost three ounces at the present day; hence an ounceof gold was then estimated at three times its present value. At the sametime an ounce of silver commanded an amount which at present costs 4ounces of silver. It appears from this, that the value of gold and silvervaried with respect to each other, as well as with respect to all othercommodities. This is owing to there having been much more silver broughtfrom the New World, with respect to the quantity previously incirculation, than there has been of gold. In the 15th century one ounce ofgold was equal to about 12 of silver; and now, in the year 1827, it isexchanged against 16. 

Hence giving an idea of the relative value of the sums mentioned in thiswork, it has been found necessary to multiply them by three when in gold, and by four when expressed in silver. [335]

It is expedient to add that the dollar is reckoned in this work at 100cents of the United States of North America, and four shillings andsixpence of England. 

No. XIX. 

Prester John:

Said to be derived from the Persian _Prestegani_ or_Perestigani_, which signifies apostolique; or _Preschtak-Geham_, angel of the world. It is the name of a potent Christian monarch ofshadowy renown, whose dominions were placed by writers of the middle agessometimes in the remote parts of Asia and sometimes in Africa, and ofwhom such contradictory accounts were given by the travelers of those daysthat the very existence either of him or his kingdom carne to heconsidered doubtful. It now appears to be admitted, that there reallywas such a potentate in a remote part of Asia. He was of the NestorianChristians, a sect spread throughout Asia, and taking its name and originfrom Nestorius, a Christian patriarch of Constantinople. 

The first vague reports of a Christian potentate in the interior of Asia, or, as it was then called, India, were brought to Europe by the Crusaders, who it is supposed gathered them from the Syrian merchants who traded tothe very confines of China. 

In subsequent ages, when the Portuguese in their travels and voyagesdiscovered a Christian king among the Abyssinians, called Baleel-Gian, they confounded him with the potentate already spoken of. Nor was theblunder extraordinary, since the original Prester John was said to reignover a remote part of India; and the ancients included in that nameEthiopia and all the regions of Africa and Asia bordering on the Red Seaand on the commercial route from Egypt to India. 

Of the Prester John of India we have reports furnished by WilliamRuysbrook, commonly called Rubruquis, a Franciscan friar sent by Louis IX, about the middle of the thirteenth century, to convert the Grand Khan. According to him, Prester John was originally a Nestorian priest, who onthe death of the sovereign made himself king of the Naymans, all NestorianChristians. Carpini, a Franciscan friar, sent by pope Innocent in 1245 toconvert the Mongols of Persia, says, that Ocoday, one of the sons ofGhengis Khan of Tartary, marched with an army against the Christians ofGrand India. The king of that country, who was called Prester John, cameto their succor. Having had figures of men made of bronze, he had themfastened on the saddles of horses, and put fire within, with a man behindwith a bellows. When they came to battle these horses were put in theadvance, and the men who were seated behind the figures threw somethinginto the fire, and blowing with their bellows, made such a smoke that theTartars were quite covered with it. They then fell on them, dispatchedmany with their arrows, and put the rest to flight. 

Marco Polo (1271) places Prester John near the great wall of China, to thenorth of Chan-si, in Teudich, a populous region full of cities andcastles. 

Mandeville (1332) makes Prester sovereign of upper India (Asia), with fourthousand islands tributary to him. 

When John II, of Portugal, was pushing his discoveries along the Africancoast, he was informed that 350 leagues to the east of the kingdom ofBenin, in the profound depths of Africa, there was a puissant monarch, called Ogave, who had spiritual and temporal jurisdiction over all thesurrounding kings. 

An African prince assured him, also, that to the east of Timbuctoo therewas a sovereign who professed a religion similar to that of theChristians, and was king of a Mosaic people. 

King John now supposed he had found traces of the real Prester John, withwhom he was eager to form an alliance religious as well as commercial. In1487 he sent envoys by land in quest of him. One was a gentleman of hishousehold, Pedro de Covilham; the other, Alphonso de Paiva. They went byNaples to Rhodes, thence to Cairo, thence to Aden on the Arabian Gulfabove the mouth of the Red Sea. 

Here they separated with an agreement to rendezvous at Cairo. Alphonso dePaiva sailed direct for Ethiopia; Pedro de Covilham for the Indies. Thelatter passed to Calicut and Goa, where he embarked for Sofala on theeastern coast of Africa, thence returned to Aden, and made his way back toCairo. Here he learned that his coadjutor, Alphonso de Paiva, had died inthat city. He found two Portuguese Jews waiting for him with fresh ordersfrom king John not to give up his researches after Prester John until hefound him. One of the Jews he sent back with a journal and verbal accountsof his travels. With the other he set off again for Aden; thence to Ormuz, at the entrance of the Gulf of Persia, where all the rich merchandise ofthe East was brought to be transported thence by Syria and Egypt intoEurope. 

Having taken note of every thing here, he embarked on the Red Sea, andarrived at the court of an Abyssinian prince named Escander, (the Arabicversion of Alexander, ) whom he considered the real Prester John. Theprince received him graciously, and manifested a disposition to favor theobject of his embassy, but died suddenly, and his successor Naut refusedto let Covilham depart, but kept him for many years about his person, ashis prime councilor, lavishing on him wealth and honors. After all, thiswas not the real Prester John; who, as has been observed, was an Asiaticpotentate. 

No. XX. 

Marco Polo. 

[336]

The travels of Marco Polo, or Paolo, furnish a key to many parts of thevoyages and speculations of Columbus, which without it would hardly becomprehensible. 

Marco Polo was a native of Venice, who, in the thirteenth century, made ajourney into the remote, and, at that time, unknown regions of the East, and filled all Christendom with curiosity by his account of the countrieshe had visited. He was preceded in his travels by his father Nicholas andhis uncle Maffeo Polo. These two brothers were of an illustrious family inVenice, and embarked, about the year 1255, on a commercial voyage to theEast. Having traversed the Mediterranean and through the Bosphorus, theystopped for a short time at Constantinople, which city had recently beenwrested from the Greeks by the joint arms of France and Venice. Here theydisposed of their Italian merchandise, and, having purchased a stock ofjewelry, departed on an adventurous expedition to trade with the westernTartars, who, having overrun many parts of Asia and Europe, were settlingand forming cities in the vicinity of the Wolga. After traversing theEuxine to Soldaia, (at present Sudak, ) a port in the Crimea, theycontinued on, by land and water, until they reached the military court, orrather camp, of a Tartar prince, named Barkah, a descendant of GhengisKhan, into whose hands they confided all their merchandise. The barbaricchieftain, while he was dazzled by their precious commodities, wasflattered by the entire confidence in his justice manifested by thesestrangers. He repaid them with princely munificence, and loaded them withfavors during a year that they remained at his court. A war breaking outbetween their patron and his cousin Hulagu, chief of the eastern Tartars, and Barkah being defeated, the Polos were embarrassed how to extricatethemselves from the country and return home in safety. The road toConstantinople being cut off by the enemy, they took a circuitous route, round the head of the Caspian Sea, and through the deserts of Transoxiana, until they arrived in the city of Bokhara, where they resided for threeyears. 

While here there arrived a Tartar nobleman who was on an embassy from thevictorious Hulagu to his brother the Grand Khan. The ambassador becameaquainted with the Venetians, and finding them to be versed in the Tartartongue and possessed of curious and valuable knowledge, he prevailed uponthem to accompany him to the court of the emperor, situated, as theysupposed, at the very extremity of the East. 

After a march of several months, being delayed by snow-storms andinundations, they arrived at the court of Cublai, otherwise called theGreat Khan, which signifies King of Kings, being the sovereign potentateof the Tartars. This magnificent prince received them with greatdistinction; he made inquiries about the countries and princes of theWest, their civil and military government, and the manners and customs ofthe Latin nation. Above all, he was curious on the subject of theChristian religion. He was so much struck by their replies, that afterholding a council with the chief persons of his kingdom, he entreated thetwo brothers to go on his part as ambassadors to the pope, to entreat himto send a hundred learned men well instructed in the Christian faith, toimpart a knowledge of it to the sages of his empire. He also entreatedthem to bring him a little oil from the lamp of our Saviour, in Jerusalem, which he concluded must have marvelous virtues. It has been supposed, andwith great reason, that under this covert of religion, the shrewd Tartarsovereign veiled motives of a political nature. The influence of the popein promoting the crusades had caused his power to be known and respectedthroughout the East; it was of some moment, therefore, to conciliate hisgood-will. Cublai Khan had no bigotry nor devotion to any particularfaith, and probably hoped, by adopting Christianity, to make it a commoncause between himself and the warlike princes of Christendom, against hisand their inveterate enemies, the soldan of Egypt and the Saracens. 

Having written letters to the pope in the Tartar language, he deliveredthem to the Polos, and appointed one of the principal noblemen of hiscourt to accompany them in their mission. On their taking leave hefurnished them with a tablet of gold on which was engraved the royal arms;this was to serve as a passport, at sight of which the governors of thevarious provinces were to entertain them, to furnish them with escortsthrough dangerous places, and render them all other necessary services atthe expense of the Great Khan. 

They had scarce proceeded twenty miles, when the nobleman who accompaniedthem fell ill, and they were obliged to leave him, and continue on theirroute. Their golden passport procured them every attention and facilitythroughout the dominions of the Great Khan. They arrived safely at Acre, in April, 1269. Here they received news of the recent death of PopeClement IV, at which they were, much grieved, fearing it would cause delayin their mission. There was at that time in Acre a legate of the holychair, Tebaldo di Vesconti, of Placentia, to whom they gave an account oftheir embassy. He heard them with great attention and interest, andadvised them to await the election of a new pope, which must soon takeplace, before they proceeded to Rome on their mission. They determined inthe interim to make a visit to their families, and accordingly departedfor Negropont, and thence to Venice, where great changes had taken placein their domestic concerns, during their long absence. The wife ofNicholas, whom he had left pregnant, had died, in giving birth to a son, who had been named Marco. 

As the contested election for the new pontiff remained pending for twoyears, they were uneasy, lest the emperor of Tartary should grow impatientat so long a postponement of the conversion of himself and his people;they determined, therefore, not to wait the election of a pope, but toproceed to Acre, and get such dispatches and such ghostly ministry for theGrand Khan, as the legate could furnish. On the second journey, NicholasPolo took with him his son Marco, who afterwards wrote an account of thesetravels. 

They were again received with great favor by the legate Tebaldo, who, anxious for the success of their mission, furnished them with letters tothe Grand Khan, in which the doctrines of the Christian faith were fullyexpounded. With these, and with a supply of the holy oil from thesepulchre, they once more set out in September, 1271, for the remote partsof Tartary. They had not long departed, when missives arrived from Rome, informing the legate of his own election to the holy chair. He took thename of Gregory X, and decreed that in future, on the death of a pope, thecardinals should be shut up in conclave until they elected a successor; awise regulation, which has since continued, enforcing a prompt decision, and preventing intrigue. 

Immediately on receiving intelligence of his election, he dispatched acourier to the king of Armenia, requesting that the two Venetians might besent back to him, if they had not departed. They joyfully returned, andwere furnished with new letters to the Khan. Two eloquent friars, also, Nicholas Vincenti and Gilbert de Tripoli, were sent with them, with powersto ordain priests and bishops and to grant absolution. They had presentsof crystal vases, and other costly articles, to deliver to the Grand Khan;and thus well provided, they once more set forth on their journey. [337]

Arriving in Armenia, they ran great risk of their lives from the war whichwas raging, the soldan of Babylon having invaded the country. They tookrefuge for some time with the superior of a monastery. Here the tworeverend fathers, losing all courage to prosecute so perilous anenterprise, determined to remain, and the Venetians continued theirjourney. They were a long time on the way, and exposed to great hardshipsand sufferings from floods and snow-storms, it being the winter season. Atlength they reached a town in the dominions of the Khan. That potentatesent officers to meet them at forty days' distance from the court, and toprovide quarters for them during their journey. [338] He received themwith great kindness, was highly gratified with the result of theirmission and with the letters of the pope, and having received from themsome oil from the lamp of the holy sepulchre, he had it locked up, andguarded it as a precious treasure. 

The three Venetians, father, brother and son, were treated with suchdistinction by the Khan, that the courtiers were filled with jealousy. Marco soon, however, made himself popular, and was particularly esteemedby the emperor. He acquired the four principal languages of the country, and was of such remarkable capacity, that, notwithstanding his youth, theKhan employed him in missions and services of importance, in various partsof his dominions, some to the distance of even six months' journey. Onthese expeditions he was industrious in gathering all kinds of informationrespecting that vast empire; and from notes and minutes made for thesatisfaction of the Grand Khan, he afterwards composed the history of histravels. 

After about seventeen years' residence in the Tartar court the Venetiansfelt a longing to return to their native country. Their patron wasadvanced in age and could not survive much longer, and after his death, their return might be difficult, if not impossible. They applied to theGrand Khan for permission to depart, but for a time met with a refusal, accompanied by friendly upbraidings. At length a singular train of eventsoperated in their favor; an embassy arrived from a Mogul Tartar prince, who ruled in Persia, and who was grand-nephew to the emperor. The objectwas to entreat, as a spouse, a princess of the imperial lineage. Agranddaughter of Cublai Klian, seventeen years of age, and of great beautyand accomplishments, was granted to the prayer of the prince, and departedfor Persia with the ambassadors, and with a splendid retinue, but aftertraveling for some months, was obliged to return on account of thedistracted state of the country. 

The ambassadors despaired of conveying the beautiful bride to the arms ofher expecting bridegroom, when Marco Polo returned from a voyage tocertain of the Indian islands. His representations of the safety of avoyage in those seas, and his private instigations, induced theambassadors to urge the Grand Khan for permission to convey the princessby sea to the gulf of Persia, and that the Christians might accompanythem, as being best experienced in maritime affairs. Cublai Khan consentedwith great reluctance, and a splendid fleet was fitted out and victualedfor two years, consisting of fourteen ships of four masts, some of whichhad crews of two hundred and fifty men. 

On parting with the Venetians the munificent Khan gave them rich presentsof jewels, and made them promise to return to him after they had visitedtheir families. He authorized them to act as his ambassadors to theprincipal courts of Europe, and, as on a former occasion, furnished themwith tablets of gold, to serve, not merely as passports, but as ordersupon all commanders in his territories for accommodations and supplies. 

They set sail therefore in the fleet with the oriental princess and herattendants and the Persian ambassadors. The ships swept along the coast ofCochin China, stopped for three months at a port of the island of Sumatranear ihe western entrance of the straits of Malacca, waiting for thechange of the monsoon to pass the bay of Bengal. Traversing this vastexpanse, they touched at the island of Ceylon and then crossed the straitto the southern part of the great peninsula of India. Thence sailing upthe Pirate coast, as it is called, the fleet entered the Persian gulf andarrived at the famous port of Olmuz, where it is presumed the voyageterminated, after eighteen months spent in traversing the Indian seas. 

Unfortunately for the royal bride who was the object of this splendidnaval expedition, the bridegroom, the Mogul king, had died some timebefore her arrival, leaving a son named Ghazan, during whose minority thegovernment was administered by his uncle Kai-Khatu. According to thedirections of the regent, the princess was delivered to the youthfulprince, son of her intended spouse. He was at that time at the head of anarmy on the borders of Persia. He was of a diminutive stature, but of agreat soul, and, on afterwards ascending the throne, acquired renown forhis talents and virtues. What became of the Eastern bride, who hadtraveled so far in quest of a husband, is not known; but every thingfavorable is to be inferred from the character of Ghazan. 

The Polos remained some time in the court of the regent, and thendeparted, with fresh tablets of gold given by that prince, to carry themin safety and honor through his dominions. As they had to traverse manycountries where the traveler is exposed to extreme peril, they appeared ontheir journeys as Tartars of low condition, having converted all theirwealth into precious stones and sewn them up in the folds and linings oftheir coarse garments. They had a long, difficult, and perilous journey toTrebizond, whence they proceeded to Constantinople, thence to Negropont, and, finally, to Venice, where they arrived in 1295, in good health, andliterally laden with riches. Having heard during their journey of thedeath of their old benefactor Cublai Khan, they considered theirdiplomatic functions at an end, and also that they were absolved fromtheir promise to return to his dominions. 

Ramusio, in his preface to the narrative of Marco Polo, gives a variety ofparticulars concerning their arrival, which he compares to that ofUlysses. When they arrived at Venice, they were known by nobody. So manyyears had elapsed since their departure, without any tidings of them, thatthey were either forgotten or considered dead. Besides, their foreigngarb, the influence of southern suns, and the similitude which men acquireto those among whom they reside for any length of time, had given them thelook of Tartars rather than Italians. 

They repaired to their own house, which was a noble palace, situated inthe street of St. Giovanni Chrisostomo, and was afterwards known by thename of la Corte de la Milione. They found several of their relativesstill inhabiting it; but they were slow in recollecting the travelers, notknowing of their wealth, and probably considering them, from their coarseand foreign attire, poor adventurers returned to be a charge upon theirfamilies. The Polos, however, took an effectual mode of quickening thememories of their friends, and insuring themselves a loving reception. They invited them all to a grand banquet. When their guests arrived, theyreceived them richly dressed in garments of crimson satin of orientalfashion. When water had been served for the washing of hands, and thecompany were summoned to table, the travelers, who had retired, appearedagain in still richer robes of crimson damask. The first dresses were cutup and distributed among the servants, being of such length that theyswept the ground, which, says Ramusio, was the mode in those days, withdresses worn within doors. After the first course, they again retired andcame in dressed in crimson velvet; the damask dresses being likewise givento the domestics, and the same was done at the end of the feast with theirvelvet robes, when they appeared in the Venetian dress of the day. Theguests were lost in astonishment, and could not comprehend the meaning ofthis masquerade. Having dismissed all the attendants, Marco Polo broughtforth the coarse Tartar dresses in which they had arrived. Slashing themin several places with a knife, and ripping open the seams and lining, there tumbled forth rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and otherprecious stones, until the whole table glittered with inestimable wealth, acquired from the munificence of the Grand Khan, and conveyed in thisportable form through the perils of their long journey. 

The company, observes Ramusio, were out of their wits with amazement, andnow clearly perceived what they had at first doubted, that these in verytruth were those honored and valiant gentlemen the Polos, and, accordingly, paid them great respect and reverence. 

The account of this curious feast is given by Ramusio, on traditionalauthority, having heard it many times related by the illustrious GasparoMalipiero, a very ancient gentleman, and a senator, of unquestionableveracity, who had it from his father, who had it from his grandfather, andso on up to the fountain-head. 

When the fame of this banquet and of the wealth of the travelers came tobe divulged throughout Venice, all the city, noble and simple, crowded todo honor to the extraordinary merit of the Polos. Maffeo, who was theeldest, was admitted to the dignity of the magistracy. The youth of thecity came every day to visit and converse with Marco Polo, who wasextremely amiable and communicative. They were insatiable in theirinquiries about Cathay and the Grand Khan, which he answered with greatcourtesy, giving details with which they were vastly delighted, and, as healways spoke of the wealth of the Grand Khan in round numbers, they gavehim the name of Messer Marco Milioni. 

Some months after their return, Lampa Doria, commander of the Genoesenavy, appeared in the vicinity of the island of Curzola with seventygalleys. Andrea Dandolo, the Venetian admiral, was sent against him. MarcoPolo commanded a galley of the fleet. His usual good fortune deserted him. Advancing the first in the line with his galley, and not being properlyseconded, he was taken prisoner, thrown in irons, and carried to Genoa. Here he was detained for a long time in prison, and all offers of ransomrejected. His imprisonment gave great uneasiness to his father and uncle, fearing that he might never return. Seeing themselves in this unhappystate, with so much treasure and no heirs, they consulted together. Theywere both very old men; but Nicolo, observes Ramusio, was of a galliardcomplexion; it was determined he should take a wife. He did so; and, tothe wonder of his friends, in four years had three children. 

In the meanwhile, the fame of Marco Polo's travels had circulated inGenoa. His prison was daily crowded with nobility, and he was suppliedwith every thing that could cheer him in his confinement. A Genoesegentleman, who visited him every day, at length prevailed upon him towrite an account of what he had seen. He had his papers and journals sentto him from Venice, and, with the assistance of his friend, or, as somewill have it, his fellow-prisoner, produced the work which afterwards madesuch noise throughout the world. 

The merit of Marco Polo at length procured him his liberty. He returned toVenice, where he found his father with a house full of children. He tookit in good part, followed the old man's example, married, and had twodaughters, Moretta and Fantina. The date of the death of Marco Polo isunknown; he is supposed to have been, at the time, about seventy years ofage. On his death-bed he is said to have been exhorted by his friends toretract what he had published, or, at least, to disavow those partscommonly regarded as fictions. He replied indignantly that so far fromhaving exaggerated, he had not told one half of the extraordinary thingsof which he had been an eye-witness. 

Marco Polo died without male issue. Of the three sons of his father by thesecond marriage, one only had children, viz. Five sons and one daughter. The sons died without leaving issue; the daughter inherited all herfather's wealth, and married into the noble and distinguished house ofTrevesino. Thus the male line of the Polos ceased in 1417, and the familyname was extinguished. 

Such are the principal particulars known of Marco Polo; a man whosetravels for a long time made a great noise in Europe, and will be found tohave had a great effect on modern discovery. His splendid account of theextent, wealth, and population of the Tartar territories filled every onewith admiration. The possibility of bringing all those regions under thedominion of the church, and rendering the Grand Khan an obedient vassal tothe holy chair, was for a long time a favorite topic among theenthusiastic missionaries of Christendom, and there were manysaints-errant who undertook to effect the conversion of this magnificentinfidel. 

Even at the distance of two centuries, when the enterprises for thediscovery of the new route to India had set all the warm heads of Europemadding about these remote regions of the East, the conversion of theGrand Khan became again a popular theme; and it was too speculative andromantic an enterprise not to catch the vivid imagination of Columbus. Inall his voyages, he will be found continually to be seeking after theterritories of the Grand Khan, and even after his last expedition, whennearly worn out by age, hardships, and infirmities, he offered, in aletter to the Spanish monarchs, written from a bed of sickness, to conductany missionary to the territories of the Tartar emperor, who wouldundertake his conversion. 

No. XXI. 

The Work of Marco Polo. 

The work of Marco Polo is stated by some to have been originally writtenin Latin, [339] though the most probable opinion is that it was written inthe Venetian dialect of the Italian. Copies of it in manuscript weremultiplied and rapidly circulated; translations were made into variouslanguages, until the invention of printing enabled it to be widelydiffused throughout Europe. In the course of these translations andsuccessive editions, the original text, according to Purchas, has beenmuch vitiated, and it is probable many extravagances in numbers andmeasurements with which Marco Polo is charged may be the errors oftranslators and printers. 

When the work first appeared, it was considered by some as made up offictions and extravagances, and Vossius assures us that even after thedeath of Marco Polo he continued to be a subject of ridicule among thelight and unthinking, insomuch that he was frequently personated atmasquerades by some wit or droll, who, in his feigned character, relatedall kinds of extravagant fables and adventures. His work, however, excitedgreat attention among thinking men, containing evidently a fund ofinformation concerning vast and splendid countries, before unknown to theEuropean world. Vossius assures us that it was at one time highly esteemedby the learned. Francis Pepin, author of the Brandenburgh version, stylesPolo a man commendable for his piety, prudence, and fidelity. AthanasiusKircher, in his account of China, says that none of the ancients havedescribed the kingdoms of the remote East with more exactness. Variousother learned men of past times have borne testimony to his character, andmost of the substantial parts of his work have been authenticated bysubsequent travelers. The most able and ample vindication of Marco Polo, however, is to be found in the English translation of his work, withcopious notes and commentaries, by William Marsden, F. R. S. He hasdiligently discriminated between what Marco Polo relates from his ownobservation, and what he relates as gathered from others; he points outthe errors that have arisen from misinterpretations, omissions, orinterpretations of translators, and he claims all proper allowance for thesuperstitious coloring of parts of the narrative from the belief, prevalent among the most wise and learned of his day, in miracles andmagic. After perusing the work of Mr. Marsden, the character of Marco Polorises in the estimation of the reader. It is evident that his narration, as far as related from his own observations, is correct, and that he hadreally traversed a great part of Tartary and China, and navigated in theIndian seas. Some of the countries and many of the islands, however, areevidently described from accounts given by others, and in these accountsare generally found the fables which have excited incredulity andridicule. As he composed his work after his return home, partly frommemory and partly from memorandums, he was liable to confuse what he hadheard with what he had seen, and thus to give undue weight to many fablesand exaggerations which he had received from others. 

Much had been said of a map brought from Cathay by Marco Polo, which wasconserved in the convent of San Michale de Murano in the vicinity ofVenice, and in which the Cape of Good Hope and the island of Madagascarwere indicated; countries which the Portuguese claim the merit of havingdiscovered two centuries afterwards. It has been suggested also thatColumbus had visited the convent and examined this map, whence he derivedsome of his ideas concerning the coast of India. According to Ramusio, however, who had been at the convent, and was well acquainted with theprior, the map preserved there was one copied by a friar from the originalone of Marco Polo, and many alterations and additions had since been madeby other hands, so that for a long time it lost all credit with judiciouspeople, until on comparing it with the work of Marco Polo it was found inthe main to agree with his descriptions. [340] The Cape of Good Hope wasdoubtless among the additions made subsequent to the discoveries of thePortuguese. [341] Columbus makes no mention of this map, which he mostprobably would have done had he seen it. He seems to have been entirelyguided by the one furnished by Paulo Toscanelli, and which was apparentlyprojected after the original map, or after the descriptions of MarcoPolo, and the maps of Ptolemy. 

When the attention of the world was turned towards the remote parts ofAsia in the 15th century, and the Portuguese were making their attempts tocircumnavigate Africa, the narration of Marco Polo again rose to notice. This, with the travels of Nicolo le Comte, the Venetian, and of Hieronimoda San Stefano, a Genoese, are said to have been the principal lights bywhich the Portuguese guided themselves in their voyages. [342]

Above all, the influence which the work of Marco Polo had over the mind ofColumbus, gives it particular interest and importance. It was evidently anoracular work with him. He frequently quotes it, and on his voyages, supposing himself to be on the Asiatic coast, he is continuallyendeavoring to discover the islands and main-lands described in it, and tofind the famous Cipango. 

It is proper, therefore, to specify some of those places, and the mannerin which they are described by a Venetian traveler, that the reader maymore fully understand the anticipations which were haunting the mind ofColumbus in his voyages among the West Indian islands, and along the coastof Terra Firma. 

The winter residence of the Great Khan, according to Marco Polo, was inthe city of Cambalu, or Kanbalu, (since ascertained to be Pekin, ) in theprovince of Cathay. This city, he says, was twenty-four miles square, andadmirably built. It was impossible, according to Marco Polo, to describethe vast amount and variety of merchandise and manufactures brought there;it would seem they were enough to furnish the universe. "Here are to beseen in wonderful abundance the precious stones, the pearls, the silks, and the diverse perfumes of the East; scarce a day passes that there doesnot arrive nearly a thousand cars laden with silk, of which they makeadmirable stuffs in this city. "

The palace of the Great Khan is magnificently built, and four miles incircuit. It is rather a group of palaces. In the interior it isresplendent with gold and silver; and in it are guarded the precious vasesand jewels of the sovereign. All the appointments of the Khan for war, forthe chase, for various festivities, are described in gorgeous terms. Butthough Marco Polo is magnificent in his description of the provinces ofCathay, and its imperial city of Cambalu, he outdoes himself when he comesto describe the province of Mangi. This province is supposed to be thesouthern part of China. It contains, he says, twelve hundred cities. Thecapital, Quinsai (supposed to be the city of Hang-cheu), was twenty-fivemiles from the sea, but communicated by a river with a port situated onthe seacoast, and had great trade with India. 

The name Quinsai, according to Marco Polo, signifies the city of heaven;he says he has been in it and examined it diligently, and affirms it to bethe largest in the world; and so undoubtedly it is if the measurement ofthe traveler is to be taken literally, for he declares that it is onehundred miles in circuit. This seeming exaggeration has been explained bysupposing him to mean Chinese miles or _li, _ which are to the Italianmiles in the proportion of three to eight; and Mr. Marsden observes thatthe walls even of the modern city, the limits of which have beenconsiderably contracted, are estimated by travelers at sixty _li_. The ancient city has evidently been of immense extent, and as Marco Polocould not be supposed to have measured the walls himself, he has probablytaken the loose and incorrect estimates of the inhabitants. He describesit also as built upon little islands like Venice, and has twelve thousandstone bridges, [343] the arches of which are so high that the largestvessels can pass under them without lowering their masts. It has, heaffirms, three thousand baths, and six hundred thousand families, including domestics. It abounds with magnificent houses, and has a lakethirty miles in circuit within its walls, on the banks of which aresuperb palaces of people of rank. [344] The inhabitants of Qninsai arevery voluptuous, and indulge in all kinds of luxuries and delights, particularly the women, who are extremely beautiful. There are manymerchants and artisans, but the masters do not work, they employ servantsto do all their labor. The province of Mangi was conquered by the GreatKhan, who divided it into nine kingdoms, appointing to each a tributaryking. He drew from it an immense revenue, for the country abounded ingold, silver, silks, sugar, spices, and perfumes. 

Zipangu, Zifangri, or Cipango. 

Fifteen hundred miles from the shores of Mangi, according to Marco Polo, lay the great island of Zipangu, by some written Zipangri, and by ColumbusCipango. [345] Marco Polo describes it as abounding in gold, which, however, the king seldom permits to be transported out of theisland. --The king has a magnificent palace covered with plates of gold, asin other countries the palaces are covered with sheets of lead or copper. The halls and chambers are likewise covered with gold, the windows adornedwith it, sometimes in plates of the thickness of two fingers. The islandalso produces vast quantities of the largest and finest pearls, togetherwith a variety of precious stones; so that, in fact, it abounds in riches. The Great Khan made several attempts to conquer this island, but in vain;which is not to be wondered at, if it be true what Marco Polo relates, that the inhabitants had certain stones of a charmed virtue insertedbetween the skin and the flesh of their right arms, which, through thepower of diabolical enchantments, rendered them invulnerable. This islandwas an object of diligent search to Columbus. 

About the island of Zipangu or Cipango, and between it and the coast ofMangi, the sea, according to Marco Polo, is studded with small islands tothe number of seven thousand four hundred and forty, of which the greaterpart are inhabited. There is not one which does not produce odoriferoustrees and perfumes in abundance Columbus thought himself at one time inthe midst of these islands. 

These are the principal places described by Marco Polo, which occur in theletters and journals of Columbus. The island of Cipango was the first landhe expected to make, and he intended to visit afterwards the province ofMangi, and to seek the Great Khan in his city of Cambalu, in the provinceof Cathay. Unless the reader can bear in mind these sumptuous descriptionsof Marco Polo, of countries teeming with wealth, and cities where the verydomes and palaces flamed with gold, he will have but a faint idea of thesplendid anticipations which filled the imagination of Columbus when hediscovered, as he supposed, the extremity of Asia. It was his confidentexpectation of soon arriving at these countries, and realizing theaccounts of the Venetian, that induced him to hold forth those promises ofimmediate wealth to the sovereigns, which caused so much disappointment, and brought upon him the frequent reproach of exciting false hopes andindulging in willful exaggeration. 

No. XXII. 

Sir John Mandeville. 

Next to Marco Polo, the travels of Sir John Mandeville, and his accountof the territories of the Great Khan along the coast of Asia, seem to havebeen treasured up in the mind of Columbus. 

Mandeville was born in the city of St. Albans. He was devoted to studyfrom his earliest childhood, and, after finishing his general education, applied himself to medicine. Having a great desire to see the remotestparts of the earth, then known, that is to say, Asia and Africa, and aboveall, to visit the Holy Land, he left England in 1332, and passing throughFrance embarked at Marseilles. According to his own account, he visitedTurkey, Armenia, Egypt, Upper and Lower Lybia, Syria, Persia, Chaldea, Ethiopia, Tartary, Amazonia, and the Indies, residing in their principalcities. But most he says he delighted in the Holy Land, where he remainedfor a long time, examining it with the greatest minuteness, andendeavoring to follow all the traces of our Saviour. After an absence ofthirty-four years he returned to England, but found himself forgotten andunknown by the greater part of his countrymen, and a stranger in hisnative place. He wrote a history of his travels in three languages, English, French, and Latin, for he was master of many tongues. Headdressed his work to Edward III. His wanderings do not seem to have madehim either pleased with the world at large, or contented with his home. Herailed at the age, saying that there was no more virtue extant; that thechurch was ruined; error prevalent among the clergy; simony upon thethrone; and, in a word, that the devil reigned triumphant. He soonreturned to the continent, and died at Liege in 1372. He was buried in theabbey of the Gulielmites, in the suburbs of that city, where Ortelius, inhis Itinerarium Belgiæ, says that he saw his monument, on which was theeffigy, in stone, of a man with a forked beard and his hands raisedtowards his head (probably folded as in prayer, according to the manner ofold tombs) and a lion at his feet. There was an inscription stating hisname, quality, and calling, (viz. Professor of medicine, ) that he was verypious, very learned, and very charitable to the poor, and that afterhaving traveled over the whole world he had died at Liege. The people ofthe convent showed also his spurs, and the housings of the horses which hehad ridden in his travels. 

The descriptions given by Mandeville of the Grand Khan, of the province ofCathay, and the city of Cambalu, are no less splendid than those of MarcoPolo. The royal palace was more than two leagues in circumference. Thegrand hall had twenty-four columns of copper and gold. There were morethan three hundred thousand men occupied and living in and about thepalace, of which more than one hundred thousand were employed in takingcare of ten thousand elephants and of a vast variety of other animals, birds of prey, falcons, parrots, and paroquets. On days of festivals therewere even twice the number of men employed. The title of this potentate inhis letters was "Khan, the son of God, exalted possessor of all the earth, master of those who are masters of others. " On his seal was engraved, "Godreigns in heaven, Khan upon earth. "

Mandeville has become proverbial for indulging in a traveler'sexaggerations; yet his accounts of the countries which he visited havebeen found far more veracious than had been imagined. His descriptions ofCathay, and the wealthy province of Mangi, agreeing with those of MarcoPolo, had great authority with Columbus. 

No. XXIII. 

The Zones. 

The zones were imaginary bands or circles in the heavens producing aneffect of climate on corresponding belts on the globe of the earth. Thepolar circles and the tropics mark these divisions. 

The central region, lying beneath the track of the sun, was termed thetorrid zone; the two regions between the tropics and the polar circleswere termed the temperate zones, and the remaining parts, between theporlar circles and the poles, the frigid zones. 

The frozen regions near the poles were considered uninhabitable andunnavigable on account of the extreme cold. The burning zone, or ratherthe central part of it, immediately about the equator, was considereduninhabitable, unproductive, and impassable in consequence of theexcessive heat. The temperate zones, lying between them, were supposed tobe fertile and salubrious, and suited to the purposes of life. 

The globe was divided into two hemispheres by the equator, an imaginaryline encircling it at equal distance from the poles. The whole of theworld known to the ancients was contained in the temperate zone of thenorthern hemisphere. 

It was imagined that if there should be inhabitants in the temperate zoneof the southern hemisphere, there could still be no communication withthem on account of the burning zone which intervened. 

Parmenides, according to Strabo, was the inventor of this theory of thefive zones, but he made the torrid zone extend on each side of the equatorbeyond the tropics. Aristotle supported this doctrine of the zones. In histime nothing was known of the extreme northern parts of Europe and Asia, nor of interior Ethiopia and the southern part of Africa, extending beyondthe tropic of Capricorn to the Cape of Good Hope. Aristotle believed thatthere was habitable earth in the southern hemisphere, but that it was forever divided from the part of the world already known, by the impassablezone of scorching heat at the equator. [346]

Pliny supported the opinion of Aristotle concerning the burning zones. "The temperature of the central region of the earth, " he observes, "wherethe sun runs his course, is burnt up as with fire. The temperate zoneswhich lie on either side can have no communication with each other inconsequence of the fervent heat of this region. " [347]

Strabo, (lib. Xi. , ) in mentioning this theory, gives it likewise hissupport; and others of the ancient philosophers, as well as the poets, might be cited to show the general prevalence of the belief. 

