<\ » • • • %«» .^""vf # 1 ' % ^^^Q^ oV'^^^a'- ^^.^ o > ft5> ^ »•* ,p-«. -^^ •"^.♦.L^'* THE LAST VOYAGES ADMIRAL OF THE OCEAN SEA ^■"■> -■. ^^-k!)vJ\- CHARLES PAUL MAC KIE The more we discuss the undertaking and meditate concerning it, the more do we recognize how great has been this your achievement; and that you have shown a greater wisdom therein than it was ever thought possible any mortal could possess. Please God that the future may equal what has been begun ! Ferdinand and Isabella to Columbus, Sept. 5, 1493 CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY l/S-C^'^^ f El I 2 ■MI.6 Copyright, By a. C. McClurg and Co. A. D. i8q2. All rights reserved. TO iHg iPat][)er A SMALL RETURN FOR MUCH ENCOURAGEMENT 9 1 r^^ 3 M m ^M m B 1 ^ •^S m ^ m M ^ffi ii PREFACE. IT is not consistent with that spirit of justice which is the inheritance of the true American that any man, however long dead, should be condemned unheard, or upon a partial record. Few among the men of action of his time left such ample declaration both of purpose and performance as did Columbus, yet none has been more mercilessly assailed upon ex parte evidence. Weighty names have of late asked the world of students to accept their individual estimates of the great sailor's character based upon their presentation of his aims and actions, treating his own utterances as insignificant or untrustworthy. Were we limited to the chronicles of his life and deeds as apprehended by contemporary or later historians, this method might be necessary ; but happily the case is otherwise. The letters and reports of Columbus are neither scanty nor difficult of access, and there is no good reason apparent to us why the reader should not be enabled to form his conclusions at first hand. There is no occasion for treating as a mystery the open book of this man's life, for he himself knew neither reserve nor artifice in its indit- ing. Of him it may in truth be said, that out of his own mouth is he to be judged. The story of Columbus, as we know it, is sharply divided into two epochs, — the twelvemonth which covers the Discov- ery, and the fourteen years which succeeded it. The goings 5 6 PREFACE. and comings of the Genoese sailor offered so little to dis- tinguish them from those of his colleagues, before his name was connected with a preeminent exploit, that even the microscopic investigations of a Harrisse have failed to recon- struct the life of Columbus prior to 1492. Had we that volume of " Reminiscences " which the Admiral wrote in his later years, the story of his earlier days might be told with satisfactory fulness. In the absence of all but frag- mentary allusions, that story must remain imperfect. It is, after all, from the years following the Discovery that an ade- quate conception of the Admiral's personality under varying conditions is to be gained, and it is, consequently, the more welcome that the blanks in this portion of his history are relatively so few. In the attempt we here make to set before our readers the motives and actions of the Admiral and Viceroy, as dis- tinguished from the finder of San Salvador, we have limited ourselves to the materials left by the participants them- selves, leaving to each reader the apportionment of applause or censure as to him may seem fitting. The familiar chron- icles of Oviedo, Gomara, and Bernaldez (the Cura de los Palacios) are but rarely drawn upon ; Herrera is seldom quoted, for he merely paraphrased Las Casas, — however much modern historians may quote him as an original authority ; Ferdinand Columbus is not deemed a first-rate source of knowledge except for the Fourth Voyage ; and Peter Martyr only when relating what he directly gathered from conversations or correspondence with the Admiral and his associates. Benzoni, of course, is discarded as of no weight for this period or anything relating to it, and the mass of contradictions attributed to Vespucci is taken for what it is worth. The greater portion of our narrative is drawn immediately from the writings of Columbus and some of his associates, as collected by Navarrete and scattered through the history of Las Casas. PREFACE. 7 As a measure of justice to our readers, we have in all cases made our own translation direct from the originals of all material used. We know that the speech of Columbus was strongly tinctured with Portuguese, and the eftects of his long residence among that people are equally apparent in the extreme rudeness and compression of his written lan- guage. This often lends vigor to his expressions, but some- times obscures his meaning ; hence more than usual care is needed in converting his phrases. Selections from his writ- ings have been done into English by Major and Kettell ; but neither of these versions is easy of access to the general reader, and we do not assume to disparage the scholarship of either learned translator in saying that, for any serious purpose, their renderings are quite inadmissible. If any writer is worth quoting at all, he is worth quoting correctly, and harm enough has been already done the cause of honest history by drawing hasty conclusions from erroneously re- ported premises. Englewood, N.J., October, 1892. CONTENTS. Chapter Page I. New Lands beyond the Sea ii II. Founding the Great Monopoly 32 III. The Beginning of Emigration 50 IV. The Islands of the Cannibals 72 V. A Bitter Disillusion 92 VI. Taking Root iii VII. The Viceroy's First Report 126 VIII. The Beginning of Conquest 142 IX. Identifying Asia 163 X. The Revolt of the Tribes 186 XI. The Penalty of Defeat 205 XII. Investigation and Vindication 227 XIII. Planning New Discoveries 249 XIV. Seeking the Great South Land .... 278 XV. "These lands are another world*' . . . 298 XVI. From Paradise to Inferno 322 XVII. Prodigal Magnanimity 340 XVIII. The Faith of Princes 359 9 lO CONTENTS. Chapter Page XIX. The Triumph of Intrigue ....... 382 XX. The Amend Politic 404 XXI. Anticipating Magellan 427 XXII. An Inaccessible Ocean 450 XXIII. The Greatest Peril of All 474 XXIV. "I have done all I could" 496 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL OF THE OCEAN SEA. NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. " T T THEN I had undertaken this enterprise and gone to W discover the Indies, I proposed in my mind to go personally to your Holiness [when I returned] with an account of all that had happened. There arose at that time a dispute between the King of Portugal and the King and Queen, my sovereigns ; the King of Portugal declaring that he also intended to send out on that course to discover and win lands in those parts, — and so he stood upon his rights. The King and Queen, my sovereigns, thereupon sent me in haste upon the task of discovering and winning everything, and so my journey to your Holiness could not be effected." Thus succinctly did Columbus, writing in after years to Pope Alexander VI., epitomize the events of the six months of hurried intrigue and feverish preparation which elapsed between his arrival from " the Discovery," as, for the sake of distinction, he termed his first voyage, and his departure upon the second. Yet no period of his career was so crowded with incident and excitement, and at no time did he occupy so preeminent a place in the minds of princes and people, as during the half-year he dismisses in this summary fashion. 12 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. The Te Deums and Non Nobises had been chanted by the choristers of the Royal Chapel at Barcelona ; their Majesties had indicated by acts of pointed condescension the esteem in which they held their new Admiral ; the com- plaisant Court had hastened to follow the example thus unmistakably set, and the thoughts of high and low alike were turned towards the regions of boundless hope and promise which so unexpectedly were opened to the arms and ambition of the twin kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Little did the hungry placemen, the adventurous soldiers of fortune, or the hardy seamen of the day care whether the new-found lands were Cathay or Cipango, Farther India or the Golden Chersonesus, the Asiatic continent or a group of unnamed islands off its coasts. One thing was patent : Don Christopher Columbus had crossed and recrossed the Ocean Sea in safety and most palpably demonstrated that but a short month's sail lay between the Pillars of Hercules and the countries " where the spices grew," where " the temples and palaces were sheathed with planks of gold." The rare fabrics of silk and golden broidery, the gems and carven ivories, the perfumes and incense which the luxury-loving Spaniards had seen and admired in Court pageant and church ceremonial, or looted in the Moorish palaces of Alhama and Granada, had come, as all men knew, from the hazy confines of the distant East ; and were not these the realms now seized and garrisoned for the Crown of Spain by the Admiral and his fortunate command ? Nothing more natural than that all should be eager to extend the discov- eries thus happily made, and derive some share either of profit or glory from the prosecution of the new crusade. The triumphant conclusion of the wars of Granada had left the south of Spain filled with a multitude of restless spirits sighing, like later Alexanders, for other worlds to have at and plunder ; and, lo ! as by a miracle, their dearest wish was gratified, and the whole Antipodes of Earth were offered them for the taking. The stupendous exploit had broken upon them all as a surprise. Except a few of the more observant placemen at Court and some hundreds of unimportant subjects in the J\JE1V LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 13 maritime districts of Andalusia, none had borne in mind the saiUng of the Genoese captain the year before with his modest equipment of caravels. Now he was returned, with a tale the like of which even the Moorish romancers could not rival. Had it been merely the story of some crew of inventive sailors, recounting to hearers who could not gain- say them the marvels of a voyage to unknown shores, the credulity of the vulgar throng would have been jeered at by the politer circles who knew so much better. But this Senor Colon, or Colombo as he was sometimes called, had not scrupled to write more than one report teeming with the wonders of his recent voyage, — to the King and Queen, to Santangel, the royal treasurer of Aragon, to Sanchez, the comptroller of the royal finances, and to others of equal eminence ; and these reports were not only most sincerely credited by the sovereigns and their learned men, but they had been instantly printed and passed into general circula- tion. Therefore were the learned, polite, and vulgar together soon possessed of all the facts concerning this astonishing Discovery ; and the conceptions held by all, as to the new lands beyond the Western Ocean, were grounded upon the statements of Columbus himself as he had promulgated them in the letters prepared upon his homeward voyage. Little wonder that their contents excited the enthusiasm of widely different classes of society. Here is what they read, or had read to them, of the great island, over yonder in the Indian seas, which the new-made Admiral had dis- covered and christened the Spanish Isle : — " Hispaniola is a marvel ; the sierras and forests, plains and prairies are so comely and fertile for planting and sowing, for raising cattle of all kinds, for the building of cities and settle- ments. The seaports would not be credited in Europe without being seen, and the rivers are many and wide, with good water, most of them carrying gold. Here are great mines of gold and other metals." In this fair region Nature had been lavish in her gifts : — " The trees are of a thousand varieties and appear to reach the skies. From what I understand they never lose their foliage, for I saw them as green and beautiful as in the month of May in 14 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Spain. Some of them bear flowers, others fruits, and others neither, according to their kind. The nightingale and a thou- sand other birds were singing there when 1 was travelHng, in