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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 J.^ .645 u^^ 
 
 J PRESENTED BY 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMEKIOA, 
 
I 
 
y 
 
 ANDAMANA 
 
 FIRST QUEEN OF CANARY, 
 
 Ancestress of the Family of Eugenie, the late Empress of 
 the French. 
 
 AND HER REMARKABLE AND SUCCESSFUL 
 
 COUP D'ETx^T. 
 
 By WILLIAM B. WHITING, 
 
 ^ ^^^ ^^ CO A 
 
 New York :^^:^=^V--^^c^'- / 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD O. JEN^=^ WASWH^^-^^ 
 
 20 North William Street. 
 1875. 
 
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ANDAMANA: 
 
 FIRST QUEEN OF CANARY. 
 
 In 1844 the writer, Commodore William 
 B. Whiting, U. S. Navy, then a lieutenant, 
 visited the island of Gran Canaria and was 
 much interested in the legends of Anda- 
 mana, originally a village maiden and after- 
 wards Queen of Canary, which prevail 
 there. The unanimity of these traditions 
 proves that their foundation rests on truth, 
 and Spanish histories also confirm their 
 correctness ; though the works of other 
 nations, at least English histories, make no 
 mention of her name ; and to correct this 
 deficiency, and to place it, where it de- 
 
4 ANDAMANA. 
 
 serves to be, on their record, among his- 
 torical narratives of the heroines of the 
 world, is the object of this notice. 
 
 It is supposed that the Canary islands 
 were peopled long before the Christian 
 era, and that the ancient Phoenicians 
 traded with them, but that the first inhab- 
 itants were driven out by the violence of 
 the volcanic eruptions which were preva- 
 lent throughout the islands, traces of which 
 mark every portion of them at this day. 
 The Greeks and Romans knew of their 
 existence, designating them as the Happy 
 islands, the former locating in the sylvan 
 regions of that far-off archipelago, their 
 celebrated Elysian Fields ; and among the 
 latter, Pliny makes mention of them, but 
 says that at his time they were uninhabit- 
 ed, though vestiges of former buildings 
 
ANDAMANA. 5 
 
 Still remained. If so, and at the time of 
 Augustus Caesar they were uninhabited, we 
 may infer, from the absence of all trace of 
 Mohammedanism in the religion of the 
 inhabitants of the islands at the time of 
 their conquest by the Spaniards, that their 
 progenitors (who probably came from 
 Northern Africa, to which the islands are 
 very near ; the easternmost, indeed, being 
 within sight of the main land) migrated 
 from the continent between that period 
 and the conquest of the States of Barbary 
 by the Arabs. 
 
 Plutarch also speaks of them nearly 
 half a century later, and mentions their 
 inhabitants (by which it appears that they 
 were repeopled about the time that Pliny 
 first wrote of them), though he seems to 
 have no other precise knowledge concern- 
 
ANDAMANA. 
 
 ing them, than of their mere existence, 
 and, indeed, it is difficult to tell from his 
 remarks whether Madeira or Canary is in- 
 dicated. 
 
 The existence of the Canary Islands 
 seems to have been forgotten until their 
 rediscovery in the fourteenth century by a 
 French vessel which was wrecked on their 
 coast, at which time they were peopled by 
 a warlike race, brave, chivalrous, gallant, 
 and generous to an extreme. They scorned 
 to attack an unarmed foe, or to injure 
 women or children, and esteemed treach- 
 ery and falsehood as the greatest of crimes. 
 
 The central and principal of the group 
 is the island of Gran Canaria, so named, 
 not because it is the largest, which it is 
 not (Teneriffe being larger, though con- 
 taining a less inhabitable area of land. 
 
ANDAMANA. 7 
 
 and Gran Canaria second in size), but be- 
 cause of the bravery of its inhabitants, 
 which, for a long time, baffled every at- 
 tempt of the French or Spaniards to sub- 
 due it. It contains 758 square miles, and 
 at the time of the Spanish invasion num- 
 bered 14,000 fighting men, a larger force 
 than any other island of the group pos- 
 sessed. 
 