It must be observed that, at the time when Columbus defended hisproposition before the learned board at Salamanca, the ancient theory ofthe burning zone had not yet been totally disproved by modern discovery. The Portuguese, it is true, had penetrated within the tropics; but, thoughthe whole of the space between the tropic of Cancer and that of Capricorn, in common parlance, was termed the torrid zone, the uninhabitable andimpassable part, strictly speaking, according to the doctrine of theancients, only extended a limited number of degrees on each side of theequator; forming about a third, or, at most, the half of the zone. Theproofs which Columbus endeavored to draw therefore from the voyages madeto St. George la Mina, were not conclusive with those who were bigoted tothe ancient theory, and who placed this scorching region still farthersouthward, and immediately about the equator. 

No. XXIV. 

Of the Atlantis of Plato. 

The island Atalantis is mentioned by Plato in his dialogue of Timæus. Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is supposed to have traveled into Egypt. Heis in an ancient city on the Delta, the fertile island formed by the Nile, and is holding converse with certain learned priests on the antiquities ofremote ages, when one of them gives him a description of the island ofAtalantis, and of its destruction, which he describes as having takenplace before the conflagration of the world by Phæton. 

This island, he was told, had been situated on the Western Ocean, oppositeto the Straits of Gibraltar. There was an easy passage from it to otherislands, which lay adjacent to a large continent, exceeding in size allEurope and Asia. Neptune settled in this island, from whose son Atlas itsname was derived, and he divided it among his ten sons. His descendantsreigned here in regular succession for many ages. They made irruptionsinto Europe and Africa, subduing all Libya as far as Egypt, and Europe toAsia Minor. They were resisted, however, by the Athenians, and driven backto their Atlantic territories. Shortly after this there was a tremendousearthquake, and an overflowing of the sea, which continued for a day and anight. In the course of this the vast island of Atalantis, and all itssplendid cities and warlike nations, were swallowed up, and sunk to thebottom of the sea, which, spreading its waters over the chasm, formed theAtlantic Ocean. For a long time, however, the sea was not navigable, onaccount of rocks and shelves, of mud and slime, and of the ruins of thatdrowned country. 

Many, in modern times, have considered this a mere fable; others supposethat Plato, while in Egypt, had received some vague accounts of the CanaryIslands, and, on his return to Greece, finding those islands so entirelyunknown to his countrymen, had made them the seat of his political andmoral speculations. Some, however, have been disposed to give greaterweight to this story of Plato. They imagine that such an island may reallyhave existed filling up a great part of the Atlantic, and that thecontinent beyond it was America, which, in such case, was not unknown tothe ancients. Kircher supposes it to have been an island extending fromthe Canaries to the Azores; that it was really ingulfed in one of theconvulsions of the globe, and that those small islands are mere shatteredfragments of it. 

As a farther proof that the New World was not unknown to the ancients, many have cited the singular passage in the Medea of Seneca, which iswonderfully apposite, and shows, at least, how nearly the warm imaginationof a poet may approach to prophecy. The predictions of the ancient oracleswere rarely so unequivocal. 

 Venient annis Sæcula seris, quilms Oceanus Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens Patent tellus, Typhisque novos Detegat orbes, nee sit terris Ultima Thule. 

Gosselin in his able research into the voyages of the ancients, supposesthe Atalantis of Plato to have been nothing more nor less than one of thenearest of the Canaries, viz. Fortaventura or Lancerote. 

No. XXV. 

The Imaginary Island of St. Brandan. 

One of the most singular geographical illusions on record is that whichfor a long while haunted the imaginations of the inhabitants of theCanaries. They fancied they beheld a mountainous island about ninetyleagues in length, lying far to the westward. It was only seen atintervals, but in perfectly clear and serene weather. To some it seemedone hundred leagues distant, to others forty, to others only fifteen oreighteen. [348]On attempting to reach it, however, it somehow or othereluded the search, and was nowhere to be found. Still there were so manyeye-witnesses of credibility who concurred in testifying to their havingseen it, and the testimony of the inhabitants of different islands agreedso well as to its form and position, that its existence was generallybelieved, and geographers inserted it in their maps. It is laid down onthe globe of Martin Behem, projected in 1492, as delineated by M. De Murr, and it will be found in most of the maps of the time of Columbus, placedcommonly about two hundred leagues west of the Canaries. During the timethat Columbus was making his proposition to the court of Portugal, aninhabitant of the Canaries applied to king John II for a vessel to go insearch of this island. In the archives of the Torre do Tombo [349] also, there is a record of a contract made by the crown of Portugal withFernando de Ulmo, cavalier of the royal household, and captain of theisland of Tercera, wherein he undertakes to go at his own expense, inquest of an island or islands, or Terra Firma, supposed to be the islandof the Seven Cities, on condition of having jurisdiction over the samefor himself and his heirs, allowing one tenth of the revenues to the king. This Ulmo, finding the expedition above his capacity, associated one JuanAlfonso del Estreito in the enterprise. They were bound to be ready tosail with two caravels in the month of March, 1487. [350] The fate oftheir enterprise is unknown. 

The name of St. Brandan, or Borondon, given to this imaginary island fromtime immemorial, is said to be derived from a Scotch abbot, who flourishedin the sixth century, and who is called sometimes by the foregoingappellations, sometimes St. Blandano, or St. Blandanus. In the Martyrologyof the order of St. Augustine, he is said to have been the patriarch ofthree thousand monks. About the middle of the sixth century, heaccompanied his disciple, St. Maclovio, or St. Malo, in search of certainislands possessing the delights of paradise, which they were told existedin the midst of the ocean, and were inhabited by infidels. These mostadventurous saints-errant wandered for a long time upon the ocean, and atlength landed upon an island called Ima. Here St. Malo found the body of agiant lying in a sepulchre. He resuscitated him, and had much interestingconversation with him, the giant informing him that the inhabitants ofthat island had some notions of the Trinity, and, moreover, giving him agratifying account of the torments which Jews and Pagans suffered in theinfernal regions. Finding the giant so docile and reasonable, St. Maloexpounded to him the doctrines of the Christian religion, converted him, and baptized him by the name of Mildum. The giant, however, either throughweariness of life, or eagerness to enjoy the benefits of his conversion, begged permission, at the end of fifteen days, to die again, which wasgranted him. 

According to another account, the giant told them he knew of an island inthe ocean, defended by walls of burnished gold, so resplendent that theyshone like crystal, but to which there was no entrance. At their request, he undertook to guide them to it, and taking the cable of their ship, threw himself into the sea. He had not proceeded far, however, when atempest rose, and obliged them all to return, and shortly after the giantdied. [351] A third legend makes the saint pray to heaven on Easter day, that they may be permitted to find land where they may celebrate theoffices of religion with becoming state. An island immediately appears, on which they land, perform a solemn mass, and the sacrament of theEucharist; after which re-embarking and making sail, they behold to theirastonishment the supposed island suddenly plunge to the bottom of the sea, being nothing else than a monstrous whale. [352] When the rumor circulatedof an island seen from the Canaries, which always eluded the search, thelegends of St. Brandan were revived, and applied to this unapproachableland. We are told, also, that there was an ancient Latin manuscript in thearchives of the cathedral church of the Grand Canary, in which theadventures of these saints were recorded. Through carelessness, however, this manuscript has disappeared. [353] Some have maintained that thisisland was known to the ancients, and was the same mentioned by Ptolemyamong the Fortunate or Canary islands, by the names of Aprositus, [354] orthe Inaccessible; and which, according to friar Diego Philipo, in his bookon the Incarnation of Christ, shows that it possessed the same quality inancient times of deluding the eye and being unattainable to the feet ofmortals. [355] But whatever belief the ancients may have had on thissubject, it is certain that it took a strong hold on the faith of themoderns during the prevalent rage for discovery; nor did it lack abundanttestimonials. Don Joseph de Viera y Clavijo says, there never was a moredifficult paradox nor problem in the science of geography; since, toaffirm the existence of this island, is to trample upon sound criticism, judgment, and reason; and to deny it, one must abandon tradition andexperience, and suppose that many persons of credit had not the properuse of their senses. [356]

The belief in this island has continued long since the time of Columbus. It was repeatedly seen, and by various persons at a time, always in thesame place and of the same form. In 1526 an expedition set off for theCanaries in quest of it, commanded by Fernando de Troya and FernandoAlvarez. They cruised in the wonted direction, but in vain, and theirfailure ought to have undeceived the public. "The phantasm of the island, however, " says Viera, "had such a secret enchantment for all who beheldit, that the public preferred doubting the good conduct of the explorers, than their own senses. " In 1570 the appearances were so repeated andclear, that there was a universal fever of curiosity awakened among thepeople of the Canaries, and it was determined to send forth anotherexpedition. 

That they might not appear to act upon light grounds, an exactinvestigation was previously made of all the persons of talent andcredibility who had seen these apparitions of land, or who had otherproofs of its existence. 

Alonzo de Espinosa, governor of the island of Ferro, accordingly made areport, in which more than one hundred witnesses, several of them personsof the highest respectability, deposed that they had beheld the unknownisland about forty leagues to the northwest of Ferro; that they hadcontemplated it with calmness and certainty, and had seen the sun setbehind one of its points. 

Testimonials of still greater force came from the islands of Palma andTeneriffe. There were certain Portuguese who affirmed, that, being drivenabout by a tempest, they had come upon the island of St. Borondon. PedroVello, who was the pilot of the vessel, affirmed, that having anchored ina bay, he landed with several of the crew. They drank fresh water in abrook, and beheld in the sand the print of footsteps, double the size ofthose of an ordinary man, and the distance between them was in proportion. They found a cross nailed to a neighboring tree; near to which were threestones placed in form of a triangle, with signs of fire having been madeamong them, probably to cook shell-fish. Having seen much cattle and sheepgrazing in the neighborhood, two of their party armed with lances wentinto the woods in pursuit of them. The night was approaching, the heavensbegan to lower, and a harsh wind arose. The people on board the ship criedout that she was dragging her anchor, whereupon Vello entered the boat andhurried on board. In an instant they lost sight of land; being as it wereswept away in the hurricane. When the storm had passed away, and the seaand sky were again serene, they searched in vain for the island; not atrace of it was to be seen, and they had to pursue their voyage, lamentingthe loss of their two companions who had been abandoned in the wood. [357]

A learned licentiate, Pedro Ortiz de Funez, inquisitor of the GrandCanary, while on a visit at Teneriffe, summoned several persons beforehim, who testified having seen the island. Among them was one MarcosVerde, a man well known in those parts. He stated that in returning fromBarbary and arriving in the neighborhood of the Canaries, he beheld land, which, according to his maps and calculations, could not be any of theknown islands. He concluded it to be the far-famed St. Borondon. Overjoyedat having discovered this land of mystery, he coasted along its spell-boundshores, until he anchored in a beautiful harbor formed by the mouth of amountain ravine. Here he landed with several of his crew. It was now, he said, the hour of the Ave Maria, or of vespers. The sun being set, theshadows began to spread over the land. The voyagers having separated, wandered about in different directions, until out of hearing of eachother's shouts. Those on board, seeing the night approaching, made signalto summon back the wanderers to the ship. They re-embarked, intending toresume their investigations on the following day. Scarcely were they onboard, however, when a whirlwind came rushing down the ravine, with suchviolence as to drag the vessel from her anchor, and hurry her out to sea;and they never saw any thing more of this hidden and inhospitable island. 

Another testimony remains on record in manuscript of one Abreu Galindo;but whether taken at this time does not appear. It was that of a Frenchadventurer, who, many years before, making a voyage among the Canaries, was overtaken by a violent storm which carried away his masts. At lengththe furious winds drove him to the shores of an unknown island coveredwith stately trees. Here he landed with part of his crew, and choosing atree proper for a mast, cut it down, and began to shape it for hispurpose. The guardian power of the island, however, resented as usual thisinvasion of his forbidden shores. The heavens assumed a dark andthreatening aspect; the night was approaching, and the mariners, fearingsome impending evil, abandoned their labor and returned on board. Theywere borne away as usual from the coast, and the next day arrived at theisland of Palma. [358]

The mass of testimony collected by official authority in 1750 seemed sosatisfactory, that another expedition was fitted out in the same year inthe island of Palma. It was commanded by Fernando de Villabolos, regidorof the island; but was equally fruitless with the preceding. St. Borondonseemed disposed only to tantalize the world with distant and sereneglimpses of his ideal paradise; or to reveal it amidst storms totempest-tossed mariners, but to hide it completely from the view of allwho diligently sought it. Still the people of Palma adhered to theirfavorite chimera. Thirty-four years afterwards, in 1605, they sent anothership on the quest, commanded by Gaspar Perez de Acosta, an accomplishedpilot, accompanied by the padre Lorenzo Pinedo, a holy Franciscan friar, skilled in natural science. St. Borondon, however, refused to reveal hisisland to either monk or mariner. After cruising about in every direction, sounding, observing the skies, the clouds, the winds, every thing thatcould furnish indications, they returned without having seen any thing toauthorize a hope. 

Upwards of a century now elapsed without any new attempt to seek thisfairy island. Every now and then, it is true, the public mind was agitatedby fresh reports of its having been seen. Lemons and other fruits, and thegreen branches of trees which floated to the shores of Gomera and Ferro, were pronounced to be from the enchanted groves of St. Borondon. Atlength, in 1721, the public infatuation again rose to such a height that afourth expedition was sent, commanded by Don Caspar Dominguez, a man ofprobity and talent. As this was an expedition of solemn and mysteriousimport, he had two holy friars as apostolical chaplains. They made sailfrom the island of Teneriffe towards the end of October, leaving thepopulace in an indescribable state of anxious curiosity mingled withsuperstition. The ship, however, returned from its cruise as unsuccessfulas all its predecessors. 

We have no account of any expedition being since undertaken, though theisland still continued to be a subject of speculation, and occasionally toreveal its shadowy mountains to the eyes of favored individuals. In aletter written from the island of Gomera, 1759, by a Franciscan monk, toone of his friends, he relates having seen it from the village of Alaxeroat six in the morning of the third of May. It appeared to consist of twolofty mountains, with a deep valley between; and on contemplating it witha telescope, the valley or ravine appeared to be filled with trees. Hesummoned the curate Antonio Joseph Manrique, and upwards of forty otherpersons, all of whom beheld it plainly. [359]

Nor is this island delineated merely in ancient maps of the time ofColumbus. It is laid down as one of the Canary islands in a French mappublished in 1704; and Mons. Gautier, in a geographical chart, annexed tohis Observations on Natural History, published in 1755, places it fivedegrees to the west of the island of Ferro, in the 29th deg. Of N. Latitude. [360]

Such are the principal facts existing relative to the island of St. Brandan: Its reality was for a long time a matter of firm belief. It wasin vain that repeated voyages and investigations proved its nonexistence;the public, after trying all kinds of sophistry, took refuge in thesupernatural, to defend their favorite chimera. They maintained that itwas rendered inaccessible to mortals by Divine Providence, or bydiabolical magic. Most inclined to the former. All kinds of extravagantfancies were indulged concerning it; [361] some confounded it with thefabled island of the Seven Cities situated somewhere in the bosom of theocean, where in old times seven bishops and their followers had takenrefuge from the Moors. Some of the Portuguese imagined it to be the abodeof their lost king Sebastian. The Spaniards pretended that Roderick, thelast of their Gothic kings, had fled thither from the Moors after thedisastrous battle of the Guadalete. Others suggested that it might be theseat of the terrestrial paradise, the place where Enoch and Elijahremained in a state of blessedness until the final day; and that it wasmade at times apparent to the eyes, but invisible to the search ofmortals. Poetry, it is said, has owed to this popular belief one of itsbeautiful fictions, and the garden of Armida, where Rinaldo was detainedenchanted, and which Tasso places in one of the Canary islands, has beenidentified with the imaginary St. Borondon. [362]

The learned father Feyjoo [363] has given a philosophical solution tothis geographical problem. He attributes all these appearances, whichhave been so numerous and so well authenticated as not to admit of doubt, to certain atmospherical deceptions, like that of the Fata Morgana, seenat times, in the straits of Messina, where the city of Reggio and itssurrounding country is reflected in the air above the neighboring sea: aphenomenon which has likewise been witnessed in front of the city ofMarseilles. As to the tales of the mariners who had landed on theseforbidden shores, and been hurried thence in whirlwinds and tempests, heconsiders them as mere fabrications. 

As the populace, however, reluctantly give up any thing that partakes ofthe marvelous and mysterious, and as the same atmospherical phenomena, which first gave birth to the illusion, may still continue, it is notimprobable that a belief in the island of St. Brandan may still existamong the ignorant and credulous of the Canaries, and that they at timesbehold its fairy mountains rising above the distant horizon of theAtlantic. 

No. XXVI. 

The Island of the Seven Cities. 

One of the popular traditions concerning the ocean, which were currentduring the time of Columbus, was that of the Island of the Seven Cities. It was recorded in an ancient legend, that at the time of the conquest ofSpain and Portugal by the Moors, when the inhabitants fled in everydirection to escape from slavery, seven bishops, followed by a greatnumber of their people, took shipping and abandoned themselves to theirfate, on the high seas. After tossing about for some time, they landed onan unknown island in the midst of the ocean. Here the bishops burnt theships, to prevent the desertion of their followers, and founded sevencities. Various pilots of Portugal, it was said, had reached that islandat different times, but had never returned to give any informationconcerning it, having been detained, according to subsequent accounts, bythe successors of the bishops to prevent pursuit. At length, according tocommon report, at the time that prince Henry of Portugal was prosecutinghis discoveries, several seafaring men presented themselves one day beforehim, and stated that they had just returned from a voyage, in the courseof which they had landed upon this island. The inhabitants, they said, spoke their language, and carried them immediately to church, to ascertainwhether they were Catholics, and were rejoiced at finding them of the truefaith. They then made earnest inquiries, to know whether the Moors stillretained possession of Spain and Portugal. While part of the crew were atchurch, the rest gathered sand on the shore for the use of the kitchen, and found to their surprise that one-third of it was gold. The islanderswere anxious that the crew should remain with them a few days, until thereturn of their governor, who was absent; but the mariners, afraid ofbeing detained, embarked and made sail. Such was the story they told toprince Henry, hoping to receive reward for their intelligence. The princeexpressed displeasure at their hasty departure from the island, andordered them to return and procure further information; but the men, apprehensive, no doubt, of having the falsehood of their tale discovered, made their escape, and nothing more was heard of them. [364]

This story had much currency. The Island of the Seven Cities wasidentified with the island mentioned by Aristotle as having beendiscovered by the Carthaginians, and was put down in the early maps aboutthe time of Columbus, under the name of Antilla. 

At the time of the discovery of New Spain, reports were brought toHispaniola of the civilization of the country; that the people woreclothing; that their houses and temples were solid, spacious, and oftenmagnificent; and that crosses were occasionally found among them. Juan deGrivalja, being dispatched to explore the coast of Yucatan, reported thatin sailing along it he beheld, with great wonder, stately and beautifuledifices of lime and stone, and many high towers that shone at a distance. [365] For a time the old tradition of the Seven Cities was revived, andmany thought that they were to be found in the same part of New Spain. 

No. XXVII. 

Discovery of the Island of Madeira. 

The discovery of Madeira by Macham rests principally upon the authority ofFrancisco Alcaforado, an esquire of prince Henry of Portugal, who composedan account of it for that prince. It does not appear to have obtained muchfaith among Portuguese historians. No mention is made of it in Barros; heattributes the first discovery of the island to Juan Gonzalez and TristramVaz, who he said descried it from Porto Santo, resembling a cloud on thehorizon. [366]

The abbé Provost, however, in his general history of voyages, vol. 6, seems inclined to give credit to the account of Alcaforado. "It wascomposed, " he observes, "at a time when the attention of the public wouldhave exposed the least falsities; and no one was more capable thanAlcaforado of giving an exact detail of this event, since he was of thenumber of those who assisted at the second discovery. " The narrative, asoriginally written, was overcharged with ornaments and digressions. It wastranslated into French and published in Paris, in 1671. The Frenchtranslator had retrenched the ornaments, but scrupulously retained thefacts. The story, however, is cherished in the island of Madeira, where apainting in illustration of it is still to be seen. The following is thepurport of the French translation: I have not been able to procure theoriginal of Alcaforado. 

During the reign of Edward the Third of England, a young man of greatcourage and talent, named Robert Macham, fell in love with a young lady ofrare beauty, of the name of Anne Dorset. She was his superior in birth, and of a proud and aristocratic family; but the merit of Macham gained himthe preference over all his rivals. The family of the young lady, toprevent her making an inferior alliance, obtained an order from the kingto have Macham arrested and confined, until by arbitrary means theymarried his mistress to a man of quality. As soon as the nuptials werecelebrated, the nobleman conducted his beautiful and afflicted bride tohis seat near Bristol. Macham was now restored to liberty. Indignant atthe wrongs he had suffered, and certain of the affections of his mistress, he prevailed upon several friends to assist him in a project for thegratification of his love and his revenge. They followed hard on thetraces of the new-married couple to Bristol. One of the friends obtainedan introduction into the family of the nobleman in quality of a groom. Hefound the young bride full of tender recollections of her lover, and ofdislike to the husband thus forced upon her. Through the means of thisfriend, Macham had several communications with her, and concerted meansfor their escape to France, where they might enjoy their mutual loveunmolested. 

When all things were prepared, the young lady rode out one day accompaniedonly by the fictitious groom, under pretence of taking the air. No soonerwere they out of sight of the house, than they galloped to an appointedplace on the shore of the channel, where a boat awaited them. They wereconveyed on board a vessel which lay with anchor a-trip, and sailsunfurled, ready to put to sea. Here the lovers were once more united. Fearful of pursuit, the ship immediately weighed anchor; they made theirway rapidly along the coast of Cornwall, and Macham anticipated thetriumph of soon landing with his beautiful prize on the shores of gay andgallant France. Unfortunately an adverse and stormy wind arose in thenight; at daybreak they found themselves out of sight of land. Themariners were ignorant and inexperienced; they knew nothing of thecompass, and it was a time when men were unaccustomed to traverse the highseas. For thirteen days the lovers were driven about on a tempestuousocean, at the mercy of wind and wave. The fugitive bride was filled withterror and remorse, and looked upon this uproar of the elements as theanger of heaven directed against her. All the efforts of her lover couldnot remove from her mind a dismal presage of some approaching catastrophe. 

At length the tempest subsided. On the fourteenth day, at dawn, themariners perceived what appeared to be a tuft of wood rising out of thesea. They joyfully steered for it, supposing it to be an island. They werenot mistaken. As they drew near, the rising sun shone upon noble forests, the trees of which were of a kind unknown to them. Flights of birds alsocame hovering about the ship, and perched upon the yards and riggingwithout any signs of fear. The boat was sent on shore to reconnoitre, andsoon returned with such accounts of the beauty of the country, that Machamdetermined to take his drooping companion to the land, in hopes her healthand spirits might be restored by refreshment and repose. They wereaccompanied on shore by the faithful friends who had assisted in theirflight. The mariners remained on board to guard, the ship. 

The country was indeed delightful. The forests were stately andmagnificent; there were trees laden with excellent fruits, others witharomatic flowers; the waters were cool and limpid, the sky was serene, andthere was a balmy sweetness in the air. The animals they met with showedno signs of alarm or ferocity, from which they concluded that the islandwas uninhabited. On penetrating a little distance they found a shelteredmeadow, the green bosom of which was bordered by laurels and refreshed bya mountain brook which ran sparkling over pebbles. In the centre was amajestic tree, the wide branches of which afforded shade from the rays ofthe sun. Here Macham had bowers constructed and determined to pass a fewdays, hoping that the sweetness of the country, and the serenetranquillity of this delightful solitude, would recruit the droopinghealth and spirits of his companion. Three days, however, had scarcelypassed, when a violent storm arose from the northeast, and raged all nightover the island. On the succeeding morning Macham repaired to the sea-side, but nothing of his ship was to be seen, and he concluded that it hadfoundered in the tempest. 

Consternation fell upon the little band, thus left in an uninhabitedisland in the midst of the ocean. The blow fell most severely on the timidand repentant bride. She reproached herself with being the cause of alltheir misfortunes, and, from the first, had been haunted by dismalforebodings. She now considered them about to be accomplished, and herhorror was so great as to deprive her of speech; she expired in three dayswithout uttering a word. 

Machnm was struck with despair at beholding the tragical end of thistender and beautiful being. He upbraided himself, in the transports of hisgrief, with tearing her from home, her country, and her friends, to perishupon a savage coast. All the efforts of his companions to console him werein vain. He died within five days, broken-hearted; begging, as a lastrequest, that his body might be interred beside that of his mistress, atthe foot of a rustic altar which they had erected under the great tree. They set up a large wooden cross on the spot, on which was placed aninscription written by Macham himself, relating in a few words his piteousadventure, and praying any Christians who might arrive there, to build achapel in the place dedicated to Jesus the Saviour. 

After the death of their commander, his followers consulted about means toescape from the island. The ship's boat remained on the shore. Theyrepaired it and put it in a state to bear a voyage, and then made sail, intending to return to England. Ignorant of their situation, and carriedabout by the winds, they were cast upon the coast of Morocco, where, theirboat being shattered upon the rocks, they were captured by the Moors andthrown into prison. Here they understood that their ship had shared thesame fate, having been driven from her anchorage in the tempest, andcarried to the same inhospitable coast, where all her crew were madeprisoners. 

The prisons of Morocco were in those days filled with captives of allnations, taken by their cruisers. Here the English prisoners met with anexperienced pilot, a Spaniard of Seville, named Juan de Morales. Helistened to their story with great interest; inquired into the situationand description of the island they had discovered; and, subsequently, onhis redemption from prison, communicated the circumstances, it is said, toprince Henry of Portugal. 

There is a difficulty in the above narrative of Alcaforado in reconcilingdates. The voyage is said to have taken place during the reign of EdwardIII, which commenced in 1327 and ended in 1378. Morales, to whom theEnglish communicated their voyage, is said to have been in the service ofthe Portuguese, in the second discovery of Madeira, in 1418 and 1420. Evenif the voyage and imprisonment had taken place in the last year of kingEdward's reign, this leaves a space of forty years. 

Hacluyt gives an account of the same voyage, taken from Antonio Galvano. He varies in certain particulars. It happened, he says, in the year 1344, in the time of Peter IV of Aragon. Macham cast anchor in a bay sincecalled, after him, Machio. 

The lady being ill, he took her on shore, accompanied by some of hisfriends, and the ships sailed without them. After the death of the lady, Macham made a canoe out of a tree, and ventured to sea in it with hiscompanions. They were cast upon the coast of Africa, where the Moors, considering it a kind of miracle, carried him to the king of theircountry, who sent him to the king of Castile. In consequence of thetraditional accounts remaining of this voyage, Henry II of Castile sentpeople, in 1395, to re-discover the island. 

No. XXVIII. 

Las Casas. 

Bartholomew Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa, so often cited in all historiesof the New World, was born at Seville, in 1474, and was of Frenchextraction. The family name was Casaus. The first of the name who appearedin Spain, served under the standard of Ferdinand III, surnamed the saint, in his wars with the Moors of Andalusia. He was at the taking of Sevillefrom the Moors, when he was rewarded by the king, and received permissionto establish himself there. His descendants enjoyed the prerogatives ofnobility, and suppressed the letter u in their name, to accommodate it tothe Spanish tongue. 

Antonio, the father of Bartholomew, went to Hispaniola with Columbus in1493, and returned rich to Seville in 1498. [367] It has been stated byone of the biographers of Bartholomew Las Casas, that he accompaniedColumbus in his third voyage in 1498, and returned with him in 1500. [368]This, however, is incorrect. He was, during that time, completing hiseducation at Salamanca, where he was instructed in Latin, dialectics, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and physics, after the supposed method andsystem of Aristotle. While at the university, he had, as a servant, anIndian slave, given him by his father, who had received him from Columbus. When Isabella, in her transport of virtuous indignation, ordered theIndian slaves to be sent back to their country, this one was taken fromLas Casas. The young man was aroused by the circumstance, and, onconsidering the nature of the case, became inflamed with a zeal in favorof the unhappy Indians, which never cooled throughout a long and activelife. It was excited to tenfold fervor, when, at about the age oftwenty-eight years, he accompanied the commander Ovando to Hispaniola in1502, and was an eye-witness to many of the cruel scenes which took placeunder his administration. The whole of his future life, a space exceedingsixty years, was devoted to vindicating the cause, and endeavoring tomeliorate the sufferings of the natives. As a missionary, he traversed thewilderness of the New World in various directions, seeking to convert andcivilize them; as a protector and champion, he made several voyages toSpain, vindicated their wrongs before courts and monarchs, wrote volumesin their behalf, and exhibited a zeal, and constancy, and intrepidityworthy of an apostle. He died at the advanced age of ninety-two years, andwas buried at Madrid, in the church of the Dominican convent of Atocha, ofwhich fraternity he was a member. 

Attempts have been made to decry the consistency and question the realphilanthropy of Las Casas, in consequence of one of the expedients towhich he resorted to relieve the Indians from the cruel bondage imposedupon them. This occurred in 1517, when he arrived in Spain, on one of hismissions, to obtain measures in their favor from the government. On hisarrival in Spain, he found cardinal Ximenes, who had been left regent onthe death of King Ferdinand, too ill to attend to his affairs. Herepaired, therefore, to Valladolid, where he awaited the coming of the newmonarch Charles, archduke of Austria, afterwards the emperor Charles V. Hehad strong opponents to encounter in various persons high in authority, who, holding estates and repartimientos in the colonies, were interestedin the slavery of the Indians. Among these, and not the least animated, was the bishop Fonseca, president of the council of the Indies. 

At length the youthful sovereign arrived, accompanied by various Flemingsof his court, particularly his grand chancellor, doctor Juan de Selvagio, a learned and upright man, whom he consulted on all affairs ofadministration and justice. Las Casas soon became intimate with thechancellor, and stood high in his esteem; but so much opposition arose onevery side that he found his various propositions for the relief of thenatives but little attended to. In his doubt and anxiety he had nowrecourse to an expedient which he considered as justified by thecircumstances of the case. [369] The chancellor Selvagio and otherFlemings who had accompanied the youthful sovereign had obtained from him, before quitting Flanders, licenses to import slaves from Africa to thecolonies; a measure which had recently in 1516 been prohibited by a decreeof cardinal Ximenes while acting as regent. The chancellor, who was ahumane man, reconciled it to his conscience by a popular opinion that onenegro could perform, without detriment to his health, the labor of severalIndians, and that therefore it was a great saving of human suffering. Soeasy is it for interest to wrap itself up in plausible argument! He might, moreover, have thought the welfare of the Africans but little affected bythe change. They were accustomed to slavery in their own country, and theywere said to thrive in the New World. "The Africans, " observes Herrera, "prospered so much in the island of Hispaniola, that it was the opinionunless a negro should happen to be hanged, he would never die; for as yetnone had been known to perish from infirmity. Like oranges, they foundtheir proper soil in Hispaniola, and it seemed ever more natural to themthan their native Guinea. " [370]

Las Casas, finding all other means ineffectual, endeavored to turn theseinterested views of the grand chancellor to the benefit of the Indians. Heproposed that the Spaniards, resident in the colonies, might be permittedto procure negroes for the labor of the farms and the mines, and othersevere toils, which were above the strength and destructive of the livesof the natives. [371] He evidently considered the poor Africans as littlebetter than mere animals; and he acted like others, on an arithmeticalcalculation of diminishing human misery, by substituting one strong manfor three or four of feebler nature. He, moreover, esteemed the Indiansas a nobler and more intellectual race of beings, and their preservationand welfare of higher importance to the general interests of humanity. 

It is this expedient of Las Casas which has drawn down severe censure uponhis memory. He has been charged with gross inconsistency, and even withhaving originated this inhuman traffic in the New World. This last is agrievous charge; but historical facts and dates remove the original sinfrom his door, and prove that the practice existed in the colonies, andwas authorized by royal decree, long before he took a part in thequestion. 

Las Casas did not go to the New World until 1502. By a royal ordinancepassed in 1501, negro slaves were permitted to be taken there, providedthey had been born among Christians. [372] By a letter written by Ovando, dated 1503, it appears that there were numbers in the island ofHispaniola at that time, and he entreats that none more might bepermitted to be brought. 

In 1506 the Spanish government forbade the introduction of negro slavesfrom the Levant, or those brought up with the Moors; and stipulated thatnone should be taken to the colonies but those from Seville, who had beeninstructed in the Christian faith, that they might contribute to theconversion of the Indians. [373] In 1510, king Ferdinand, being informedof the physical weakness of the Indians, ordered fifty Africans to besent from Seville to labor in the mines. [374] In 1511, he ordered thata great number should be procured from Guinea, and transported toHispaniola, understanding that one negro could perform the work of fourIndians. [375] In 1512 and '13 he signed further orders relative to thesame subject. In 1516, Charles V granted licenses to the Flemings toimport negroes to the colonies. It was not until the year 1517, that LasCasas gave his sanction of the traffic. It already existed, and hecountenanced it solely with a view to having the hardy Africanssubstituted for the feeble Indians. It was advocated at the same time, and for the same reasons, by the Jeronimite friars, who were missionariesin the colonies. The motives of Las Casas were purely benevolent, thoughfounded on erroneous notions of justice. He thought to permit evil thatgood might spring out of it; to choose between two existing abuses, andto eradicate the greater by resorting to the lesser. His reasoning, however fallacious it may be, was considered satisfactory and humane bysome of the most learned and benevolent men of the age, among whom wasthe cardinal Adrian, afterwards elevated to the papal chair, andcharacterized by gentleness and humanity. The traffic was permitted;inquiries were made as to the number of slaves required, which waslimited to four thousand, and the Flemings obtained a monopoly of thetrade, which they afterwards farmed out to the Genoese. 

Dr. Eobertson, in noticing this affair, draws a contrast between theconduct of the cardinal Ximenes and that of Las Casas, strongly to thedisadvantage of the latter. "The cardinal, " he observes, "when solicitedto encourage this commerce, peremptorily rejected the proposition, becausehe perceived the iniquity of reducing one race of men to slavery, when hewas consulting about the means of restoring liberty to another; but LasCasas, from the inconsistency natural to men who hurry with headlongimpetuosity towards a favorite point, was incapable of making thisdistinction. In the warmth of his zeal to save the Americans from theyoke, he pronounced it to be lawful and expedient to impose one stillheavier on the Africans. " [376] This distribution of praise and censure isnot perfectly correct. Las Casas had no idea that he was imposing aheavier, nor so heavy, a yoke upon the Africans. The latter wereconsidered more capable of labor, and less impatient of slavery. While theIndians sunk under their tasks, and perished by thousands in Hispaniola, the negroes, on the contrary, thrived there. Herrera, to whom Dr. Robertson refers as his authority, assigns a different motive, and one ofmere finance, for the measures of cardinal Ximenes. He says that heordered that no one should take negroes to the Indies, because, as thenatives were decreasing, and it was known that one negro did more workthan four of them, there would probably be a great demand for Africanslaves, and a tribute might be imposed upon the trade, from which wouldresult profit to the royal treasury. [377] This measure was presentlyafter carried into effect, though subsequent to the death of thecardinal, and licenses were granted by the sovereign for pecuniaryconsiderations. Flechier, in his life of Ximenes, assigns another but amere political motive for this prohibition. The cardinal, he says, objected to the importation of negroes into the colonies, as he fearedthey would corrupt the natives, and by confederacies with them renderthem formidable to government. De Marsolier, another biographer of Ximenes, gives equally politic reasons for this prohibition. He cites a letterwritten by the cardinal on the subject, in which he observed that he knewthe nature of the negroes; they were a people capable, it was true, ofgreat fatigue, but extremely prolific and enterprising; and that if theyhad time to multiply in America, they would infallibly revolt, and imposeon the Spaniards the same chains which they had compelled them to wear. [378] These facts, while they take from the measure of the cardinal thatcredit for exclusive philanthropy which has been bestowed upon it, manifest the clear foresight of that able politician; whose predictionswith respect to negro revolt have been so strikingly fulfilled in theisland of Hispaniola. 