the month of November. There are six or eight different varieties of palms, which it is a delight to see, so various is their beauty, and even more so the other trees and fruits and herbs. There are marvellous pine forests, and vast meadows, and honey, and many kinds of birds and fruits, all very unlike. In those lands are many mines of metals, and people beyond count." Tiie inhabitants of this paradise were not of a sort to offer impediment to any scheme of conquest or aggrandize- ment which the Spaniards might set on foot. *' The people of these islands and all others of which I had news go naked as the day they were born. They have neither iron nor steel, and no weapons at all, nor are they fitted to use them. They have no arms other than the stalks of canes at seed-time, to which they fasten sharpened bits of wood, and they do not dare to use even these ; for it often befell that I sent two or three of my men ashore to some village to communicate with the natives, and a great crowd would come out to meet them, and as soon as they drew^ near would take to flight without wait- ing for father or son. They are timid past hope. The truth is, that as soon as they become quieted and lose this dread, they are so guileless and generous with what they possess that it will not be believed unless it is seen. They never say 'no' to a request for anything they have ; rather do they offer it to one, and show such affection that they would give away their hearts. Whatever is given them, whether it be of value or of no account, they are satisfied. I had to prohibit the sailors giving them such common things as a bit of a broken pot or of broken glass, and such like ; for one sailor traded off a needle for two and a half ounces of gold, and for new copper coins they would give all they had, even to two or three ounces of gold or one or two arrobas of cotton yarn. Even the pieces of iron hoops they would accept, and give in exchange everything they had, like fools, until I had to put a stop to it, for it seemed ill to me." All these fair lands, with their hordes of gentle savages and promise of fabulous wealth, had been annexed by Columbus to the domains of Ferdinand and Isabella, and a garrison left therein in token of possession and as an earnest of immediate return. NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 1 5 " These countries are richer than I know how to say, and I have taken possession of them all for their Majesties, who can now dispose of them in the same manner and as completely as they do of these Kingdoms of Castile. In this Hispaniola, in the most convenient place and best neighborhood for the mines of gold and for all kinds of commerce, — both with the continent over here [Europe] and that out there, of the Great Khan, where there will be great traffic and profit, — I have also taken posses- sion of a large city which I have named Navidad, and in it have built a fortress and keep, which by this time should be entirely finished. In it I have left enough people for the purpose, with arms and artillery and supplies for more than a year, and a barge and a shipmaster competent to work in all the crafts ; and have established friendship with the King of that country to such a degree that he prided himself on calling me and treating me as a brother. " Even if the natives should change their disposition and wish to harm our people, neither the King nor his subjects know what arms are, but go naked, as I have said, and are the most timid people in the world." No stronger appeal could have been made to the spirits and passions of the daring subjects of Ferdinand and Isa- bella. Strange lands beyond an unknown sea, a child-like race of defenceless beings, gold thrust upon the newcomer by the handful, vast regions of dazzling wealth to be explored and won. These were no travellers' tales, moreover, for there were the tawny children of the Indies following the Admiral in his progress through Southern Spain, and with them were borne chains and ornaments of massive gold, birds of resplendent plumage, beasts of unheard-of shapes, and scores of the curious products of an unfamiliar Nature. That were a campaign better worth the waging to cavalier and man-at-arms than any offered in the Pyrenees or Cala- bria ; and those were fairer havens for the mariner to seek than any that lay within the orbit of the Midland Sea or down the parched shores of Western Africa. So there was like to be no lack of men for the return voyage to the new- found Indies. In those presumably serener regions of the Court where Statecraft waited upon Royalty, the eager gratification inspired by the news of this latest acquisition to the grow- l6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ing power of Spain was tinctured with a jealous fear lest, after all, the broad ducats which Castile had adventured in the brilliant schemes of the Genoese navigator had not merely paved the way for Portugal to reach the Orient by a shorter route than any heretofore attempted. The rivalry between the two nations of the Peninsula, to reach by sea the countries of Prester John and the Grand Khan, dated from early in this century. Both competitors were ham- pered by the grave doubts which existed as to just where the teeming treasures of the East were to be found in the bound- less expanse of ocean which lay outside the Straits of Gib- raltar. No such anxiety had beset the Venetians, who had thus far controlled the traffic with the Orient : their ships sailed peacefully down the Mediterranean to Aleppo or Alexandria and there received the precious bales which had been brought up the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea. But the task set the geographers and mariners of Portugal and Spain when, early in the fifteenth century, their sovereigns deter- mined to explore the Western Ocean, was far more arduous. Had they possessed no maps at all, it should have been easier, for such as they had served only to perpetuate error and lend it a false authority. No one knew whether lands, seas, or Chaos lay south of the equator. As to the West, there was greater certainty : out there lay the Sea of Shadows and the confines of Earth itself. It is to the credit both of monarchs and seamen that a beginning was ever made to maritime discovery in the face of the vast mass of tradi- tional terrors accumulated in the course of a thousand years of intellectual stagnation. But roving priests and merchants told alluring tales of the fantastic wealth of Asiatic and African potentates, while Venetians and Moors spread through Spain and Portugal the love of beautiful things and the things themselves, until the western nations would no longer take their luxury at second hand and resolved to seek its source. There was an East, beyond a peradventure : and within its nebulous precincts lay India and Cathay, Cipango and Ceylon, and the Javas, — Major and Minor. Outside of these great kingdoms was ocean; therefore, since Venice commanded the only accessible routes by land, by ocean must the East be sought. NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 17 Hence both Spanish and Portuguese began to grope out- side the gates of the Mediterranean. They followed naturally the southern trend of the African coasts, blown sometimes far out to sea by easterly gales. Some of the bolder souls headed straight out into the West in search of the lost islands of the monkish legends and Arab chronicles. Thus the Spaniards sailed along the African coasts and discovered the Canary Islands; only to be surpassed by the Portuguese in a series of voyages which, for their hardihood, deserve a larger share of popular fame than they are likely to receive in view of the more romantic achievements which so soon succeeded them. The Azores, Madeira, and the Cape de Verd Islands were discovered and seized, and the African headlands were passed in succession, as voyage followed voyage, until the Cape of Good Hope was reached four years before Columbus landed on San Salvador. Here the Portuguese had paused, on the very threshold of the Orient. The merchants of Seville and Lisbon maintained a certain traflfic in gold and negro slaves with the tribes of Guinea and the Congo, but Spain and Portugal alike were as far as ever from the spices and priceless fabrics of the lands be- yond the Ganges. Absorbed in their Moorish wars, the Spaniards had all but withdrawn from the rivalry, and what advantage there was thus far remained with Portugal, for she established a few forts along the vast extent of the African littoral and asserted a monopoly to all navigation in that direction. It was at this juncture that Columbus made his notable contract with Ferdinand and Isabella and started westward across the Ocean Sea in search of a direct route to India. He had, as we know, taken part in several voyages to the Guinea coasts under the auspices of the Portuguese Crown, and the experience thus gained stood him in good stead on more than one occasion on his own Discovery. Familiar with the aspirations of Portugal in respect of an indepen- dent path to the Indies, he had kept inflexibly upon his guard, when his services were transferred to Spain, against the treachery or subtlety of his quondam associates. That there was need for such caution was abundantly shown both on his 1 8 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. outward voyage, when he had to manoeuvre to escape the Portuguese squadron sent to intercept him off the Canaries, and on his return, when he so narrowly escaped seizure by the Governor of the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. A fortnight later, when the foundering "Nifia" staggered into the Tagus, and her commander was received, as an Admiral of Castile returning from the Indies, by the Port- uguese King, the latter was loth to believe that the voyage had been made across the Western Ocean and plainly inti- mated his belief that Columbus had reached his goal by sailing around Africa. If the new Admiral were telling the truth, Spain had outwitted Portugal and won the race to the Orient. This King John would ascertain for himself, and meanwhile do his utmost to deter any more Spanish squad- rons from following up the advantage. A hint of this purpose reached Columbus as he lay at anchor in the Tagus, and he hastened to transmit it over- land to his sovereigns, while he made all speed with his little ship from the doubtful safety of Lisbon to the surer haven of Palos. From here he wrote again to Ferdinand and Isabella and received their reply on reaching Seville, as he journeyed towards Barcelona to make his report in per- son to the King and Queen. The royal missive in one paragraph lauded the Admiral's achievements in the voy- age just finished, and in the next urged him to hasten the preparations for his return to the regions he had discovered. " As you know," his patrons wrote, " the summer has already begun and, in order that the season for returning to those countries may not be lost, see whether you can do anything in Seville, or the other places you may visit, to advance your return." No reference was made to the schemes of Portugal; but the omission did not signify that Ferdinand and Isabella were ignorant of or indifferent to them. They had already taken measures to meet any attempt at interfer- ence on the part of their neighbor with a weapon whose thunder drowned that of the loudest lombards on the Portu- guese decks, — the menace of St. Peter. The letters dispatched by Columbus overland from Lis- bon could not have reached the Court at Barcelona before NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 19 the 25th of March. Five weeks later, on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, Pope Alexander VI. issued at Rome his famous Bulls by which all the world which lay beyond a line drawn from Pole to Pole, four hundred miles west of the Azores, " in the direction of India or of whatever other parts," was declared to belong to the Spanish Crown by virtue of the discoveries made by its Admiral. The promulgation of these formidable decrees could not be a matter of indiffer- ence to