 The men were celebrated for their tall 
 stature, and Humboldt styles them the 
 Patagonians of the Old World ; and, in- 
 deed, fabulous stories are told of their 
 stature by some of the early Spanish 
 writers — one asserting that a chief of Gran 
 Canaria was fourteen feet in height, and 
 another nine. 
 
 An old account says : " The women of 
 Gran Canaria are represented as very 
 
ANDAMANA. 
 
 beautiful, and the men as well-formed, of 
 good stature, active and athletic — some of 
 them exceedingly strong, cheerful, good- 
 natured, and strictly faithful to their 
 promises. In complexion they are dark 
 like the inhabitants of the other islands, 
 but not much more so than the Spaniards 
 and Italians." 
 
 In illustration of their great strength, 
 Don Juan de Abreu de Galineo tells the 
 following story of Adargoma, a chief of 
 Gran Canaria, who was taken prisoner by 
 the Spaniards and transported as captive 
 to Spain. His reputation for great strength 
 and skill as a wrestler was noised abroad 
 in that country, and a Spaniard, noted for 
 his immense strength, challenged him to a 
 wrestling match. Adargoma replied that 
 he would accept the challenge with great 
 
ANDAMANA. 9 
 
 pleasure, but wished to premise a prelimi- 
 nary trial. He would have a glass placed 
 on a table at his side, and filled with wine 
 to its utmost capacity, and he would then 
 raise it slowly from the table to his lips 
 without bending his body, and his chal- 
 lenger should in the meanwhile endeavor, 
 by every means in his power, to make him 
 spill one drop. If he could not do it, he 
 would advise him to withdraw his chal- 
 lenge, and not tempt further discomfiture. 
 The preliminary trial having taken place, 
 and the Spaniard having been unable to 
 disturb the equanimity of Adargoma's 
 arm, wisely took his advice, and withdrew 
 from further contest. 
 
 The island of Gran Canaria, in early 
 times, was divided into ten petty districts 
 or villages, called respectively, Gaidar, 
 
lO 
 
 ANDAMANA. 
 
 Telde, Aquimez, Tejeda, Aquejata, Agu- 
 ete, Tamaraceita, Artibirgo, Ateacas, and 
 Arucas.* Each district was governed by a 
 chief called Guanarteme, who maintained 
 a body of armed warriors under his con- 
 trol, and united in himself the offices of 
 dictator, legislator, and executive ; framed 
 the laws, and appointed magistrates to en- 
 force them ; calling, however, at his op- 
 tion, an advisory council of the old men 
 of the village, who also met at his death 
 to choose his successor. 
 
 This subdivision into petty independent 
 sovereignties, and the naturally warlike 
 character of the inhabitants, were the oc- 
 casion of many internal dissensions and 
 wars, which were frequent and bloody. 
 
 * Galineo says it was divided into twelve dis- 
 tricts, but does not give their names. 
 
ANDAMANA. II 
 
 In the village of Gaidar lived a young 
 girl called Andamana,* who, legend says, 
 possessed extraordinary wisdom. Her 
 judgment was often consulted on the 
 most weighty matters, and her reputation 
 for wisdom, at first confined to her own 
 family and friends, and then to her own 
 district, soon spread to the surrounding 
 country, so that deputations from a dis- 
 tance often came to the village where she 
 resided to consult her opinion on impor- 
 tant or disputed points. Litigants appealed 
 to her before bringing their cases before 
 
 * Ab Gal calls her Atidamana ; Galineo calls 
 her Antidamana, and other Spanish writers call 
 her Andamada, and some Andamanada ; but the 
 name generally accepted as correct, and the one 
 alone prevalent in the island of Gran Canaria, 
 is Andamana. 
 