Cardinal Ximenes, in fact, though a wise and upright statesman, was nottroubled with scruples of conscience on these questions of natural right;nor did he possess more toleration than his contemporaries towards savageand infidel nations. He was grand inquisitor of Spain, and was veryefficient during the latter years of Ferdinand in making slaves of therefractory Moors of Granada. He authorized, by express instructions, expeditions to seize and enslave the Indians of the Caribbee islands, whomhe termed only suited to labor, enemies of the Christians, and cannibals. Nor will it be considered a proof of gentle or tolerant policy, that heintroduced the tribunal of the inquisition into the New World. Thesecircumstances are cited not to cast reproach upon the character ofcardinal Ximenes, but to show how incorrectly he has been extolled at theexpense of Las Casas. Both of them must be judged in connection with thecustoms and opinions of the age in which they lived. 

Las Casas was the author of many works, but few of which have beenprinted. The most important is a general history of the Indies, from thediscovery to the year 1520, in three volumes. It exists only inmanuscript, but is the fountain from which Herrera, and most of the otherhistorians of the New World, have drawn large supplies. The work, thoughprolix, is valuable, as the author was an eye-witness of many of thefacts, had others from persons who were concerned in the transactionsrecorded, and possessed copious documents. It displays great erudition, though somewhat crudely and diffusely introduced. His history wascommenced in 1527, at fifty-three years of age, and was finished in 1559, when eighty-five. As many things are set down from memory, there isoccasional inaccuracy, but the whole bears the stamp of sincerity andtruth. The author of the present work, having had access to this valuablemanuscript, has made great use of it, drawing forth many curious factshitherto neglected; but he has endeavored to consult it with caution anddiscrimination, collating it with other authorities, and omitting whateverappeared to be dictated by prejudice or over-heated zeal. 

Las Casas has been accused of high coloring and extravagant declamation inthose passages which relate to the barbarities practised on the natives;nor is the charge entirely without foundation. The same zeal in the causeof the Indians is expressed in his writings that shone forth in hisactions, always pure, often vehement, and occasionally unseasonable. Still, however, where he errs it is on a generous and righteous side. Ifone-tenth part of what he says he "witnessed with his own eyes" be true, and his veracity is above all doubt, he would have been wanting in thenatural feelings of humanity had he not expressed himself in terms ofindignation and abhorrence. 

In the course of his work, when Las Casas mentions the original paperslying before him, from which he drew many of his facts, it makes onelament that they should be lost to the world. Besides the journals andletters of Columbus, he says he had numbers of the letters of theAdelantado, Don Bartholomew, who wrote better than his brother, and whosewritings must have been full of energy. Above all, he had the map formedfrom study and conjecture, by which Columbus sailed on his first voyage. What a precious document would this be for the world! These writings maystill exist, neglected and forgotten among the rubbish of some convent inSpain. Little hope can be entertained of discovering them in the presentstate of degeneracy of the cloister. The monks of Atocha, in a recentconversation with one of the royal princes, betrayed an ignorance thatthis illustrious man was buried in their convent, nor can any of thefraternity point out his place of sepulture to the stranger. [379]

The publication of this work of Las Casas has not been permitted in Spain, where every book must have the sanction of a censor before it is committedto the press. The horrible picture it exhibits of the cruelties inflictedon the Indians, would, it was imagined, excite an odium against theirconquerors. Las Casas himself seems to have doubted the expediency ofpublishing it; for in 1560 he made a note with his own hand, which ispreserved in the two first volumes of the original, mentioning that heleft them in confidence to the college of the order of Predicators of St. Gregorio, in Valladolid, begging of its prelates that no secular person, nor even the collegians, should be permitted to read his history for thespace of forty years; and that after that term it might be printed ifconsistent with the good of the Indies and of Spain. [380]

For the foregoing reason the work has been cautiously used by Spanishhistorians, passing over in silence, or with brief notice, many passagesof disgraceful import. This feeling is natural, if not commendable; forthe world is not prompt to discriminate between individuals and the nationof whom they are but a part. The laws and regulations for the governmentof the newly-discovered countries, and the decisions of the council of theIndies on all contested points, though tinctured in some degree with thebigotry of the age, were distinguished for wisdom, justice, and humanity, and do honor to the Spanish nation. It was only in the abuse of them byindividuals to whom the execution of the laws was intrusted, that theseatrocities were committed. It should be remembered, also, that the samenation which gave birth to the sanguinary and rapacious adventurers whoperpetrated these cruelties, gave birth likewise to the earlymissionaries, like Las Casas, who followed the sanguinary course ofdiscovery, binding up the wounds inflicted by their countrymen; men who ina truly evangelical spirit braved all kinds of perils and hardships, andeven death itself, not through a prospect of temporal gain or glory, butthrough a desire to meliorate the condition and save the souls ofbarbarous and suffering nations. The dauntless enterprises and fearfulperegrinations of many of these virtuous men, if properly appreciated, would be found to vie in romantic daring with the heroic achievements ofchivalry, with motives of a purer and far more exalted nature. 

No. XXIX. 

Peter Martyr. 

Peter Martir, or Martyr, of whose writings much use has been made in thishistory, was born at Anghierra, in the territory of Milan, in Italy, onthe second of February, 1455. He is commonly termed Peter Martyr of_Angleria_, from the Latin name of his native place. He is one of theearliest historians that treat of Columbus, and was his contemporary andintimate acquaintance. Being at Rome in 1487, and having acquired adistinguished reputation for learning, he was invited by the Spanishambassador, the count de Tendilla, to accompany him to Spain. He willinglyaccepted the invitation, and was presented to the sovereigns at Saragossa. Isabella, amidst the cares of the war with Granada, was anxious for theintellectual advancement of her kingdom, and wished to employ Martyr toinstruct the young nobility of the royal household. With her peculiardelicacy, however, she first made her confessor, Hernando de Talavera, inquire of Martyr in what capacity he desired to serve her. Contrary toher expectation, Martyr replied, "in the profession of arms. " The queencomplied, and he followed her in her campaigns, as one of her householdand military suite, but without distinguishing himself, and perhapswithout having any particular employ in a capacity so foreign to histalents. After the surrender of Granada, when the war was ended, thequeen, through the medium of the grand cardinal of Spain, prevailed uponhim to undertake the instruction of the young nobles of her court. 

Martyr was acquainted with Columbus while making his application to thesovereigns, and was present at his triumphant reception by Ferdinand andIsabella in Barcelona, on his return from his first voyage. He wascontinually in the royal camp during the war with the Moors, of which hisletters contain many interesting particulars. He was sent ambassadorextraordinary by Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1501, to Venice, and thence tothe grand soldan of Egypt. The soldan, in 1490 or 1491, had sent anembassy to the Spanish sovereigns, threatening that, unless they desistedfrom the war against Granada, he would put all the Christians in Egypt andSyria to death, overturn all their temples, and destroy the holy sepulchreat Jerusalem. Ferdinand and Isabella pressed the war with tenfold energy, and brought it to a triumphant conclusion in the next campaign, while thesoldan was still carrying on a similar negotiation with the pope. Theyafterwards sent Peter Martyr ambassador to the soldan to explain andjustify their measure. Martyr discharged the duties of his embassy withgreat ability; obtained permission from the soldan to repair the holyplaces at Jerusalem, and an abolition of various extortions to whichChristian pilgrims had been subjected. While on this embassy, he wrote hiswork Do Legatione Babylonica, which includes a history of Egypt in thosetimes. 

On his return to Spain, he was rewarded with places and pensions, and in1524 was appointed a minister of the council of the Indies. His principalwork is an account of the discoveries of the New World, in eight decades, each containing ten chapters. They are styled Decades of the New World, orDecades of the Ocean, and, like all his other works, were originallywritten in Latin, though since translated into various languages. He hadfamiliar access to letters, papers, journals, and narratives of the earlydiscoverers, and was personally acquainted with many of them, gatheringparticulars from their conversation. In writiug his Decades, he took greatpains to obtain information from Columbus himself, and from others, hiscompanions. 

In one of his epistles, (No. 153, January, 1494, to Pomponius Lætus, ) hementions having just received a letter from Columbus, by which it appearshe was in correspondence with him. Las Casas says that great credit is tobe given to him in regard to those voyages of Columbus, although hisDecades contain some inaccuracies relative to subsequent events in theIndies. Muñoz allows him great credit, as an author contemporary with hissubject, grave, well cultivated, instructed in the facts of which hetreats, and of entire probity. He observes, however, that his writingsbeing composed on the spur or excitement of the moment, often relatedcircumstances which subsequently proved to be erroneous; that they werewritten without method or care, often confusing dates and events, so thatthey must be read with some caution. 

Martyr was in the daily habit of writing letters to distinguished persons, relating the passing occurrences of the busy court and age in which helived. In several of these Columbus is mentioned, and also some of thechief events of his voyages, as promulgated at the very moment of hisreturn. These letters not being generally known or circulated, orfrequently cited, it may be satisfactory to the reader to have a few ofthe main passages which relate to Columbus. They have a striking effect incarrying us back to the very time of the discoveries. 

In one of his epistles, dated Barcelona, Mny 1st, 1493, and addressed toC. Borromeo, he says: "Within these few days a certain ChristopherColumbus has arrived from the western antipodes; a man of Liguria, whom mysovereigns reluctantly intrusted with three ships, to seek that region, for they thought that what he said was fabulous. He has returned andbrought specimens of many precious things, but particularly gold, whichthose countries naturally produce. " [381]

In another letter, dated likewise from Barcelona, in September following, he gives a more particular account. It is addressed to count Tendilla, governor of Granada, and also to Hernando Talavera, archbishop of thatdiocese, and the same to whom the propositions of Columbus had beenreferred by the Spanish sovereigns. "Arouse your attention, ancientsages, " says Peter Martyr in his epistle; "listen to a new discovery. Youremember Columbus the Ligurian, appointed in the camp by our sovereigns tosearch for a new hemisphere of land at the western antipodes. You ought torecollect, for you had some agency in the transaction; nor would theenterprise, as I think, have been undertaken, without your counsel. He hasreturned in safety, and relates the wonders he has discovered. He exhibitsgold as proofs of the mines in those regions; Gossampine cotton, also, andaromatics, and pepper more pnngent than that from Caucasus. All thesethings, together with scarlet dye-woods, the earth produces spontaneously. Pursuing the western sun from Gades five thousand miles, of each athousand paces, as he relates, he fell in with sundry islands, and tookpossession of one of them, of greater circuit, he asserts, than the wholeof Spain. Here he found a race of men living contented, in a state ofnature, subsisting on fruits and vegetables, and bread formed fromroots. . . . These people have kings, some greater than others, and they waroccasionally among themselves, with bows and arrows, or lances sharpenedand hardened in the fire. The desire of command prevails among them, though they are naked. They have wives also. What they worship except thedivinity of heaven, is not ascertained. " [382]

In another letter, dated likewise in September, 1403, and addressed to thecardinal and vice-chancellor Ascanius Sforza, he says:

"So great is my desire to give you satisfaction, illustrious prince, thatI consider it a gratifying occurrence in the great fluctuations of events, when any thing takes place among us, in which you may take an interest. The wonders of this terrestrial globe, round which the sun makes a circuitin the space of four and twenty hours, have, until our time, as you arewell aware, been known only in regard to one hemisphere, merely from theGolden Chersonesus to our Spanish Gades. The rest has been given up asunknown by cosmographers, and if any mention of it has been made, it hasbeen slight and dubious. But now, O blessed enterprise! under the auspicesof our sovereigns, what has hitherto lain hidden since the first origin ofthings, has at length begun to be developed. The thing has thus occurred--attend, illustrious prince! A certain Christopher Columbus, a Ligurian, dispatched to those regions with three vessels by my sovereigns, pursuingthe western sun above five thousand miles from Gades, achieved his way tothe antipodes. Three and thirty successive days they navigated with naughtbut sky and water. At length from the mast-head of the largest vessel, inwhich Columbus himself sailed, those on the look-out proclaimed the sightof land. He coasted along six islands, one of them, as all his followersdeclare, beguiled perchance by the novelty of the scene, is larger thanSpain. "

Martyr proceeds to give the usual account of the productions of theislands, and the manners and customs of the natives, particularly the warswhich occurred among them; "as if _meum_ and _tuum_ had beenintroduced among them as among us, and expensive luxuries, and the desireof accumulating wealth; for what, you will think, can be the wants ofnaked men?" "What farther may succeed, " he adds, "I will hereaftersignify. Farewell. " [383]

In another letter, dated Valladolid, February 1, 1494, to Hernando deTalavera, archbishop of Granada, he observes, "The king and queen, on thereturn of Columbus to Barcelona, from his honorable enterprise, appointedhim admiral of the ocean sea, and caused him, on account of hisillustrious deeds, to be seated in their presence, an honor and a favor, as you know, the highest with our sovereigns. They have dispatched himagain to those regions, furnished with a fleet of eighteen ships. There isprospect of great discoveries at the western antarctic antipodes. "[384]

In a subsequent letter to Pomponius Lætus, dated from Alcala de Henares, December 9th, 1494, he gives the first news of the success of thisexpedition. 

"Spain, " says he, "is spreading her wings, augmenting her empire, andextending her name and glory to the antipodes. . . . Of eighteen vesselsdispatched by my sovereigns with the admiral Columbus, in his secondvoyage to the western hemisphere, twelve have returned and have broughtGossampine cotton, huge trees of dye-wood, and many other articles heldwith us as precious, the natural productions of that hitherto hiddenworld; and besides all other things, no small quantity of gold. Owonderful, Pomponius! Upon the surface of that earth are found rude massesof native gold, of a weight that one is afraid to mention. Some weigh twohundred and fifty ounces, and they hope to discover others of a muchlarger size, from what the naked natives intimate, when they extol theirgold to our people. Nor are the Lestrigonians nor Polyphemi, who feed onhuman flesh, any longer doubtful. Attend--but beware! lest they rise inhorror before thee! When he proceeded from the Fortunate islands, nowtermed the Canaries, to Hispaniola, the island on which he first set foot, turning his prow a little toward the south, he arrived at innumerableislands of savage men, whom they call cannibals, or Caribbees; and these, though naked, are courageous warriors. They fight skillfully with bows andclubs, and have boats hollowed from a single tree, yet very capacious, inwhich they make fierce descents on neighboring islands, inhabited bymilder people. They attack their villages, from which they carry off themen and devour them, " &c. [385]

Another letter to Pomponius Lætus, on the same subject, has been cited atlarge in the body of this work. It is true these extracts give nothingthat has not been stated more at large in the Decades of the same author, but they are curious, as the very first announcements of the discoveriesof Columbus, and as showing the first stamp of these extraordinary eventsupon the mind of one of the most learned and liberal men of the age. 

A collection of the letters of Peter Martyr was published in 1530, underthe title of Opus Epistolarum, Petri Martyris Anglerii; it is divided intothirty-eight books, each containing the letters of one year. The sameobjections have been made to his letters as to his Decades, but they bearthe same stamp of candor, probity, and great information. They possesspeculiar value from being written at the moment, before the facts theyrecord were distorted or discolored by prejudice or misrepresentation. Hisworks abound in interesting particulars not to be found in anycontemporary historian. They are rich in thought, but still richer infact, and are full of urbanity, and of the liberal feeling of a scholarwho has mingled with the world. He is a fountain from which others draw, and from which, with a little precaution, they may draw securely. He diedin Valladolid, in 1526. 

No. XXX. 

Oviedo. 

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, commonly known as Oviedo, was bornin Madrid in 1478, and died in Valladolid in 1557, aged seventy-nineyears. He was of a noble Austrian family, and in his boyhood (in 1490) wasappointed one of the pages to prince Juan, heir-apparent of Spain, theonly son of Ferdinand and Isabella. He was in this situation at the timeof the seige and surrender of Granada, was consequently at court at thetime that Columbus made his agreement with the Catholic sovereigns, andwas in the same capacity at Barcelona, and witnessed the triumphantentrance of the discoverer, attended by a number of the natives of thenewly-found countries. 

In 1513, he was sent out to the New World by Ferdinand, to superintend thegold foundries. For many years he served there in various offices of trustand dignity, both under Ferdinand and his grandson and successor, CharlesV. In 1535, he was made alcayde of the fortress of St. Domingo inHispaniola, and afterwards was appointed histomgrapher of the Indies. Atthe time of his death, he had served the crown upwards of forty years, thirty-four of which were passed in the colonies, and he had crossed theocean eight times, as he mentions in various parts of his writings. Hewrote several works; the most important is a chronicle of the Indies infifty books, divided into three parts. The first part, containing nineteenbooks, was printed at Seville in 1535, and reprinted in 1547 at Salamanca, augmented by a twentieth book containing shipwrecks. The remainder of thework exists in manuscript. The printing of it was commenced at Valladolidin 1557, but was discontinued in consequence of his death. It is one ofthe unpublished treasures of Spanish colonial history. 

He was an indefatigable writer, laborious in collecting and recordingfacts, and composed a multitude of volumes which are scattered through theSpanish libraries. His writings are full of events which happened underhis own eye, or were communicated to him by eyewitnesses; but he wasdeficient in judgment and discrimination. He took his facts withoutcaution, and often from sources unworthy of credit. In his account of thefirst voyage of Columbus, he falls into several egregious errors, inconsequence of taking the verbal information of a pilot named Hernan PerezMatteo, who was in the interest of the Pinzons, and adverse to theadmiral. His work is not much to be depended upon in matters relative toColumbus. When he treats of a more advanced period of the New World, fromhis own actual observation, he is much more satisfactory, though he isaccused of listening too readily to popular fables and misrepresentations. His account of the natural productions of the New World, and of thecustoms of its inhabitants, is full of curious particulars; and the bestnarratives of some of the minor voyages which succeeded those of Columbusare to be found in the unpublished part of his work. 

No. XXXI. 

Cura de Los Palacios. 

Andres Bernaldes, or Bernal, generally known by the title of the curate of_Los Palacios_, from having been curate of the town of Los Palaciosfrom about 1488 to 1513, was born in the town of Fuentes, and was for sometime chaplain to Diego Dora, archbishop of Seville, one of the greatestfriends to the application of Columbus Bernaldes was well acquainted withthe admiral, who was occasionally his guest, and in 1496, left many of hismanuscripts and journals with him, which the curate made use of in ahistory of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, in which he introduced anaccount of the voyages of Columbus. In his narrative of the admiral'scoasting along the southern side of Cuba, the curate is more minute andaccurate than any other historian. His work exists only in manuscript, butis well known to historians, who have made frequent use of it. Nothing canbe more simple and artless than the account which the honest curate givesof his being first moved to undertake his chronicle. "I who wrote thesechapters of memoirs, " he says, "being for twelve years in the habit ofreading a register of my deceased grandfather, who was notary public ofthe town of Fuentes, where I was born, I found therein several chaptersrecording certain events and achievements which had taken place in histime; and my grandmother his widow, who was very old, hearing me readthem, said to me, 'And thou, my son, since thou art not slothful inwriting, why dost thou not write, in this manner, the good things whichare happening at present in thy own day, that those who come hereafter mayknow them, and marvelling at what they read, may render thanks to God?'

"From that time, " continues he, "I proposed to do so, and as I consideredthe matter, I said often to myself, ' if God gives me life and health, Iwill continue to write until I behold the kingdom of Granada gained by theChristians;' and I always entertained a hope of seeing it, and did see it:great thanks and praises be given to our Saviour Jesus Christ! And becauseit was impossible to write a complete and connected account of all thingsthat happened in Spain, during the matrimonial union of the king DonFerdinand, and the queen Doña Isabella, I wrote only about certain of themost striking and remarkable events, of which I had correct information, and of those which I saw or which were public and notorious to all men. "[386]

The work of the worthy curate, as may be inferred from the foregoingstatement, is deficient in regularity of plan; the style is artless andoften inelegant, but it abounds in facts not to be met with elsewhere, often given in a very graphical manner, and strongly characteristic of thetimes. As he was contemporary with the events and familiar with many ofthe persons of his history, and as he was a man of probity and void of allpretension, his manuscript is a document of high authenticity. He was muchrespected in the limited sphere in which he moved, "yet, " says one of hisadmirers, who wrote a short preface to his chronicle, "he had no otherreward than that of the curacy of Los Palacios, and the place of chaplainto the archbishop Don Diego Deza. "

In the possession of O. Rich, Esq. , of Madrid, is a very curiousmanuscript chronicle of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, alreadyquoted in this work, made up from this history of the curate of LosPalacios, and from various other historians of the times, by somecontemporary writer. In his account of the voyage of Columbus, he differsin some trivial particulars from the regular copy of the manuscript of thecurate. These variations have been carefully examined by the author ofthis work, and wherever they appear to be for the better, have beenadopted. 

No. XXXII. 

"Navigatione del Re de Castiglia delle Isole e Paese NuovamenteRitrovate. "

"Naviagatio Chrisophori Colombi. "

The above are the titles, in Italian and in Latin, of the earliestnarratives of the first and second voyages of Columbus that appeared inprint. It was anonymous; and there are some curious particulars in regardto it. It was originally written in Italian by Montalbodo Fracanzo, orFracanzano, or by Francapano de Montabaldo, (for writers differ in regardto the name, ) and was published in Vicenza, in 1507, in a collection ofvoyages, entitled "Mondo Novo, e Paese Nuovamente Ritrovate. " Thecollection was republished at Milan, in 1508, both in Italian, and in aLatin translation made by Archangelo Madrignano, under the title of"Itinerarium Portugallensium;" this title being given, because the workrelated chiefly to the voyages of Luigi Cadamosto, a Venetian in theservice of Portugal. 

The collection was afterwards augmented by Simon Grinæns with othertravels, and printed in Latin at Basle, in 1533, [387] by Hervagio, entitled "Novus Orbis Regionum, " &c. The edition of Basle, 1555, and theItalian edition of Milan, in 1508, have been consulted in the course ofthis work. 

Peter Martyr (Decad. 2, Cap. 7, ) alludes to this publication, under thefirst Latin title of the book, "Itinerarium Portugallensium, " and accusesthe author, whom by mistake he terms Cadamosto, of having stolen thematerials of his book from the three first chapters of his first Decade ofthe Ocean, of which, he says, he granted copies in manuscript to severalpersons, and in particular to certain Venetian ambassadors. Martyr'sDecades were not published until 1516, excepting the first three, whichwere published in 1511, at Seville. 

This narrative of the voyages of Columbus is referred to by Gio. BatistaSpotorno, in his historical memoir of Columbus, as having been written bya companion of Columbus. 

It is manifest, from a perusal of the narrative, that though the authormay have helped himself freely from the manuscript of Martyr, he must havehad other sources of information. His description of the person ofColumbus as a man tall of stature and large of frame, of a ruddycomplexion and oblong visage, is not copied from Martyr, nor from anyother writer. No historian had, indeed, preceded him, except Sabellicus, in 1504; and the portrait agrees with that subsequently given of Columbusin the biography written by his son. 

It is probable that this narrative, which appeared only a year after thedeath of Columbus, was a piece of literary job-work, written, for thecollection of voyages published at Vicenza; and that the materials weretaken from oral communication, from the account given by Sabellicus, andparticularly from the manuscript copy of Martyr's first decade. 

No. XXXIII. 

Antonio de Herrera. 

Antonio Herrera de Tordesillas, one of the authors most frequently citedin this work, was born in 1565, of Roderick Tordesillas, and Agnes deHerrera, his wife. He received an excellent education, and entered intothe employ of Vespasian Gonzago, brother to the duke of Mantua, who wasviceroy of Naples for Philip the Second of Spain. He was for some timesecretary to this statesman, and intrusted with all his secrets. He wasafterwards grand historiographer of the Indies to Philip II, who added tothat title a large pension. He wrote various books, but the mostcelebrated is a General History of the Indies, or American Colonies, infour volumes, containing eight decades. When he undertook this work, allthe public archives were thrown open to him, and he had access todocuments of all kinds. He has been charged with great precipitation inthe production of his two first volumes, and with negligence in not makingsufficient use of the indisputable sources of information thus placedwithin his reach. The fact was, that he met with historical tracts lyingin manuscript, which embraced a great part of the first discoveries, andhe contented himself with stating events as he found them thereinrecorded. It is certain that a great part of his work is little more thana transcript of the manuscript history of the Indies by Las Casas, sometimes reducing and improving the language when tumid; omitting theimpassioned sallies of the zealous father, when the wrongs of the Indianswere in question; and suppressing various circumstances degrading to thecharacter of the Spanish discoverers. The author of the present work has, therefore, frequently put aside the history of Herrera, and consulted thesource of his information, the manuscript history of Las Casas. 

Munoz observes, that "in general Herrera did little more than jointogether morsels and extracts, taken from various parts, in the way that awriter arranges chronologically the materials from which he intends tocompose a history;" he adds, that "had not Herrera been a learned andjudicious man, the precipitation with which he put together thesematerials would have led to innumerable errors. " The remark is just; yetit is to be considered, that to select and arrange such materialsjudiciously, and treat them learnedly, was no trifling merit in thehistorian. 

Herrera has been accused also of flattering his nation; exalting the deedsof his countrymen, and softening and concealing their excesses. There isnothing very serious in this accusation. To illustrate the glory of hisnation is one of the noblest offices of the historian; and it is difficultto speak too highly of the extraordinary enterprises and splendid actionsof the Spaniards in those days. In softening their excesses he fell intoan amiable and pardonable error, if it were indeed an error for a Spanishwriter to endeavor to sink them in oblivion. 

Vossius passes a high eulogium on Herrera. "No one, " he says, "hasdescribed with greater industry and fidelity the magnitude and boundariesof provinces, the tracts of sea, positions of capes and islands, of portsand harbors, the windings of rivers and dimensions of lakes; the situationand peculiarities of regions, with the appearance of the heavens, and thedesignation of places suitable for the establishment of cities. " He hasbeen called among the Spaniards the prince of the historians of America, and it is added that none have risen since his time capable of disputingwith him that title. Much of this praise will appear exaggerated by suchas examine the manuscript histories from which he transferred chaptersand entire books, with very little alteration, to his volumes; and a greatpart of the eulogiums passed on him for his work on the Indies, will befound really due to Las Casas, who has too long been eclipsed by hiscopyist. Still Herrera has left voluminous proofs of industrious research, extensive information, and great literary talent. His works bear the markof candor, integrity, and a sincere desire to record the truth. 

He died in 1625, at sixty years of age, after having obtained from PhilipIV the promise of the first charge of secretary of state that shouldbecome vacant. 

No. XXXIV. 

Bishop Fonseca. 

The singular malevolence displayed by bishop Juan Rodriguez de Fonsecatowards Columbus and his family, and which was one of the secret andprincipal causes of their misfortunes, has been frequently noticed in thecourse of this work. It originated, as has been shown, in some disputebetween the admiral and Fonseca at Seville in 1493, on account of thedelay in fitting out the armament for the second voyage, and in regard tothe number of domestics to form the household of the admiral. Fonsecareceived a letter from the sovereigns, tacitly reproving him, and orderinghim to show all possible attention to the wishes of Columbus, and to seethat he was treated with honor and deference. Fonseca never forgot thisaffront, and, what with him was the same thing, never forgave it. Hisspirit appears to have been of that unhealthy kind which has none of thebalm of forgiveness; and in which a wound, once made, for ever rankles. The hostility thus produced continued with increasing virulence throughoutthe life of Columbus, and at his death was transferred to his son andsuccessor. This persevering animosity has been illustrated in the courseof this work by facts and observations, cited from authors, some of themcontemporary with Fonseca, but who were apparently restrained by motivesof prudence from giving full vent to the indignation which they evidentlyfelt. Even at the present day, a Spanish historian would be cautious ofexpressing his feelings freely on the subject, lest they should prejudicehis work in the eyes of the ecclesiastical censors of the press. In thisway, bishop Fonseca has in a great measure escaped the general odium hisconduct merited. 

This prelate had the chief superintendence of Spanish colonial affairs, both under Ferdinand and Isabella and the emperor Charles V. He was anactive and intrepid, but selfish, overbearing, and perfidious man. Hisadministration bears no marks of enlarged and liberal policy; but is fullof traits of arrogance and meanness. He opposed the benevolent attempts ofLas Casas to ameliorate the condition of the Indians, and to obtain theabolition of repartimientos; treating him with personal haughtiness andasperity. [388] The reason assigned is that Fonseca was enriching himselfby those very abuses, retaining large numbers of the miserable Indians inslavery, to work on his possessions in the colonies. 

To show that his character has not been judged with undue severity, it isexpedient to point out his invidious and persecuting conduct towardsHernando Cortez. The bishop, while ready to foster rambling adventurerswho came forward under his patronage, had never the head or the heart toappreciate the merits of illustrious commanders like Columbus and Cortez. 

At a time when disputes arose between Cortez and Diego Velazquez, governorof Cuba, and the latter sought to arrest the conqueror of Mexico in themidst of his brilliant career, Fonseca, with entire disregard of themerits of the case, took a decided part in favor of Velazquez. Personalinterest was at the bottom of this favor; for a marriage was negotiatingbetween Velazquez and a sister of the bishop. [389] Complaints andmisrepresentations had been sent to Spain by Velazquez of the conduct ofCortez, who was represented as a lawless and unprincipled adventurer, attempting to usurp absolute authority in New Spain. The true services ofCortez had already excited admiration at court, but such was the influenceof Fonseca, that, as in the case of Columbus, he succeeded in prejudicingthe mind of the sovereign against one of the most meritorious of hissubjects. One Christoval de Tapia, a man destitute of talent or character, but whose greatest recommendation was his having been in the employ ofthe bishop, [390] was invested with powers similar to those once given toBobadilla to the prejudice of Columbus. He was to inquire into the conductof Cortez, and in case he thought fit, to seize him, sequestrate hisproperty, and supersede him in command. Not content with the regularofficial letters furnished to Tapia, the bishop, shortly after hisdeparture, sent out Juan Bono de Quexo with blank letters signed by hisown hand, and with others directed to various persons, charging them toadmit Tapia for governor, and assuring them that the king considered theconduct of Cortez as disloyal. Nothing but the sagacity and firmness ofCortez prevented this measure from completely interrupting, if notdefeating, his enterprises; and he afterwards declared, that he hadexperienced more trouble and difficulty from the menaces and affronts ofthe ministers of the king than it cost him to conquer Mexico. [391]

When the dispute between Cortez and Velazquez came to be decided upon inSpain, in 1522, the father of Cortez, and those who had come from NewSpain as his procurators, obtained permission from cardinal Adrian, atthat time governor of the realm, to prosecute a public accusation of thebishop. A regular investigation took place before the council of theIndies of their allegations against its president. They charged him withhaving publicly declared Cortez a traitor and a rebel: with havingintercepted and suppressed his letters addressed to the king, keeping hismajesty in ignorance of their contents and of the important services hehad performed, while he diligently forwarded all letters calculated topromote the interest of Velazquez: with having prevented therepresentations of Cortez from being heard in the council of the Indies, declaring that they should never be heard there while he lived: withhaving interdicted the forwarding of arms, merchandise, and reinforcementsto New Spain: and with having issued orders to the office of the IndiaHouse at Seville to arrest the procurators of Cortez and all personsarriving from him, and to seize and detain all gold that they shouldbring. These and various other charges of similar nature weredispassionately investigated. Enough were substantiated to convict Fonsecaof the most partial, oppressive, and perfidious conduct, and the cardinalconsequently forbade him to interfere in the cause between Cortez andVelazquez, and revoked all the orders which the bishop had issued, in thematter, to the India House of Seville. Indeed, Salazar, a Spanishhistorian, says that Fonseca was totally divested of his authority aspresident of the council, and of all control of the affiairs of New Spain, and adds that he was so mortified at the blow, that it brought on a fit ofillness, which well nigh cost him his life. [392]

The suit between Cortez and Velazquez was referred to a special tribunal, composed of the grand chancellor and other persons of note, and wasdecided in 1522. The influence and intrigues of Fonseca being no longer ofavail, a triumphant verdict was given in favor of Cortez, which wasafterwards confirmed by the emperor Charles V, and additional honorsawarded him. This was another blow to the malignant Fonseca, who retainedhis enmity against Cortez until his last moment, rendered still morerancorous by mortification and disappointment. 

A charge against Fonseca, of a still darker nature than any of thepreceding, may be found lurking in the pages of Herrera, though so obscureas to have escaped the notice of succeeding historians. He points to thebishop as the instigator of a desperate and perfidious man, who conspiredagainst the life of Hernando Cortez. This was one Antonio de Villafana, who fomented a conspiracy to assassinate Cortez, and elect FranciscoVerdujo, brother-in-law of Velazquez, in his place. While the conspiratorswere waiting for an opportunity to poniard Cortez, one of them relenting, apprised him of his danger. Villafana was arrested. He attempted toswallow a paper containing a list of the conspirators, but being seized bythe throat, a part of it was forced from his mouth containing fourteennames of persons of importance, Villafafia confessed his guilt, buttortures could not make him inculpate the persons whose names were on thelist, who he declared were ignorant of the plot. He was hanged by order ofCortez. [393]

In the investigation of the disputes between Cortez and Velazquez, thisexecution of Villafana was magnified into a cruel and wanton act of power;and in their eagerness to criminate Cortez the witnesses on the part ofAlvarez declared that Villafana had been instigated to what he had done byletters from bishop Fonseca! (Que se movió a lo que hizo con cartas delobispo de Burgos. [394]) It is not probable that Fonseca had recommendedassassination, but it shows the character of his agents, and what musthave been the malignant nature of his instructions, when these men thoughtthat such an act would accomplish his wishes. 

Fonseca died at Burgos, on the 4th of November, 1524, and was interred atCoca. 

No. XXXV. 

Of the Situation of the Terrestrial Paradise. 

The speculations of Columbus on the situation of the terrestrialparadise, extravagant as they may appear, were such as have occupied manygrave and learned men. A slight notice of their opinions on this curioussubject may be acceptable to the general reader, and may take from theapparent wildness of the ideas expressed by Columbus. 

The abode of our first parents was anciently the subject of anxiousinquiry; and indeed mankind have always been prone to picture some placeof perfect felicity, where the imagination, disappointed in the coarserealities of life, might revel in an Elysium of its own creation. It is anidea not confined to our religion, but is found in the rude creeds of themost savage nations, and it prevailed generally among the ancients. Thespeculations concerning the situation of the garden of Eden resemble thoseof the Greeks concerning the garden of the Hesperides; that region ofdelight, which they for ever placed at the most remote verge of the knownworld; which their poets embellished with all the charms of fiction; afterwhich they were continually longing, and which they could never find. Atone time it was in the Grand Oasis of Arabia. The exhausted travelers, after traversing the parched and sultry desert, hailed this verdant spotwith rapture; they refreshed themselves under its shady bowers, and besideits cooling streams, as the crew of a tempest-tost vessel repose on theshores of some green island in the deep; and from its being thus isolatedin the midst of an ocean of sand, they gave it the name of the Island ofthe Blessed. As geographical knowledge increased, the situation of theHesperian gardens was continually removed to a greater distance. It wastransferred to the borders of the great Syrtis, in the neighborhood ofMount Atlas. Here, after traversing the frightful deserts of Barca, thetraveler found himself in a fair and fertile country, watered by rivuletsand gushing fountains. The oranges and citrons transported hence toGreece, where they were as yet unknown, delighted the Athenians by theirgolden beauty and delicious flavor, and they thought that none but thegarden of the Hesperides could produce such glorious fruits. In this waythe happy region of the ancients was transported from place to place, still in the remote and obscure extremity of the world, until it wasfabled to exist in the Canaries, thence called the Fortunate or theHesperian islands. Here it remained, because discovery advanced nofarther, and because these islands were so distant, and so little known, as to allow full latitude to the fictions of the poet. [395]

In like manner the situation of the terrestrial paradise, or garden ofEden, was long a subject of earnest inquiry and curious disputation, andoccupied the laborious attention of the most learned theologians. Someplaced it in Palestine or the Holy Land; others in Mesopotamia, in thatrich and beautiful tract of country embraced by the wanderings of theTigris and the Euphrates; others in Armenia, in a valley surrounded byprecipitous and inaccessible mountains, and imagined that Enoch and Elijahwere transported thither, out of the sight of mortals, to live in a stateof terrestrial bliss until the second coming of our Saviour. There wereothers who gave it situations widely remote, such as in the Trapoban ofthe ancients, at present known as the island of Ceylon; or in the islandof Sumatra; or in the Fortunate or Canary islands; or in one of theislands of Sunda; or in some favored spot under the equinoctial line. 