Portugal, since she held her exclusive right to navi- gate to the eastward by a similar tenure granted in 147 1; that is, " by the authority of Almighty God, to us [the Pope], through St. Peter granted, and of the Vicariate of Jesus Christ which we exercise over the Earth." Consequently Portugal, in plotting to traverse the projects of Spain in the West, was not only incurring her wrath but that of the Vatican as well, and, as the Bull proclaimed, "the anger of the Omnipotent and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. " The conjunction was, assuredly, a sufficiently threat- ening one, but King John proposed to brave it, cost what it might. Columbus himself reached Barcelona about the 20th of April; the exact date is uncertain. Las Casas tells us that, after his dazzling reception by the King and Queen, the Admiral was daily in close consultation with their Majes- ties, relating to them all the incidents of his explorations, informing them of the natural resources of the islands visited, and inspiring them with his own enthusiastic be- liefs and aims concerning the policy to be pursued in the near future. Ferdinand and Isabella entered into all of his plans with an abandon of which we find no other vestige in the earlier or later history of their well-regulated lives, — unless it be in the zest with which they maintained the Inquisition. They fully shared their Admiral's confidence that Cuba and Hayti were within easy sail of the Spice Islands and Cathay, and unreservedly pledged him their support in the prosecution of his great project for placing the control of the Indian trade in the hands of Spain. At these conferences the details of the comprehensive scheme were debated and adopted, and by the ist of May all the 20 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. energies of the government were engaged in the task of dispatching an adequate armament to continue the work so auspiciously begun. This second expedition was to be no mere handful of exploring caravels. It was to be so consti- tuted as to provide for all contingencies, — to repel any attempt that might be made by Portugal to prevent its de- parture or disperse it while on the voyage; to convey a large body of colonists to settle in Hispaniola; to defend the colonies thus established and supply them with the means of communication with Spain; to continue the work of exploration and enable the Admiral to open the coveted relations with the dominions of the Grand Khan; to furnish vessels for the immediate transportation to Spain of the store of gold, drugs, and other valuable prod- ucts accumulated by the garrison which Columbus had left, for this purpose, at Navidad in King Guacanagari's terri- tory; and, finally, to determine the all-important question as to whether Cuba was in truth an island or a part of the Asiatic continent. While at Seville Columbus had set on foot the prelimi- naries of this new undertaking, and the King and Queen now associated with him in the manifold preparations Don Juan de Fonseca, archdeacon of that See. The choice of Seville as a base of operations was a wise one, both because of its convenient situation on the Guadalquivir and its long established maritime commerce. The selection of Fon- seca — a crafty worldling in churchly garb — proved fatal to the personal hopes and ambitions of his colleague. In all that related to this second voyage, however, Ferdinand and Isabella deferred to Columbus to a degree little less than amazing. It is no exaggeration to say — for scores of documents prove it — that his wish was absolute law. Those who disputed or opposed it were promptly called to account by sharp personal letters from the King and Queen. In no instance, at this period, do we find the Churchman supported as against the Admiral. On the contrary, he was often made by the sovereigns, in no gentle terms, to yield to his colleague's preferences. Later on, he had his revenge.^ 1 "This Don Juan de Fonseca," says Las Casas, who knew him thor- oughly, " although a priest and an archdeacon, and, after the sovereigns NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 21 Columbus and Fonseca were instructed by their sover- eigns primarily " to prepare a fleet to go to the Indies, both to conquer and to take possession of the islands and main- land ^ already seized in our name, as well as to seek out others." To this end they were directed to visit "Seville, Cadiz, and whatever other cities, towns, places, and ports in Andalusia they might think convenient," and there charter or buy any and all vessels, of whatever class, which Columbus should select as desirable for his purpose. The authorities all along that seaboard were, by name, required to assist them in obtaining such vessels and in manning and equipping them. Columbus himself was charged to take only the best craft obtainable, and to pick his pilots and crews from among those " who best knew their profession and were most trustworthy." Scarcely had these first orders been issued when definite news was received that the apprehended interference of Portugal was about to take shape. From his seaport of Santa Maria in Andalusia, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, one of the most powerful of the Spanish grandees, wrote to the King and Queen, warning them that King John was actually preparing a fleet to send out into " those parts of the Ocean Sea which have just been discovered by the Admiral Don Christopher Columbus," and placing his im- mense influence and resources at the service of their Majes- ties to thwart the efforts of their rival. Ferdinand and Isabella hastened to thank the Duke, their "dear cousin," calling upon him to make ready all the caravels of his dis- trict to be used in case of emergency, and instantly redoubled their efforts to dispatch Columbus and his fleet. The royal secretaries were overtasked with the multitude of decrees, had given him charge of the Indies, bishop of Badajoz and Palencia, and finally of Burgos, where he died, was very capable in worldly affairs, particularly in recruiting military men for naval armaments, — which was rather a business for Basques than for bishops. For this reason, as long as they lived, their Majesties always entrusted him with the preparation of the expeditions they sent to sea." ^ This "mainland" was Cuba; Columbus, after no little hesitation, having leaned at last to the belief that no island could be so vast as he then believed Cuba to be. 22 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. letters, and rescripts which flowed from the almost frantic zeal of their sovereigns. The treasurers of the various royal funds, the authorities of cities and provinces, the comptrol- lers of the finances, officials military, ecclesiastical, and civil, diplomats and merchants, — all in turn were assailed with orders, entreaties, or remonstrances, as the case demanded. The archives of the period teem with documents testifying to the extreme activity which suddenly permeated every branch of government, and to the thoroughness with which the Crown sought to provide for the safe execution of its plans in face of the danger confronting them. An immense store of provisions and wine was accumu- lated at Seville, sufficient to last throughout the voyage and to maintain the proposed colonies in Hispaniola pending the arrival of later shipments. Great quantities of trinkets for barter with the natives were purchased, — beads, bells, scissors, glass, needles, strap-iron, and such like. Seeds and plants for the use of the colonists; cattle, horses, and fowls for breeding; building materials, ship-stores, artisans' and armorers' tools and supplies, miners' implements, and clothing, — everything, in short, likely to be needed for establishing and maintaining a considerable settlement in a savage country was provided in abundance. To aid in supporting the colony a party of skilled field laborers was to be taken along, selected from those who were familiar with the work of breaking and tilling new lands, and to them was added a man expert in the construction of the irrigating ditches so important to Spanish agriculture. No doubt crossed the mind of King, Admiral, or officials that ere long the colonies would be in touch with the over- flowing marts of Cathay and Cipango; but, until such direct communication were opened, it was known that the Span- ish settlers and explorers would be dependent upon the home country for the satisfaction of their needs. For their protection and defence an equal care was shown. The magazines of Malaga were drawn on for fifty sets of armor, together with as many arquebuses and cross-bows. The chief of artillery at Seville was ordered to furnish all the lombards needed, with their supply of powder and stone NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 23 shot. The famous Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, which had been organized to act as a mounted police in the troublous times of the Moorish wars, was required to supply twenty men-at-arms, with their mounts, picked from the veteran scouts and guerillas of the Granadan frontiers and practised in the border tactics of the wily Moors. The duty of this corps in the Indies, it was stated, should be "to search the country; beause they, in a short time, will know how to do this better than any others." Only those who should offer to go "with a good will " were to be ac- cepted; but, to make assurance doubly sure, Villalva, the Inspector of the Brotherhood, was ordered to conduct his troopers to Seville and not leave them until they were safely on board the ships. The number of men of all kinds — volunteers, colonists, and officials — allowed to sail was originally fixed at one thousand. The difficulty was not to find these, but rather to choose from the multitude which offered, and the pres- sure finally became so great that the number was increased to twelve hundred. All of these were entitled to draw rations from the government stores and to receive a stipend, varying with their rank. It soon became appar- ent that the cost of the enterprise would be enormous; but for once the frugal caution of Ferdinand and his consort was laid aside, in consideration of the brilliant prospect of immediate aggrandizement. The royal treasury was at its lowest ebb, and resort was had to various shifts for the indispensable ways and means. The Holy Brotherhood was asked to find 15,000 ducats, or nearly 6,000,000 maravedies, towards meeting the expense. The special tax of the tercia, levied originally for the conquest of Granada, was contin- ued or revived to provide another part. Still a third source of funds was the confiscated wealth of the recently expelled Jews. Candor compels the admission that most of the money embarked in this armada for the acquisition and settlement of the future America was stained with the grime of extortion; but little of that in circulation at the time was free from a like imputation. Whatever their origin, the millions of maravedies expended on the expe- 24 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. dition were hardly raised and their disbursement was cor- respondingly scrutinized. The precautions taken by the Crown to ensure a legitimate distribution of its supplies of cash speak well for the business methods of the govern- ment, or ill for the honesty of its servants, as we may choose to interpret them. In the instructions issued to Columbus and Fonseca great stress was laid upon the necessity of registering before notaries public all contracts and engagements entered into, and Juan de Soria, of their Majesties' household, was named to have the supervision of all outlays. Francisco Pinelo, one of the royal treas- urers, was directed to keep a minute account of the ex- penses, and a detail of accountants was made to go out to Hispaniola to establish there a similarly rigid system of book-keeping. Ferdinand and Isabella had already issued a decree forbidding any one to make a voyage to the new- found Indies without their express sanction, and they now proclaimed that all traffic with those lands was a monopoly of