12 
 
 ANDAMANA. 
 
 the magistrates, and the magistrates them- 
 selves often appealed to her before making 
 their decisions, and the invariable success 
 which attended compliance with her coun- 
 sel induced the people to regard her as 
 inspired. 
 
 This popular rumor, which often came 
 to her ears, and the constant reference to 
 her judgment of public matters, seem to 
 have kindled ambition in her breast, and 
 to have prompted her subsequent con- 
 duct. 
 
 The wisdom of her decisions at first 
 only elicited applause ; but when encour- 
 aged by the deference paid to those opin- 
 ions, she proceeded to pronounce de- 
 cisions also, in addition to giving advice ; 
 the magistrates complained of her actions 
 as an infringement on their privileges. 
 
■ ^■>-^*IJi.^i^.. K..,n..-;>»-,- 
 
 ANDAMANA. 
 
 13 
 
 Particularly was this complaint induced, 
 by the fact that their receipts were seri- 
 ously affected by her course ; she charged 
 no fee; but their charges were heavy, and 
 often the litigant who was able to give 
 the largest fee obtained a verdict in his 
 favor, although his adversary might pos- 
 sess the better argument. 
 
 Andamana was extremely popular 
 among the people of her district, and the 
 Guanarteme, fearing to take open measures 
 against her, on his own responsibility, 
 called a council to take into consideration 
 her pretensions and encroachments. But 
 instead of quailing before this measure, so 
 fraught with apparent danger to the suc- 
 cess of her ambitious plans, she made it a 
 means of advancing her power. 
 
 The Council met when the door opened, 
 
14 ANDAMANA. 
 
 and Andamana, splendidly attired, enter- 
 ed, and calmly assumed a seat as presiding 
 officer of the assembly. The members of 
 the Council were struck dumb with as- 
 tonishment, and none uttered a word. It 
 was commonly reported (as I said before) 
 that Andamana was inspired, and her con- 
 duct on this occasion tended to confirm 
 this impression on the members of the 
 Council. After a brief pause, she arose 
 and upbraided them as unworthy of all 
 she had done, and dared them to cite one 
 instance where, in the judgments or de- 
 cisions she had rendered, she had been 
 swayed by personal interest or personal 
 advantage. She then resumed her seat 
 and waited in vain for a reply, then arose 
 again and pronounced the Council dis- 
 solved. 
 
ANDAMANA. 15 
 
 The adoption of this strain of superiori- 
 ty was a bold and successful stroke of 
 policy. From this time no further op- 
 position was made to her assumptions of 
 power, which she henceforth exercised 
 with regal sway. 
 
 Her next step was to revise the judicial 
 code of her district, abolishing many laws 
 which she did not approve ; altering 
 others, and introducing many new ones. 
 She also established especial punishments 
 for different offences which, before, were 
 left to the discretion of the magistrates ; 
 defined the duties of those officers, and 
 appointed punishments for bribery and 
 the perversion of justice. 
 
 Pursuing the same course of assumption 
 of power which had hitherto been so suc- 
 cessful in her own district, she sent copies 
 
i6 
 
 ANDAMANA. 
 
 of her code of laws to the surrounding 
 districts, directing its observance in their 
 future administration of justice. In her 
 own province Andamana was almost 
 idolized, but her influence was little felt 
 and altogether unacknowledged beyond it, 
 and her messages and instructions were 
 treated with scorn, and, in some cases, 
 her messengers with punishment. 
 