Great difficulty was encountered by these speculators to reconcile theallotted place with the description given in Genesis of the garden ofEden; particularly of the great fountain which watered it, and whichafterwards divided itself into four rivers, the Pison or Phison, theGihon, the Euphrates, and the Hiddekel. Those who were in favor of theHoly Land supposed that the Jordan was the great river which afterwardsdivided itself into the Phison, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates, but that thesands have choked up the ancient beds by which these streams weresupplied; that originally the Phison traversed Arabia Deserta and ArabiaFelix, whence it pursued its course to the gulf of Persia; that the Gihonbathed northern or stony Arabia and fell into the Arabian Gulf or the RedSea; that the Euphrates and the Tigris passed by Eden to Assyria andChaldea, whence they discharged themselves into the Persian Gulf. 

By most of the early commentators the river Gihon is supposed to be theNile. The source of this river was unknown, but was evidently far distantfrom the spots whence the Tigris and the Euphrates arose. This difficulty, however, was ingeniously overcome by giving it a subterranean course ofsome hundreds of leagues from the common fountain, until it issued forthto daylight in Abyssinia. [396] In like manner, subterranean courses weregiven to the Tigris and the Euphrates, passing under the Bed Sea, untilthey sprang forth in Armenia, as if just issuing from one common source. So also those who placed the terrestrial paradise in islands, supposedthat the rivers which issued from it, and formed those heretofore named, either traversed the surface of the sea, as fresh water, by its greaterlightness, may float above the salt; or that they flowed through deepveins and channels of the earth, as the fountain of Arethusa was said tosink into the ground in Greece, and rise in the island of Sicily, whilethe river Alpheus pursuing it, but with less perseverance, rose somewhatshort of it in the sea. 

Some contended that the deluge had destroyed the garden of Eden, andaltered the whole face of the earth; so that the rivers had changed theirbeds, and had taken different directions from those mentioned in Genesis;others, however, amongst whom was St. Augustine, in his commentary uponthe book of Genesis, maintained that the terrestrial paradise stillexisted, with its original beauty and delights, but that it wasinaccessible to mortals, being on the summit of a mountain of stupendousheight, reaching into the third region of the air, and approaching themoon; being thus protected by its elevation from the ravages of thedeluge. 

By some this mountain was placed under the equinoctial line; or under thatband of the heavens metaphorically called by the ancients "the table ofthe sun, " [397] comprising the space between the tropics of Cancer andCapricorn, beyond which the sun never passed in his annual course. Herewould reign a uniformity of nights and days and seasons, and the elevationof the mountain would raise it above the heats and storms of the lowerregions. Others transported the garden beyond the equinoctial line andplaced it in the southern hemisphere; supposing that the torrid zone mightbe the flaming sword appointed to defend its entrance against mortals. They had a fanciful train of argument to support their theory. Theyobserved that the terrestrial paradise must be in the noblest and happiestpart of the globe; that part must be under the noblest part of theheavens; as the merits of a place do not so much depend upon the virtuesof the earth, as upon the happy influences of the stars and the favorableand benign aspect of the heavens. Now, according to philosophers, theworld was divided into two hemispheres. The southern they considered thehead, and the northern the feet, or under part; the right hand the east, whence commenced the movement of the primum mobile, and the left the west, towards which it moved. This supposed, they observed that as it wasmanifest that the head of all things, natural and artificial, is alwaysthe best and noblest part, governing the other parts of the body, so thesouth, being the head of the earth, ought to be superior and nobler thaneither east, or west, or north; and in accordance with this, they citedthe opinion of various philosophers among the ancients, and moreespecially that of Ptolemy, that the stars of the southern hemisphere werelarger, more resplendent, more perfect, and of course of greater virtueand efficacy, than those of the northern: an error universally prevalentuntil disproved by modern discovery. Hence they concluded that in thissouthern hemisphere, in this head of the earth, under this purer andbrighter sky, and these more potent and benignant stars, was placed theterrestrial paradise. 

Various ideas were entertained as to the magnitude of this blissfulregion. As Adam and all his progeny were to have lived there, had he notsinned, and as there would have been no such thing as death to thin thenumber of mankind, it was inferred that the terrestrial paradise must beof great extent to contain them. Some gave it a size equal to Europe orAfrica; others gave it the whole southern hemisphere. St. Augustinesupposed that as mankind multiplied, numbers would be translated withoutdeath to heaven; the parents, perhaps, when their children had arrived atmature age; or portions of the human race at the end of certain periods, and when the population of the terrestrial paradise had attained a certainamount. [398] Others supposed that mankind, remaining in a state ofprimitive innocence, would not have required so much space as at present. Having no need of rearing animals for subsistence, no land would havebeen required for pasturage; and the earth not being cursed withsterility, there would have been no need of extensive tracts of countryto permit of fallow land and the alternation of crops required inhusbandry. The spontaneous and never-failing fruits of the garden wouldhave been abundant for the simple wants of man. Still, that the humanrace might not be crowded, but might have ample space for recreation andenjoyment, and the charms of variety and change, some allowed at least ahundred leagues of circumference to the garden. 

St. Basilius, in his eloquent discourse on paradise, [399] expatiates withrapture on the joys of this sacred abode, elevated to the third region ofthe air, and under the happiest skies. There a pure and never-failingpleasure is furnished to every sense. The eye delights in the admirableclearness of the atmosphere, in the verdure and beauty of the trees, andthe never-withering bloom of the flowers. The ear is regaled with thesinging of the birds, the smell with the aromatic odors of the land. Inlike manner the other senses have each their peculiar enjoyments. Therethe vicissitudes of the seasons are unknown and the climate unites thefruitfulness of summer, the joyful abundance of autumn, and the sweetfreshness and quietude of spring. There the earth is always green, theflowers are ever blooming, the waters limpid and delicate, not rushing inrude and turbid torrents, but swelling up in crystal fountains, andwinding in peaceful and silver streams. There no harsh and boisterouswinds are permitted to shake and disturb the air, and ravage the beauty ofthe groves; there prevails no melancholy, nor darksome weather, nodrowning rain, nor pelting hail; no forked lightning, nor rending andresounding thunder; no wintry pinching cold, nor withering and pantingsummer heat; nor any thing else that can give pain or sorrow or annoyance;but all is bland and gentle and serene; a perpetual youth and joy reignsthroughout all nature, and nothing decays and dies. 

The same idea is given by St. Ambrosius, in his book on Paradise, [400] anauthor likewise consulted and cited by Columbus. He wrote in the fourthcentury, and his touching eloquence, and graceful yet vigorous style, insured great popularity to his writings. Many of these opinions are citedby Glanville. Usually called Bartholomeus Anglicus, in his work DeProprietatibus Rerum; a work with which Columbus was evidently acquainted. It was a species of encyclopedia of the general knowledge current at thetime, and was likely to recommend itself to a curious and inquiringvoyager. This author cites an assertion as made by St. Basilius and St. Ambrosius, that the water of the fountain which proceeds from the gardenof Eden falls into a great lake with such a tremendous noise that theinhabitants of the neighborhood are born deaf; and that from this lakeproceed the four chief rivers mentioned in Genesis. [401]

This passage, however, is not to be found in the Hexameron of eitherBasilius or Ambrositis, from which it is quoted; neither is it in theoration on Paradise by the former, nor in the letter on the same subjectwritten by Ambrosius to Ainbrosins Sabinus. It must be a misquotation byGlanville. Columbus, however, appears to have been struck with it, and LasCasas is of opinion that he derived thence his idea that the vast body offresh water which filled the gulf of La Ballena or Paria, flowed from thefountain of Paradise, though from a remote distance; and that in thisgulf, which he supposed in the extreme part of Asia, originated the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Ganges, which might be conducted underthe land and sea by subterranean channels, to the places where they springforth on the earth and assume their proper names. 

I forbear to enter into various other of the voluminous speculations whichhave been formed relative to the terrestrial paradise, and perhaps it maybe thought that I have already said too much on so fanciful a subject; butto illustrate clearly the character of Columbus, it is necessary toelucidate those veins of thought passing through his mind whileconsidering the singular phenomena of the unknown regions he wasexploring, and which are often but slightly and vaguely developed in hisjournals and letters. These speculations, likewise, like those concerningfancied islands in the ocean, carry us back to the time, and make us feelthe mystery and conjectural charm which reigned over the greatest part ofthe world, and have since been completely dispelled by modern discovery. Enough has been cited to show, that, in his observations concerning theterrestrial paradise, Columbus was not indulging in any fanciful andpresumptuous chimeras, the offspring of a heated and disordered brain. However visionary his conjectures may seem, they were all grounded onwritten opinions held little less than oracular in his day; and they willbe found on examination to be far exceeded by the speculations andtheories of sages held illustrious for their wisdom and erudition in theschool and cloister. 

No. XXXVI. 

Will of Columbus. 

In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, who inspired me with the idea, andafterwards made it perfectly clear to me, that I could navigate and go tothe Indies from Spain, by traversing the ocean westwardly; which Icommunicated to the king, Don Ferdinand, and to the queen Doña Isabella, our sovereigns; and they were pleased to furnish me the necessaryequipment of men and ships, and to make me their admiral over the saidocean, in all parts lying to the west of an imaginary line, drawn frompole to pole, a hundred leagues west of the Cape de Verd and Azoreislands; also appointing me their viceroy and governor over all continentsand islands that I might discover beyond the said line westwardly; withthe right of being succeeded in the said offices by my eldest son and hisheirs for ever; and a grant of the tenth part of all things found in thesaid jurisdiction; and of all rents and revenues arising from it; and theeighth of all the lands and every thing else, together with the salarycorresponding to my rank of admiral, viceroy, and governor, and all otheremoluments accruing thereto, as is more fully expressed in the title andagreement sanctioned by their highnesses. 

And it pleased the Lord Almighty, that in the year one thousand fourhundred and ninety-two, I should discover the continent of the Indies andmany islands, among them Hispaniola, which the Indians called Ayte, andthe Monicongos, Cipango. I then returned to Castile to their highnesses, who approved of my undertaking a second enterprise for farther discoveriesand settlements; and the Lord gave me victory over the island ofHispaniola, which extends six hundred leagues, and I conquered it and madeit tributary; and I discovered many islands inhabited by cannibals, andseven hundred to the west of Hispaniola, among which is Jamaica, which wecall Santiago; and three hundred and thirty-three leagues of continentfrom south to west, besides a hundred and seven to the north, which Idiscovered in my first voyage, together with many islands, as may moreclearly be seen by my letters, memorials, and maritime charts. And as wehope in God that before long a good and great revenue will be derived fromthe above islands and continent, of which, for the reasons aforesaid, belong to me the tenth and the eighth, with the salaries and emolumentsspecified above; and considering that we are mortal, and that it is properfor every one to settle his affairs, and to leave declared to his heirsand successors the property he possesses or may have a right to: WhereforeI have concluded to create an entailed estate (mayorazgo) out of the saideighth of the lands, places, and revenues, in the manner which I nowproceed to state. 

In the first place, I am to be succeeded by Don Diego, my son, who in caseof death without children is to be succeeded by my other son Ferdinand;and should God dispose of him also without leaving children, and withoutmy having any other son, then my brother Don Bartholomew is to succeed;and after him his eldest son; and if God should dispose of him withoutheirs, he shall be succeeded by his sons from one to another for ever; or, in the failure of a son, to be succeeded by Don Ferdinand, after the samemanner, from son to son successively; or in their place by my brothersBartholomew and Diego. And should it please the Lord that the estate, after having continued for some time in the line of any of the abovesuccessors, should stand in need of an immediate and lawful male heir, thesuccession shall then devolve to the nearest relation, being a man oflegitimate birth, and bearing the name of Columbus derived from his fatherand his ancestors. This entailed estate shall in nowise be inherited by awoman, except in case that no male is to be found, either in this or anyother quarter of the world, of my real lineage, whose name, as well asthat of his ancestors, shall have always been Columbus. In such an event(which may God forefend), then the female of legitimate birth, most nearlyrelated to the preceding possessor of the estate, shall succeed to it; andthis is to be under the conditions herein stipulated at foot, which mustbe understood to extend as well to Don Diego, my son, as to the aforesaidand their heirs, every one of them, to be fulfilled by them; and failingto do so, they are to be deprived of the succession, for not havingcomplied with what shall herein be expressed; and the estate to pass tothe person most nearly related to the one who held the right: and theperson thus succeeding shall in like manner forfeit the estate, should healso fail to comply with said conditions; and another person, the nearestof my lineage, shall succeed, provided he abide by them, so that they maybe observed for ever in the form prescribed. This forfeiture is not to beincurred for trifling matters, originating in lawsuits, but in importantcases, when the glory of God, or my own, or that of my family, may beconcerned, which supposes a perfect fulfillment of all the things herebyordained; all which I recommend to the courts of justice. And I supplicatehis Holiness, who now is, and those that may succeed in the holy church, that if it should happen that this my will and testament has need of hisholy order and command for its fulfillment, that such order be issued invirtue of obedience, and under penalty of excommunication, and that itshall not be in any wise disfigured. And I also pray the king and queen, our sovereigns, and their eldest-born, Prince Don Juan, our lord, andtheir successors, for the sake of the services I have done them, andbecause it is just, that it may please them not to permit this my will andconstitution of my entailed estate to be any way altered, but to leave itin the form and manner which I have ordained, for ever, for the greaterglory of the Almighty, and that it may be the root and basis of mylineage, and a memento of the services I have rendered their highnesses;that, being born in Genoa, I came over to serve them in Castile, anddiscovered to the west of Terra Firma, the Indies and islands beforementioned. I accordingly pray their highnesses to order that this myprivilege and testament be held valid, avid be executed summarily andwithout any opposition or demur, according to the letter. I also pray thegrandees of the realm and the lords of the council, and all others havingadministration of justice, to be pleased not to suffer this my will andtestament to be of no avail, but to cause it to be fulfilled as by meordained; it being just that a noble, who has served the king and queen, and the kingdom, should be respected in the disposition of his estate bywill, testament, institution of entail, or inheritance, and that the samebe not infringed either in whole or in part. 

In the first place, my son Don Diego, and all my successors anddescendants, as well as ihy brothers Bartholomew and Diego, shall bear myarms, such as I shall leave them after my days, without inserting anything else in them; and they shall he their seal to seal withal. Don Diegomy son, or any other who may inherit this estate, on coming intopossession of the inheritance, shall sign with the signature which I nowmake vise of, which is an X with an S over it, and an M with a Roman Aover it, and over that an S, and then a Greek Y, with an S over it, withits lines and points as is my custom, as may be seen by my signatures, ofwhich there are many, and it will be seen by the present one. 

He shall only write "the Admiral, " whatever other titles the king may haveconferred on him. This is to be understood as respects his signature, butnot the enumeration of his titles, which he can make at full length ifagreeable, only the signature is to be "the Admiral. "

The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor of this estate, shall possessmy offices of admiral of the ocean, which is to the west of an imaginaryline, which his highness ordered to be drawn, running from pole to pole ahundred leagues beyond the Azores, and as many more beyond the Cape deVerd islands, over all which I was made, by their order, their admiral ofthe sea, with all the preeminences held by Don Henrique in the admiraltyof Castile, and they made me their governor and viceroy perpetually andfor ever, over all the islands and main-land discovered, or to bediscovered, for myself and heirs, as is more fully shown by my treaty andprivilege as above mentioned. 

Item: The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor of this estate, shalldistribute the revenue which it may please our Lord to grant him, in thefollowing manner, under the above penalty:

First--Of the whole income of this estate, now and at all times, and ofwhatever may be had or collected from it, he shall give the fourth partannually to my brother Don Bartholomew Columbus, Adelantado of the Indies;and this is to continue till he shall have acquired an income of a millionof maravadises, for his support, and for the services he has rendered andwill continue to render to this entailed estate; which million he is toreceive, as stated, every year, if the said fourth amount to so much, andthat he have nothing elae; but if he possess a part or the whole of thatamount in rents, that thenceforth he shall not enjoy the said million, norany part of it, except that he shall have in the said fourth part unto thesaid quantity of a million, if it should amount to so much; and as much ashe shall have of revenue beside this fourth part, whatever sum ofmaravadises of known rent from property, or perpetual offices, the saidquantity of rent or revenue from property or offices shall be discounted;and from the said million shall be reserved whatever marriage portion hemay receive with any female he may espouse; so that whatever he mayreceive in marriage with his wife, no deduction shall be made on thataccount from said million, but only for whatever he may acquire, or mayhave, over and above his wife's dowry, and when it shall please God thathe or his heirs and descendants shall derive from their property andoffices a revenue of a million arising from rents, neither he nor hisheirs shall enjoy any longer any thing from the said fourth part of theentailed estate, which shall remain with Don Diego, or whoever may inheritit. Item: From the revenues of the said estate, or from any other fourthpart of it, (should its amount be adequate to it, ) shall be paid everyyear to my son Ferdinand two millions, till such time as his revenue shallamount to two millions, in the same form and manner as in the case ofBartholomew, who, as well as his heirs, are to have the million or thepart that may be wanting. 

Item: The said Don Diego or Don Bartholomew shall make, out of the saidestate, for my brother Diego, such provision as may enable him to livedecently, as he is my brother, to whom I assign no particular sum, as hehas attached himself to the church, and that will he given him which isright: and this to be given him in a mass, and before any thing shallhave' been received by Ferdinand my son, or Bartholomew my brother, ortheir heirs, and also according to the amount of the income of the estate. And in case of discord, the case is to be referred to two of ourrelations, or other men of honor; and should they disagree amongthemselves, they will choose a third person as arbitrator, being virtuousand not distrusted by either party. 

Item: All this revenue which I bequeath to Bartholomew, to Ferdinand, andto Diego, shall be delivered to and received by them as prescribed underthe obligation of being faithful and loyal to Diego my son, or his heirs, they as well as their children: and should it appear that they, or any ofthem, had proceeded against him in any thing touching his honor, or theprosperity of the family, or of the estate, either in word or deed, whereby might come a scandal and debasement to my family, and a detrimentto my estate; in that ease, nothing farther shall be given to them or him, from that time forward, inasmuch as they are always to be faithful toDiego and to his successors. 

Item: As it was my intention, when I first instituted this entailedestate, to dispose, or that my son Diego should dispose for me, of thetenth part of the income in favor of necessitous persona, as a tithe, andin commemoration of the Almighty and Eternal God; and persisting still inthis opinion, and hoping that his High Majesty will assist me and thosewho may inherit it, in this or the New World, I have resolved that thesaid tithe shall be paid in the manner following:

First--It is to be understood that the fourth part of the revenue of theestate which I have ordained and directed to be given to Don Bartholomew, till he have an income of one million, includes the tenth of the wholerevenue of the estate; and that as in proportion as the income of mybrother Don Bartholomew shall increase, as it has to be discounted fromthe revenue of the fourth part of the entailed estate, that the saidrevenue shall be calculated, to know how much the tenth part amounts to;and the part which exceeds what is necessary to make up the million forDon Bartholomew shall be received by such of my family as may most standin need of it, discounting it from said tenth, if their income do notamount to fifty thousand maravadises; and should any of these come to havean income to this amount, such a part shall be awarded them as twopersons, chosen for the purpose, may determine along with Don Diego, orhis heirs. Thus, it is to be understood that the million which I leave toDon Bartholomew comprehends the tenth of the whole revenue of the estate;which revenue is to be distributed among my nearest and most needyrelations in the manner I have directed; and when Don Bartholomew have anincome of one million, and that nothing more shall be due to him onaccount of said fourth part, then Don Diego my sou, or the person who maybe in possession of the estate, along with the two other persons which Ishall herein point out, shall inspect the accounts, and so direct, thatthe tenth of the revenue shall still continue to be paid to the mostnecessitous members of my family that may be found in this or any otherquarter of the world, who shall be diligently sought out; and they are tobe paid out of the fourth part from which Don Bartholomew is to derive hismillion; which sums are to be taken into account, and deducted from thesaid tenth, which, should it amount to more, the overplus, as it arisesfrom the fourth part, shall be given to the most necessitous persons asaforesaid; and should it not be sufficient, that Don Bartholomew shallhave it until his own estate goes on increasing, leaving the said millionin part or in the whole. 

Item: The said Don Diego my son, or whoever may be the inheritor, shallappoint two persons of conscience and authority, and most nearly relatedto the family, who are to examine the revenue and its amount carefully, and to cause the said tenth to be paid out of the fourth from which DonBartholomew is to receive his million, to the most necessitated members ofmy family that may be found here or elsewhere, whom they shall look fordiligently upon their consciences; and as it might happen that said DonDiego, or others after him, for reasons which may concern their ownwelfare, or the credit and support of the estate, may be unwilling to makeknown the full amount of the income; nevertheless, I charge him, on hisconscience, to pay the sum aforesaid; and I charge them, on their soulsand consciences, not to denounce or make it known, except with the consentof Don Diego, or the person that may succeed him; but let the above tithebe paid in the manner I have directed. 

Item: In order to avoid all disputes in the choice of the two nearestrelations who are to act with Don Diego or his heirs, I hereby elect DonBartholomew my brother for one, and Don Fernando my son for the other; andwhen these two shall enter upon the business, they shall choose two otherpersons among the most trusty, and most nearly related, and these againshall elect two others when it shall be question of commencing theexamination; and thus it shall be managed with diligence from one to theother, as well in this as in the other of government, for the service andglory of God, and the benefit of the said entailed estate. 

Item: I also enjoin Diego, or any one that may inherit the estate, to haveand maintain in the city of Genoa one person of our lineage, to residethere with his wife, and appoint him a sufficient revenue to enable him tolive decently, as a person closely connected with the family, of which heis to be the root and basis in that city; from winch great good may accrueto him, inasmuch as i was born there, and came from thence. 

Item: The said Don Diego, or whoever shall inherit the estate, must remitin bills, or in any other way, all such sums as he may be able to save outof the revenue of the estate, and direct purchases to be made in his name, or that of his heirs, in a stock in the Bank of St. George, which gives aninterest of six per cent, and in secure money; and this shall be devotedto the purpose I am about to explain. 

Item: As it becomes every man of property to serve God, either personallyor by means of his wealth, and as all moneys deposited with St. George arequite safe, and Genoa is a noble cily, and powerful by sea, and as at thetime that I undertook to set out upon the discovery of the Indies, it waswith the intention of supplicating the king and queen, our lords, thatwhatever moneys should be derived from the said Indies, should be investedin the conquest of Jerusalem; and as I did so supplicate them; if they dothis, it will be well; if not, at all events, the said Diego, or suchperson as may succeed him in this trust, to collect together all the moneyhe can, and accompany the king our lord, should he go to the conquest ofJerusalem, or else go there himself with all the force he can command; andin pursuing this intention, it will please the Lord to assist towards theaccomplishment of the plan; and should he not be able to effect theconquest of the whole, no doubt he will achieve it in part. Let himtherefore collect and make a fund of all his wealth in St. George ofGenoa, and let it multiply there till such time as it may appear to himthat something of consequence may be effected as respects the project onJerusalem; for I believe that when their highnesses shall see that this iscontemplated, they will wish to realize it themselves, or will afford him, as their servant and vassal, the means of doing it for them. 

Item: I charge my son Diego and my descendants, especially whoever mayinherit this estate, which consists, as aforesaid, of the tenth ofwhatsoever may be had or found in the Indies, and the eighth part of thelands and rents, all which, together with my rights and emoluments asadmiral, viceroy, and governor, amount to more than twenty-five per cent. ;I say, that I require of him to employ all this revenue, as well as hisperson and all the means in his power, in well and faithfully serving andsupporting their highnesses, or their successors, even to the loss of lifeand property; since it was their highnesses, next to God, who first gaveme the means of getting and achieving this property, although, it is true, I came over to these realms to invite them to the enterprise, and that along time elapsed before any provision was made for carrying it intoexecution; which, however, is not surprising, as this was an undertakingof which all the world was ignorant, and no one had any faith in it;wherefore I am by so much the more indebted to them, as well as becausethey have since also much favored and promoted me. 

Item: I also require of Diego, or whomsoever may be in possession of theestate, that in the case of any schism taking place in the church of God, or that any person of whatever class or condition should attempt todespoil it of its property and honors, they hasten to offer at the feet ofhis holiness, that is, if they are not heretics (which God forbid!), theirpersons, power, and wealth, for the purpose of suppressing such schism, and preventing any spoliation of the honor and property of the church. 

Item: I command the said Diego, or whoever may possess the said estate, tolabor and strive for the honor, welfare, and aggrandizement of the city ofGenoa, and to make use of all his power and means in defending andenhancing the good and credit of that republic, in all things not contraryto the service of the church of God, or the high dignity of our king andqueen, our lords, and their successors. 

Item: The said Diego, or whoever may possess or succeed to the estate, outof the fourth part of the whole revenue, from which, as aforesaid, is tobe taken the tenth, when Don Bartholomew or his heirs shall have saved thetwo millions, or part of them, and when the time shall come of making adistribution among our relations, shall apply and invest the said tenth inproviding marriages for such daughters of our lineage as may require it, and in doing all the good in their power. 

Item: When a suitable time shall arrive, he shall order a church to bebuilt in the island of Hispaniola, and in the most convenient spot, to becalled Santa Maria de la Concepcion; to which is to be annexed anhospital, upon the best possible plan, like those of Italy and Castile, and a chapel erected to say mass in for the good of my soul, and those ofmy ancestors and successors, with great devotion, since no doubt it willplease the Lord to give us a sufficient revenue for this and theaforementioned purposes. 

Item: I also order Diego my son, or whomsoever may inherit after him, tospare no pains in having and maintaining in the island of Hispaniola, fourgood professors of theology, to the end and aim of their studying andlaboring to convert to our holy faith the inhabitants of the Indies; andin proportion as, by God's will, the revenue of the estate shall increase, in the same degree shall the number of teachers and devout increase, whoare to strive to make Christians of the natives; in attaining which noexpense should be thought too great. And in commemoration of all that Ihereby ordain, and of the foregoing, a monument of marble shall be erectedin the said church of la Concepcion, in the most conspicuous place, toserve as a record of what I here enjoin on the said Diego, as well as toother persons who may look upon it; which marble shall contain aninscription to the same effect. 

Item: I also require of Diego my son, and whomsover may succeed him in theestate, that every time, and as often as he confesses, he first show thisobligation, or a copy of it, to the confessor, praying him to read itthrough, that he may be enabled to inquire respecting its fulfillment;from which will redound great good and happiness to his soul. 

 S. S. A. S. X. M. Y. EL ALMIRANTE. 

No. XXXVII. 

Signature of Columbus. 

As every thing respecting Columbus is full of interest, his signature hasbeen a matter of some discussion. It partook of the pedantic and bigotedcharacter of the age, and perhaps of the peculiar character of the man, who, considering himself mysteriously elected and set apart from among menfor certain great purposes, adopted a correspondent formality andsolemnity in all his concerns. His signature was as follows:

 S. S. A. S. X. M. Y. EL ALMIRANTE. 

The first half of the signature, XPO, (for CHRISTO, ) is in Greek letters;the second, FERENS, is in Latin. Such was the usage of those days; andeven at present both Greek and Roman letters are used in signatures andinscriptions in Spain. 

The ciphers or initials above the signature are supposed to represent apious ejaculation. To read them one must begin with the lower letters, andconnect them with those above. Signor Gio. Batista Spotorno conjecturesthem to mean either Xristus (Christus) Sancta Maria Yosephus, or, Salveme, Xristus, Maria, Yosephus. The Korth American Review, for April, 1827, suggests the substitution of Jesus for Josephus, but the suggestion ofSpotorno is most probably correct, as a common Spanish ejaculation is"Jesus Maria y José. "

It was an ancient usage in Spain, and it has not entirely gone by, toaccompany the signature with some words of religious purport. One objectof this practice was to show the writer to be a Christian. This was ofsome importance in a country in which Jews and Mahometans were proscribedand persecuted. 

Don Fernando, son to Columbus, says that his father, when he took his penin hand, usually commenced by writing "Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in via;"and the book which the admiral prepared and sent to the sovereigns, containing the prophecies which he considered as referring to hisdiscoveries, and to the rescue of the holy sepulchre, begins with the samewords. This practice is akin to that of placing the initials of piouswords above his signature, and gives great probability to the mode inwhich they have been deciphered. 

No. XXXVIII. 

A Visit to Palos. 

[The following narrative was actually commenced, by the author of thiswork, as a letter to a friend, but unexpectedly swelled to its presentsize. He has been induced to insert it here from the idea, that many willfeel the same curiosity to know something of the present state of Falosand its inhabitants that led him to make the journey. ]

Seville, 1828. 

Since I last wrote to you, I have made what I may term an Americanpilgrimage, to visit the little port of Palos in Andalusia, where Columbusfitted out his ships, and whence he sailed for the discovery of the NewWorld. Need I tell you how deeply interesting and gratifying it has beento me? I had long meditated this excursion, as a kind of pious, and, if Imay so say, filial duty of an American, and my intention was quickenedwhen I learnt that many of the edifices, mentioned in the History ofColumbus, still remained in nearly the same state in which they existed atthe time of his sojourn at Palos, and that the descendants of the intrepidPinzons, who aided him with ships and money, and sailed with him in thegreat voyage of discovery, still flourished in the neighborhood. 

The very evening before my departure from Seville on the excursion, Iheard that there was a young gentleman of the Pinzon family studying lawin the city. I got introduced to him, and found him of most prepossessingappearance and manners. He gave me a letter of introduction to his father, Don Juan Fernandez Pinzon, resident of Moguer, and the present head of thefamily. 

As it was in the middle of August, and the weather intensely hot, I hireda calesa for the journey. This is a two-wheeled carriage, resembling acabriolet, but of the most primitive and rude construction; the harness isprofusely ornamented with brass, and the horse's hend decorated with tuftsand tassels and dangling bobs of scarlet and yellow worsted. I had forcalasero, a tall, long-legged Andalusian, in short jacket, littleround-crowned hat, breeches decorated with buttons from the hip to theknees, and a pair of russet leather bottinas or spatterdashes. He was anactive fellow, though uncommonly taciturn for an Andalusian, and strodealong beside his horse, rousing him occasionally to greater speed by aloud malediction or a hearty thwack of his cudgel. 

In this style, I set off late in the day to avoid the noontide heat, and, after ascending the lofty range of hills which borders the great valley ofthe Guadalquiver, and having a rough ride among their heights, I descendedabout twilight into one of those vast, silent, melancholy plains, frequentin Spain, where I beheld no other signs of life than a roaming flock ofbustards, and a distant herd of cattle, guarded by a solitary herdsman, who, with a long pike planted in the earth, stood motionless in the midstof the dreary landscape, resembling an Arab of the desert. The night hadsomewhat advanced when we stopped to repose for a few hours at a solitaryventa or inn, if it might so be called, being nothing more than a vastlow-roofed stable, divided into several compartments for the reception ofthe troops of mules and arrieros (or carriers) who carry on the internaltrade of Spain. Accommodation for the traveler there was none--not evenfor a traveler so easily accommodated as myself. The landlord had no foodto give me, and as to a bed, he had none but a horse-cloth, on which hisonly child, a boy of eight years old, lay naked on the earthen floor. Indeed the heat of the weather and the fumes from the stables made theinterior of the hovel insupportable; so I was fain to bivouac, on mycloak, on the pavement, at the door of the venta, where, on waking, aftertwo or three hours of sound sleep, I found a contrabandista (or smuggler)snoring beside me, with his blunderbuss on his arm. 

I resumed my journey before break of day, and had made several leagues byten o'clock, when we stopped to breakfast, and to pass the sultry hours ofmid-day in a large village; whence we departed about four o'clock, andafter passing through the same kind of solitary country, arrived justafter sunset at Moguer. This little city (for at present it is a city) issituated about a league from Palos, of which place it has graduallyabsorbed all the respectable inhabitants, and, among the number, the wholefamily of the Pinzons. 

So remote is this little place from the stir and bustle of travel, and sodestitute of the show and vainglory of this world, that my calesa, as itrattled and jingled along the narrow and ill-paved streets, caused a greatsensation; the children shouted and scampered along by its side, admiringits splendid trappings of brass and worsted, and gazing with reverence atthe important stranger who came in so gorgeous an equipage. 

I drove up to the principal posada, the landlord of which was at the door. He was one of the very civilest men in the world, and disposed to do everything in his power to make me comfortable; there was only one difficulty, he had neither bed nor bed-room in his house. In fact it was a mere ventafor muleteers, who are accustomed to sleep on the ground, with theirmule-cloths for beds and pack-saddles for pillows. It was a hard case, butthere was no better posada in the place. Few people travel for pleasure orcuriosity in these out-of-the-way parts of Spain, and those of any noteare generally received into private houses. I had traveled sufficiently inSpain to find out that a bed, after all, is not an article ofindispensable necessity, and was about to bespeak some quiet corner whereI might spread my cloak, when fortunately the landlord's wife came forth. She could not have a more obliging disposition than her husband, but then--God bless the women!--they always know how to carry their good wishesinto effect. In a little while a small room, about ten feet square, whichhad formed a thoroughfare between the stables and a kind of shop orbar-room, was cleared of a variety of lumber, and I was assured that abed should be put up there for me. From the consultations I saw myhostess holding with some of her neighbor gossips, I fancied the bed wasto be a kind of piecemeal contribution among them for the credit of thehouse. 

As soon as I could change my dress, I commenced the historical researcheswhich were the object of my journey, and inquired for the abode of DonJuan Fernandez Pinzon. My obliging landlord himself volunteered to conductme thither, and I set off full of animation at the thoughts of meetingwith the lineal representative of one of the coadjutors of Columbus. 

A short walk brought us to the house, which was most respectable in itsappearance, indicating easy, if not affluent, circumstances. The door, asis customary in Spanish villages during summer, stood wide open. Weentered with the usual salutation or rather summons, "Ave Maria!" A trimAndalusian handmaid answered to the call, and, on our inquiring for themaster of the house, led the way across a little patio or court, in thecentre of the edifice, cooled by a fountain surrounded by shrubs andflowers, to a back court or terrace, likewise set out with flowers, whereDon Juan Fernandez was seated with his family, enjoying the serene eveningin the open air. I was much pleased with his appearance. He was avenerable old gentleman, tall, and somewhat thin, with fair complexion andgray hair. He received me with great urbanity, and on reading the letterfrom his son, appeared struck with surprise to find I had come quite toMoguer, merely to visit the scene of the embarkation of Columbus; andstill more so on my telling him, that one of my leading objects ofcuriosity was his own family connection; for it would seem that the worthycavalier had troubled his head but little about the enterprises of hisancestors. 