the Crown, and that no one sailing on this fleet was to carry with him any article of barter whatever. To ensure compliance with this order, Soria was required to put under oath every soul who should embark, and register each and every article they possessed. In the event of their attempting to evade the law on reaching Hispaniola, their property was to be confiscated. All of these measures, and many others relating to de- tails, were planned and authorized during the month of May, while Columbus was still with the Court at Barcelona. Ferdinand and Isabella hoped to have everything in readi- ness so that the fleet might sail by the 15th of July, and they consequently desired that Columbus should be enabled to leave the Court at the earliest date practicable and to give his personal attention to the execution of the elabo- rate preparations. As soon, therefore, as the royal orders and decrees relating to the equipment of the fleet had all been issued, the King and Queen proceeded to fulfil their promises of reward and honor to the man who had brought them these boundless possessions. A resplendent coat-of- arms was bestowed upon the Admiral, whereon the castles NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 25 and lions of the royal escutcheon were quartered with three anchors and seven islands, indicative of the profession and discoveries of the new grandee. One thousand ducats were paid him as a largess, besides the pension awarded him for first having espied the land, or, to be more exact, the light thereon. Of greater moment was the solemn confirmation to him and his heirs of the titles and prerogatives pledged to him, under the agreement of April 30th, 1492, in the event of his discovering the "islands and mainland" beyond the Ocean Sea. He had performed his part of the contract, and had petitioned the sovereigns to comply with theirs. This Ferdinand and Isabella accordingly pro- ceeded to do, — so far, at least, as the handsome engross- ing of parchments went. Perhaps they really intended, at that time, to keep their engagements with the Admiral. He certainly was justified in thinking so when he read the text of their solemn ratification of their pledges of the year before. The document was dated on the 28th of May, and began with this comprehensive invocation : " In the name of the Holy Trinity and Eternal Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and of the Blessed Virgin the Glorious St. Mary, Our Lady; and of the Blessed Apostle St. James, Light and Mirror of All Spain, Patron and Guide of the Sovereigns of Castile and Leon; and of all the other Saints, Male and Female, in the Courts of Heaven." Hav- ing summoned this cloud of witnesses to attest their sin- cerity and earnestness, the King and Queen, "considering the risk and danger in which, for our benefit, you [Colum- bus] placed yourself in going to search for and to discover these islands, and also that in which you are now placing yourself in going to seek other islands and the mainland," confirmed to Columbus and to his " sons, descendants, and successors, one after the other and for all future time, the stipulated offices of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Viceroy and Governor of the islands and mainland which you have discovered, and of the other islands and mainland which by you, or through your labors, shall be hereafter discov- ered in the direction of the Indies." These were far from empty honors, for the same instrument guaranteed to 26 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Columbus and his heirs, for ever and ever, "all the pre- rogatives, distinctions, rights, and salaries" enjoyed by the Admirals of Castile and Leon, and, within the unmarked limits of his new vice-kingdom, absolute jurisdiction zvith- out appeal in all causes, civil as well as criminal, with power to issue writs and decrees in the name of the King and Queen, and to use the royal seal. Well might Columbus feel secure when the rubrics of his sovereigns were attached to this weighty instrument, and jealously might he guard it throughout his life; for he, at least, had some approximate realization of the vast power and profit which it involved. Considered in its purely commercial aspect, it assured to him one-tenth of all the products of the lands discovered either directly by him or through his instrumentality, besides the right of trading on his personal account to the extent of one-eighth of the entire future commerce between Spain and whatever do- minions should become hers in the New World. Just what these dominions might be, or what the import of their possible trafific with Spain, was of course problematical; but it is idle to claim that Ferdinand and Isabella, two of the most astute — not to say of the craftiest — monarchs in Christendom, did not realize what they were doing when they conferred these broad powers and great privileges upon their Admiral. They, as well as he, believed that he had reached the eastern confines of Asia on his first voyage; they, as well as he, knew that this second fleet now prepar- ing was destined for the establishment of a permanent trade with the realms of the Grand Khan and the kings of the Orient, if not for their conquest, — with those very prov- inces and islands whose fabulous wealth had excited the cupidity of Spanish and Portuguese alike for nearly a cen- tury past. The bargain was, if anything, unduly favorable to the Crown. " Win for us a short road to that dazzling East, wherever it maybe," the monarchs had, in effect, said to the Genoese sailor, "and we will do thus and so for you." They shared with him the belief that the East had been reached, and in reserving for themselves seven-eighths of the commerce with what they thought was the Asiatic NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 2/ continent and the Celebes, and nine-tenths of the revenue from those regions, they were, the impartial observer would think, amply providing for their own compensation. In addition to this confirmation of his rank and privi- leges, Columbus also received at this time from their Majesties his commission as Captain-General of the fleet which was fitting out, a letter of instructions for the con- duct of the enterprise, and several decrees relating to de- tails for the administration of the proposed colonies. We shall look in vain through the annals of far more arbitrary governments than was that of Ferdinand and Isabella with- out finding wider powers granted to favorite minister or successful courtier than those now bestowed upon this un- tried Viceroy. A scant year before he was a penniless pensioner of the rulers who now transferred to him the most jealously guarded prerogatives of royalty. Not con- tent with conferring upon him the unrestrained power to dispose, without exception, of the lives and property of their future subjects beyond the sea, the Spanish monarchs voluntarily surrendered the right of veto which, in the original contract, they had reserved over all the appoint- ments made by Columbus, and now granted him authority to make such directly. Moreover, they empowered him, " in the event of it proving desirable for him to go in search of other islands and the mainland " after the colony was established in Hispaniola, to appoint a deputy or lieutenant armed with all his authority, even to the use of the royal seal entrusted to the Viceroy himself. In short, beyond the Ocean Sea, Columbus was to stand for the Crown, untrammelled, absolute, and irresponsible. There seems to be no doubt that Ferdinand and Isabella realized that the conditions of a government established over the unknown races of a remote and isolated territory, where all was as yet pure matter of conjecture, differed so essentially from those of a European province or princi- pality that true policy demanded a rigid abstention from all interference by the Crown. Had they pursued this con- viction with fidelity, the subsequent history of their Admiral and his vice-kingdom would have been far different; but 28 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. even at this early date, when their confidence in him knew no bounds, and when each day bore witness to their desire to sustain him in every action, the force of habit imperiously asserted itself, and some order or nomination would issue to controvert the wise system so laboriously established on scores of parchments. Many of the royal dependants were ap- pointed as inspectors, comptrollers, notaries, supercargoes, and to similar offices of trust and responsibility. Thus, one Alonso de Acosta was sent out as captain of a ship, with the position of algiiazil, or justice, assured him upon reaching the Indies. Bernal de Pisa was to be chief lieu- tenant to the comptrollers of accounts in Hispaniola, and was furnished by the King and Queen with detailed instruc- tions as to his proceedings when there. Diego Marquez was to go as Inspector for the Crown. Sebastian de Olano was sent to Columbus as their Majesties' choice for the Receiver-General of the Indies, and the Admiral was asked to take good care of him and the officers who accompanied him. Juan de Aguado was to go with the fleet, at her Majesty's express desire, in any capacity which should offer. "I wish to have him well treated," wrote Isabella to Columbus, "as he is my servant and has been of much use to me. Give him some good office in the expedition, where he may advance my interests and receive some bene- fit as well." All of these were Court officials, — gentlemen in waiting, chamberlains, ushers, and the like, — but the appointments were not confined to the positions of less degree. Francisco de Peiialosa and Alonso de Vallejo, cap- tains of the royal guards, were sent to command some of the anticipated military operations; Dr. Chanca, one of the Queen's own physicians, was selected as surgeon-in-chief to the Admiral; and last, but chief of all. Fray Boil, a Benedictine monk, and eleven fellow clerics, were chosen to go with the fleet in order to gather the hordes of Asia into the fold of the Church. Surely herein lay all the ele- ments needed for conspiracy and rebellion, should any plotter ever attempt to sow discord between the officials who held their appointments direct from the Crown and those who owed their advancement to the brand-new Vice- jV£JV lands beyond THE SEA. 29 roy. All that was needed was distance and discontent, and Time might safely be trusted to furnish these. It is true that not all of the nominees of the King and Queen were obnoxious to Columbus, and that when he objected his com- plaint was heeded. That Rodrigo Sanchez, of Segovia, whom we have seen keeping watch with Columbus on the fateful night in October the year before, when the moon shone on the sands of Guanahani, had been proposed by their Majesties to accompany the Admiral on this second voyage as an officer of the Crown. Columbus represented that for certain causes he was not on good terms with Sanchez, and immediately orders were issued that the latter was not to be permitted to go upon any consideration, even should it be necessary to reimburse him for the outlays already made in anticipation of the voyage.^ Moreover, the royal man- date ran, " We do not wish that any one with whom the Admiral has any grievance should go." Doubtless the King and Queen were as ready to withdraw any of their presenta- tions as this one; but it was not in the Admiral's power to scrutinize them all, even had he been willing to oppose the repeated expressions of his sovereigns' preference, and thus were sown the seeds of dissension and disaster. The letter of instructions delivered to Columbus on the eve of his departure from the Court was a singular com- pound of pious bigotry and worldly prudence. When we recall the fact that it was intended to provide for the sub- jugation and administration of the empires of Eastern Asia, we cannot but admire the colossal confidence of the Span- ish monarchs both in themselves and their Viceroy. The first care was, ostensibly, for the natives of the countries it was proposed to colonize. These, it was declared, were to 1 This Rodrigo Sanchez was the royal inspector on the first voyage, and one of the two persons to whom Columbus appealed when he saw the light early on the night on which Guanahani was seen. The King and Queen had his report before them when they adjudged the reward to Columbus for having observed the light four hours before Juan Bermejo saw the moonlit sands. In view of the persistent effort which has been made to show that Columbus defrauded this " poor sailor," the fact that the Inspector, though not the Admiral's friend, did not dispute the justice of his claim, is not without significance. 