 Immediately on their return she visited 
 Gumidafe, known as the Knight of Fa- 
 caracas, a nobleman whose habitation was 
 a fortified cave in the neighborhood of 
 Gaidar, and who was said to be the 
 greatest warrior on the island, and who 
 had control of a large force of armed 
 men. To him, it is said, she related her 
 grievances, and made an offer of marriage 
 on condition that he should espouse her 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 ANDAMAN A. 1 7 
 
 cause and fight her battles, which offer he 
 gladly accepted. She then called the peo- 
 ple of her district to arms, and when they 
 were assembled, had the marriage cere- 
 mony uniting her and Gumidafe perform- 
 ed before the multitude, and installing 
 him in the command of the army, and 
 (knowing the influence of her presence in 
 the expedition she contemplated) placing 
 herself at his side, with his troops united 
 to those of Gaidar, swept down on the of- 
 fending provinces, and soon overrun the 
 whole island. In every place where she 
 went, she proclaimed immunity to all who 
 would join her standard, but destruction 
 to her opponents. In this way her forces 
 increased as she advanced. Many towns 
 received her with acclamation, and she 
 speedily overcame all opposition.: Every 
 
ANDAMANA. 
 
 province having submitted to her sway, 
 she returned to Gaidar and proclaimed 
 herself and Gumidafe queen and king of 
 Canary. 
 
 Her reign was a long and a beneficent 
 one, and her first act was to establish a 
 uniform code of laws for the whole island. 
 
 Andamana and Gumidafe were succeed- 
 ed by their son, Artemis (or, according to 
 some authorities, Artemi Semidan), who 
 was killed in battle with the French in 
 1400. 
 
 On the death of the son of Artemis 
 (some writers say of that prince himself) 
 the island was divided into two kingdoms 
 between the two sons of the preceding 
 monarch, the northern portion, called the 
 kingdom of Gaidar, being assigned to the 
 elder, Egonayche Semidan, and the south- 
 
ANDAMANA. 19 
 
 ern, or kingdom of Telde, to the younger, 
 Bentagoyhe. The king of Telde, whose 
 domain was the largest and most populous, 
 was required to attend with his chiefs an- 
 nually in council at Gaidar; but after as- 
 suming his throne he refused to comply 
 with these conditions, which occasioned 
 war between the two brothers. 
 
 On the death of Bentagoyhe, the king- 
 dom of Telde was usurped by a powerful 
 noble named Doramus (afterwards killed 
 by the Spaniards), who caused him- 
 self to be elected to the supreme au- 
 thority by the Gayres, or governors of 
 subordinate provinces, in preference to the 
 young son of Bentagoyhe, who was a mere 
 child, and who took refuge on this occa- 
 sion with his uncle, Egonayche Semidan, 
 by whom he was kindly received and 
 
20 ANDAMANA. 
 
 reared. Whether the young king of Telde, 
 who subsequently killed himself at Ansite, 
 was the son of Doramus or this son of 
 Bentagoyhe, the history of Canary does 
 not inform us. 
 
 The descendants of Andamana con- 
 tinued to reign in Gaidar until the con- 
 quest of the island by the Spaniards under 
 Pedro de Vera, during the reign of Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella in Spain. Guaneche 
 Semidan (subsequently killed in battle 
 with the Guanches on the island of Tene- 
 riffe) was the last king of Gaidar, and had 
 no sons; but his daugher, Teneshoya, 
 was contracted in marriage to the young 
 king of Telde, who hoped by this means 
 to reunite the wh.ole island under one 
 sceptre. 
 
 Guaneche Semidan and his daughter 
 
ANDAMANA. 2 I 
 
 were captured by De Vera and taken to 
 Spain, where they were converted to 
 Christianity and baptized, he by the name 
 of Don Ferdinand, and she by that of 
 Dona Catherina, or Dona Catalina (for 
 she is called by both names by different 
 Spanish writers). 
 
 Returning to the island, which De Vera 
 had not yet entirely conqueied, Don Fer 
 dinand was instrumental in effecting its 
 complete surrender. The Spaniards had 
 captured all the sea-coast, but the remnant 
 of the Canarians, who still refused to sur- 
 render, had assembled in an inaccessible 
 height of the mountains at a place called 
 Ansite. Don Ferdinand ascended to 
 their stronghold, where he was received 
 with shouts and tears by the people, who 
 were overjoyed at the sight of their old 
 
2 2 ANDAMAN A. 
 