I now took my seat in the domestic circle, and soon felt myself quite athome, for there is generally a frankness in the hospitality of Spaniards, that soon puts a stranger at his ease beneath their roof. The wife of DonJuan Fernandez was extremely amiable and affable, possessing much of thatnatural aptness for which the Spanish women are remarkable. In the courseof conversation with them I learnt, that Don Juan Fernandez, who isseventy-two years of age, is the eldest of five brothers, all of whom aremarried, have numerous offspring, and live in Moguer and its vicinity, innearly the same condition and rank of life as at the time of thediscovery. This agreed with what I had previously heard, respecting thefamilies of the discoverers. Of Columbus no lineal and direct descendantexists; his was an exotic stock which never took deep and lasting root inthe country; but the race of the Pinzons continues to thrive and multiplyin its native soil. 

While I was yet conversing, a gentleman entered, who was introduced to meas Don Luis Fernandez Pinzon, the youngest of the brothers. He appearedbetween fifty and sixty years of age, somewhat robust, with faircomplexion, gray hair, and a frank and manly deportment. He is the onlyone of the present generation that has followed the ancient profession ofthe family; having served with great applause as an officer of the royalnavy, from which he retired, on his marriage, about twenty-two yearssince. He is the one, also, who takes the greatest interest and pride inthe historical honors of his house, carefully preserving all the legendsand documents of the achievements and distinctions of his family, amanuscript volume of which he lent to me for my inspection. 

Don Juan now expressed a wish that, during my residence in Moguer, I wouldmake his house my home. I endeavored to excuse myself, alleging, that thegood people at the posada had been at such extraordinary trouble inpreparing quarters for me, that I did not like to disappoint them. Theworthy old gentleman undertook to arrange all this, and, while supper waspreparing, we walked together to the posada. I found that my obliging hostand hostess had indeed exerted themselves to an uncommon degree. An oldrickety table had been spread out in a corner of the little room as abedstead, on top of which was propped up a grand _cama de luxo_, orstate bed, which appeared to be the admiration of the house. I could not, for the soul of me, appear to undervalue what the poor people had preparedwith such hearty good-will, and considered such a triumph of art andluxury; so I again entreated Don Juan to dispense with my sleeping at hishouse, promising most faithfully to make my meals there whilst I shouldstay at Moguer, and as the old gentleman understood my motives fordeclining his invitation, and felt a good-humored sympathy in them, wereadily arranged the matter. I returned therefore with Don Juan to hishouse and supped with his family. During the repast a plan was agreed uponfor my visit to Palos, and to the convent La Kabida, in which Don Juanvolunteered to accompany me and be my guide, and the following day wasallotted to the expedition. We were to breakfast at a hacienda, orcountry-seat, which he possessed in the vicinity of Palos, in the midst ofhis vineyards, and were to dine there on our return from the convent. These arrangements being made, we parted for the night; I returned to theposada highly gratified with my visit, and slept soundly in theextraordinary bed which, I may almost say, had been invented for myaccommodation. 

On the following morning, bright and early, Don Juan Fernandez and myselfset off in the caleea for Palos. I felt apprehensive at first that thekind-hearted old gentleman, in his anxiety to oblige, had left his bed attoo early an hour, and was exposing himself to fatigues unsuited to hisage. He laughed at the idea, and assured me that he was an early riser, and accustomed to all kinds of exercise on horse and foot, being a keensportsman, and frequently passing days together among the mountains onshooting expeditions, taking with him servants, horses, and provisions, and living in a tent. He appeared, in fact, to be of an active habit, andto possess a youthful vivacity of spirit. His cheerful dispositionrendered our morning drive extremely agreeable; his urbanity was shown toevery one whom we met on the road; even the common peasant was saluted byhim with the appellation of _caballero_, a mark of respect evergratifying to the poor but proud Spaniard, when yielded by a superior. 

As the tide was out, we drove along the flat grounds bordering the Tinto. The river was on our right, while on our left was a range of hills, jutting out into promontories, one beyond the other, and covered withvineyards and fig trees. The weather was serene, the air soft and balmy, and the landscape of that gentle kind calculated to put one in a quiet andhappy humor. We passed close by the skirts of Palos, and drove to thehacienda, which is situated some little distance from the village, betweenit and the river. The house is a low stone building well whitewashed, andof great length; one end being fitted up as a summer residence, withsaloons, bed-rooms, and a domestic chapel; and the other as a bodega ormagazine for the reception of the wine produced on the estate. 

The house stands on a hill, amidst vineyards, which are supposed to covera part of the site of the ancient town of Palos, now shrunk to a miserablevillage. Beyond these vineyards, on the crest of a distant hill, are seenthe white walls of the convent of La Babida rising above a dark wood ofpine trees. 

Below the hacienda flows the river Tinto, on which Columbus embarked. Itis divided by a low tongue of land, or rather the sand-bar of Saltes, fromthe river Odiel, with which it soon mingles its waters, and flows on tothe ocean. Beside this sand-bar, where the channel of the river runs deep, the squadron of Columbus was anchored, and thence he made sail on themorning of his departure. 

The soft breeze that was blowing scarcely ruffled the surface of thisbeautiful river; two or three picturesque barks, called mystics, with longlatine sails, were gliding down it. A little aid of the imagination mightsuffice to picture them as the light caravels of Columbus, sallying forthon their eventful expedition, while the distant bells of the town ofHnelva, which were ringing melodiously, might be supposed as cheering thevoyagers with a farewell peal. 

I cannot express to you what were my feelings on treading the shore whichhad once been animated with the bustle of departure, and whose sands hadbeen printed by the last footstep of Columbus. The solemn and sublimenature of the event that had followed, together with the fate and fortunesof those concerned in it, filled the mind with vague yet melancholy ideas. It was like viewing the silent and empty stage of some great drama whenall the actors had departed. The very aspect of the landscape, sotranquilly beautiful, had an effect upon me; and as I paced the desertedshores by the side of a descendant of one of the discoverers, I felt myheart swelling witfi emotions and my eyes filling with tears. 

What surprised me was, to find no semblance of a sea-port; there wasneither wharf nor landing-place--nothing but a naked river bank, with thehulk of a ferry-boat, which I was told carried passengers to Huelva, lyinghigh and dry on the sands, deserted by the tide. Palos, though it hasdoubtless dwindled away from its former size, can never have beenimportant as to extent and population. If it possessed warehouses on thebeach, they have disappeared. It is at present a mere village of thepoorest kind, and lies nearly a quarter of a mile from the river, in ahollow among hills. It contains a few hundred inhabitants, who subsistprincipally by laboring in the fields and vineyards. Its race of merchantsand mariners is extinct. There are no vessels belonging to the place, norany show of traffic, excepting at the season of fruit and wine, when a fewmystics and other light barks anchor in the river to collect the produceof the neighborhood. The people are totally ignorant, and it is probablethat the greater part of them scarce know even the name of America. Suchis the place whence sallied forth the enterprise for the discovery of thewestern world!

We were now summoned to breakfast in a little saloon of the hacienda. Thetable was covered with natural luxuries produced upon the spot--finepurple and muscatel grapes from the adjacent vineyard, delicious melonsfrom the garden, and generous wines made on the estate. The repast washeightened by the genial manners of my hospitable host, who appeared topossess the most enviable cheerfulness of spirit and simplicity of heart. 

After breakfast we set off in the calesa to visit the convent of LaRabida, about half a league distant The road, for a part of the way, laythrough the vineyards, and was deep and sandy. The calasero had been athis wit's end to conceive what motive a stranger like myself, apparentlytraveling for mere amusement, could have in coming so far to see somiserable a place as Palos, which he set down as one of the very poorestplaces in the whole world; but this additional toil and struggle throughdeep sand to visit the old convent of La Rabida completed his confusion--"Hombre!" exclaimed he, "es una ruina! no hay mas que dos frailes!"--"Zounds! why it's a ruin! there are only two friars there!" Don Juanlaughed, and told him that I had come all the way from Seville preciselyto see that old ruin and those two friars. The calasero made theSpaniard's last reply when he is perplexed--he shrugged his shoulders andcrossed himself. After ascending a hill and passing through the skirts ofa straggling pine wood, we arrived in front of the convent. It stands in ableak and solitary situation, on the brow of a rocky height or promontory, overlooking to the west a wide range of sea and land, bounded by thefrontier mountains of Portugal, about eight leagues distant. The conventis shut out from a view of the vineyard of Palos by the gloomy forest ofpines already mentioned, which cover the promontory to the east, anddarken the whole landscape in that direction. 

There is nothing remarkable in the architecture of the convent; part of itis Gothic, but the edifice, having been frequently repaired, and beingwhitewashed, according to a universal custom in Andalusia, inherited fromthe Moors, has not that venerable aspect which might be expected from itsantiquity. 

We alighted at the gate where Columbus, when a poor pedestrian, a strangerin the land, asked bread and water for his child! As long as the conventstands, this must be a spot calculated to awaken the most thrillinginterest. The gate remains apparently in nearly the same state as at thetime of his visit, but there is no longer a porter at hand to administerto the wants of the wayfarer. The door stood wide open, and admitted usinto a small court-yard. Thence we passed through a Gothic portal into thechapel, without seeing a human being. We then traversed two interiorcloisters, equally vacant and silent, and bearing a look of neglect anddilapidation. From an open window we had a peep at what had once been agarden, but that had also gone to ruin; the walls were broken and throwndown; a few shrubs, and a scattered fig tree or two, were all the tracesof cultivation that remained. We passed through the long dormitories, butthe cells were shut up and abandoned; we saw no living thing except asolitary cat stealing across a distant corridor, which fled in a panic atthe unusual sight of strangers. At length, after patrolling nearly thewhole of the empty building to the echo of our own footsteps, we came towhere the door of a cell, being partly open, gave us the sight of a monkwithin, seated at a table writing. He rose, and received us with muchcivility, and conducted us to the superior, who was reading in an adjacentcell. They were both rather young men, and, together with a novitiate anda lay-brother, who officiated as cook, formed the whole community of theconvent. 

Don Juan Fernandez communicated to them the object of my visit, and mydesire also to inspect the archives of the convent, to find if there wasany record of the sojourn of Columbus. They informed us that the archiveshad been entirely destroyed by the French. The younger monk, however, whohad perused them, had a vague recollection of various particularsconcerning the transactions of Columbus at Palos, his visit to theconvent, and the sailing of his expedition. From all that he cited, however, it appeared to me that all the information on the subjectcontained in the archives had been extracted from Herrera and otherwell-known authors. The monk was talkative and eloquent, and soon divergedfrom the subject of Columbus, to one which he considered of infinitelygreater importance--the miraculous image of the Virgin possessed by theirconvent, and known by the name of "Our Lady of La Rabida. " He gave us ahistory of the wonderful way in which the image had been found buried inthe earth, where it had lain hidden for ages, since the time of theconquest of Spain by the Moors; the disputes between the convent anddifferent places in the neighborhood for the possession of it; themarvelous protection it extended to the adjacent country, especially inpreventing all madness, either in man or dog, for this malady wasanciently so prevalent in this place as to gain it the appellation of LaRabia, by which it was originally called; a name which, thanks to thebeneficent influence of the Virgin, it no longer merited nor retained. Such are the legends and relics with which every convent in Spain isenriched, which are zealously cried up by the monks, and devoutlycredited by the populace. 

Twice a year, on the festival of our Lady of La Rabida and on that of thepatron saint of the order, the solitude and silence of the convent areinterrupted by the intrusion of a swarming multitude, composed of theinhabitants of Moguer, of Huelva, and the neighboring plains andmountains. The open esplanade in front of the edifice resembles a fair, the adjacent forest teems with the motley throng, and the image of ourLady of La Rabida is borne forth in triumphant procession. 

While the friar was thus dilating upon the merits and renown of the image, I amused myself with those day-dreams, or conjurings of the imagination, to which I am a little given. As the internal arrangements of convents areapt to be the same from age to age, I pictured to myself this chamber asthe same inhabited by the guardian, Juan Perez de Marchena, at the time ofthe visit of Columbus. Why might not the old and ponderous table before mebe the very one on which he displayed his conjectural maps, and expoundedhis theory of a western route to India? It required but another stretch ofthe imagination to assemble the little conclave around the table; JuanPerez the friar, Garci Fernandez the physician, and Martin Alonzo Pinzonthe bold navigator, all listening with rapt attention to Columbus, or tothe tale of some old seaman of Palos, about islands seen in the westernparts of the ocean. 

The friars, as far as their poor means and scanty knowledge extended, weredisposed to do every thing to promote the object of my visit. They showedus all parts of the convent, which, however, has little to boast of, excepting the historical associations connected with it. The library wasreduced to a few volumes, chiefly on ecclesiastical subjects, piledpromiscuously in the corner of a vaulted chamber, and covered with dust. The chamber itself was curious, being the most ancient part of theedifice, and supposed to have formed part of a temple in the time of theRomans. 

We ascended to the roof of the convent to enjoy the extensive prospect itcommands. Immediately below the promontory on which it is situated, runs anarrow but tolerably deep river, called the Domingo Rubio, which emptiesitself into the Tinto. It is the opinion of Don Luis Fernandez Pinzon, that the ships of Columbus were careened and fitted out in this river, asit affords better shelter than the Tinto, and its shores are not soshallow. A lonely bark of a fisherman was lying in this stream, and notfar off, on a sandy point, were the ruins of an ancient watchtower. Fromthe roof of the convent, all the windings of the Odiel and the Tinto wereto be seen, and their junction into the main stream, by which Columbussallied forth to sea. In fact the convent serves as a landmark, being, from its lofty and solitary situation, visible for a considerable distanceto vessels coming on the coast. On the opposite side I looked down uponthe lonely road, through the wood of pine trees, by which the zealousguardian of the convent, Fray Juan Perez, departed at midnight on hismule, when he sought the camp of Ferdinand and Isabella in the Vega ofGranada, to plead the project of Columbus before the queen. 

Having finished our inspection of the convent, we prepared to depart, andwere accompanied to the outward portal by the two friars. Our calaserobrought his rattling and rickety vehicle for us to mount; at sight ofwhich one of the monks exclaimed, with a smile, "Santa Maria! only tothink! A calesa before the gate of the convent of La Rabida!" And, indeed, so solitary and remote is this ancient edifice, and so simple is the modeof living of the people in this by-corner of Spain, that the appearance ofeven a sorry calesa might well cause astonishment. It is only singularthat in such a by-corner the scheme of Columbus should have foundintelligent listeners and coadjutors, after it had been discarded, almostwith scoffing and contempt, from learned universities and splendid courts. 

On our way back to the hacienda, we met Don Rafael, a younger son of DonJuan Fernandez, a fine young man, about twenty-one years of age, and who, his father informed me, was at present studying French and mathematics. Hewas well mounted on a spirited gray horse, and dressed in the Andalusianstyle, with the little round hat and jacket. He sat his horse gracefully, and managed him well. I was pleased with the frank and easy terms on whichDon Juan appeared to live with his children. This I was inclined to thinkhis favorite son, as I understood he was the only one that partook of theold gentleman's fondness for the chase, and that accompanied him in hishunting excursions. 

A dinner had been prepared for us at the hacienda, by the wife of thecapitaz, or overseer, who, with her husband, seemed to be well pleasedwith this visit from Don Juan, and to be confident of receiving a pleasantanswer from the good-humored old gentleman whenever they addressed him. The dinner was served up about two o'clock, and was a most agreeable meal. The fruits and wines were from the estate, and were excellent; the rest ofthe provisions were from Moguer, for the adjacent village of Palos is toopoor to furnish any thing. A gentle breeze from the sea played through thehall, and tempered the summer heat. Indeed I do not know when I have seena more enviable spot than this country retreat of the Pinzons. Itssituation on a breezy hill, at no great distance from the sea, and in asouthern climate, produces a happy temperature, neither hot in summer norcold in winter. It commands a beautiful prospect, and is surrounded bynatural luxuries. The country abounds with game, the adjacent riveraffords abundant sport in fishing, both by day and night, and delightfulexcursions for those fond of sailing. During the busy seasons of rurallife, and especially at the joyous period of vintage, the family pass sometime here, accompanied by numerous guests, at which times, Don Juanassured me, there was no lack of amusements, both by land and water. 

When we had dined, and taken the siesta, or afternoon nap, according tothe Spanish custom in summer time, we set out on our return to Moguer, visiting the village of Palos in the way. Don Gabriel had been sent inadvance to procure the keys of the village church, and to apprise thecurate of our wish to inspect the archives. The village consistsprincipally of two streets of low whitewashed houses. Many of theinhabitants have very dark complexions, betraying a mixture of Africanblood. 

On entering the village, we repaired to the lowly mansion of the curate. Ihad hoped to find him some such personage as the curate in Don Quixote, possessed of shrewdness and information in his limited sphere, and that Imight gain some anecdotes from him concerning the parish, its worthies, its antiquities, and its historical events. Perhaps I might have done soat any other time, but, unfortunately, the curate was something of asportsman, and had heard of some game among the neighboring hills. We methim just sallying forth from his house, and, I must confess, hisappearance was picturesque. He was a short, broad, sturdy little man, andhad doffed his cassock and broad clerical beaver, for a short jacket and alittle round Andalusian hat; he had his gun in hand, and was on the pointof mounting a donkey which had been led forth by an ancient witheredhandmaid. Fearful of being detained from his foray, he accosted mycompanion the moment he came in sight. "God preserve you, Señor Don Juan!I have received your message, and have but one answer to make. Thearchives have all been destroyed. We have no trace of any thing you seekfor--nothing--nothing. Don Rafael has the keys of the church. You canexamine it at your leisure--Adios, caballero!" With these words thegalliard little curate mounted his donkey, thumped his ribs with the buttend of his gun, and trotted off to the hills. 

In our way to the church we passed by the ruins of what had once been afair and spacious dwelling, greatly superior to the other houses of thevillage. This, Don Juan informed me, was an old family possession, butsince they had removed from Palos it had fallen to decay for want of atenant. It was probably the family residence of Martin Alonzo or VicenteYafiez Pinzon, in the time of Columbus. 

We now arrived at the Church of St. George, in the porch of which Columbusfirst proclaimed to the inhabitants of Palos the order of the sovereigns, that they should furnish him with ships for his great voyage of discovery. This edifice has lately been thoroughly repaired, and, being of solidmason-work, promises to stand for ages, a monument of the discoverers. Itstands outside of the village, on the brow of a hill, looking along alittle valley toward the river. The remains of a Moorish arch prove it tohave been a mosque in former times; just above it, on the crest of thehill, is the ruin of a Moorish castle. 

I paused in the porch, and endeavored to recall the interesting scene thathad taken place there, when Columbus, accompanied by the zealous friarJuan Perez, caused the public notary to read the royal order in presenceof the astonished alcaldes, regidors, and alguazils; but it is difficultto conceive the consternation that must have been struck into so remote alittle community, by this sudden apparition of an entire stranger amongthem, bearing a command that they should put their persons and ships athis disposal, and sail with him away into the unknown wilderness of theocean. 

The interior of the church has nothing remarkable, excepting a woodenimage of St. George vanquishing the Dragon, which is erected over the highaltar, and is the admiration of the good people of Palos, who bear itabout the streets in grand procession on the anniversary of the saint. This group existed in the time of Columbus, and now flourishes inrenovated youth and splendor, having been newly painted and gilded, andthe countenance of the saint rendered peculiarly blooming and lustrous. 

Having finished the examination of the church, we resumed our seats in thecalesa and returned to Moguer. One thing only remained to fulfill theobject of my pilgrimage. This was to visit the chapel of the Convent ofSanta Clara. When Columbus was in danger of being lost in a tempest on hisway home from his great voyage of discovery, he made a vow, that, shouldhe be spared, he would watch and pray one whole night in this chapel; avow which he doubtless fulfilled immediately after his arrival. 

My kind and attentive friend, Don Juan, conducted me to the convent. It isthe wealthiest in Moguer, and belongs to a sisterhood of Franciscan nuns. The chapel is large, and ornamented with some degree of richness, particularly the part about the high altar, which, is embellished bymagnificent monuments of the brave family of the Puerto Carreros, theancient lords of Moguer, and renowned in Moorish warfare. The alabastereffigies of distinguished warriors of that house, and of their wives andsisters, lie side by side, with folded hands, on tombs immediately beforethe altar, while others recline in deep niches on either side. The nighthad closed in by the time I entered the church, which made the scene moreimpressive. A few votive lamps shed a dim light about the interior; theirbeams were feebly reflected by the gilded work of the high altar, and theframes of the surrounding paintings, and rested upon the marble figures ofthe warriors and dames lying in the monumental repose of ages. The solemnpile must have presented much the same appearance when the piousdiscoverer performed his vigil, kneeling before this very altar, andpraying and watching throughout the night, and pouring forth heartfeltpraises for having been spared to accomplish his sublime discovery. 

I had now completed the main purpose of my journey, having visited thevarious places connected with the story of Columbus. It was highlygratifying to find some of them so little changed though so great a spaceof time had intervened; but in this quiet nook of Spain, so far removedfrom the main thoroughfares, the lapse of time produces but few violentrevolutions. Nothing, however, had surprised and gratified me more thanthe contiuued stability of the Pinzon family. On the morning after myexcursion to Palos, chance gave me an opportunity of seeing something ofthe interior of most of their households. Having a curiosity to visit theremains of a Moorish castle, once the citadel of Moguer, Don Fernandezundertook to show me a tower which served as a magazine of wine to one ofthe Pinzon family. In seeking for the key we were sent from house to houseof nearly the whole connection. All appeared to be living in that goldenmean equally removed from the wants and superfluities of life, and all tobe happily interwoven by kind and cordial habits of intimacy. We found thefemales of the family generally seated in the patios, or central courts oftheir dwellings, beneath the shade of awnings and among shrubs andflowers. Here the Andalusian ladies are accustomed to pass their morningsat work, surrounded by their handmaids, in the primitive, or ratheroriental style. In the porches of some of the houses I observed thecoat-of-arms granted to the family by Charles V, hung up like a picture ina frame. Over the door of Don Luis, the naval officer, it was carved on anescutcheon of stone, and colored. I had gathered many particulars of thefamily also from conversation with Don Juan, and from the family legendlent me by Don Luis. From all that I could learn, it would appear that thelapse of nearly three centuries and a half has made but little change inthe condition of the Pinzons. From generation to generation they haveretained the same fair standing and reputable name throughout theneighborhood, filling offices of public trust and dignity, and possessinggreat influence over their fellow-citizens by their good sense and goodconduct. How rare is it to see such an instance of stability of fortune inthis fluctuating world, and how truly honorable is this hereditaryrespectability, which has been secured by no titles nor entails, butperpetuated merely by the innate worth of the race! I declare to you thatthe most illustrious descents of mere titled rank could never command thesincere respect and cordial regard with which I contemplated this stanchand enduring family, which for three centuries and a half has stood merelyupon its virtues. 

As I was to set off on my return to Seville before two o'clock, I partookof a farewell repast at the house of Don Juan, between twelve and one, andthen took leave of his household with sincere regret. The good oldgentleman, with the courtesy, or rather the cordiality, of a trueSpaniard, accompanied me to the posada, to see me off. I had dispensed butlittle money in the posada--thanks to the hospitality of the Pinzons--yetthe Spanish pride of my host and hostess seemed pleased that I hadpreferred their humble chamber, and the scanty bed they had provided me, to the spacious mansion of Don Juan; and when I expressed my thanks fortheir kindness and attention, and regaled mine host with a few choicesegars, the heart of the poor man was overcome. He seized me by both handsand gave me a parting benediction, and then ran after the calasero, toenjoin him to take particular care of me during my journey. 

Taking a hearty leave of my excellent friend Don Juan, who had beenunremitting in his attentions to me to the last moment, I now set off onmy wayfaring, gratified to the utmost with my visit, and full of kind andgrateful feelings towards Moguer and its hospitable inhabitants. 

Index. 

A. 

Acuna, Don Alonzo de, summons Columbus to give an account of himself, onhis return from the New World. 

Address of an Indian of Cuba to Columbus. 

Adelantado, title of, given to Christopher Columbus, confirmed by theking. 

Adrian de Moxica. 

Admiral, the, a title granted to Columbus and his descendants. 

Africa, essay on the navigation of, by the ancients. 

Aguado, Juan, recommended to the Spanish Government by Columbus; appointedcommissioner to inquire into the conduct of Columbus; arrives at Isabella;his insolent behavior; his interview with Columbus: the Caciques havingpreferred complaints against Columbus, he determines on returning toSpain. 

Alexander VI. , pope, character of; famous bulls of, relative to the NewWorld; letter of Columbus to. 

Aliaco, Pedro, work of, referred to, note. 

Alligators, found in great numbers at Puerto Bello. 

All Saints, discovery of the bay of. 

Alonzo, Don, heir-apparent of Portugal, his marriage with the princessIsabella. 

Alpha and Omega, the extreme point of Cuba. 

Alva, duke of, Don Diego Columbus marries his daughter; he assists inobtaining justice for his son-in-law. 

Alvaro, Don, de Portugal, attack upon, in the royal tent. 

Amazons, an island of supposed; warlike women of the Caribbee islands. Amazons, river of, discovered by Vicente Pinzon. 

Amber, specimens of, among the mountains of Cibao. 

Anacaona, wife to Caonabo, retires with her brother Behechio, after thegreat battle of the Vega; composes legendary ballads; her admiration ofthe Spaniards; counsels her brother to conciliate the friendship of theSpaniards; her reception of the Adelantado; her wonder and delight atseeing a Spanish ship; her grief at the departure of the Adelantado; herconduct in respect to her daughter and Guevara; her admiration of theSpaniards turned into detestation; receives a visit from Ovando; isseized; carried in chains to St. Domingo; and ignominiously hanged; herfine character. 

Anana, or the pine-apple, first met with. 

Angel, Luis de St. , his remonstrance with the queen relative to theproject of Columbus; succeeds. 

Antigua, island of, discovered. 

Antilles, the, discovered; taken possession of. 

Apparitions, ideas of the Haytiens in respect to. 

Appendix, containing illustrations and documents. 

Arana, Diego de, left in charge of Hispaniola, during the first absence ofColumbus, history of the disaster which occurred to him after thedeparture of Columbus. 

Arano, Pedro de, commander of one of Columbus's ships on his third voyage. 

Areytos, or ballads, of the Haytiens. 

Aristizabal, Don Gabriel de, solicits the removal of the remains ofColumbus. 

Arriaga, Luis de, is shut up within the walls of Magdalena. 

Astrolabe, the, applied to navigation. 

Atalantis, Plato's observations on. 

Audience, royal, court of, established. 

Augustine, St. , his arguments against the existence of Antipodes. 

Augustine, St. , Cape of, discovered by Pinzon. 

Aurea Cheraonesus, the place whence Solomon is supposed to have had gold. 

Azores, the, when discovered; arrival at by Columbus on his return fromhis first voyage. 

B. 

Babeque, a supposed island, Columbus goes in search of. 

Bahama Islands, discovery of; cruise among the. 

Ballads of the Haytiens. 

Ballester, Miguel, his conduct during the conspiracy of Roldan; receives aletter from Columbus; his character; interview with Roman; secondinterview: sends advice to the admiral; is besieged in the fortress ofConception; sails for Spain. 

Barbas, Las, islands of, discovered. 

Barrantes, Garcia de, sails for Spain. 

Barros, Joam de, his account of Columbus's proposition to John II. King ofPortugal. 

Basil, St. , his description of Paradise. 

Bastides, Rodrigo, of Seville, explores the coast of Terra Firma. 

Baza, surrender of. 

Beata, Cape, sailors of Columbus climb the rock of. 

Behem, Martin, his planisphere; an account of; the assertion relative tohis having discovered the western world previous to Columbus considered. 

Behechio assists Caonabo, and kills one of the wives of Guacanagari; theonly Cacique who does not sue for peace; receives a visit from BartholomewColumbus; his reception of him; consents to pay tribute; invites theAdelantado to come and receive it; his astonishment at visiting a Spanishship. 

Bolen, river of, discovered; abounds in fish; Columbus commences asettlement on its banks. 

Bell of Isabella, the superstitious ideas of the Haytiens in respect toit. 

Belvis, Pablo, sent to Hayti in the place of Fermin Cedo. 

Berahoma, condemned to death for having violated the wife of the Caciqueof the Vega; is pardoned. 

Bernaldez, Andres, a short account of his life and writings. 

Bernardo of Valentia, his conspiracy at Jamaica. 

Bloodhounds, first use of in the New World; employed by Columbus in hiswars with the Haytiens. 

Bobadilla, Don Francisco de, charged with a commission to Hispaniola toinquire into the conduct of Columbus; his character; instructions withwhich he is charged; sails; arrives at St. Domingo; his judgment formedbefore he leaves his ship; assumes power on landing; storms the fortressof St. Domingo; assumes the government before he investigates the conductof Columbus; seizes his arms, gold, secret papers, etc. ; summons Columbusto appear before him; his baseness in collecting evidence; puts Don Diegoin chains; also Columbus; his fears in respect to the Adelantado; puts himin irons; his mal-administration; a saying of his; superseded in hisgovernment by Ovando; sails for Spain and is lost, with all his crew, in aviolent hurricane. 

Boca del Sierpe. 

Borgonon, Juan, labors to convert the Haytiens. 

Boyle, Bernardo, friar, appointed apostolical vicar for the New World; hisadvice to Columbus in respect to Guacanagari; confirms the accounts senthome by Columbus; consecrates the first church at Isabella; his characterand conduct; his hatred of Columbus; encourages the misconduct ofMargarite; forms the plan of seizing Bartholomew Columbus's ships andreturning to Spain; sees sail; his accusations of Columbus at the court ofMadrid. 

Brandan, St. , imaginary island of. 

Brazils, the, discovered by Vicente Pinzon; a part discovered and takenpossession of for the Portuguese crown by Cabral. 

Breviesca, Ximeno de, a worthless hireling; his conduct and punishment. 

Bucklers, used by the natives of Trinidad. Bull of Partition issued byPope Martin V. ; relative to the New World, issued by Pope Alexander VI. . 

---- of Demarcation. 

Burgos, the court held at. 

Butios, the priests of the Haytiens. 

Butterflies, clouds of, seen on the southern coast of Cuba. 

C. 

Cabot, Sebastian, discovers Labrador, supposed to be the first thatvisited the main-land of the New World. 

Cabral, Pedro Alvarez de, discovers part of the Brazils, and takespossession of it in the name of the king of Portugal. Cabron, Cape, orCapo del Enamorado. 

Cacao, first known to the Spaniards. 

Caciques, seizure of fourteen, in the night, by Bartholomew Columbus andhis officers. 

Canaries, an optical delusion seen by the people of the; arrival ofColumbus at, in his first voyage. 

Canoes, capable of containing 150 persons, seen at Puerto Santo; largesize of those at Jamaica. 

Caonabo, character and conduct of; takes the fortress at La Navidad; andmassacres the Spaniards; assembles his warriors; Columbus leavesdirections with Margarite to surprise; besieges Ojeda; gives up the siegeand retires; forms a plan of exterminating the Spaniards; invades theterritories of Guacanagari; character of; is visited by Ojeda, with adesign to entrap him; agrees to wait upon Columbus, and sets forward; istaken by stratagem; is chained; his conduct when in the presence ofColumbus; embarks for Spain; a Guadaloupe woman falls in love with him;dies on the voyage. 

Carocol, Island of. 

Cariari, transactions at. 

Caribbee Islands, discovered. 

Caribs, character of the; origin of; cruelty to. 

Caravajal, Don Garcia Lopez de, his embassy to Portugal. 

Carvajal, Alonzo de, commander of one of Columbus's ships, on his thirdvoyage; arrives at Hispaniola; volunteers to endeavor to bring the rebelsof Xavagua to obedience; his ship strikes on a sand-bank; arrives at St. Domingo by land; suspicions entertained against him; takes a letter fromthe admiral to Roldan; takes propositions from Roldan to the admiral;another interview with Boldan; appointed factor to Columbus; his evidencerelative to the discovery of the coast of Paria by Columbus. 

Carracks, description of. 

Casas, Las, his character of Don Diego Columbus; his observationsrelative to Hayti; his account of two Spaniards; his picture of theconsequences of the administration of Ovando; his account of a combatbetween one Indian and two mounted cavaliers; is present at a battle inHiguey; his remark on the cold reception of Columbus by the king; hisremark in respect to the injustice of Ferdinand; an account of; his zealin behalf of the slaves; his dubious expedient to lessen the quantum ofhuman misery; character of his General History of the Indies. 

Castaneda, Juan de, his disgraceful reception of Columbus on his returnfrom the New World; cause of his conduct. 

Catalina, a Carib, her admiration of Guacanagari; proposes to hercaptive companions an attempt to regain their liberty; escapes byswimming. 

Catalina, a female Cacique, falls in love with Miguel Diaz; imparts tohim a knowledge of the gold mines of Hayna. 

Cathay, accounts of Marco Polo in respect to; of Sir John Mandeville. 

Catherine, St. , discovery of. 

Cavern, near Cape Francois, description of. 

Caymans, islands of. 

Cedo, Fermin, his opinion in respect to the gold found in Hispaniola;Belvis sent in Ms place. 

Ceuta, the bishop of, his arguments against the proposition of Columbus;proposes to the council to keep Columbus in suspense, and in the mean timeto send a ship in the route proposed; this advice acted upon; and fails. 

Chanca, Dr. , confirms the accounts sent home by Columbus. 

Charles VIII. , king of France, his kindness to Bartholomew Columbus. 

Charles V. Succeeds his grandfather, Ferdinand; recognizes the innocenceof Don Diego Columbus; acknowledges the right of Don Diego to exercise theoffice of viceroy; his orders in respect to the claims of Don Diego'swidow; his ordinances relative to the slave trade. 

Charlevoix, his description of the sea of the Antilles, Chaufepic, JacquesGeorge, a passage from, in respect to the Coloinbos. 

Chvistoval, St. , fortress of, erected by Bartholomew Columbus;mountains of. 

Cibao, Columbus's expedition to the mountains of; meaning of the wordCibao; Luxan's description of the mountains of. 

Ciguayens, a warlike Indian tribe, account of. 

Cintra, rock of, arrival at, by Columbus, on his return from the NewWorld. 

Cipango (or Japan), Marco Polo's account of. 

Cities, island of the seven. 

Cladera, Don Christoval, his refutation of a letter written by M. Otto, toDr. Franklin. 

Colon, Diego, acts as interpreter; his speech to the natives of Cuba;marries the daughter of the Cacique Guarionex. 

Colombo, the old Genoese admiral, conveys the king of Portugal to theMediterranean coast of France. 

Colombo, the younger (nephew of the old admiral), a famous corsair. 

----, Balthazar, of Cuccaro, loses his cause in respect to the heirship ofColumbus. 

----, Juan, commander of one of Columbus's ships on his third voyage. 

Colombos, the navigators, an account of; capture of the Venetian galleys. 