30 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. be converted by the labors of Father Boil and his associ- ates, assisted by some of the Indians who had returned with Columbus from the first voyage and were now somewhat instructed both in the religion of Rome and the language of Castile. "All who sail in the armada," their Majesties insisted, " and all who shall go from here in the future, are to treat the said Indians very well and tenderly, without giving them any offence whatever, endeavoring to establish close companionship and acquaintance with them and doing them the best offices possible. And the said Admiral shall freely give them various presents from the articles of mer- chandise belonging to the Crown, which are taken along for purposes of traffic, and shall do them much honor. And if any one shall ill-treat the said Indians, the Admiral, as Viceroy and Governor, shall severely chastise the offender, in virtue of the powers vested in him." Ecclesiastics and laymen alike were to endeavor to convert them, or, rather, since the Admiral had reported that they had no religion at all, to instil into their minds the principles of Christianity. "And because spiritual affairs cannot endure for long without temporal ones," sagaciously proceeded this docu- ment, sundry regulations were laid down for the Admiral's guidance in the government of his viceregal charge. These relate to the prevention of all traffic except for account of the Crown; to the keeping exact accounts for all arms, provisions, munitions, and merchandise; to the establish- ing a judiciary and police; to the forms to be employed in decrees and official acts; to the institution of a custom- house and the collection of the revenue, and to other details of the kind. Two measures embraced in these instructions are worthy of note. The first implied that some apprehen- sion already existed of future insubordination on the part of the ill-disposed, once the restraining influences of the home government were left behind; for explicit orders were given that if the Admiral, after reaching Hispaniola, should send any ships upon voyages of discovery or trade, their cap- tains and crews were to obey him implicitly, upon pain of such punishment as he should choose to administer upon their persons or goods. The other defined distinctly the NEW LANDS BEYOND THE SEA. 3 1 portion to be received by Columbus in the profits of the Indies. "The Admiral is to receive the one-eighth part," recites the letter, "of everything that may be obtained in gold and other products in the islands and mainland, he to pay one-eighth of the cost of the merchandise employed in such commerce; first deducting the one-tenth part of the profit which the Admiral is to receive in the manner estab- lished by the contract which their Majesties caused to be executed with the said Admiral." It is difficult to see how any contention could arise as to the meaning of this oft- repeated engagement, or why it should have been reiter- ated, in season and out of season, if their Majesties intended to ignore it at the first convenient opportunity. The delivery of these instructions completed the prelim- inary arrangements, so far as they could be ordered from a distance. With a mind at ease concerning the dispositions already made for the success of his approaching voyage, with a complete understanding established between his sov- ereigns and himself regarding the conduct of affairs in the Indies, and with their solemn guarantee of the honors and rewards which were his due in virtue of the faithful per- formance of his gigantic undertaking, Columbus took leave of the King and Queen and set out for Seville, accompanied beyond the gates of Barcelona by the whole ceremonious Court. 11. FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. THE second day after leaving Barcelona Columbus heard that the King of Portugal had despatched certain cara- vels from Lisbon, presumably with the intention of seeking the Indies discovered by the Spanish ships the year before. These tidings he at once transmitted to Ferdinand and Isabella, and received as promptly a reply by courier say- ing that the news "agrees with what we know here," and asking to be advised in good season of whatever else he might learn. The rumor served to quicken the anxiety of the King and Queen that their fleet should set sail before King John's captains succeeded in finding their way across the Western Ocean. Shortly after Columbus had arrived at Court in April and reported his conversation with the King of Portugal, Ferdinand and Isabella had sent an ambassa- dor to demand from their royal brother a declaration of his intentions with regard to the discoveries made by their Admiral. This emissary returned to Barcelona a few days after Columbus had started from Seville, bringing assur- ances from King John that his only desire was that " each Crown should hold what belongs to it " ; but the ambiguous reply only increased the suspicions of Ferdinand, and he sent another messenger after Columbus, urging him to make haste to sail at an early date. "If you can start the sooner," continued the letter, "by leaving some of the ships behind for the present and taking fewer people with you than was first proposed, do as you think best; but if you have cause to doubt the sincerity of the King of Portugal, 32 FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 33 be sure and take them all." This new doubt which had arisen called for extreme precautions, — the possibility of a collision occurring, either in the Indies or on the way thither, between the force commanded by Columbus and that believed to be sent out by King John. At any cost Spain was determined to retain the fruits of her Admiral's boldness and sagacity, and the correspondence between the sovereigns and Columbus began to assume a distinctly warlike tone. The weeks, however, passed without further alarms. Columbus reached Seville, visited the neighboring sea- ports to choose his ships and their crews, and infused into all of the preparations something of his wonted energy and enthusiasm. Still the day set for his departure, the 15th of July, arrived and there was no prospect of the fleet get- ting away. Ferdinand and Isabella wrote to Fonseca, urging him to hasten its sailing by all practicable means. If, they wrote, the delay was due to the Admiral's desire to assemble an armament capable of holding its own with the Portuguese in case of an encounter, let him sail at once with what he had ready, and Fonseca could remain in Seville and prepare another fleet to send after the Admiral to reenforce him. Columbus leaned strongly towards some such plan as that attributed to him by the sovereigns. From Cordova, where he had gone to visit his family and inspect the supplies gathered at that depot for the expedition, he had written to the King and Queen suggesting that King John was holding back the Portuguese squadron in order to let the Spaniards sail first, intending to follow them and come to an engagement whenever occasion might serve. To provide for such a contingency, the Admiral proposed that more strength be -given to the military side of this expedition. He asked their Majes- ties that the magazines of Granada and Malaga might be drawn upon for a larger equipment of artillery, armor, and ammunition than had been provided, and that competent leaders might be ordered to accompany him. In especial he repeated a suggestion already made at Barcelona, that Melchor Maldonado, who had, some five years before, suc- 3 34 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. cessfully directed the expedition sent by Spain to the as- sistance of her ally, the King of Naples, should go to the Indies in command of the troops. He also urged another measure which had been broached at Court, namely, that the formidable squadron known as the "Galician," from the province where it had been organized, should be detached from its coast duty and ordered to make part of his fleet. This squadron consisted of five warships, — the largest of them having a burthen of 1200 tons, — was commanded by Kigo de Artieta, a notable captain of the time, and was manned by 900 sturdy Basques who, like all true Celts, took a greater delight in fighting than in peace. The vessels were too deep and the crews too turbulent to be of use in colonizing or exploring the regions overseas, but if blows were to be struck, liiigo and his swarthy Bis- cayans were likely to prove an invincible escort. To most of these suggestions Ferdinand and Isabella replied with a ready affirmative; but they repeated insistently their recommendation that Columbus hasten his departure at all costs. They assured him that Fonseca had orders to ascer- tain the preparations making by King John, and to arm and send after Columbus, in case of necessity, a fleet to support him which should be at least twice as large as any of the Portuguese should equip. Nevertheless, they ordered Melchor Maldonado to join the Admiral at Seville, despite the valiant warrior's plea that serious impediments prevented his making the voyage. "We should gladly excuse you," wrote his amiable sovereigns, "but your going will greatly serve us, since you are who you are; therefore do we command you to go to the islands with Don Christopher Columbus." Orders were likewise de- spatched to the Galician fleet, which was lying in the port of Bermeo on the Bay of Biscay, to sail around the coasts of the Peninsula and report to the Admiral at Cadiz. The proposed draft of arms from Granada and Malaga was not approved, however, as their transportation to Seville would delay too long the sailing of the expedition, which was supposed by their Majesties to be almost ready. The month of July closed with every nerve strained by FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 35 the Spanish officials to anticipate the schemes of Portugal. They were making rapid progress towards this end when a fresh cause of disquiet manifested itself in the excessive cost of the preparations. Concerning this a dispute arose between Juan de Soria, the comptroller, and Colum- bus. Ferdinand and Isabella learned of it early in August, through Fray Boil, the Benedictine monk, who began thus early to meddle in what concerned neither him nor his Church. They at once wrote to Fonseca, commenting forcibly upon the incident and insisting that " the Admiral be honored and obeyed by all, according to the rank which we have given him," and that Soria was to be told as much "on their Majesties' behalf." They also wrote a soothing letter to Columbus, which Fonseca was to deliver, "and say to him for us," the sovereigns added, "everything that seems desirable, so that he may be satisfied and consoled for the acts of those at Seville, and may hasten his depart- ure." To Soria himself they sent a stinging note, saying " we have heard of certain strange things you have done at Seville; that you do not regard and respect the Admiral of the Indies as is right and as we desire "; ordering him to obey the Admiral in all things thereafter, and declaring that for the contrary procedure they "will order punish- ment to be administered." Still, whatever may have been their comptroller's shortcomings in matters of tact, he was justified in his uneasiness at the rapid increase in the cost of the expedition. The sum originally provided had already been exhausted : it may have been enough for the projects of colonization and continued discovery, but it could not bear the enormous increase involved in the extensive preparations for a possible conflict with Portu- gal.