 king. As soon as the tumult of their 
 excitement was over, Don Ferdinand ad- 
 dressed them in an eloquent harangue, ad- 
 vising them, if not for their own sakes, at 
 least for the sakes of their wives and 
 children, to renounce the thought of oppo- 
 sition to the Spaniards, which could only- 
 end in their own destruction; but who, 
 he assured them, if they surrendered 
 without fighting, would treat them with 
 leniency, and particularly would confirm 
 and continue the nobles in the possession 
 of their estates. He thus persuaded them 
 to throw down their arms, and submit to 
 the Spanish general, which they, with cry- 
 ing and tears, agreed to do. The young 
 king of Telde, seeing his hopes thus 
 blasted, and the old Faycag, or High- 
 Priest of the island, who were among 
 
ANDAMANA. 23 
 
 those present, advanced to the edge of a 
 cliff, and having there embraced each 
 other, and calling with a loud voice, 
 "Atirtisma! Atirtisma!" (which was the 
 Canarian method of invoking God) threw 
 themselves headlong over the precipice, 
 and were dashed to pieces. Don Ferdi- 
 nand then led the rest of the Caharians 
 down to De Vera, who was pleased to see 
 them thus brought in without bloodshed, 
 as their mountain fastness could not have 
 been stormed and taken, had they refused 
 to yield, without great loss of life. Pedro 
 de Vera feasted the Canarians, and order- 
 ed Te Deum to te sung on this occasion, 
 which completed the conquest of the is- 
 land on the 29th of April, 1483. 
 
 Dona Catherina (or Catalina) the 
 daughter of Ferdinand, subsequently re- 
 
24 
 
 ANDAMANA. 
 
 turned to Spain, and was married to Don 
 Fernando Perez de Guzman, Senor de 
 Batres (or Vatres), son of Don Pedro 
 Suarez de Toledo y Guzman, brother of 
 Don Juan Ramirez de Guzman, from 
 whom Eugenie, the late empress of 
 France, is lineally descended. 
 
 Juan de Abreu de Galineo says that the 
 daughter of the king of Gaidar married 
 Ferdinand de Guzman, son of Alonzo de 
 Guzman, nephew of Ferdinand Perez, 
 lord of Vatres and Alcubillete in the 
 province of Toledo ; ;8ut the genealogical 
 records of the house ^ Guzman show 
 conclusively that she married Fernando 
 (or Ferdinand) Perez de Guzman, Senor 
 de Batres (or lord of Batres), after the 
 death of his first wife^ who was Dona 
 Marguerita de Avallaneda. These rec- 
 
ANDAMANA. 25 
 
 ords mention no Guzman who was lord 
 of Alcubillete, but the above-named Fer- 
 nando Perez de Guzman, lord of Batres, 
 is undoubtedly the same referred to by 
 Galineo, as the dates correspond, and 
 Spanish writers often use indifferently the 
 B and V. 
 
 Thus ended the royal line of Anda- 
 mana. History has recorded many a 
 name less worthy of memory than hers, 
 but its pages, except in Spanish works, 
 make no mention of her, nor of the Na- 
 polenonic coup d'etat by which she first 
 achieved her supremacy. 
 
 The authorities consulted in this ac- 
 count are : 
 
 Historia de los Canarias. By Ab. Gal. 
 
26 
 
 ANDAMAN A. 
 
 Historia de la Gran - Canaria, By 
 Melleres. 
 
 Genealogia de la casa de Guzman. By 
 Rodriguez. 
 
 Historia del Discidri?niento y la Con- 
 quista de las Yslas de las Canarias, By 
 Galineo. 
 
 Titulos de Castilla, By Berny. 
 
 Monarquia Espanola. By Riverola. 
 
 Teatro Universal, By Garcia. 
 
 Asturias Ilustrado, By Trellos. 
 
 Archives of the houses of Teva and 
 Montijo, and several other Spanish works. 
 
 w. B. w. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^1 
 
 021 617 450 1. 
 
 
 
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