Columbus, Bartholomew, accompanies Bartholomew Diaz along the coast ofAfrica; an account of his proceedings; arrives at Valladolid; sent toassist his brother with three ships; character of; is invested byColumbus with the title and authority of Adelantado; attends his brotherin his expedition against the Indians of the Vega; goes to the mines ofIlayna; is invested with the command on the return of Columbus to Spain;takes Porras prisoner; sails to meet his brother; account of hisadministration during the absence of Columbus; sends 300 Indians to Spainto be sold as slaves; erects the fortress of San Domingo; pays a visit toBehechio; his reception; demands a tribute; establishes a chain ofmilitary posts; causes several Indians who had broken some Christianimages, etc. , to be burnt; marches against the Caciques, who had formed aconspiracy against the Spaniards; causes them to be seized; pardons mostof them; again visits Behechio to receive the tribute of cotton; his skillin government; a conspiracy formed against him by Roldan; narrowly escapesassassination; repairs to the Vega in relief of Fort Conception; hisinterview with Roldan; is shut up in Fort Conception; relieved by thearrival of Coronal; publishes an amnesty to all who return to their duty;marches against Guarionex, who has rebelled; his campaign in the mountainsof Ciguay; releases the wife of one of the Caciques whom he had taken withMayobanex; favorable consequences of this; his vigorous proceedingsagainst the rebels engaged in the conspiracy of Guevara and Moxica; is putin irons by Bobadilla; accompanies Columbus on his fourth voyage; waits onthe governor of Ercilla; takes possession of Cape Honduras in the name ofthe sovereigns of Castile; lands at Cariari; forms a plan to seizeQuibian; does so, with his wives and children; Quibian escapes; andattacks in return; is finally compelled to remove the settlement toanother place; is in great danger; compelled to embark with his brotherand all his men; sets sail from St. Domingo for Spain with his brother;proceeds to court to urge the justice of the king; accompanies his brotherto court; goes to represent his brother on the arrival of the new kingand queen of Castile; is sent out to St. Domingo by Ferdinand to admonishhis nephew, Don Diego; is presented with the property and government ofMona for life, etc. ; dies at St. Domingo; his character. 

Columbus, Christopher, account of his birth, parentage, and education;early life of; his first voyage; engages in the service of Reinier, kingof Naples; alters the point of the compass of his ship to deceive hisdiscontented crew; engaged in the Mediterranean and the Levant; said to beappointed captain of several Genoese ships in the service of Louis XI. ;his gallant conduct when sailing with Colombo the younger; goes to Lisbon, where he takes up his residence; picture of his person; early character;becomes enamored of Doña Felipa Monis de Palestrello, whom he marries;becomes possessed of his father-in-law's charts, journals, etc. ; removesto the island of Porto Santo; becomes acquainted with Pedro Correo, anavigator of note; is animated with a wish to make discoveries; grounds onwhich he founds his belief of the existence of undiscovered countries inthe West; correspondence of Columbus with Paulo Toscanelli: makes a voyageto the north of Europe; the astrolabe having been applied to navigation, Columbus proposes a voyage of discovery to John II. King of Portugal; thisproposition is referred to a junto charged with all matters relating tomaritime discovery; who regard the project as visionary; the king thenrefers it to his council; by whom it is condemned; a ship is secretly sentin the direction proposed, but returns: Columbus's indignation; loses hiswife; quits Portugal; goes to Genoa and proposes his project to thegovernment; it is rejected; supposed by some to have carried his plan toVenice; visits his father; arrives in Spain, and requests a little breadand water at a convent of Franciscan friars; the prior detains him as aguest; and invites Garcia Fernandez to meet him; gives him letters ofintroduction to Fernando de Talavera, queen Isabella's confessor; sets outfor Cordova; arrives there; finds it impossible to obtain a hearing; thequeen's confessor regards his plan as impossible; maintains himself bydesigning maps and charts; is received into the house of Alonzo deQuintanilla; introduced to the archbishop of Toledo; who gives him anattentive hearing; becomes his friend and procures him an audience of theking; who desires the prior of Prado to assemble astronomers, etc. To holdconference with him; Columbus appears before the assembly at Salamanca;arguments against his theory; his reply; the subject experiencesprocrastination and neglect; is compelled to follow the movements of thecourt; his plan recommended by the marchioness of Moya; receives aninvitation to return to Portugal from John II. ; receives a favorableletter from Henry VII. Of England; distinguishes himself in the campaignof 1489, and is impressed deeply with the arrival and message of twofriars from the soldan of Egypt relative to the Holy Land; determines todevote the profits arising from his intended discovery to the purpose ofrescuing the holy sepulchre from the hands of the infidels; council oflearned men again convened; who pronounce the scheme vain and impossible;receives a message from the sovereigns; has an audience of the sovereigns:leaves Seville in disgust; forms a connection with Beatrix Enriquez;applies to the duke of Medina Sidonia, who rejects his plan; applies tothe duke of Medina Celi, who is prevented from acceding to his plan from afear of the court; returns to the convent of La Rabida; Alonzo Pinzonoffers to pay his expenses in a renewed application to the court; returnsat the desire of the queen; witnesses the surrender of Granada to theSpanish arms; negotiation with persons appointed by the sovereigns; hispropositions are considered extravagant; are pronounced inadmissible;lower terms are offered him, which he rejects; the negotiation broken off;quits Santa Fé; Luis de St. Angel reasons with the queen; who at lastconsents; a messenger dispatched to recall Columbus; he returns to SantaFé; arrangement with the Spanish sovereigns; his son appointed page toprince Juan; he returns to La Rabida; preparations at the Port of Palos, and apprehensions there relative to the expedition; not a vessel can beprocured; they are at last furnished; Columbus hoists his flag; sails;prologue to his voyage; an account of the map he had prepared previous tosailing; difficulties begin to arise; arrives at the Canaries; comes insight of Mount Teneriffe; arrives at Gomera; the news which reached himthere; alarm of his sailors on losing all sight of land; begins to keeptwo reckonings; falls in with part of a mast; notices a variation of theneedle; his opinion relative to that phenomenon; they are visited by twobirds; terrors of the seamen; sees large patches of weeds; his situationbecomes more critical; part of his crew determine, should he refuse toreturn, to throw him into the sea; false appearance of land; his crewbecome exceedingly clamorous; the assertion that he capitulated with themdisproved; his address to the crew; sees a light; land discovered; thereward for land adjudged to him; lands on the island of St. Salvador;which he takes possession of in the name of the Castilian sovereigns; thesurprise of the natives: gold first discovered; reconnoitres the island;takes seven of the inhabitants to teach them Spanish that they mightbecome interpreters; discovers Santa Maria de la Conception; discoversExuma; discovers Isabella; hears of two islands called Cuba and Bohio:sails in search of the former; discovers it; takes formal possession;sends two Spaniards up the country; coasts along the shore; return of theSpaniards with their report; goes in search of the supposed island ofBabeque; discovers an archipelago, to which he gives the name of theKing's Garden; desertion of Alonzo Pinzon; discovers St. Catherine, inwhich he finds stones veined with gold; specimen of his style indescription; reaches what be supposes to be the eastern extremity of Asia;discovers Hispaniola; its transcendent appearance; enters a harbor, towhich he gives the name of St. Nicholas; a female brought to him who worean ornament of gold in her nose; coasts along the shores; is visited by aCacique; receives a message from Guacanagari; his ship strikes upon asand-bank in the night; some of his crew desert in a boat; the shipbecomes a wreck, and he takes refuge on board a caravel; receivesassistance from Guacanagari; transactions with the natives; is invited tothe residence of Guacanagari; his affectionate reception of him; hispeople desire to have permission to remain in the island; he forms theplan of a colony and the design of constructing a fortress; and ofreturning to Spain for reinforcements; entertained in the most hospitablemanner by Guacanagari; who procures for him a great quantity of goldprevious to his departure; his address to the people; gives a feast to thechieftains; sails; coasts towards the eastern end of Hispaniola: meetswith Pinzon; Pinzon's apology; account of the Ciguayens; the first nativeblood shed by the whites; account of the return voyage; encounters violentstorms; the crew draw lots who shall perform pilgrimages; two lots fall tothe admiral; vows made; commits an account of his voyage in a barrel tothe sea; land discovered; which proves to be the Azores; transactions atSt. Mary's; receives supplies and a message from the governor; attemptedperformance of the vow made during the storm; the seamen taken prisonersby the rabble, headed by the governor; the governor's disgraceful conduct;seamen liberated; cause of the governor's conduct; violent gales; lots forpilgrimages again cast; arrives off Cintra, in Portugal; writes to thesovereigns and the king of Portugal; is summoned by a Portuguese admiralto give an account of himself; effect of his return at Lisbon; receives aninvitation from the king of Portugal; interview with the king; jealousy ofthe king excited; a proposition to the king by some of his courtiers toassassinate Columbus and take advantage of his discoveries; rejected bythe king; disgraceful plot of the king to rob Spain of the newly-discovered possessions; his interview with the queen of Portugal; entersthe harbor of Palos; account of his reception there; arrival of Pinzon;receives an invitation from the sovereigns at Barcelona; his reception onthe road; is received in a magnificent manner by the courtiers; and thesovereigns; his vow in respect to the holy sepulchre; the manner in whichhis discoveries were received throughout Europe; a coat of arms given him;the manner in which he receives the honors paid to him; preparations for asecond voyage; agreement made with the sovereigns; powers with which he isinvested; takes leave of the sovereigns at Barcelona; arrives at Seville;prepares for the voyage; ideas of Columbus and the people relative to theNew World; insolence of Juan de Soria; conduct of Fonseca: departure onhis second voyage; anchors at Gornera; gives sealed instructions to thecommander of each vessel; sees a swallow; encounters a storm; sees thelights of St. Elmo; discovers the Caribbee Islands; takes possession ofthem; discovers Guadaloupe; transactions there; cruises among theCaribbees; arrives at Hispaniola; at the gulf of Samana; anchors at MonteChristi; arrives at La Navidad; is visited by a cousin of the Cacique;learns a disaster which had occurred at the fortress; visits Guacanagari:abandons La Navidad: founds the city of Isabella at Monte Christi; fallssick; sends Alonzo de Ojeda to explore the interior of the island;dispatches twelve ships to Spain; requests fresh supplies; recommendsPedro Margarite and Juan Aguado to the patronage of the government;recommends a curious plan in respect to an exchange of Caribs for livestock; recommendation of Columbus in respect to the Caribs; his conduct inrespect to Diaz's mutiny; consequences; sets out on an expedition to themountains of Cibao; erects a fortress of wood among the mountains; returnsto Isabella; receives unpleasant intelligence from Pedro Margarite;sickness in the colony; puts his people on short allowance, Sol; offendsthe Hidalgos, by making them share the common labors of the colony;distributes his forces in the interior; gives the command of them to PedroMargarite; his instructions to that officer; instructs Margarite tosurprise and secure Caonabo; his conduct in respect to Haytien thieves;sails for Cuba; visits La Navidad; arrives at St. Nicholas; lands atGuantanamo; anchors at St. Jago; sails in search of Bubeque; discoversJamaica; received in a hostile manner: takes possession of the island;amicable intercourse with the natives; returns to Cuba; lands at Cabo dela Cruz; encounters a storm; becomes engaged in a most difficultnavigation; discovers an archipelago, to which he gives the name of theQueen's Gardens; hears of a province called Mangon, which greatly exciteshis attention; coasts along the southern side of Cuba; encounters adangerous navigation in A white pea; sends parties to explore the interiorof the country; deceives himself in respect to what he wishes; fancies hehas arrived on that part of Asia which is beyond the boundaries of the OldWorld, laid down by Ptolemy; anticipates returning to Spain by the AureaChersonesus, Taprobana, the Straits of Babelmandel, and the Red Sea, orthe Coast of Africa; returns along the southern coast of Cuba, in theassurance that Cuba was the extremity of the Asiatic continent; discoversthe island of Evangelista; his ship runs aground; sails along the provinceof Ornofay: erects crosses in conspicuous situations to denote hisdiscoveries; is addressed by an Indian; takes an Indian with him: his shipleaks; reaches Santa Cruz; coasts along the south side of Jamaica; hisship visited by a Cacique and his whole family; who offer to accompany himto Spain to do homage to the king and queen; he evades this offer; coastsalong the south side of Hispaniola; makes an error in reckoning; arrivesat Mona; is suddenly deprived of all his faculties; arrives at Isabella;is joined by his brother Bartholomew; invests him with the title andauthority of Adelantado; is visited by Guacanagari, who informs him of aleague formed against him by the Haytien Caciques; his measures to restorethe quiet of the island; wins over Guarionex, and prevails upon him togive his daughter in, marriage to Diego Colon; builds Fort, Conception inthe territories of Guarionex; Caonabo is delivered into his hands byOjeda; he puts him in chains; his interview with him; his anxiety relievedby the arrival of Antonio de Torres; sends home specimens of gold, plants, etc. , and five hundred Indian prisoners to be sold as slaves; undertakesan expedition against the Indians of the Vega; a battle ensues; theIndians defeated; makes a military tour through various parts of theisland, and reduces is to obedience; imposes a tribute; refuses the offerof Guarionex to cultivate grain, instead of paying in gold; erects forts;the natives having destroyed the crops, are hunted and compelled to returnto their labors; account of the intrigues against Columbus in the court ofSpain; charges brought against him; his popularity declines inconsequence; measures taken in Spain; Aguado arrives at Isabella tocollect information relative to the state of the colony; his dignifiedconduct at his first interview with Aguado; the Caciques prefer complaintsagainst him: he resolves on returning to Spain; a violent hurricane occursprevious to his departure, which sinks six caravels; pleased with thediscovery of the gold mines of Hayna; orders a fort to be erected; investshis brother with the command; fails for Spain; arrives at Guadaloupe; hispolitic conduct there; leaves Guadaloupe: a famine on board the ships; hismagnanimous conduct; arrives in Spain. ; his representation of things;writes instructions for ibe conduct of Bartholomew; invited to court;favorably received; proposes a third voyage of discovery; the kingpromises him ships; delays and their causes; refuses the title of duke ormarquess, and a grant of lands in Hispaniola; terms on winch he was tosail: honors bestowed upon him; his respect and love for Genoa; makes hiswill; odium thrown upon his enterprises; plan to which he was compelled toresort to procure men for his third voyage; in consequence of delays, healmost resolves to give up all further enterprise; chastises a minion ofFonseca; consequences of this chastisement; sets sail; his opinion inrespect to a continent in the Southern Ocean; arrives at Gomera; retakes aSpanish ship; is seized with a fit of the gout; arrives among the Cape deVerde Islands: sees the island Bel Fuego; arrives under the line; the heatbecomes intolerable, and he alters his course; discovers Trinidad;discovers Terra Firma; steers along the coast of Trinidad; difficulty inrespect to a rapid current; enters the Gulf of Paria; suffers from acomplaint in the eyes; discovers the islands of Margarita and Cubagua;exchanges plates, etc. , for pearls; his complaint in the eyes increases;arrives at Hispaniola; his brother soils to meet him; his constitutionseems to give way; his speculations relative to the coast of Paria; polarstar augmentation; doubts the received theory of the earth; accounts forvariation of the needle; difference of climate, etc. ; arrives at SanDomingo; state of his health, on arriving at Hispaniola; state of thecolony; negotiates with the rebels; offers free passage to all who desireto return to Spain; offers a pardon to Roldan, which is received withcontempt; writes to Spain an account of the rebellion, etc. , and requiresa judge and some missionaries to be sent out: writes a conciliating letterto Roldan; interviews with Roldan; issues a proclamation of pardon;receives proposals, which he accedes to; goes on a tour to visit thevarious stations; receives a cold letter from the sovereigns, written byFonseca; the former arrangement with Roldan not having been carried intoeffect, enters into a second; grants lands to Roldan's followers;considers Hispaniola in the light of a conquered country; reduces thenatives to the condition of villains or vassals: grants lands to Roldan;determines on returning to Spain; but is prevented by circumstances;writes to the sovereigns, entreating them to inquire into the truth of thelate transactions; requests that his son, Diego, might be sent out to him;sends Roldan to Alonzo de Ojeda, who has arrived on the western coast on avoyage of discovery; his indignation at the breach of prerogative impliedby this voyage; hears of a conspiracy entered into against him by Guevaraand Moxica; seizes Moxica; and orders him to be flung headlong from thebattlements of Fort Conception; vigorous proceedings against the rebels;beneficial consequences; visionary fancy at night; representations atcourt against him; his sons insulted at Granada; the queen is offended athis pertinacity in making slaves of those taken in warfare; and consentsto the sending out a commission to investigate his conduct; Bobadilla issent out; and arrives at St. Domingo; his judgment formed before he leaveshis ship; he seizes upon the government before he investigates the conductof Columbus; Columbus is summoned to appear before Bobadilla; goes to St. Domingo without guards or retinue, and is put in irons and confined in thefortress; his magnanimity; charges against him; jubilee of miscreants onhis degradation; his colloquy with Villejo, previous to their sailing;sails; arrives at Cadiz; sensation in Spain on his arrival in irons; sendsa letter to Doña Juana de la Torre, with an account of his treatment;indignation of the sovereigns at reading this account; is invited tocourt; his gracious reception there; his emotion; is promised a fullrestitution of his privileges and dignities; disappointed in receivingthem; causes; his interests ordered to be respected in Hispaniola byOvando; remembers his vow to furnish an army wherewith to recover the HolySepulchre; endeavors to incite the sovereigns to the enterprise; forms aplan for a fourth voyage, which is to eclipse all former ones; writes toPope Alexander VII. ; manuscript copy of, note; takes measures to securehis fame by placing it under the guardianship of his native country; sailsfrom Cadiz; arrives at Ercilla; at the Grand Canary; at St. Domingo;requests permission to shelter in the harbor, as he apprehends a storm;his request refused; a violent hurricane soon after sweeps the sea, inwhich he and his property are preserved, and several of his bitterestenemies overwhelmed; encounters another storm; discovers Guanaga; aCacique eomes on board his ship with a multitude of articles, the produceof the country; selects some to send them to Spain; is within two days'sail of Yucatan; natives different from any he had yet seen; voyages alongthe coast of Honduras; encounters violent storms of thunder and lightning;voyage along the Mosquito shore; passes a cluster of islands, to which hegives the name of Limonares; comes to an island, to which he gives thename of La Huerta, or the Garden; transactions at Cariari; voyage alongCosta Rica; speculations concerning the isthmus of Veragua; discovery ofPuerto Bello; discovery of El Retrete; disorders of his men at this port, and the consequences; relinquishes the further prosecution of his voyageeastward; returns to Puerto Bello; encounters a furious tempest; is nearbeing drowned by a water-spout; returns to Veragua; regards gold as one ofthe mystic treasures, note; is nearly being wrecked in port; gives hisname to the mountains of Veragua; sends his brother to explore thecountry; which appears to be impregnated with gold; believes that he hasreached one of the most favored ports of the Asiatic continent; commencesa settlement on the river Belen; determines on returning to Spain forreinforcements; is stopped by discovering a conspiracy of the natives;sends his brother to surprise Quibian; who is seized; and afterwardsescapes; disasters at the settlement stop his sailing; some of hisprisoners escape, and others destroy themselves; his anxiety producesdelirium; is comforted by a vision; the settlement is abandoned, and theSpaniards embark for Spain; departure from the coast of Veragua; sails forHispaniola; arrives at Puerto Bello: at the entrance of the Gulf ofDarien; at the Queen's Gardens; encounters another violent tempest;arrives at Cape Cruz; at Jamaica; runs his ships on shore; arranges withthe natives for supplies of provisions; his conversation with Diego Mendezto induce him to go in a canoe to St. Domingo; Mendez offers to go;Columbus writes to Ovando for a ship to take him and his crew toHispaniola; writes to the sovereigns; Mendez embarks; the Porras engage ina mutiny; the mutiny becomes general; is confined by the gout; rushes outto quell the mutiny, but is borne back to the cabin by the few who remainfaithful; the mutineers embark on board ten Indian canoes; provisionsbecome exceedingly scarce; employs a stratagem to obtain supplies from thenatives; another conspiracy is formed; arrival of Diego de Escobar fromHispaniola on a mission from the governor, promising that a ship shallsoon be sent to his relief; overtures of the admiral to the mutineers; notaccepted; they send a petition for pardon; it is granted; two ships arrivefrom Hispaniola; departure of Columbus; arrives at Beata; anchors in theharbor of St. Domingo; is enthusiastically received by the people; isgrieved at the desolation he sees everywhere around him; finds that hisinterests had been disregarded; sets sail for Spain; encounters severaltempests; anchors in the barbor of St. Luear; finds all his affairs inconfusion; is compelled to live by borrowing; writes to King Ferdinand;but, receiving unsatisfactory replies, would have set out for Seville, butis prevented by his infirmities: death of Queen Isabella; is left to thejustice of Ferdinand; employs Vespucci; goes with his brother to court, then held at Segovia; is received in a very cold manner; Don Diego de Dezais appointed arbitrator between the king and the admiral; his claims arereferred to the Junta de Descargos; is confined with a violent attack ofthe gout; petitions the king that his son Diego may be appointed, in hisplace, to the government of which lie bad been so long deprived; hispetition remains unattended to; writes to the new king and queen ofCastile; who promise a speedy and prosperous termination to his suit; hislast illness; writes a testamentary codicil on the blank page of a littlebreviary; writes a final codicil; receives the sacrament; dies; hisburial; his remains removed to Hispaniola, disinterred and conveyed to theHavana; epitaph; observations on his character; his remains removed withgreat ceremony to Cuba; reflections thereon; historical account of hisdescendants; an important lawsuit relative to the beirship (in the femaleline) to the family titles and property; decided in favor of Don NunoGolves do Portugallo; an account of his lineage; an account of hisbirthplace; an account of the ships he used; an examination of his routein the first voyage; the effect of the travels of Marco Polo on his mind;his belief in the imaginary island of St. Brandan; an account of theearliest narratives of his first and second voyages; his ideas relative tothe situation of the terrestrial paradise; his will; his signature. 

Columbus, Don Diego, character of; intrusted with the command of the shipsduring the expedition of Columbus to the mountains of Cibao; madepresident of the junta; reproves Pedro Margarito for his irregularities;the Hidalgos form a faction against him during the absence of his brother;returns to Isabella; a conspiracy formed against him by Roldan; left incommand at St. Domingo, during the tour of Columbus; his conduct on thearrival of Bobadilla; seized by order of Bobadilla, thrown in irons, andconfined on board of a caravel. 

----, Don Diego (son to Christopher), appointed page to Queen Isabella:embarks with his father on his second expedition; left in charge of hisfather's interests in Spain; his ingratitude to Mendez, and falsificationof his promise; his character; succeeds to the rights of his father, asviceroy and governor of the New World; urges the king to give him thoserights; commences a process against the king before the council of theIndies; the defence set up: the suit lasts several years; becomes enamoredof Doña Maria Toledo; a decision, in respect to part of his claim, raiseshim to great wealth; marries Doña Maria, niece to the Duke of Aiva;through this connection he obtains the dignities and powers enjoyed byNicolas de Ovando; embarks for Hispaniola; keeps up great state; becomesembroiled with some of his father's enemies; the court of royal audienceestablished as a check upon him; opposes the repartimientos; his virtuesmake him unpopular, subjugates and settles the island of Cuba without theloss of a single man; sails for Spain to vindicate his conduct; is wellreceived; the death of Ferdinand; obtains a recognition of his innocenceof all charges against him from Charles V. : and has his right acknowledgedto exercise the office of viceroy and governor in all places discovered byhis father; sails for St. Domingo, where he arrives; difficulties he hasto encounter; African slaves having been introduced and most cruelly used, they revolt; are subdued; is accused of usurping too much power; receivesin consequence a severe letter from the council of the Indies; and isdesired to repair to court to vindicate himself; sails, lands, and appearsbefore the court at Victoria; clears himself; prosecutes his claims, follows the court from city to city; is attacked by a slow fever; dies;his family. 

Columbus, Fernando (son to Christopher), accompanies his father on hisfourth voyage; his father's encomium on him; embarks for Hispaniola withDon Diego; an account of him; writes a history of his father. 

----, Don Luis (son to Don Diego), prosecutes the claims of his father andgrandfather; compromises all claims for two titles and a pension; dies. 

Commerce, despotic influence of the Spanish crown in respect to. 

Compass, the, brought into more general use. 

Conception, Santa Maria de la, discovery of. 

---- Fort, erected by Columbus; present state of, note. 

Contradictions, the coast of. 

Convicts who had accompanied Columbus, conduct of, in Hispaniola. 

Copper hatchets seen among the Indians of Guanaca. 

Coral found in Veragua. 

Cormorants, large nights of, seen on the south coast of Cuba. 

Coronel, Pedro Fernandez, sails for Hayti with two ships; arrives at St. Domingo with supplies; is sent to persuade Roldan to return to his duty. 

Correo, Pedro, a navigator of note, with whom Columbus becomes acquainted. 

Cortez, Hernando, conduct of Fonseca to. 

Costa Rica, Columbus sails along the. 

Cotabanama, Cacique of Higuey; massacres eight Spaniards; Ovando marchesagainst him; sues for peace; visits the Spanish camp; another war ensues;cruelty to his tribe; takes shelter with his wife and children in a largecavern; his rencounter with Juan Lopez; is overpowered and chained; sentto St. Domingo and hanged. 

Cotton, where first seen in the Western hemisphere; seen in largequantities in Cuba; tribute of. 

Cranes, flocks of large, seen in Cuba. 

Creation, ideas in respect to the, entertained by the Haytiens. 

Crocodiles found at El Betrete similar to those of the Nile. 

Crosses erected by Columbus to denote his discoveries. Crusade torecover the holy sepulchre proposed by Columbus. 

Cruz, Cabo de la, so named by Columbus. 

Cuba, island of, Columbus bears of; sails in quest of it; discovery of;description of its appearance: hurricanes seldom known in; belief of theinhabitants in a future state; Columbus revisits the consts of; nativesof; Columbus coasts along the southern side; natives; subjugated andsettled by Don Diego Columbus; the remains of Columbus removed to. Cubagua, Isle of, discovery of; natives; pearl fisheries on the coast of, established. Cubiga, a village in Veragua where the country of gold wassupposed to terminate. 

Cucumbers first seen in Hayti. 

Currency, principles on which the sums mentioned in this work have beenreduced to modern currency. 

D. 

Dances of the Haytiens. 

Darien, Gulf of. 

Dead and dying, manner of treating the, by the Haytiens. 

Delphin, island of. 

Deluge, universal, ideas entertained by the Haytiens in respect to. 323. 

Deza, Diego de, character of; coincides with Columbus at the council ofSalamanca; assists him with his purse; made archbishop of Seville; ischosen arbitrator between the king and Columbus. 

Diaz, Bartholomew, account of his discoveries. 

----, Miguel, his romantic history; discovers the gold mines of Hayna;commands the fortress of St. Domingo at the time Bobadilla arrives; hisconduct on being desired to give up his prisoners. 

----, de Pisa, mutiny of; confined on board one of the ships. 

Disaster, river of. 

Discovery, progress of, under prince Henry of Portugal. 

Dogs, dumb, found at Santa Marta. 

Domingo, San, foundation of the city of. 

Dominica, island of, discovered. 

Doves, stock, presented to Columbus by the natives of Cuba. 

Drogeo, a vast country, fabled to have been discovered by some fishermenof Friseland. 

Drum, a species of, used by the Haytiens. 

Dying, manner of treating the. 

E. 

Ear, coast of the. 

Eden, garden of, speculation of Columbus in respect to. 

Egg, anecdote of the. 

Egypt, soldan of, his message to Ferdinand. 

Elmo, St. , electrical lights seen by Columbus. 

Enchanters, the natives of Cariari taken to be. 

Enriqueis, Beatrix, her connnection with Columbus; Columbus's legacy to, ii. 

Escobar, Diego de, arrives at Jamaica on a mission to Columbus from thegovernor of Hispaniola; returns to his ship immediately. 

----, Rodrigo de, chief notary to Columbus's first expedition. 

Escobedo, Rodrigo de, his conduct after the departure of Columbus; deathof. 

Espinal, Antonio de, the first prelate sent to the New World. 

Esquibel, Juan de, employed against the natives of Higuey; his atrociousconduct to his prisoners; causes the natives to be hunted like wild beasts. 

Estotiland, a supposed island on the coast of North America, said to havebeen discovered by some fishermen of Friseland. 

Eudoxus, remarks on his voyage. Evangelista, island of, discovered byColumbus. 

Exuma, discovery of; named Fernandina by Columbus. 

F. 

Farol, Cape, at Jamaica. 

Ferdinand, king of Aragon and Castile, character of; engagements of, onthe arrival of Columbus at Cordova; lays siege to the city of Loxa; grantsan audience to Columbus; desires the prior of Prado to assemble men ofscience to consider his plan; attempt to assassinate him; takes Malaga;forms an alliance with Henry VII. Of England; one of the rival kings ofGranada surrenders his pretensions; receives a message from the soldan ofEgypt; his message to Columbus on learning the unfavorable decision of thecouncil; refers his plan to persons of confidence; his reluctance to theplan after the queen has consented; his joy on learning the success ofColumbus; his reception of him; prepares a second expedition; hisnegotiations with John II. In respect to the new discoveries; listens tothe charges against Columbus; his conduct; his reception of Columbus onhis second return; lays the foundation of the power of Charles V. ;promises Columbus to furnish him with ships for a third voyage;disappointed that his newly-discovered possessions have not become asource of profit; assaulted by the clamors of ruffians who had returnedfrom Hispaniola; his ingratitude to Columbus becomes evident; listens tothe rebels who had been permitted to return to Spain: sends out acommission to inquire into the conduct of Columbus; reprobates the conductpursued against Columbus, and invites him to court; promises to restorehim to all his rights and privileges; his jealousy awakened at thediscoveries of the English and Portuguese. 131; his ingratitude toColumbus; listens to the project of Columbus for a fourth voyage; hisingratitude more evinced on the return of Columbus from his last voyage;erects a monument over Columbus; his conduct to Don Diego Columbus's son;consents that Don Diego should commence a process against him before thecouncil of the Indies; the defence set up; separates the Isthmus of Darieninto two great provinces; death. 

Fernandez, Garcia, physician of Palos, his account of Columbus at the gateof the convent on his first arrival in Spain; testimony of, relative toPinzon. 

Ferrer, Jayme, an eminent lapidary, substance of his letter to Columbus, note. 

Festival, religious, of a Haytien Cacique, description of. 

Fiesco, Bartholomew, embarks with Mendez from Jamaica to Hispaniola;attends the last moments of Columbus. 

Fish, curious. 

Fishing, curious method of. 

Fonseca, Juan Rodriguez de, appointed superintendent of Indian affairs;his character; his difference with Columbus; impedes the affairs ofColumbus; writes a cold letter to Columbus, by order of the sovereigns;shows Columbus's letter to Alonzo de Ojeda; his baseness fully displayed;supposed to have instigated the violent measures of Bobadilla; throwsimpediments in the way of Columbus's fourth voyage; supposed to have beenthe cause of Ovando's disgrace; by order of Ferdinand, establishes acourt, called the Royal Audience; becomes interested in continuing theslave trade; his opposition to Las Casas; an account of; character of; hisconduct to Cortez; accused of having fomented a conspiracy to assassinateCortez. 

Fountain of pure water in the sea, note. 

Franciscans, the order first introduced into the New World. 

Fuego, del, island of, seen by Columbus. 

G. 

Galleys, Venetian, capture of, by Colombo the younger. 

Gama, Vasquez de, doubles the Cape of Good Hope, and opens a new road forthe trade of the East. 

Garcia de Barrantee, his conduct during the conspiracy of Boldan. 

Gardens, the, coast so called. 

---- King's islands. 

---- Queen's, islands of. 

---- the Hesperian, observations in respect to. 

Gato, Paulo, a species of monkey. 

Genoa, Columbus shows great respect to. 

Gentlemen, the pass of, a road so called. 

Geraldini, Alexandria and Antonio, warmly enter into the views ofColumbus; they introduce him to the archbishop of Toledo. 

Gold (Western), discovered first in St. Salvador; specimens of virgin orefound in the interior of Hispaniola; particles found in the streams; andpieces. 

----, tribute of. 

---- mine discovered in Hayti; a solid mass of, which weighed 3600castellanos: superstitious notions in respect to, note: gathered from theroots of the trees in Veragua. 

Golden river, arrival at, in second voyage. 

Gods of the Haytiens. 

Goinarn, Fernando Lopez de, examination of his chargo relative to apilot's having died in the house of Columbus. 

Gorvalan explores part of the interior of Hispaniola; returns to Spain

Gourds introduced into Hayti. 

Gracias a Dios, cape of. 

Granada, discovery of. 

Grape-vines, very luxuriant, found in Cuba. 

Greenland, assertions relative to its discovery by the Scandinavians. 379. 

Granada, surrender of. 

Guadaloupe, island of, discovered; houses, furniture, etc. Of the natives;supposed to be cannibals; description of the island; Columbus revisits it;women of. 

Guacanagari, Cacique of Hispaniola, sends a message to Columbus, receivesthe Spaniards with great courtesy; sheds tears on learning the shipwreckof Columbus; his assistance; and kindness; invites Columbus to hisresidence; manners of; hospitality; procures a great quantity of gold forthe Admiral previous to his departure for Spain; sends his cousin to greetColumbus on his second arrival; his suspicious conduct during the disasterat La Navidad; visits Columbus's ships; admires a captive Carib woman; hisflight into the interior; his mysterious conduct continued; refuses topartake in the plan formed by Caonabo, of exterminating the Spaniards;incurs the hostility of his fellow Caciques; visits Columbus during hissickness, and informs him of a league formed against him: assists Columbusin his expedition against the Indians of the Vega: is present at a battle;incurs the hatred of all the Caciques; is nevertheless compelled to paytribute; takes refuge in the mountains and dies in misery; his character. 

Guana, regarded with disgust by the Spaniards; they conquer theirprejudice. 

Guanaja, discovery of. 

Guaora, Cacique, hunted like a wild beast, and afterwards hanged. 

Guarionex, Cacique of the royal Vega; visits Columbus, and is prevailed onto give his daughter to Diego Colon, the interpreter; permits Columbus tobuild a fortress; character of; submits to the domination of theSpaniards; compelled to pay tribute; offers to cultivate grain; refused;learns the Pater-noster, Ave-Maria, etc. : relapses, and the cause of it;becomes incensed at several Indians being burnt for destroying someimages; takes arms; conspires to assassinate the Spaniards; is seized; ispardoned; enters into a conspiracy with Roldan against the Adelantado;puts a Cacique to death; flies to the mountains of Ciguay; is compelled toretire into the most desolate places; is seized and taken in chains toFort Conception; lost in a hurricane. 

Guatiguana, a Cacique of Hayti, puts ten Spaniards to death, and sets fireto a house. 

Guevara, Don Hernando de, falls in love with Higuamota; is seized in thedwelling of Anacaona; and sent to San Domingo. 

Gulf stream. 

Gutierrez, Pedro, his conduct after the departure of Columbus; death of. 

H. 

Hamacs, used by the natives of Exuma. 

Hanno, remarks on the Periplus of. 

Haro, Bernaldo de, his evidence relative to the discovery of the coast ofParia by Columbus. 

Hatchets of iron, said to be found at Guadaloupe. 

Hawk's bells, delight of the Haytiens on wearing. 

Hayna, mines of, discovered. 

Henry, prince of Portugal, progress of discovery under; account of;considers Africa to be circumnavigable; conceives the idea of turning thetrade of the East; establishes a naval college at Sagres; death. 

Henry VII. Of England, writes a favorable letter to Columbus. 

Herbs, European, introduced in Hispaniola. 

Herrera, Antonio de, a short account of his life and writings; Vossius'seulogium on. 

Herrera, Don Lepo de, his mission to the court of Lisbon. 

Hayti (see Hispaniola), discovery of. 

Haytiens, description of their manners, customs, religion, etc. ; theircharacter; defeated in the battle of the Vega; subjugated; a tributeimposed upon them; their despair; they enter into an association todestroy the crops; the evils fall upon themselves. 

Hidalgos, compelled at Hayti to share the common labors of the settlement;character of the; form a faction against Diego Columbus, during theabsence of his brother. 

Higuamota, daughter of Caonabo, falls in love with Don Hernando deGuevara. 

Higuanama, a female Cacique, hanged by order of Ovando. 

Higuey, domain of: character of its inhabitants; Ovando's war with thenatives; martial character of the people; multitudes of them destroyed;sue for peace; again revolt; and slaughter their tyrants;situation of their towns; are defeated and compelled to conceal themselvesin the fastnesses; are hunted like wild beasts. 