^ The fleet was not yet ready to sail, no limit could be fixed to the outlay, and Ferdinand and Isabella were straitened for means with which to carry out their various projects. They had entered into an engagement with Boabdil, the unfortunate ex-king of Granada, that he and 1 Nearly 6,000,000 maravedies were allotted to the Galician squadron alone, — six times the total amount granted Columbus for the squad- ron of discovery in the preceding year ! 36 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. all his following of Moorish nobles and courtiers should be transported to Morocco during that summer, and for this purpose had set aside a million maravedies; but now they wrote Pinelo, their treasurer at Seville, asking him to advance this money to Columbus instead. "As you see," they said, "the winter is coming and it is desirable that the fleet should sail at once. ... If any money be wanting, do you provide it, even if for this you take the million which you are to give us for the Moorish King." From this time forward scarcely a letter was written by Ferdinand and Isabella which did not urge economy in every detail. To Columbus they wrote, on August 4th, in reply to a suggestion from him that more ships would be needed, on account of the room required by the horses : "If the horses cannot go in the Galician ships, see whether you cannot dispense with other things which are not so necessary, because of some scarcity of money which exists." In the same missive they approve his plan of placing a notary and accountant on each vessel, so that the records should be kept separately; "but," they added, "neither one officer nor the other is to receive greater pay than the other persons who are on board." "For our sakes," they again urge, " endeavor by all means in your power, in spending money, to avoid every unnecessary outlay, for there is some want of it, and we do not wish to have you delayed an hour by this." The same anxiety was shown in the royal let- ters to Fonseca. Referring to the chartering of additional ships for the horses, Fonseca is instructed to avoid it if possible, "because if this were done the expense would increase and the money give out; for, as you know, all that was planned for this fleet has not turned out as was expected." A fortnight later they wrote to the same offi- cial to act as he thought best in certain matters, " so long as the outlay of money is not augmented, lest that should be wanting." The Admiral was to have the extra ships he had asked for, after all, "provided they do not add to the cost." It is apparent that there was a constant difference of opinion between Columbus and the treasury officials as to what were needful expenditures, for in the middle of FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 37 August he again came in conflict with Juan de Soria upon this subject. That officer, notwithstanding the royal rebuke of two weeks before, refused to approve certain payments contracted by the Admiral, and the latter ap- pealed to the King and Queen. The answer came in no uncertain tones. " You already know," the monarchs wrote to Fonseca, " that we charged you when you were here that the Admiral of the Indies should receive every satisfaction, both in the business itself and in the manner of conduct- ing it; and, since the fleet is going under his command, it is right that everything should be done to his liking, with- out any one raising questions or disputes; therefore do you look closely to this for our service and do all you can to please him. Tell Juan de Soria for us that we command him to act in harmony with the Admiral and offer him no contradiction, and if he should make any objection to approving that which you and the Admiral sign, let the money be paid without Soria' s signature, for we want the Admiral's wishes to be followed in all things." To Soria himself they were even more peremptory. He had pre- sented his side of the case to the King and Queen, but had met with scant sympathy. "We have your letter," they answered, " and have suffered much vexation from what we learned you did and are doing in the transactions with the Admiral of the Indies, because you know very well you should always act with him; and, since this affair is entrusted chiefly to him and Don Juan de Fonseca, you are not to oppose what they do, and thus we command you." Having harangued him for his obstinacy, his royal master and mistress, with truly kinglike inconsistency, proceeded to enjoin him to do the very thing for which they had been chiding him. " Do as the Admiral desires," they concluded, " provided that the cost is not increased so that the money runs short." But the intervention of Ferdinand and Isabella did not put a stop to the sorry wrangle, the consequences of which were bitterly felt by Columbus in after years. There is no evidence that it had other ground than an honest divergence of judgment between two officers, each tenacious of the prerogatives of 38 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. his charge. The Admiral proposed that his fleet should be so constituted and equipped that it should be equal to any emergency on either side of the Ocean Sea; the Comp- troller strove to husband every possible ducat, keenly aware of the emptiness of the royal coffers. Columbus invoked the authority of the King and Queen; Soria re- torted by refusing his sanction to the engagement of the Admiral's personal attendants. Despite the repeated in- timation of the royal displeasure, Fonseca sided with Soria; and thus began the feud that led, not indirectly, to a large part of the ignominy and distress visited in later years upon the Viceroy of the Indies. The state of the finances was not the only source of anxi- ety to Ferdinand and Isabella. When the Admiral's squad- ron failed to get away in July, he had fixed the 15th of August as the probable date of sailing. As this date approached, he was compelled to advise his sovereigns that the fleet was not even yet ready for sea. The tidings were most unwelcome to the King and Queen, but they showed no sign of impatience in their intercourse with him. "As to your departure," they wrote on August i8th, 'Sve would that it had not been delayed, but that you had sailed on the 15th of this month, as you wrote us you should do. Since this was not practicable, we are satisfied that it did not happen through any want of diligence on your part. . . . Give much haste to your departure, for a single day of delay now means more than twenty days heretofore, as the winter is near." The advent of the stormy season usually put an end to navigation along the Atlantic coasts of Europe until the more favorable spring weather opened, and no one yet knew what the winter might mean out yonder on the West- ern Ocean. The solicitude on this score was, no doubt, genuine; but it was secondary to the ever-present disquiet concerning the plans of Portugal. News had again reached Columbus at Seville, that King John had despatched a single caravel from Madeira into the West, In communicating this report to Ferdinand and Isabella the Admiral had pro- posed sending after the Portuguese some of his own vessels which were already equipped and waiting at Cadiz. The FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 39 sovereigns acquiesced in tlie suggestion, adding only a warn- ing that the Spanish ships must not carry the pursuit into the African waters claimed by Portugal. They added a renewed assurance which was meant to relieve the mind of Columbus from all apprehension on account of the squadron which King John was said to be preparing to send in the wake of the Admiral's fleet : *' If the King of Portugal should prepare a fleet to send out to where you are going, have no care about it; for all will be provided for, with God's help. Do not delay on this score, but start soon." So great was their desire to conceal the whereabouts of the Indies, that they concluded their letter with a caution against the Ad- miral laying his outward course too near the European shores on leaving Cadiz. "It seems to us best that you should not approach Cape St. Vincent," they wrote; " rather draw away from that coast, even if you have to make a detour, so that you may not go near Portugal, lest they know the course you take." To Fonseca they wrote in the same strain, earnestly directing him to keep informed of the prep- arations making by the Portuguese and to be himself pre- pared for action, "so that if we have to despatch another fleet after the Admiral, it may sail promptly." The King of Portugal meantime had thought it expedient to send two ambassadors to the Spanish Court to disclaim all intentions of a hostile nature and allay the suspicions which were so vehemently aroused in the minds of Ferdi- nand and Isabella. The Spanish monarchs seem to have put little faith in these protestations. They rested their claims to a monopoly of transoceanic exploration and navi- gation upon the recent Papal Bull. East of the line therein •laid down — that is, along the coasts of Africa and, if so King John chose, around the lately explored Cape of Good Hope, — the Portuguese might sail at will, until they found a way to the coveted "Spiceries." But west of that line, wherever the restless Ocean Sea led them, the Spaniards alone had the right to go. For the Portuguese to attempt to follow them on that waste of waters was, thanks to Pope Alexander of Borgia, tantamount to an invasion of Castilian territory, and would so be received. Little wonder, consid- 40 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ering the vague ideas of even the wisest as to the relative positions of the Cape, Japan, and Cuba, that the Portuguese emissaries should confess themselves unable to solve the knotty problem of the boundaries to the "Indies," and return to Lisbon for further instructions. In this emergency Ferdinand and Isabella threw them- selves on the geographical skill of their Admiral, and re- ferred their whole case to him for decision, fairly entreating him, meanwhile, to forestall Portugal by getting under way at the earliest moment possible and thus solve the dispute by an accomplished act. " There has been much discussion with the Portuguese ambassadors," they wrote to Columbus on September 5th, "about this affair, and we have no faith that it will be adjusted, because they are not instructed as to what belongs to us. We have decided to inform you of the fact, so that you may know that no agreement has been reached up to the present, and we strictly charge you that forour sakesyoudo not delay your sailing for a single hour." The Portuguese messengers had declared that the caravel reported by Columbus had slipped away from Madeira without the permission of King John, and that the latter, as soon as the news reached Lisbon, had straightway sent three others to seek and bring it back. "It may be, however," the King and Queen wrote to the Admiral, "that this was done with other designs, and that those who went in the caravels, whether the single one or the three others, are anxious to spy out something of which belongs to us; there- fore we command you that you look diligently to this and provide for it in such manner that neither these nor any other caravels which may set out shall discover or reach any part which belongs to us within the boundaries which you wot of. Although we hope that we shall reach a con- clusion with the King of Portugal, it is right, and we so desire, that those who ventured into the parts which are ours should be very sufficiently chastised, and that both their persons and their ships be seized." There is in all this correspondence between Ferdinand and his Admiral — for, although they were signed by both King and Queen, every line proved the letters to have been FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 41 the work of the monarch who later showed himself to be the ablest master of statecraft of his times — an appearance of naivete and disingenuousness which, when we consider the circumstances, approaches the grotesque. It is the work of a consummate dissimulator showing his whole hand to a servant in whose abilities and devotion he has implicit trust, and yet whom he is bent upon cajoling in turn to compass his own royal ends. For, while Ferdinand was inciting Columbus to take this whole vexed question out of the domain of politics by hastening off with his armada and reaching the Indies while the negotiations were pending, Ferdinand himself was trying to find out exactly where these much-talked-of Indies were ! What was the object of Columbus in hiding, first from his pilots and captains and afterwards from the King and Queen, the exact record of his observations while on his first voyage and, consequently, the precise course to be steered to reach Hispaniola and Cuba, we can only conjecture. Presumably he did not wish to disclose these details until the Spanish Crown had fulfilled its obligations to him and he was fairly settled in the enjoy- ment of his promised dignities. Be this as it may, although he had left with the Queen the Journal of his voyage and shown her Majesty and Ferdinand the chart which he had made of his discoveries, neither the one nor the other indicated in what part of the broad Western Ocean the latter were situated. Therefore, in informing the Admiral of the status of the negotiations with Portugal, the King wrote : — " In the discussion which has been held with them [the Por- tuguese], some contend that between the point which they call Good Hope (which is on the route they now follow to reach Guinea and the Gold Coast) and the boundary you said should be inserted in the Pope's Bull, there are probably islands and even a continent, and that these from their vicinity to the sun must be very valuable, and richer than all the others [discov- ered] . Since we are sure you know more about this than any one else, we desire you to send us your opinion about it at once, so that, if you agree with those here and think it desirable, the Bull may be corrected. . . . Send us also the decrees in which 42 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. lie the islands and continent which you found, so that we may better understand your book. Also send us the chart in much detail, with all the names written down ; and if you think we should not show it, write us to that effect." To Fonseca their Majesties wrote a letter of much the came tenor, referring to Columbus the decision as to what course should be followed, now that no agreement had been reached in the dispute as to metes and bounds. "The more we discuss this affair," they wrote the Archdeacon, "the more do we recognize how great a service he [the Admiral] has done us, and that concerning it he knows more than all other men ; and so everything should be referred to him." Queen Isabella alone, whose regard for Columbus and whose faith in him are open to no suspicion of insincerity, does not seem to have been drawn into the tangled web of intrigue. On the 5th of September, in anticipation of his immediate sailing, she wrote him, returning the Journal of his first voyage which he had left with her to be copied. The letter was addressed, with a pride which is almost pathetic when we recall the bitter loss her death caused Columbus, to " Don Christopher Columbus, My Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Viceroy and Governor of the Islands newly found in the Indies." After apologizing for keeping the book so long, on account of the necessity of having it copied in secret by trustworthy hands, to prevent any knowledge of its contents being betrayed to the Portuguese, the Queen says : — " Of a surety, from all that has been seen and said concerning this undertaking, each day it is discovered to be much vaster and of great scope and import, and that you have greatly ser\'ed us therein ; and we hold you in our special care. Thus we trust in God that you shall receive from us much more honor and benefit and aggrandizement than that which is already stipulated, and which shall be discharged and fulfilled with all scrupulous- ness, as is right and as your achievements and merits deserve. If the saiUng-chart which you were to make is finished, send it to me at once, and for my sake make great haste in your depart- ing, so that may be effected at once, since you see how much the success of the enterprise demands it." FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 43 The letter closes with a caution to be constantly on his guard against the King of Portugal, " so that in no event may you be deceived." By this time the preparations for the voyage were all but completed. Changing conditions had called for corre- sponding modifications in the arrangements, particularly with regard to the offensive portion of the fleet. The for- midable Biscayan squadron had been detached at the last moment from the Admiral's orders, apparently from motives of economy, and restored to the duty of transporting King Boabdil and his retinue to Tangiers. The King and Queen trusted to Fonseca, as we have said, to keep a close watch upon Portugal and have other vessels in readiness to oppose her, should that power attempt to send a fleet after Colum- bus ; hence the acquisition of the heavy armament proposed by the latter was deferred until the emergency should arise. Moreover, Captain liiigo de Artieta had shown himself to be more of a freebooter than the Admiral cared, perhaps, to be burdened with. In coming around from the Biscayan coast to Cadiz, the doughty Captain had encountered a squadron of Portuguese caravels bound from Lisbon to Guinea, and had then and there gone in chase and, appar- ently, captured the entire flotilla. For this excess of zeal he was roundly rebuked by the Admiral, who insisted that such action was sure to be disavowed by Ferdinand and Isabella, as indeed was the case ; for they wrote a sharp letter to their over-zealous officer, ordering him to restore the vessels at once to Portugal and sending him with his fleet to the seaport of Granada to carry the Moors to Africa, instead of sailing to the Golden Indies with Columbus. The change in orders can hardly have been agreeable to the adventurous Basque, but he had a glimmer of hope left in the instructions given him to return as soon as practicable from Morocco, so that if the Portuguese should go in pur- suit of Columbus the Biscayan fleet could follow after and settle scores with their rivals on the high seas. The prospect of sending out this second detachment in reinforcement of the Admiral led to the postponement until its sailing of many shipments at first designed for the pio- 44 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. neer fleet, — a measure which still further husbanded both money and time at a juncture when both were of imminent importance. Columbus was directed to " leave his opinion as to the fleet which will have to be prepared, if it should be needful to send one out, and the persons who should go in it, and settle upon some of the ships he thought should go " ; and he was accordingly enabled to dispense with much he would otherwise have taken at this time. With these provisions made for future supplies and aid, he could set sail in perfect confidence. By the middle of September all the vessels were in readi- ness to sail, the stores and munitions on board, and the crews awaiting their orders. Prior to embarking the twelve hundred men who were to make the voyage, Columbus held a review of them, with their arms and equipments, at Seville. The result was disquieting. It had been consistently his aim to have his whole force, military as well as civil, selected with a view to the welfare of the colonies to be founded and the rapid success of his other operations. He had proposed that, as to the more humble class of followers, the men should be industrious and hardy, and, as to the better sort, loyal and capable of endurance under the trials he knew to be inevitable. What he could do to maintain such a standard had been done; but the influences of the Court were strong and his opportunities for revision few, so that little by little the lists were filled with soldiers of for- tune, ambitious adventurers, and the more worthless de- pendants of king and grandees, until the motley throng assembled at Seville wore rather the aspect of a freebooting foray than of a sober colonizing expedition. This was not what their commander had planned and hoped for, but he had no remedy at that late hour. The men as they stood had passed the royal inspectors and were enrolled on the comptroller's books. The sentiments of the Admiral, and the course he pursued, before finally sending his ill-assorted company on the vessels assigned to them, are best learned from a report he made, upon a later occasion, to the King and Queen: — FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 45 "When I came out here" [to Hispaniola], he wrote, '-I brought with me many people for the subjection of these lands, all of whom I accepted by reason of the importunities exercised, who declared that they would serve faithfully in the cause, and better than any others. But the contrary was the case, as you have seen ; for they did not join except in the belief that the gold which it was said they should lind, and the spices, were to be gathered with a shovel ; that the drugs lay ready in bundles, and everything was close to the edge of the sea, so that nothing remained to be done but throw it into the ships. So blinded were they by avarice ; nor did they consider that, although there were gold, it would be in mines, and so with the other metals, and the spices would be on the trees ; so that it would be necessary to dig out the gold and gather and dry the spices. All this I told them in Seville ; for there were so many who wished to come, and I was so well aware of their motive, that I caused this to be explained to them, as well as all the hardships which those who go to peo- ple new and distant lands are wont to suffer. To this they all replied that they came with this expectation and to win glory by so doing ; but it all turned out to be the contrary." What the consequences were we shall see in due time. Meantime every soul of the number, from the royal in- spector to the youngest cabin-boy, was sworn on mass- book and crucifix to be a loyal subject of the King and Queen and serve faithfully their Admiral and Viceroy, upon pain of death in this world and an indefinite sojourn in Purgatory in the next. This done, they were ordered to seek their ships. Now began, however, one of those suc- cessful speculations which proves the whole world akin. Many of the men who had made a brave show of armor, arquebuse, and cross-bow at the Admiral's review hurriedly sold their equipments to the nearest dealer and went on board as unarmed as the ship's scullion. Others sold out- right their place on the roll to those who were anxious to go but had failed of appointment. The twenty horses whose transportation had caused Columbus so much concern, and which had received his approval, were spirited out of the way and as many worthless hacks were smuggled into the ships in their stead. Other like scurvy tricks were played in the excitement of these last days, until the effectiveness 46 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of the enlisted force was seriously impaired and its number swelled by the surreptitious entrance of two or three hun- dred stowaways, who managed to hide themselves aboard the several crafts. It is doubtful whether any of this disorder would have been possible had the Admiral been able to continue his personal oversight of the embarkation, but he had been seized with a severe attack of the gouty affection with which he suffered and was confined to his bed. Later on, when he became aware of the rascalities perpetrated, he did not hesitate to lay them at the door of Juan de Soria, the royal comptroller, charging that official with having turned a pretty penny thereby, in addition ta the embar- rassment sure to result to his enemy, the Admiral, from the disorganization introduced into his carefully laid plans. The King