Hipparchus, error of, in respect of Africa, and India. Hispaniola, discovery of; cause of its being so called; description of theinhabitants; of the country; transactions with the natives; form ofgovernment; alarm created by a discharge of cannon; general descriptionof; domains into which it was divided; made the metropolis of the NewWorld: thought to have been the ancient Ophir; an account of the numbersof the natives who perished, victims to the avarice of the whites; cededto the French. 317. Honduras, cape of, discovered by Columbus. ;inhabitants. 

Honey and wax found at Guadaloupe. 

Horses, fear of the Haytiens of; terror inspired by them at the battle ofthe Vega; a remarkable one which moved in curvets to the music of a viol. 

Huelva, Alonzo Sanchez de, the pilot, fabled to have died in the house ofColumbus. 

Huerta, La, delightful island of, H. 167; inhabitauts of. 

Humboldt, his account of the present condition of the southern side ofCuba; account of the route of Columbus, note. 

Hurricanes, seldom known in Cuba; a violent one in Hayti; reflections ofthe Haytiens previous to it. 

I. 

Iceland, Columbus supposed to have visited; assertions relative to itsdiscovery by the Scandinavians. 

Impressment resorted to on Columbus's third voyage. 

Indians, six taken from the New World; arrival of in Spain; are baptized;an Indian, of Jamaica, desires Columbus to take him to Spain. 

Iron, a pan of, seen at Guadaloupe. 

Isabella, discovery of the island of. 

----, princess, marriage of, with the heir-apparent of Portugal. 

----, queen of Aragon and Castile, character of; engagements of, on thearrival of Columbus in Spain: repairs to the seat of war in Granada;thence to Gallicia and Salamanca; an attempt to assassinate her; Columbusrecommended to her by the marchioness of Moya; her ability in militaryaffairs; receives a letter from the prior of La Rabida; invites Columbusto court; Luis de St. Angel reasons with her; signifies her assent;declares her resolution to pawn her jewels to defray the expenses; herenthusiasm in the cause; her motives; her joy at learning the success ofColumbus; her reception of him; her zeal for the welfare of the Indians;her anxiety in respect to the conversion of the Haytiens; humanelyprevents the Haytien slaves from being sold to slavery; orders them to besent back to Hayti; enters into the views of Columbus in respect to athird voyage; her humane directions; death of her son, Prince Juan; makesColumbus's two sons her pages; begins to doubt the conduct of Columbus;offended at his pertinacity in making slaves of the Indians taken in war;orders all those sent to Spain to be restored to their country andfriends; consents to the sending out a commission to investigate hisconduct; filled with sympathy and indignation on reading Columbus's letterto Doña de la Torre; invites him to court; is moved to tears at beholdinghim; her concern for the welfare of the Indians; listens with complacencyto the proposition of Columbus for a fourth voyage; receives the news ofthe sanguinary acts of Ovando with horror and indignation; exacts apromise from the king that he shall be superseded in the government;causes of the melancholy under which she labored; her death; and character. 

J. 

Jamaica discovered by Columbus; the natives receive Columbus in a hostilemanner; Columbus takes possession of it; amicable intercourse with thenatives; their character; their canoes; subjugated by Don Diego. 

----, Cacique of, visits Columbus, and oifers to go and do homage to theking and queen of Spain; this offer evaded by Columbus. 

Japan (Cipango), Marco Polo's account of it. 

Jasper, specimens found among the mountains of Cibao. 

Jerez, Rodrigo de, sent up the island of Cuba by Columbus; account of hisjourney. 

Jews not allowed to establish themselves in the colonies, or undertakevoyages of discovery. 

John of Anjou, an account of his expedition against Naples. 

---- II. King of Portugal, the passion for maritime discovery revivesunder; sends missions in quest of Prester John; receives a proposition ofa voyage of discovery from Columbus; refers it to a junto and his council, who report it to be visionary; consents to use an unwarrantable stratagem;desires to renew the negotiation with Columbus; who refuses and quitsPortugal; invites Columbus to Portugal, and promises protection; invitesColumbus on his return from the New World; his jealousy excited; hisarmament; his negotiations with Ferdinand in respect to the newdiscoveries; his idea in respect to a continent in the southern ocean. 

Josephus, his opinion relative to the gold used in the temple ofJerusalem. 

Juan, prince, his nuptials; his death. 

Juana, queen of Castile, arrival of; promises a prosperous termination tothe suit of Columbus. 

Junta de Descargos, the claims of Columbus referred to the. 

K. 

Kings, Moorish, of Granada, one of them surrenders hie pretensions toFerdinand; the other surrenders Granada. 

Kircher, Athanasius, his opinion relative to the travels of Marco Polo. 

L. 

Labrador, discovered by Sebastian Cabot. 

Lactantius, passage quoted from, to prove the impossibility of their beingantipodes. 

Lapis lazuli, specimens found among the mountains of Cibao. 

Ledesma, Pedro, his gallant conduct; involves himself in Porra's mutiny, and receives a multitude of wounds; is assassinated. 

Lepe, Diego de, discovers more of the southern continent than any voyagerof his day. Lineage of Christopher Columbus, an account of. 

Lombards, the extent of their trade. 

Lopez, Juan, his rencontre with Cotabanaina. 

Lots for Pilgrimages, drawing of. 

Luxan, Juan de, hie excursion among the mountains of Cibao. 

M. 

Macham, his discovery of Madeira; an account of his adventures. 

Madeira, an account of the discovery of the island of. 

Magellan, electrical lights seen during his voyage on the masts of ships. 

Maguana, domain of, an account of. 

Mahogany, canoes made of. 

Maize, cultivated in Ilayti. 

Maladies of the Spaniards in Hayti, 330. 

Malaga, eiege and capture of. 

Maldonado, Don Alonzo, appointed Alguazil-mayor in the place of Roldan, inHispaniola. 

Maldonado, Melchor, visits Guacanagari; proceeds along the coast. 

Malte-Brun, his conjecture relative to Columbus considered. 

Man, origin of, according to the Haytiens. 

Manicaotex, succeeds Caonabo; commands in a battle; is conquered and suesfor peace; compelled to pay half a calabash of gold every three months;assembly of the Caciques at his house to prefer complaints againstColumbus. 

Mandeville, Sir John, a short account of his travels; held in greatauthority by Columbus. 

Mangon, a province of Cuba. 

Map, Paulo Toscanelli's, used by Columbus on hia first voyage. 

Maps, a great improvement made in. 

Marble, masses of, found among the mountains of Cibao. 

Marcolini, his account of Estotiland and Drogeo. 

Margarita, island of, discovery of. 

of Austria, her nuptials with prince Juan. 

Margnrite, Pedro, recommended to a command by Columbus; made commander ofthe fortress of St. Thomas; sends an account of the conduct of his colony, etc. ; is invested with the command of the forces; disregards hisinstructions; his misconduct during the absence of Columbus; is censuredby Diego Columbus; forms a plan of returning to Spain; sets sail; hisaccusations of Columbus at Madrid. 

Marque, Diego, missed at Guadaloupe; his return; is placed under arrest. 

Maria, Santa, discovery of. 

Marien, domain, account of. 

Martin V. , Pope, concedes to the crown of Portugal all the lands it mightdiscover from Cape Bajador to the Indies. 

Marta, Santa, discovery of. 

Martin, San, island of, discovered. 

Martyr, Peter, his account of Cuba; his description of the natives ofHispaniola; sent to the soldan of Egypt to make arrangements for theconservation of the holy sepulchre: short account of his life andwritings; passages from his letters relative to Columbus; his character ofAmerigo Vespucci. 

Marigalante, island of, discovery of. 

Mateo, Juan, a Haytien converted to Christianity. 

Mauro, constructs a celebrated map, note. 

Mayobanex, Cacique of the Cignayens; Guarionex flies to him for refuge;his answer to the Adelantado, when desired to give up Guarionex; isdeserted in his need; compelled to fly; is seized with his wife andchildren. 

Medina Celi, duke of, entertains Columbus; application of Columbus to;writes to the queen. 

----, Sidonia, duke of, application of Columbus to; plan rejected. 

Melons introduced into Hayti. 

Mendez, Diego, his bold conduct at Veragua; his reward; his meritoriousconduct at Jamaica; his conversation with Columbus; undertakes to go in acanoe to St. Domingo; departs with one Spaniard and six Indians; narrowlyescapes being murdered by the Indians of the coast and returns; account ofhis voyage; sails for Spain; his subsequent history, note. Mendoza, PedroGonzalez de. See Toledo, Archbishop of. Meneses, Don Pedro de, his answerto the bishop of Ceuta in respect to the propriety of maritimediscoveries. 

Mermaids, three supposed, seen by Columbus. 

Mexiatrillo, Rodrigo, commands the soldiery at the massacre of Xaragua. Ii. 264. 

Misa, Rio de la, so called from mass performed on its banks. 

Monis de Palestrello, Doña Felipa, her marriage with Columbus. 

Monte Christi, description of; Columbus founds the city of Isabella. 

Montserrat, discovery of. 

Moors, war against the. 

----, none permitted to establish themselves in the colonies or go onvoyages of discovery. 

Morales, Francisco, his evidence relative to the discovery of the coast ofParia by Columbus. 

Mother-of-pearl found on the coast of Paria. 

Moxica, Adrian de, conspiracy of; meditates the death of the Admiral andRoldan; is seized; and flung headlong froin the battlements of FortConception. 

Moya, marchioness of, becomes a friend to Columbus; and recommends hissuit to the queen; also. 

Mulatas, islands of, discovered. 

Mules, the employment of, under the saddle, prohibited in Spain. 

Music of the Haytiens. 

Musicians sent to Hayti to enliven the spirits of the colony. 

N. 

Names, exchanging, an Indian league of fraternity. 

Navarrete, his opinion relative to the island first discovered byColumbus. 

Navasa, island of; fountain near. 

Navidad, La, or the Nativity, construction of the fortress of; disastersat the fortress; abandoned by Columbus. 

Needle, variation of the, first noticed; inclines a whole point;Columbus's speculation in respect to. 

Negroes of Africa introduced into Hispaniola; their first revolt. 

Negotiations, diplomatic, between the courts of Spain and Portugal, withrespect to the new discoveries. 

Newfoundland, assertions relative to the discovery of, by theScandinavians. 

Nicholas, St. , harbor of. 

Nicuesa, Diego de, appointed governor of Golden Castile. 

Niño, Pedro Alonzo, sails for Hayti; arrives at Cadiz from Hispaniola, with a number of Indian prisoners. 

Noya, Juan de, his escape by diving. 

O. 

Ocean, line of demarkation of the, between Spain and Portugal. 

Oderigo, documents in the possession of the family of, relative toColumbus. 

Ojeda, Don Alonzo de, goes in search of Diego Marque, at Guadaloupe; hisexpedition to explore the interior of Iliwpaniola; sallies from Isabella;character of; his conduct in respect to some Haytien thieves; characterof; is besieged by Caonabo; anecdote of; undertakes to seize Caonabo, anddeliver him alive into the hands of Columbus; visits him; offers him thebell of Isabella; his stratagem to take him off; conquers in an engagementwith a brother of Caonabo; his conduct at the battle of the Vega; arrivesat the western part of Hispaniola on a voyage of discovery; cause of hisvoyage; his manoeuvres with Roldan; leaves the inland with a threat;returns to Spain with a drove of slaves; appointed governor of NewAndalusia; fails in his undertaking to colonize that country; his evidencerelative to the discovery of the coast of Paria by Columbus. 

Oro, Rio del, or Santiago, discovered. 

Otto, Mons. , remarks on his letter to Dr. Franklin relative to MartinBehem. 

Ovando, Don Nicholas de, chosen to supersede Bobadilla; character of;great privileges granted to; his fleet; allowed to wear silk, preciousstones, etc. ; sails; reaches St. Domingo and assumes the government;refuses to let Columbus take shelter; his mysterious conduct to Columbusin his distress as Jamaica; an account of his administration andoppression; sufferings of the natives under the civil policy of; view ofthe military operations of: visits Anneaona: takes it into his head thatshe intends to massacre him and all his attendants; seizes Anacaona andburns all the Caciques: massacres the populace; and causes Anacaona to beignominiously hanged; his further atrocious conduct, to the unfortunateIndians; founds Santa Maria in commemoration of his atrocities. 267; wageswar against the natives of Higuey; causes many of them to be slaughteredand their chieftains to be burnt; hangs a female Cacique of distinction;causes 600 Indians of Saona to be imprisoned in one dwelling and put tothe sword; receives Columbus on his arrival at St. Domingo with ahypocritical politeness. 

Oviedo, Gonzalo Fernandez de, a short account of his life and writings. 

Oysters, in the Gulf of Paria, round the roots of the Mangrove trees. 

Ozema, river of, and the country through which it flows. 

P. 

Palos, the port whence Columbus sailed on his first expedition; presentstate of; visit to. 

Palms, Cape of, discovered. 

Pane, Roman, labors to convert the Haytiens. 

Paradise, observations on the situation of the terrestrial; of theHaytiens. 

Paria. , Gulf of, Columbus's voyage through the; description of the coastof; manners of the natives; current of the sea. 

Parrots, first seen in the western hemisphere; large flights of, seen;found on the coast of Paria. 

Partition, papal bull of; line of, removed. 

Pasamonte, Miguel, becomes an enemy to Don Diego Columbus. 

Pearls, the Gulf of. 

---- of Cubagua. Pepper, Agi. 

Perez, Alonzo, discovers land in Columbus's third voyage. 

----, Pray Juan, prior of the convent of La Raibida, entertains Columbuson his first entry into Spain; gives him letters of introduction to thequeen's confessor, and educates his son; reception of Columbus; writes toQueen Isabella; invited to court; pleads the cause of Columbus; receives avisit from Columbus after his success. 

Philip, king of Castile, listens to the request of Columbus, and promisesa prosperous termination to his suit. 

Pigeons, wood, vast numbers seen on the south side of Cuba. 

Pilgrimages, lots for, drawing of. 

Pilot, observations on the rumor of a pilot having died in the house ofColumbus. 

Pine-apple first met with. 

Pines, island of, discovered by Columbus. 

Pinos, Isla de, discovery of. 

Pinta, desertion of. 

Pinzons, family of, they enable Columbus to offer to bear one-eighth ofthe charge of the expedition, and to add a third ship to the armament. 100; their activity and interest in the voyage; furnish Columbus withmoney to defray the eighth share of the expense; account of their family, note. Pinzon, Martin Alonzo, offers to bear the expenses of Columbus in arenewed application to the court; his opinion relative to the nearness ofland; begins to lose confidence in the course they are pursuing; creditingthe accounts of the Indians in respect to a very rich island, deserts andgoes in search of it; Columbus meets him; his apology: account of hisproceedings; his duplicity becomes more evident: his arrival at Palos;effect of his treacherous conduct; his death; reflections on; observationsrelative to the supposed idea of Columbus owing to him the success of hisgreat enterprise: his character. 

----, Vicente Yanes, obtains a license for voyages of discovery; sails ona voyage of discovery; discovers the Brazils; discovers the river ofAmazons; is allowed, as a reward, to colonize and govern the lands whichhe had discovered. 

Planisphere of Martin Behein. Pliny, his notice of electrical lights onthe masts of ships. 

Poetry of the Haytiens. 

Polo, Nicholas and Matteo, an account of their travels into the east;their first journey; return: their second journey: their return; invitetheir relatives to a splendid banquet. 

----, Marco, influence of his travels upon the mind of Columbus; ii. 406;short account of his travels; his return; commands a galley at the battleof Cuzzola: is taken prisoner and sent in chains to Genoa; writes anaccount of his travels; is liberated and returns to Venice; an account ofhis work. 

Porras, Francisco de, engages in a mutiny at Jamaica; they embark withmost of Columbus's erew in ten Indian canoes; are driven back; and withtheir companions rove about the island; refuses an offer of pardon;attacks the Admiral and Adelantado; taken prisoner: is set at liberty byOvando; and sent to Spain to be examined by the Indian board. 284. 

Porto Rico, or Boriquen, discovery of. 

Portugal and Spain, diplomatic negotiations between the courts of, withrespect to the new discoveries. 

Potato in Hayti. 

Prado, prior of. See Talavera. 

Prester John, an imaginary Christian king; account of. 

Priests of the Haytiens. 

Ptolemy, difficulty at the council of Salamanaca to reconcile the theoryof Columbus with that of. 

Puerto de Bastimento, harbor of. 

---- Bello, discovery of, by Columbus. 

---- Santo, Columbus's description of. 

Q. 

Queen's Gardens, Columlms's arrival at, in his third voyage; archipelagoof, discovered. 

Question, the territorial, how settled. 

Quibian, Cacique of Veragua, interview with Bartholomew Columbus: secondinterview; determines on preventing the Spaniards from obtaining asettlement in his territories; conspires to burn their houses and murderthem; is seized by the Adelantado with his wives and children; escapes ina very extraordinary manner 199; attacks the Spaniards and is defeated. 

Quinsai, Marco Polo's account of. 

Quintanilla, Alonzo de, receives Columbus into his house. 

R. 

Rabida, La, convent of, Columbus is entertained at, on his first arrivalin Spain; present state. 

Reeds, river of. 

----, immense, seen on the Mosquito coast. 

Reinier, king of Naples, Columbus engages in his service. 

Religion of the natives of Hayti. 

Repartimientos, origin of: opposition of Don Diego Columbus to the. 

Rewards and punishments, ideas of the Haytiens in respect to. 

Rio Verde, or the green river. 

Riquelme, Pedro, makes his house the headquarters of the rebels atHispaniola; made Alcalde by Roldan: joins in a conspiracy with Adrian deMoxica; is taken. 

Road, the first constructed by Europeans in the New World. 

Rodriguez, Sebastian, takes a letter from the prior Perez to the queen. 91. 

Roldan, Francisco, history and character of: an account of his conspiracy;takes possession of Xaragua; his conduct in respect to the ships sentforward by Columbus: promises to repair to St. Domingo on the arrival ofColumbus; his interview with Ballester; rejects an offer of pardon;demands his discharge; his interview with Carvajal, etc. ; determines ongoing to the admiral; correspondence with the admiral; sends propositionsby Carvajal; which are accepted; circumstances prevent their being actedupon; makes a second arrangement with the admiral; is permitted to resumehis office of Alcalde-mayor; receives a grant of lands; visits his lands;assumes new authority; is sent to meet Alonzo de Ojeda; his manoeuvreswith him; his rivalship with Guevara; seizes him in the dwelling ofAnacaona; treated with confidence by Bobadilla; his conduct investigatedby Ovando; sails for Spain, and is lost in a violent hurricane. 

Roman, Friar, his account of the natives of Hispauiola. 

S. 

Sabellicus, his account of the capture of the Venetian galleys. 

Salamanca, the learned assemble at, to consider the proposition ofColumbus; pronounce the plan to be vain and impossible. 

Salcedo, Diego de, arrives at Jamaica with succors from Ovando. 

Salvador, St. , discovery of; awe and surprise of the natives on firstbeholding the ships of Columbus; description of them; gold firstdiscovered in this island. 

Samana, Gulf of, discovered. 

San Rafael, discovery of. 

Sanchez, Juan, takes charge of Quibian. Ii. 196; who escapes; killed inbattle by the Adelantado. 

Sande, Don Ruy do, his mission to the Spanish court. 

Santa Marta, island of, discovered. 

Santa, La Isla, discovery of. 

Santa Cruz, island of, discovery of. 

Santa Gloria, (St. Ann's Bay), discovered by Columbus. 

Santiago. See Jamaica; letter of Heneken, note. 

----, river of, discovered. 

Saometa, discovery of. 

Saona, island of, discovered; difference of longitude between, and Cadiz

Scandinavians, an essay relative to the voyages of. 

Schedel, remarks on an interpolation in his chronicle. 

Seneca, his notice of electrical lights on the masts of ships. 

Serafin Point. 

Sharks, a multitude of, seen on the coast of Veragua; curious method oftaking them; superstition concerning. 

Ships, observation relative to the size of those employed by Columbus. 

Slaves, five hundred are sent to Spain; three hundred sent by BartholomewColumbus; arrival in Spain; Queen Isabella interests herself in theirfavor; orders them to be sent back to Hayti; negroes first introduced tothe New World; revolt of; Hispaniola the first island to exhibit an awfulretribution; regulations in respect to. 

Solomon, the gold used in the temple of. 

Soria, Juan de, his insolence to Columbus. 

Soul, ideas of the Haytiens in respect to the; the after-state of, believed by the natives of Cuba. 

Spain and Portugal, diplomatic negotiations between the courts of, withrespect to the new discoveries. 

Spotorno, Gio, publishes documents relative to Columbus, note. 

Sugar-cane introduced into Hayti. 

Superstition of St. Elmo lights. 

Swallow, a, encircles the ships of Columbus. 

T. 

Talavera, Fernando de, prior of Prado and confessor to Queen Isabella. 85; esteems Columbus's plan impossible; he is desired by the king toassemble men of science to consider the matter; reports to the king thatthe council had pronounced the plan vain and impossible; takes a messagefrom the king;' disgusted at the high terms insisted on by Columbus. 

Teneriffe, fears of the crew at beholding Mount. 

Territory, question of, how settled. 

Thomas, St. , fortress of, erected; see note; conduct of the coloniststhere; attacks of. 

Tobacco, first seen in the island of Cuba. 

Tobago, discovery of. 

Toledo, archbishop of, his character; gives Columbus an attentive hearing;and procures him an audience of the king. 

Toledo, Doña Maria de, Don Diego Columbus becomes enamored of: theirmarriage; and embarkation for Hispaniola; is left as vice-queen at St. Domingo on the sailing of Don Diego for Spain; becomes a widow. 

Torre, Doña Juana de la, receives a letter from Columbus with an accountof his treatment. 

Torres, Antonio de, dispatched from Hispaniola, with twelve ships, toSpain; arrives at Cadiz; dismissed from office. 

----, Luis de, sent up the island of Cuba by Columbus; an account of hisjourney. 

Tortoises, sea covered with, on the southern coast of Cuba; curious methodof taking; a living one taken out of the maw of a shark. 

Tortugas, beautiful island of, discovery of. 

Toscanelli, Paulo, his correspondence with Columbus. 

Trade of the colonies monopolized by the crown of Spain; the Spanishsystem the scoff of modern times. 

Trasierra, Juan de. 

Triana, Rodrigo de, first sees the land of the western world; account of. 

Tribute imposed upon the Haytiens. 

Trinidad, island of, discovered; description of its appearance; curiousaccount of the natives. 

Tristan, Diego; is killed. 

Tudela, Benjamin, travels of. 

Turk's island, observations relative to. 

U. 

Ursula, Santa, island of, discovered. 

V. 

Vassals, natives of Hispaniola reduced to the condition of. 

Vega, Garcilasso de la, his tale relative to a pilot having died in thehouse of Columbus. 

----, river; called by the natives Yagui. 

----, Real, the royal plain. 

Velasco, Francisco. 

Velasquez, Diego, commands the soldiery at the massacre of Xaragua. 

Veragua, coast of, discovery of; warlike spirit of the inhabitants; soilappears to be impregnated with gold; Golden Castile. 

Voraguas, duke of, consents to have the remains of Columbus removed toCuba. 

----, the heirship to Columbus decided in his favor. 

Verde, Cape de, discovery of. 

Vespucci, Amerigo, first notice of his expedition; employed by Columbus atcourt; an account of; a summary view of his claim to the title of adiscoverer; the voyage whence his name was given to the Americancontinent; Columbus's letter to his son relative to the merit andmisfortunes of; Peter Martyr's character of: his letter to René, duke ofLorraine; observations relative to the points in controversy; author'sconclusion, that the voyage asserted to have been made by Amerigo Vespuccinever took place. 

Vessel, stern-post of a, found in one of the houses at Guadaloupe. 

Villains, natives of Hispaniola reduced to the condition of. 

Villego, Alonzo de, appointed to carry Columbus to Spain; character of;his colloquy with Columbus previous to their sailing. 

Vines introduced into Hayti. 

Vinland, a supposed discovery. 

Virgins, the eleven thousand, islands of, discovered. 

Vows made in a storm by Columbus and his crew; attempt at fulfilment. 

W. 

Waterspout, a remarkable, seen on the coast of Veragua. 

Wax, cake of, presented to the sovereigns by Columbus. 

Wheat, introduced into Hayti. 

Wolves, sea, several killed on the coast of Hispaniola. 

Woman, account of a very strong, of Guadaloupe; taken to Columbus's ship;falls in love with Caonabo, and refuses to return on shore. 

Women, origin of, according to the Haytiens. 

Writing, fear of the Indians of Cariari at seeing the Spaniards write. 

X. 

Xagua, gulf of. 

Xaragua, domain of, an account of; description of its inhabitants; Roldantakes possession of; massacre at. 

Xerif al Edrizi, his description of the Atlantic. 

Ximenes, cardinal; prohibits licenses to import slaves from Africa to thecolonies. 

Y. 

Yanique, river of. 

Z. 

Zemes, inferior deities of the Haytiens. 

Zipangu (Japan), Marco Polo's account of. 

Zones, the, observations relative to. 

Footnotes

[1]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. Iv. 

[2]: Ibid. , lib. V. 

[3]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. V. 

[4]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, lib. Ii. P. 147. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, lib. Vi. § 6. 

[5]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. V. 

[6]: "These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bygness; theycall them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste adventure to tasteof them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet theAdelantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king's sister, Anacaona, determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte the fleshthereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fel to amayne without alfeare. The which thyng his companions perceiving, were not behynde hym ingreedynesse: insomuche that they had now none other talke than of thesweetnesse of these serpentes, which, they affirm to be of more pleasanttaste, than eyther our phesantes or partriches. " Peter Martyr, decad. I. Book v. Eden's Eng. Trans. 

[7]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , tom. I. Cap. 113. 

[8]: Ibid, lib. I. Cap. 114. 

[9]: P. Martyr, decad. I. Lib. V. Of the residence of Guarionex, which musthave been a considerable town, not the least vestige can be discovered atpresent. Vol. II. --2. 

[10]: Escritura de Fr. Roman, Hist. Del Almirante. 

[11]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. Ix. 

[12]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 121. 

[13]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 65. Peter Martyr, decad. Vi. Lib. V. 

[14]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 7. 

[15]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. V. Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 6. 

[16]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. V. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 6. 

[17]: Ramusio, vol. Iii. P. 9. 

[18]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 1. 

[19]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 118. 

[20]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 73. 

[21]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 73. 

[22]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 7. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 74. 

_Extract of a letter from T. S. Heneken, Esq. , _ 1847. --FortConception is situated at the foot of a hill now called Santo Cerro. It isconstructed of bricks, and is almost as entire at the present day as whenjust finished. It stands in the gloom of an exuberant forest which hasinvaded the scene of former bustle and activity; a spot once considered ofgreat importance and surrounded by swarms of intelligent beings. 

What has become of the countless multitudes this fortress was intended toawe? Not a trace of them remains excepting in the records of history. Thesilence of the tomb prevails where their habitations responded to theirsongs and dances. A few indigent Spaniards, living in miserable hovels, scattered widely apart in the bosom of the forest, are now the soleoccupants of this once fruitful and beautiful region. 

A Spanish town gradually grew up round the fortress; the ruins of whichextend to a considerable distance. It was destroyed by an earthquake, atnine o'clock of the morning of Saturday, 20th April, 1564, during thecelebration of mass. Part of the massive walls of a handsome church stillremain, as well as those of a very large convent or hospital, supposed tohave been constructed in pursuance of the testamentary dispositions ofColumbus. The inhabitants who survived the catastrophe retired to a smallchapel, on the banks of a river, about a league distant, where the newtown of La Vega was afterwards built. 

[23]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 7. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 74. 

[24]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 74. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 7. 

[25]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 118. 

[26]: Ibid. , cap. 119. 

[27]: Las Casas. Herrera. Hist. Del Almirante. 

[28]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 8. 

[29]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , cap. 121, MS. Peter Martyr, decad. I. Cap. 5. 

[30]: The particulars of this chapter are chiefly from P. Martyr, decad. I. Lib. Vi. ; the manuscript history of Las Casas, lib. I. Cap. 121; andHerrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 8, 9. 

[31]: Las Casas, lib. I. Cap. 149, 150. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 12. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 77. 

[32]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 153. 

[33]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 78. 

[34]: In one of these ships sailed the father of the venerable historianLas Casas, from whom he derived many of the facts of his history. LasCasas, lib. I. Cap. 153. 

[35]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 157. 

[36]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 78. 

[37]: Ibid. , cap. 79. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap 13. 

[38]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 153. 

[39]: Ibid. , cap. 158. 

[40]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 79. 

[41]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 80. 

[42]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[43]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[44]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[45]: Idem. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 38. 

[46]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[47]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iii cap. 16. 

[48]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[49]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, lib. Vi. § 50. 

[50]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 84. 

[51]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[52]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 83, 84. 

[53]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[54]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iii. Cap. 16. 

[55]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 3. 

[56]: Las Casas. 

[57]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 4. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part in MS. Unpublished. 

[58]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 84. 

[59]: Hist. Del Almirante, ubi sup. 

[60]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 169, MS. 

[61]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. 

[62]: Las Casas, lib. I. Cap. 169. 

[63]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 5. 

[64]: Lag Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 170, MS. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 7. 

[65]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 84. 

[66]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 85. 

[67]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part unpublished. 

[68]: Las Casas, lib. I. 

[69]: Oviedo, Cronica, lib. Iii. Cap. 6. 

[70]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 7. 

[71]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib i. Cap. 169. Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 8. 

[72]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 179. 

[73]: Las Casas, ubi sup. Herrera, ubi sup. 

[74]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 85. Las Casas. Herrera, ubi sup. 

[75]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. 

[76]: Ibid. 

[77]: Letter of Columbus to the nurse of Prince Juan. 

[78]: Idem. Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. 

[79]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 9. Letter to the nurse of PrinceJuan. 

[80]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 180. 

[81]: Idem, lib. I. Cap. 180. 

[82]: Peter Martyr mentions a vulgar rumor of the day, that the admiral, not knowing what might happen, wrote a letter in cipher to the Adelantado, urging him to come with arms in his hands to prevent any violence thatmight be contrived against him; that the Adelantado advanced, in effect, with his armed force, but having the imprudence to proceed some distanceahead of it, was surprised by the governor, before his men could come tohis succor, and that the letter in cipher had been sent to Spain. Thismust have been one of the groundless rumors of the day, circulated toprejudice the public mind. Nothing of the kind appears among the chargesin the inquest made by Bobadilla, and which was seen, and extracts madefrom it, by Las Casas, for his history. It is, in fact, in totalcontradiction to the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and FernandoColumbus. 

[83]: Charlevoix, in his History of San Domingo (lib. Iii. P. 199), statesthat the suit against Columbus was conducted in writing; that writtencharges were sent to him, to which he replied in the same way. This iscontrary to the statements of Las Casas, Herrera, and Fernando Columbus. The admiral himself, in his letter to the nurse of Prince Juan, afterrelating the manner in which he and his brothers had been thrown intoirons, and confined separately, without being visited by Bobadilla, orpermitted to see any other persons, expressly adds, "I make oath that I donot know for what I am imprisoned. " Again, in a letter written some timeafterwards from Jamaica, he says, "I was taken and thrown with two of mybrothers in a ship, loaded with irons, with little clothing and muchill-treatment, without being summoned or convicted by justice. "

[84]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 10. Oviedo, Cronica. Lib. Iii. Cap. 6. 

[85]: Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, part unpublished. 

[86]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86. 

[87]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 180, MS. 

[88]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 180, MS. 

[89]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 86. 

[90]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 182. 

[91]: Oviedo, Cronica, lib. Iii. Cap. 6. 

[92]: Las Casas, lib. I. Cap. 182. Two thousand ducats, or two thousandeight hundred and forty-six dollars, equivalent to eight thousand fivehundred and thirty-eight dollars of the present day. 

[93]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 10. 

[94]: Peter Martyr, decad. I. Lib. Ix. 

[95]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 12. Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, partunpublished. 

[96]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 2. Muñoz, part unpublished. 

[97]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 2 Muñoz, part unpublished. 

[98]: Hakluyt's Collection of Voyages, vol. Iii. P. 7. Vol. II. -9

[99]: Lafiteau, Conquetes des Portugais, lib. Ii. 

[100]: Robertson, Hist. America, book ii. 

[101]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 3. 

[102]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 1, MS. 

[103]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. Lib. Ii. Cap. 3, MS. 

[104]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Iv. Cap. 12. 

[105]: Muñoz, part inedit. Las Casas says the fleet consisted of thirty-twosail. He states from memory, however; Muñoz from documents. 

[106]: Muñoz, H. N. Mundo, part inedit. 

[107]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 3, MS. 

[108]: Garibay, Hist. España, lib. Xix. Cap. 6. Among the collectionsexisting in the library of the late Prince Sebastian, there is a foliowhich, among other things, contains a paper or letter, in which is acalculation of the probable expenses of an army of twenty thousand men, for the conquest of the Holy Land. It is dated in 1509 or 1510, and thehandwriting appears to be of the same time. 

[109]: Columbus was not singular in his belief; it was entertained by manyof his zealous and learned admirers. The erudite lapidary, Jayme Ferrer, in the letter written to Columbus in 1495, at the command of thesovereigns, observes: "I see in this a great mystery: the divine andinfallible Providence sent the great St. Thomas from the west into theeast, to manifest in India our holy and Catholic faith; and you, Señor, hesent in an opposite direction, from the east into the west, until you havearrived in the Orient, into the extreme part of Upper India, that thepeople may hear that which their ancestors neglected of the preaching ofSt. Thomas. Thus shall be accomplished what was written, _in omnemterram exibit sonus eorum_. " . . . And again, "The office which you hold, Señor, places you in the light of an apostle and ambassador of God, sentby his divine judgment, to make known his holy name in unknownlands. "--Letra de Mossen, Jayme Ferrer, Navarrete, Coleccion, tom. Ii. Decad. 68. See also the opinion expressed by Agostino Giustiniani, hiscontemporary, in his Polyglot Psalter. 

[110]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 4. Las Casas specifics the vicinity ofNombre de Dios as the place. 

[111]: Navarrete, Colec. Viag. , tom. Ii. P. 145. 

[112]: A manuscript volume containing a copy of this letter and of thecollection of prophecies is in the Columbian Library, in the Cathedral ofSeville, where the author of this work has seen and examined it sincepublishing the first edition. The title and some of the early pages of thework are in the handwriting of Fernando Columbus; the main body of thework is by a strange hand, probably by the Friar Gaspar Gorricio, or somebrother of his Convent. There are trifling marginal notes or corrections, and one or two trivial additions in the handwriting of Columbus, especially a passage added after his return from his fourth voyage, andshortly before his death, alluding to an eclipse of the moon which tookplace during his sojourn in the island of Jamaica. The handwriting of thislast passage, like most of the manuscript of Columbus which the author hasseen, is small and delicate, but wants the firmness and distinctness ofhis earlier writing, his hand having doubtless become unsteady by age andinfirmity. 

This document is extremely curious as containing all the passages ofScripture and of the works of the fathers which had so powerful aninfluence on the enthusiastic mind of Columbus, and were construed by himinto mysterious prophecies and revelations. The volume is in goodpreservation, excepting that a few pages have been cut out. The writing, though of the beginning of the fifteenth century, is very distinct andlegible. The library-mark of the book is Estante Z. Tab. 138, No. 25. 

[113]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 4. 

[114]: These documents lay unknown in the Oderigo family until 1670, whenLorenzo Oderigo presented them to the government of Genoa, and they weredeposited in the archives. In the disturbances and revolutions of aftertimes, one of these copies was taken to Paris, and the other disappeared. In 1816 the latter was discovered in the library of the deceased CountMichel Angelo Cambiaso, a senator of Genoa. It was procured by the king ofSardinia, then sovereign of Genoa, and given up by him to the city ofGenoa in 1821. A custodia, or monument, was erected in that city for itspreservation, consisting of a marble column supporting an urn, surmountedby a bust of Columbus. The documents were deposited in the urn. Thesepapers have been published, together with an historical memoir ofColumbus, by D. Gio. Battista Spotorno, Professor of Eloquence, etc. Inthe University of Genoa. 

[115]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 88. 

[116]: Señor Navarrete supposes this island to be the same at presentcalled Santa Lucia. From the distance between it and Dominica, as statedby Fernando Columbus, it was more probably the present Martinica. 

[117]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 88. 

[118]: Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. I. 

[119]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 88. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 5. 

[120]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 3. 

[121]: Las Casas, cap. 5. 

[122]: Las Casas, cap. 5. 

[123]: Las Casas ubi sup. 

[124]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 5. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 88. 

[125]: Supposed to be the Morant Keys. 

[126]: Called in some of the English maps Bonacca. 

[127]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. I. 

[128]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 20. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. 

[129]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[130]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 21. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 90. 

[131]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 80. 

[132]: Letter from Jamaica. Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[133]: Las Casas, lib ii. Cap. 21. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 91. 

[134]: P. Martyr, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. These may have been the lime, asmall and extremely acid species of the lemon. 

[135]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 21. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 91. Journalof Porras. 

[136]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 91. 

[137]: Letter from Jamaica. 

[138]: Note. --We find instances of the same kind of superstition in thework of Marco Polo, and as Columbus considered himself in the vicinity ofthe countries described by that traveler, he may have been influenced inthis respect by his narrations. Speaking of the island of Soccotera(Socotra), Marco Polo observes: "The inhabitants deal more in sorcery andwitchcraft than any other people, although forbidden by their archbishop, who excommunicates and anathematizes them for the sin. Of this, however, they make little account, and if any vessel belong to a pirate shouldinjure one of theirs, they do not fail to lay him under a spell, so thathe cannot proceed on his cruise until he has made satisfaction for thedamage; and even although he should have a fair and leading wind, theyhave the power of causing it to change, and thereby obliging him, in spiteof himself, to return to the island. They can, in like manner, cause thesea to become calm, and at their will can raise tempests, occasionship-wrecks, and produce many other extraordinary effects that need not beparticularized. "--Marco Polo, Book iii. Cap. 35, Eng. Translation by W. Marsden. 

[139]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 21. Hist. Del Almirante cap. 91. 

[140]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 21. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 91. Letter ofColumbus from Jamaica. 

[141]: In some English maps this bay is called Almirante, or Carnabaco Bay. The channel by which Columbus entered is still called Boca del Almirante, or the mouth of the Admiral. 

[142]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, tom. I. 

[143]: P. Martyr, decad. Iii. Lib. V. 

[144]: Columbus' Letter from Jamaica. 

[145]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 92. 

[146]: Idem. 

[147]: Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. Vol. II. --12. 

[148]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 23. Hist. Del Almirante. 

[149]: Peter Martyr, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. 

[150]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 23. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 92. 

[151]: Las Casas. Lib. Ii. Cap. 23. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 92. 

[152]: It appears doubtful whether Columbus was acquainted with the exactparticulars of that voyage, as they could scarcely have reached Spainpreviously to his sailing. Bastides had been seized in Hispaniola byBobadilla, and was on board of that very fleet which was wrecked at thetime that Columbus arrived off San Domingo. He escaped the fate thatattended most of his companions, and returned to Spain, where he wasrewarded by the sovereigns for his enterprise. Though some of his seamenhad reached Spain previous to the sailing of Columbus, and had given ageneral idea of the voyage, it is doubtful whether he had transmitted hispapers and charts. Porras, in his journal of the voyage of Columbus, states that they arrived at the place where the discoveries of Bastidesterminated; but this information he may have obtained subsequently at SanDomingo. 

[153]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 24. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 90. 

[154]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 94. 

[155]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 94. 

[156]: A superstitious notion with respect to gold appears to have beenvery prevalent among the natives. The Indians of Hispaniola observed thesame privations when they sought for it, abstaining from food and fromsexual intercourse. Columbus, who seemed to look upon gold as one of thesacred and mystic treasures of the earth, wished to encourage similarobservances among the Spaniards; exhorting them to purify themselves forthe research of the mines by fasting, prayer, and chastity. It is scarcelynecessary to add, that his advice was but little attended to by hisrapacious and sensual followers. 

[157]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 95. 

[158]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 25. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 95. 

[159]: Peter Martyr, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. 

[160]: Letter of the Admiral from Jamaica. 

[161]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 25. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 95. 

[162]: Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. 

[163]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 96. 

[164]: Letter from Jamaica. 

[165]: Equivalent to one thousand two hundred and eighty-one dollars at thepresent day. 

[166]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 98. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 27. Many ofthe particulars of this chapter are from a short narrative given by DiegoMendez, and inserted in his last will and testament. It is written in astrain of simple egotism, as he represents himself as the principal andalmost the sole actor in every affair. The facts, however, have all theair of veracity, and being given on such a solemn occasion, the documentis entitled to high credit. He will be found to distinguish himself onanother hazardous and important occasion in the course of thishistory. --Vide Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[167]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 98. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Letter of Columbusfrom Jamaica. Relation of Diego Mendez, Navarrete, tom. I. Journal ofPorras, Navarrete, tom. I. 

[168]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 99. 

[169]: Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. 

[170]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 99, 100. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 29. Relacion por Diego Mendez. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. Journal ofPorras, Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[171]: Hist. Del Almirante. Letter from Jamaica. 

[172]: Journal of Porras, Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[173]: Letter from Jamaica. 

[174]: Testimony of Pedro de Ledesma. Pleito de los Colones. 

[175]: Letter from Jamaica. 

[176]: Idem. 

[177]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 100. Letter of Columbus from Jamaica. 

[178]: Hist. Del Almirante. Journal of Porras. 

[179]: Relacion por Diego Mendez. Navarrete, torn. I. 

[180]: Relacion por Diego Mendez. Navarrete, Colec, torn. I. 

[181]: Joachim, native of the burgh of Celico, near Cozenza, traveled inthe Holy Land. Returning to Calabria, he took the habit of the Cisterciansin the monastery of Corazzo, of which he became prior and abbot, andafterwards rose to higher monastic importance. He died in 1202, havingattained 72 years of age, leaving a great number of works; among the mostknown are commentaries on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Apocalypse. There arealso prophecies by him, "which, " (says the Dictionnaire Historique, )"during his life, made him to be admired by fools, and despised by men ofsense; at present the latter sentiment prevails. He was either very weakor very presumptuous, to flatter himself that he had the keys of things ofwhich God reserves the knowledge to himself. "--Dict. Hist. , tom. 5, Caen, 1785. 

[182]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 101. 

[183]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102. 

[184]: Letter of Columbus to his son Diego. Navarrete, Colec. Vol. II. -15

[185]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102. 

[186]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 32. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102. 

[187]: Hist, del Almirante, cap. 102. 

[188]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 32. 

[189]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 102. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 32. 

[190]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 103. Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 33. 

[191]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 104. 

[192]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 33. 

[193]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 33. Hist. Del Almirante cap. 103. 

[194]: Las Casas, ubi sup. Hist. Del Almirante, ubi sup. 

[195]: Not far from the Island of Navasa there gushes up in the sea a purefountain of fresh water that sweetens the surface for some distance: thiscircumstance was of course unknown to the Spaniards at the time. (Oviedo, Cronica, lib. Vi. Cap. 12. )

[196]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 105. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 31. Testament of Diego Mendez. Navarrete, tom. I. 

[197]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 35. Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 106. 

[198]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 106. Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 35. 

[199]: At present Mammee Bay. 

[200]: Hist. Del Almirante, ubi sup. 

[201]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 107. Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib ii. Cap. 35. 

[202]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 35. 

[203]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 32. 

[204]: Some brief notice of the further fortunes of Diego Mendez may beinteresting to the reader. When King Ferdinand heard of his faithfulservices, says Oviedo, he bestowed rewards upon Mendez, and permitted himto bear a canoe in his coat of arms, as a memento of his loyalty. Hecontinued devotedly attached to the admiral, serving him zealously afterhis return to Spain, and during his last illness. Columbus retained themost grateful and affectionate sense of his fidelity. On his death-bed hepromised Mendez that, in reward for his services, he should be appointedprincipal Alguazil of the island of Hispaniola; an engagement which theadmiral's son, Don Diego, who was present, cheerfully undertook toperform. A few years afterwards, when the latter succeeded to the officeof his father, Mendez reminded him of the promise, but Don Diego informedhim that he had given the office to his uncle Don Bartholomew; he assuredhim, however, that he should receive something equivalent. Mendez shrewdlyreplied, that the equivalent had better be given to Don Bartholomew, andthe office to himself, according to agreement. The promise, however, remained unperformed, and Diego Mendez unrewarded. He was afterwardsengaged on voyages of discovery in vessels of his own, but met with manyvicissitudes, and appears to have died in impoverished circumstances. Hislast will, from which these particulars are principally gathered, wasdated in Valladolid, the 19th of June, 1536, by which it is evident hemust have been in the prime of life at the time of his voyage with theadmiral. In this will he requested that the reward which had been promisedto him should be paid to his children, by making his eldest son principalAlguazil for life of the city of San Domingo, and his other son lieutenantto the admiral for the same city. It does not appear whether this requestwas complied with under the successors of Don Diego. 

In another clause of his will, he desired that a large stone should beplaced upon his sepulchre, on which should be engraved, "Here lies thehonorable Cavalier Diego Mendez, who served greatly the royal crown ofSpain, in the conquest of the Indies, with the admiral Don ChristopherColumbus, of glorious memory, who made the discovery; and afterwards byhimself, with ships at his own cost. He died, &c. , &c. Bestow in charity aPaternoster, and an Ave Maria. "

He ordered that in the midst of this stone there should be carved anIndian canoe, as given him by the king for armorial bearings in memorialof his voyage from Jamaica to Hispaniola, and above it should be engravedin large letters the word "CANOA. " He enjoined upon his heirs to be loyalto the admiral (Don Diego Columbus), and his lady, and gave them muchghostly counsel, mingled with pious benedictions. As an heirloom in hisfamily, he bequeathed his library, consisting of a few volumes, whichaccompanied him in his wanderings; viz. "The Art of Holy Dying, byErasmus; A sermon of the same author, in Spanish; The Lingua, and theColloquies of the same; The History of Josephus; The Moral Philosophy ofAristotle; The Book of the Holy Land; A Book called the Contemplation ofthe Passion of our Savior; A Tract on the Vengeance of the Death ofAgamemnon, and several other short treatises. " This curious andcharacteristic testament is in the archives of the Duke of Veragua inMadrid. 

[205]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 6. 

[206]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 14, MS. 

[207]: Idem, ubi sup. 

[208]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 9. 

[209]: Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. Iii. Cap. 12. 

[210]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 9. 

[211]: Charlevoix, Hist. San Domingo, lib. Xxiv. P. 235. 

[212]: Relacion hecha por Don Diego Mendez. Navarrete, Col. , tom. I. P. 314. 

[213]: Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. Iii. Cap. 12. Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 9. 

[214]: Oviedo, Cronica de las Indias, lib. Iii. Cap. 12. 

[215]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 8. 

[216]: Las Casas, ubi. Sup. 

[217]: Las Casas, ubi. Sup. 

[218]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 17, MS. 

[219]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 18. 

[220]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 36. 

[221]: Letter of Columbus to his son Diego, Seville, Nov. 21, 1504. Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[222]: Letter of Columbus to his son Diego, dated Seville, 3d Dec. , 1504. Navarrete, tom. I. P. 341. 

[223]: Navarrete, Colec. , tom. Ii. Decad. 151, 152. 

[224]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. V. Cap. 12. 

[225]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 108. Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 36. 

[226]: Let. Seville, 13 Dec. , 1504. Navarrete, v. I. P. 343. 

[227]: The dying command of Isabella has been obeyed. The author of thiswork has seen her tomb in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Granada, inwhich her remains are interred with those of Ferdinand. Their effigies, sculptured in white marble, lie side by side on a magnificent sepulchre. The altar of the chapel is adorned with bas reliefs representing theconquest and surrender of Granada. 

[228]: Elogio de la Reina Catolica por D. Diego Clemencin. Illustration 19. 

[229]: Letter to his son Diego, Dec. 3, 1504. 

[230]: Letter of December 21, 1504. Navarrete, torn. I. P. 346. 

[231]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 37. Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Vi. Cap. 13. 

[232]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind, lib. Ii. Cap. 37, MS. 

[233]: Navarrete, Colec. , tom. I. 

[234]: Diego, the son of the admiral, notes in his own testament thisbequest of his father, and says, that he was charged by him to pay BeatrixEnriquez 10, 000 maravedis a year, which for some time he had faithfullyperformed; but as he believes that for three or four years previous to herdeath he had neglected to do so, he orders that the deficiency shall beascertained and paid to her heirs. Memorial ajustado sobre la propriedaddel mayorazgo que foudo D. Christ. Colon, § 245. 

[235]: Cura de los Palacios, cap. 121. 

[236]: Las Casas, Hist. Ind. , lib. Ii. Cap. 38. Hist, del Almirante, cap. 108. 

[237]: D. Humboldt. Examen Critique. 

[238]: Cladera, Investigaciones historias, p. 43. 

[239]: Navarrete, Colec. , tom. Ii. P. 365. 

[240]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Ii. Lib. Vii. Cap. 4. 

[241]: Extracts from the minutes of the process taken by the historianMuñoz, MS. 

[242]: Further mention will be found of this lawsuit in the articlerelative to Amerigo Vespucci. 

[243]: Charlevoix, ut supra, v. I. P. 272, id. 274. 

[244]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 49, MS. 

[245]: Las Casas, lib. Ii. Cap. 49, MS. 

[246]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. Vii. Cap, 12. 

[247]: Idem. 

[248]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Domingo, p. 321. 

[249]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad i. Lib. Ix. Cap. 5. 

[250]: Idem. 

[251]: Herrera, decad. Ii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 7. 

[252]: Idem, decad. 1. Lib. X. Cap. 16. 

[253]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming. , lib. V. 

[254]: Herrera, decad. Ii. Lib. Ix. Cap. 7. 

[255]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. Cap. 9. 

[256]: Idem, decad. Iii. Lib. V. Cap. 4. 

[257]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming. , lib. Ti. 

[258]: Herrera, decad. Hi. Lib. Tut. Cap. 15. 

[259]: Memorial ajustado sobre el estado de Veragua. 

Charlevoix mentions another son called Diego, and calls one of thedaughters Phillipine. Spotorno says that the daughter Maria took the veil;confounding her with a niece. These are trivial errors, merely noticed toavoid the imputation of inaccuracy. The account of the descendants ofColumbus here given, accords with a genealogical tree of the family, produced before the council of the Indies, in a great lawsuit for theestates. 

[260]: Herrern, decad. Iv. Lib. Ii. Cap. 6. 

[261]: Charlevoix, Hist. St. Doming. , lib. Vi. P. 443. 

[262]: Idem, tom. I. Lib. Vi. P. 446. 

[263]: Spotorno, Hist. Colom. , p. 123. 

[264]: Bossi, Hist. Colom. Dissert. , p. 67. 

[265]: Idem, Dissert. On the Country of Columbus, p. 03. 

[266]: Bossi, Dissertation on the Country of Columbus. 

[267]: Spotorno, p. 127. 

[268]: Literally, in the original, _Cazador de Volateria_, a Falconer. Hawking was in those days an amusement of the highest classes; and to keephawks was almost a sign of nobility. 

[269]: Herrera, decad. I. Lib. I. Cap. 7. 

[270]: Dissertation, &c. 

[271]: Bossi. French Translation, Paris, 1824, p. 09. 

[272]: Idem. 

[273]: Correspondence Astronom. Geograph. &c. De Baron du Zach, vol. 14, cabier 6, lettera 29. 1826. 

[274]: Felippo Alberto Pollero, Epicherema, cioe breve discorso per difessdi sua persona e carrattere. Torino, per Gio Battista Zappata. MCDXCVI. (read 1696) in 40. Pag. 47. 

[275]: Spotorno, Eng. Trans. , pp. Xi, xii. 

[276]: Bossi, French trans. , p. 76. 

[277]: Idem, p. 88. 

[278]: Cura de los Palacios, MS. , cap. 118. 

[279]: Alex. Geraldini, Itin. Ad. Reg. Sub. Aquinor. 

[280]: Antonio Gallo, Anales of Genoa, Muratori, tom. 23. 

[281]: Senarega, Muratori, tom. 24. 

[282]: Foglieta, Elog. Clar. Ligur. 

[283]: Grineus, Nov. Orb. 

[284]: "Item. Mando el dicho Don Diego mi hijo, á la persona que heredareel dicho mayorazgo, que tenga y sostenga siempre en la ciudad de Genovauna persona de nuestro linage que tenga alli casa é muger, é le ordenerenta con que pueda vivir honestamente, como persona tan llegada á nuestrolinage, y haga pie y raiz en la dicha ciudad como natural della, porquepodrá baber de la dicha ciudad ayuda e favor en las cosas del menestersuyo, _pues que della sali y en ella naci_. "

[285]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 1. 

[286]: Duke of Calabria was a title of the heir apparent to the crown ofNaples. 

[287]: Colenuccio, Hist. Nap. , lib. Vii. Cap. 17. 

[288]: Zurita, Anales de Aragon, lib. Xx. Cap. 64. 

[289]: Obras de Gareta de Resende, cap. 58, Avora, 1554. 

[290]: Marco Antonio Coccio, better known under the name of Sabellicus, acognomen which he adopted on being crowned poet in the pedantic academy ofPomponius Lætus. He was a contemporary of Columbus, and makes briefmention of his discoveries in the eighth book of the tenth Ennead of hisuniversal history. By some writers he is called the Livy of his time;others accuse him of being full of misrepresentations in favor of Venice. The older Scaliger charges him with venality, and with being swayed byVenetian gold. 

[291]: Bandini vita d'Amerigo Vespucci. 

[292]: Cosm. Munst. , p. 1108. 

[293]: These particulars are from manuscript memoranda, extracted from theroyal archives, by the late accurate historian Muñoz. 

[294]: Bartolozzi, Recherche Historico. Firenze, 1789. 

[295]: Panzer, tom. Vi. P. 33, apud Esame Critico, p. 88, Antazione 1. 

[296]: This rare book, in the possession of O. Rich, Esq. , is believed tobe the oldest printed collection of voyages extant. It has not the pagesnumbered; the sheets are merely marked with a letter of the alphabet atthe foot of each eighth page--It contains the earliest account of thevoyages of Columbus, from his first departure until his arrival at Cadizin chains. The letter of Vespucci to Lorenzo de Medici occupies the fifthbook of this little volume. It is stated to have been originally writtenin Spanish, and translated into Italian by a person of the name ofJocondo. An earlier edition is stated to have been printed in Venice byAlberto Vercellese, in 1504. The author is said to have been AngeloTrivigiani, secretary to the Venetian ambassador in Spain. This Trivigianiappears to have collected many of the particulars of the voyages ofColumbus from the manuscript decades of Peter Martyr, who erroneously laysthe charge of the plagiarism to Aloysius Cadamosto, whose voyages areinserted in the same collection. The book was entitled, "_Libretto ditutta la navigazione del Re de Espagna, delle Isole e terreni nuovamentetrovati. _"

[297]: Letter of Vespucci to Soderini or Renato--Edit. Of Canovai. 

[298]: Navarrete, Colec. Viag. , tom. I. P. 351. 

[299]: Peter Martyr, decad. Iii. Lib. V. Eden's English trans. 

[300]: En este viage que este dicho testigo hizo trujo consigo a Juan de laCosa, piloto, e Morego Vespuche, e otros pilotos. 

[301]: Per la necessitá del mantenimento fummo all' Isola d'Antiglia(Hispaniola) che é questa che descoperse Cristoval Colombo piú anni fa, dove facemmo molto mantenimento, e stemmo due mesi e 17 giorni; dovepassammo moti pericoli e travagli con li medesimi christiani que in questaisola stavanno col Colombo (credo per invidia). Letter of Vespucci. --Edit. Of Canovai. 

[302]: Preguntado como lo sabe; dijo--que lo sabe porque vió este testigola figura que el dicho Almirante al dicho tiempo embió á Castilla al Rey eReyna, nuestros Señores, de lo que habia descubierto, y porque estetestigo luego vino á descubrir y halló que era verdad lo que dicho tieneque el dicho Almirante descubrió MS. Process of D. Diego Colon, Pregunta2. 

[303]: Este testigo escrivió úna carta que el Almirante escriviera al Rey aReyna N. N. S. S. Haciendo les saber las perlas e cosas que habia hallado, y le embió señalado con la dieba carta, en una carta de marear, los rumbosy víentos por donde habia llegado á la Paria, e que este testigo oyó decircomo pr. Aquella carte se habían hecho otras e por ellas habian venidoPedro Alonzo Merino (Niño) e Ojeda e otros que despues han ido á aquellaspartes. Process of D. Diego Colon, Pregunta 9. 

[304]: Idem, Pregunta 10. 

[305]: Que en todos los viages qne algunos hicieron descubriendo en ladicha tierra, ivan personas que ovieron navegado con el dicho Almirante, ya ellos mostró muchas cosas de marear, y ellos por imitacion é industriadel dicho Almirante las aprendian y aprendieron, e seguendo ag°. Que eldicho Almirante les habia mostrado, hicieron los viages que desenbrieronen la Tierra Firma. Process, Pregunta 10. 

[306]: The first suggestion of the name appears to have been in the Latinwork already cited, published in St. Diez, in Lorraine, in 1507, in whichwas inserted the letter of Vespucci to king René. The author, afterspeaking of the other three parts of the world, Asia, Africa, and Europe, recommends that the fourth ehall be called Amerigo, or America, afterVespucci, whom he imagined its discoverer. 

_Note to the Revised Edition, 1848. _--Humboldt, in his ExamenCritique, published in Paris, in 1837, says: "I have been so happy as todiscover, very recently, the name and the literary relations of themysterious personage who (in 1507) was the first to propose the name ofAmerica to designate the new continent, and who concealed himself underthe Grecianized name of Hylacomylas. " He then, by a long and ingeniousinvestigation, shows that the real name of this personage was MartinWaldseemüller, of Fribourg, an eminent cosmographer, patronized by René, duke of Lorraine; who no doubt put in his hands the letter received by himfrom Amerigo Vespucci. The geographical works of Waldseemüller, under theassumed name of Hylacomylas, had a wide circulation, went through repeatededitions, and propagated the use of the name America throughout the world. There is no reason to suppose that this application of the name was in anywise suggested by Amerigo Vespucci. It appears to have been entirelygratuitous on the part of Waldseemüller. 

[307]: An instance of these errors may be cited in the edition of theletter of Amerigo Vespucci to king René, inserted by Grinæus in his NovusOrbis, in 1532. In this Vespucci is made to state that he sailed fromCadiz May 20, MCCCCXCVII. (1497, ) that he was eighteen months absent, andreturned to Cadiz October 15, MCCCCXCIX. (1499, ) which would constitute anabsence of 29 months. He states his departure from Cadiz, on his secondvoyage, Sunday, May 11th, MCCCCLXXXIX. (1489, ) which would have made hissecond voyage precede his first by eight years. If we substitute 1499 for1489, the departure on his second voyage would still precede his returnfrom his first by five months. Canovai, in his edition, has altered thedate of the first return to 1498, to limit the voyage to eighteen months. 

[308]: Gomara, Hist. Ind. , cap. 14. 

[309]: Navigatio Christophori Columbi, Madrignano Interprete. It iscontained in a collection of voyages called Novus Orbis Regionum, editionof 1555, but was originally published in Italian as written by MontalbodoFrancanzano (or Francapano de Montaldo), in a collection of voyagesentitled Nuovo Mundo, in Vicenza, 1507. 

[310]: Girolamo Benzoni, Hist, del Nuevo Mundo, lib. I. Fo. 12. In Venetia, 1572. 

[311]: Padre Joseph de Acosta, Hist. Ind. , lib. I. Cap. 19. 

[312]: Juan de Mariana, Hist. Espana, lib. Xxvi. Cap. 3. 

[313]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Ii. Lib. Iii. Cap. 1. 

[314]: Commentarios de los Incas, Lib. I. Cap. 3. 

[315]: Names of historians who either adopted this story in detail, or thecharge against Columbus, drawn from it. 

 Bernardo Aldrete, Antiguedad de España, lib. Iv. Cap. 17, p. 567. Roderigo Caro, Antiguedad, lib. Iii. Cap. 76. Juan de Solorzano, Ind. Jure, tom. I. Lib. I. Cap. 5. Fernando Pizarro, Varones Ilust. Del Nuevo Mundo, cap. 2. Agostino Torniel, Annal. Sacr. , tom. I. Ann. Mund. , 1931, No. 48. Pet. Damarez or De Mariz, Dial. Iv. De Var. Hist. , cap. 4. Gregorio Garcia, Orig. De los Indies, lib. I. Cap. 4, 1. Juan de Torquemada, Monarch. Ind. , lib. Xviii. Cap. 1. John Baptiste Riccioli, Geograf. Reform. , lib. Iii. 

To this list of old authors may be added many others of more recent date. 

[316]: "Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Presbitero, Sevillano, escribio conelegante estilo acerca de las cosas de las Indies, pero dexandose llevarde falsas narraciones. " Hijos de Sevilla, Numero ii. P. 42, Let. F. Thesame is stated in Bibliotheca Hispaña Nova, lib. I. P. 437. "El FranciscoLopez de Gomara escrivio tantos borrones é cosas que no son verdaderas, deque ha hecho mucho daño a muchos escritores e coronistas, que despues delGomara han escrito en las cosas de la Nueva España . . . Es porque les hahecho errar el Gomara. " Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Hist. De la Conquest dela Nueva España, Fin de cap. 13. 

"Tenía Gomara doctrina y estilo . . . Per empleose en ordinar sindiscernimiento lo que halló escrito por sus antecesores, y dió credito ápetrañas no solo falsas sino inverisimiles. " Juan Bautista Muñoz, Hist. N. Mundo, Prologo, p 18. 

[317]: Vasconcelos, lib. 4. 

[318]: Murr, Notice sur M. Behaim. 

[319]: Barros, decad. I. Lib. Ii. Cap. 1. Lisbon, 1552. 

[320]: Investigations Historicas, Madrid, 1794. 

[321]: Cladera, Investig. Hist. , p. 115. 

[322]: Forster's Northern Voyages, book ii. Chap. 2. 

[323]: This account is taken from Hakluyt, vol. Iii. P. 123. The passageabout gold and other metals is not to be found in the original Italian ofRamusio, (tom. Ii. P. 23, ) and is probably an interpolation. 

[324]: Hakluyt, Collect. , vol. Iii. P. 127. 

[325]: Malte-Brun, Hist, de Geog. , tom. I. Lib. Xvii. 

[326]: Idem, Geog. Unirerselle, tom. Xiv. Note sur la decouverte del'Amerique. 

[327]: Gosselin, Recherches sur la Geographic des Anciens, tom. I. P. 162, &c. 

[328]: Memoirs de l'Acad. Des Inscript. , tom. Xxvi. 

[329]: Capmany, Questiones Criticas, Quest. 6. 

[330]: Archives de Ind. En Sevilla. 

[331]: Capmany, Queat. Crit. 

[332]: The author of this work is indebted for this able examination of theroute of Columbus to an officer of the navy of the United States, whosename he regrets the not being at liberty to mention. He has been greatlybenefited, in various parts of this history, by nautical information fromthe same intelligent source. 

[333]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. I. Lib. Ix. Cap. 10. 

[334]: In the first chapter of Herrera's description of the Indies, appended to his history, is another scale of the Bahama islands, whichcorroborates the above. It begins at the opposite end, at the N. W. , andruns down to the S. E. It is thought unnecessary to cite it particularly. 

[335]: See Caballero Pesos y Medidas. J. B. Say. Economic Politique. 

[336]: In preparing the first edition of this work for the press the authorhad not the benefit of the English translation of Marco Polo, published afew years since, with admirable commentaries, by William Marsden, F. R. S. He availed himself, principally, of an Italian version in the Venetianedition of Ramusio (1606), the French translation by Bergeron, and an oldand very incorrect Spanish translation. Having since procured the work ofMr. Marsden, he has made considerable alterations in these notices ofMarco Polo. 

[337]: Ramusio, tom. Iii. 

[338]: Bergeron, by blunder in the translation from the original Latin, hasstated that the Khan sent 40, 000 men to escort them. This has drawn theire of the critics upon Marco Polo, who have cited it as one of hismonstrous exaggerations. 

[339]: Hist. Des Voyages, tom, xxvii. Lib. Iv. Cap. 3. Paris, 1549. 

[340]: Ramusio, vol. Ii. P. 17. 

[341]: Mr. Marsden, who has inspected a splendid fac-simile of this mappreserved in the British Museum, objects even to the fundamental part ofit: "where, " he observes, "situations are given to places that seem quiteinconsistent with the descriptions in the travels, and cannot beattributed to their author, although inserted on the supposed authority ofhis writings. " Marsden's M. Polo, Introd. , p. Xlii. 

[342]: Hist, des Voyages, torn. Xl. Lib. Xi. Ch, 4. 

[343]: Another blunder in translation has drawn upon Marco Polo theindignation of George Hornius, who (in his Origin of America, IV. 3)exclaims, "Who can believe all that, he says of the city of Quinsai? as, for example, that it has stone bridges twelve thousand miles high!" &c. Itis probable that many of the exaggerations in the accounts of Marco Poloare in fact the errors of his translators. 

Mandeville, speaking of this same city, which he calls Causai, says it isbuilt on the sea like Venice, and has twelve hundred bridges. 

[344]: Sir George Staunton mentions this lake as being a beautiful sheet ofwater, about three or four miles in diameter; its margin ornamented withhouses and gardens of Mandarines, together with temples, monasteries forthe priests of Fo, and an imperial palace. 

[345]: Supposed to be those islands collectively called Japan. They arenamed by the Chinese Ge-pen; the terminating syllable _go_, added byMarco Polo, is supposed to be the Chinese word _kue_, signifyingkingdom, which is commonly annexed to the names of foreign countries. Asthe distance of the nearest part of the southern island from the coast ofChina near Ning-po is not more than five hundred Italian miles, Mr. Marsden supposes Marco Polo, in stating it to be 1500, means Chinese milesor li, which are in the proportion of somewhat more than one-third of theformer. 

[346]: Aristot. , 2 Met. Cap. 5. 

[347]: Pliny, lib. I. Cap. 61. 

[348]: Feyjoo, Theatre Critico, tom. Iv. D. 10, § 29. 

[349]: Lib. Iv. De la Chancelaria del Key Dn. Juan II, fol. 101. 

[350]: Torre do Tombo. Lib. Das Ylhas, f. 119. 

[351]: Fr. Gregorio Garcia, Origen de los Indios, lib. I. Cap. 9. 

[352]: Sigeberto, Epist. Ad Tietmar. Abbat. 

[353]: Nuñez de la l'ena. Conquist de la Gran Canaria. 

[354]: Ptolemy, lib. Iv. Tom. Iv. 

[355]: Fr. D. Philipo, lib. Viii. Fol. 25. 

[356]: Hist. Isl. Can. , lib. I. Cap. 28. 

[357]: Nuñez de la Pena, lib. I. Cap. 1. Viera, Hist Isl. Can. , tom. I. Cap. 28. 

[358]: Nuñez, Conquista le Gran Canaria. Viera, Hist. &c. 

[359]: Viera, Hist. Isl. Can. , tom. I. Cap. 28. 

[360]: Idem. 

[361]: Viera, Hist. Isl. Can. , tom. I. Cap. 28. 

[362]: Viera, ubi sup. 

[363]: Theatro Critico, tom. Iv. D. X. 

[364]: Hist. Del Almirante, cap. 10. 

[365]: Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana, lib. Iv. Cap. 4. Origen de los Indiospor Fr. Gregorio Garcia, lib. Iv. Cap. 20. 

[366]: Barros, Asia, decad. I. Lib. I. Cap. 3. 

[367]: Navarrete, Colec. Viag. , tom. I. Introd. P. Lxx. 

[368]: T. A. Llorente, Oeuvres de Las Casas, p. Xi. Paris, 1822. 

[369]: Herrera clearly states this as an expedient adopted when othersfailed. "Bartolomé de las Casas, viendo que sus conceptos hallaban entodas partes dificultad, i que las opiniones que tenla, por muchafamiliaridad que havia seguido i gran credito con el gran Canciller, nopodian haber efecto, _se volvio a otros expedientes, &c_. "--Decad. Ii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 2. 

[370]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Iii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 4. 

[371]: Idem, decad. Ii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 20. 

[372]: Idem, decad. Ii. Lib. Iii. Cap. 8. 

[373]: 1 Herrera, d. I. Lib. Vi. Cap. 20. 

[374]: Idem, d. I. Lib. Viii. Cap. 9. 

[375]: Idem, d. I. Lib. Ix. Cap. 5. 

[376]: Robertson, Hist. America, p. 3. 

[377]: Porque como iban faltando los Indios i se conocia que un negrotrabajaba, mas que quatro, por lo qual habia gran dem anda de ellos, parccia que se podia poner algun tributo en la saca, de que resultariaprovecho á la Rl. Hacienda. Herrera, decad. Ii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 8. 

[378]: De Marsolier, Hist. Du Ministere Cardinal Ximenes, lib. Vi. Toulouse, 1694. 

[379]: In this notice the author has occasionally availed himself of theinteresting memoir of Mon. J. A. Idorente, prefixed to his collection ofthe works of Las Casas, collating it with the history of Herrera, fromwhich its facts are principally derived. 

[380]: Navarrete, Colec. De Viag. , tom. I. P. Lxxv. 

[381]: Opus Epist. P. Martyris Anglerii, Epist. 131. 

[382]: Opus Epist. P. Martyris Anglerii, Epist. 134. 

[383]: Opus Epist. P. Martyrin Anglerii, Epist. 135. 

[384]: Idem, Epist. 141. 

[385]: Idem, Epist. 147. 

[386]: Cura de los Palacios, cap. 7. 

[387]: Bibliotheca Pinello. 

[388]: Herrera, decad ii. Lib. Ii. Cap. 3. 

[389]: Idem, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. Cap. 3. 

[390]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Iii. Lib. I. Cap. 15. 

[391]: Idem, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. Cap. 3. 

[392]: Salazar, Conq. De Mexico, lib. I. Cap. 2. 

[393]: Herrera, Hist. Ind. , decad. Iii. Lib. I. Cap. 1. 

[394]: Idem, decad. Iii. Lib. Iv. Cap. 3. 

[395]: Gosselin, Recherches sur la Geog. Des Anciens, tom. I. 

[396]: Feyjoo, Theatro Critico, lib. Vii. § 2. 

[397]: Herodot. , lib. Iii. Virg. Georg. I. Pomp. Mela, lib. Iii. Cap. 10. 

[398]: St. August. , lib. Ix. Cap. 6. Sup. Genesis. 

[399]: St. Basíllíus was called the great. His works were read and admiredby all the world, even by Pagans. They are written in an elevated andmajestic style, with great splendor of idea, and vast erudition. 

[400]: St. Ambros. , Opera. Edit. Coignard. Parisiis, MDCXC. 

[401]: Paradisus autem in Oriente, in altissimo monte, de cujus cacuminecadentes aquos, maximum faciunt lacum, que in suo casu tantum faciuntstrepitum et fragorem, quod ornnes incolæ, juxta prædictum lacum nascuntursurdi, ex immoderato sonitu seu fragore sensum auditus in parvuliscorrumpente. _Ul dicit Basilius in Hexameron, similiter et Ambros. _Ex illo lacu, velut ex uno fonte, procedunt ilia flumina quatuor, Phison, qui et Ganges, Gyon, qui et Nilus dicitur, et Tigris ac Euphrates. Bart.