and Queen thought the matter serious enough to warrant an investigation, and there the affair rested, after the manner of investigations. Such untoward things have since happened, even in the new world which Columbus was setting forth to explore. The force embarked; the squadron was directed to ren- dezvous at Cadiz, and there await the coming of the Admiral. It was an evil chance that he was stricken with illness just then, but it was not extraordinary. The exces- sive strain, mental as well as physical, under which he labored so long without remission had broken a constitu- tion which, if we may judge from occasional references in his writings, was already enfeebled by a life of hardship. If the six months just closing had been a season of triumph, they had also imposed a fresh burden of anxiety and toil upon one who was entitled, if ever man was, to some respite, however brief. That Columbus had taken none, but, from the hour of his return from his first voyage to that of departing upon his second, had been content to immerse himself in the myriad details of such an under- taking as that he was now embarking upon, should weigh somewhat against the protestations of those who affect to see in him only an audacious speculator or greedy adven- turer. Until these later days men have not grudged a generous applause and lasting fame to those who pursue FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 47 great aims with patient diligence, who shun no labor to compass worthy ends, who postpone the enjoyment of ease, profit, and glory itself, to achieve a great ideal. Now, for- sooth, such appreciation is unseemly — worthy only of an "amiable hero-worship." That Historical Criticism which is only too often neither historical as to facts nor critical in its treatment of them prefers to hunt out and magnify the weaknesses of a great character rather than to accept and respect its manly side. To this school the energy, fore- sight, and persistence shown by Columbus at this season are no more than the consuming greed of an inflated vanity hastening to enter upon its new office and to derive there- from the promised advantages of wealth and rank. But those who are contented to regard him as only a "mere mortal man," with his quantum of human defects hidden by his sufficit of human greatness, will not fail to conceive a juster estimate of his personality. For it is most certain that in all these months of stress and care Columbus had proved himself to be a man of infinite resource, of un- limited capacity for labor of many kinds, and of unfalter- ing persistence. He had planned with Ferdinand and Isabella a far-reaching scheme of exploration, occupation, and development extending over a quarter of the globe's superficies; he had attended personally to the selection of the ships and, so far as he was permitted, of the men des- tined to carry out these plans; had drawn up the sched- ules for the equipment, armament, and provisioning of his fleet, and of the colonies to be established and maintained until they should be self-supporting; had kept a keen watch on Portugal's underhand manoeuvres and acted promptly to thwart them ; had proposed to his sovereigns first the scheme of the Papal Bull and afterwards a modifi- cation of it which, if granted, would vastly enhance their authority in the undiscovered parts of ocean; and, not least, had upheld his dignity and prerogatives in the face of the influential and numerous cabal which was bent on breaking the pride or foiling the success of the man they could only recognize as a lucky parvenu. It may be urged that in all this he had the countenance of the King and 48 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Queen at a time when that was as much to ambitious men as are the sun's rays to struggling vegetation; but no small skill was required to win and hold this. To the courtly and liberal chronicler of the Spanish monarchs, Peter Martyr, the Admiral was merely "a certain Genoese, one Christo- pher Columbus," even after Ferdinand and Isabella had bestowed their unstinted approbation upon him and hailed him as a grandee of Spain. What the historian wrote without malice, from a mere habit which connected great- ness instinctively with birth and rank, was covertly repeated and magnified by scores of intiuential dependants upon the royal favor, whose envy blinded them to everything but a comparison between the new Admiral's eminence and their own relative insignificance. To command the continued confidence of Ferdinand and Isabella, in the face of so much malign sentiment and suggestion, of itself betokens the skilled and ready man of affairs. Beyond a doubt, the chief danger of a disagreement at this period between Columbus and his sovereigns lay in the excessive expenditure in which the expedition involved them. It was originally supposed that the outlay would not greatly pass six million of maravedies. It finally amounted to nearly four times as much, and so vastly ex- ceeded the estimates as to involve the Crown in serious embarrassment, if we may judge from the monotonous plaints. This was used by Soria and his following to prej- udice the King especially, against Columbus. That the attempt wholly failed is probably due less to any innate sentiment of magnanimity on the part of the parsimonious Ferdinand than to the hopes which he built of receiving immediate and considerable returns of gold and precious drugs from the garrison of forty-two men which the Admi- ral had left at Navidad with such stringent orders to collect the greatest possible amount of treasure before his return. We find this sanguine expectation repeatedly recorded in the letters of Ferdinand and Isabella to Columbus prior to the latter' s departure from Cadiz. One of the first ap- pointments made by their Majesties, in the beginning of May, was that of Gomez de Telles, an officer of their FOUNDING THE GREAT MONOPOLY. 49 household, to be receiver for them "of all which should be out there [in Hispaniola] belonging in any wise to us." So confident were they on this score that, to mitigate the hardship of the office, they promised Telles that, if it should inconvenience him to remain in the Indies more than "a few days," he might return with the first ships which Columbus was to send back. Again, in giving Columbus the cumulative rank of Captain-General of this expedition, their Majesties named Antonio de Torres, an officer high in their favor, as second in command, with the especial duty of taking charge of the vessels of the fleet which were to bring to Spain the treasures accumulated by the outpost at Navidad. Bernal Diaz de Pisa, the comp- troller, was directed to keep as exact an account of "all the gold, spices, and other things " which were shipped from the Indies, as he did of all that was sent there from Spain. In writing to Columbus before his departure, their Majesties again refer to this matter, saying that they think it best that he send back to Spain all the ships he does not need to retain at Navidad laden "with what may be in store there." The Admiral himself partook of this expectation, for later on he asked to be instructed as to whom to deliver the gold of Navidad; to which their Majesties replied, " It is not needful that we name any one from here, so long as you send it by some one who you know will bring it with care and safely deliver it to our representative." That the returning vessels were to bring a large and valuable cargo back to Seville in a few months, which should go far towards reimbursing the Crown for the heavy outlay now being made, was considered to be beyond dispute, and no doubt influenced both their Majesties and the Admiral in keeping so close a watch on the movements of Portugal. III. THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. SEVENTEEN vessels rode at anchor in the harbor of Cadiz, awaiting the orders of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Three of these were ships, properly speaking, — car- acks of 200 or 300 tons burthen, — the "Gallega," a Bis- cayan craft, as her name indicates, the "Maria Galante," on which the Admiral sailed, and a third whose name is not given. The remaining fourteen were better adapted to pur- poses of exploration, being caravels of light draft and small tonnage, varying from thirty or forty to seventy or eighty tons. Among the latter was one which bore the proud dis- tinction of having already made the hazardous passage, — one whose clumsy bows had parted the quiet waters of many a land-locked harbor in the mysterious Indies, and whose rude timbers had borne the shock of many a gale in seas whose very existence had been denied for a thousand years. We find no particular mention of the sturdy little world- finder in the scanty chronicles of the day : if any of the thou- sands who watched the flotilla as it lay off the Cadiz mole pointed her out as worthy of remark, it was doubtless some weather-beaten seaman who had made the previous voyage with the Sefior Colon and spoke with pride of the "Nina" as a mute witness to the truth of the wonders he related. But, all unheralded as she was, the staunch caravel was des- tined to acquire fresh fame upon this new cruise and to write her name again on History's page before she joined the ships of Jason and Ulysses, of Hanno and Necho, in the shadowy realms where drift //; saeciila saecidoj-um the 50 THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 51 phantom craft which have taught mankind that the horizon is but the To-morrow of the physical world. On Tuesday, the 24th of September, all was ready aboard the fleet, and the Admiral issued his orders to weigh anchor on the following morning. It is not likely that there was much rest on the crowded ships. The spirit of ambition and adventure was too rife in that tumultuous throng to allow the eve of their departure for the Golden Indies to be passed in inglorious peace. Their plans, their hopes, their deeds, their destinies, had to be vaunted, debated, and challenged in turn on such an occasion, or the followers of the Admiral would have been no true children of sunny Spain. On shore, too, the vigil of excitement was kept, for the good people of Cadiz took both interest and pride in the sailing of the expedition. Its success meant for their city, in the near future, busy wharves and teeming warehouses; cargoes of spices, of silks, of slaves, perchance of gold; profits for their merchants and brilliant careers for their lads. Thus, as the night grew old and the land breeze drew down from the heights, it bore across the bay towards the ships the shouts and cries of friends on shore, to mingle with the louder uproar of the multitude afloat. When day dawned on Wednesday, the 25th, both the decks and the beaches were thronged with expectant crowds. The creak- ing of tackle and shouts of command bore witness to the immediate sailing of the fleet, and the slowly hoisting sails waved a ghostly adios through the gray morning light to the assemblage which lined the water-front. The Admiral's flagship was the first to get under weigh, leading the fleet out past the Diamond Bank and so to the open sea. As the sails filled and the vessels gathered way, the cheers from ship and shore mingled with the blare of trumpet and roll of drum, until the whole scene took on the aspect of a joyous pageant. Before the sun rose, the bows of the little squad- ron were breasting the Atlantic billows and the first great emigration to the New World was fairly begun. One picturesque incident we owe to the letters of an eye-witness who was watching the stirring scene. Among the vessels at anchor in the harbor was a Venetian fleet. 52 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. which had entered the port a few days before. Now, as the Spanish squadron swept out into the open, the hardy sea-dogs of the Adriatic lined their bulwarks and shouted lustily their wishes for a fair passage and a speedy return, after the generous fashion of sailor-men. If, as he stood on the poop of his flagship, the pulse of Columbus quick- ened while he listened to these cheers, his pride was justi- fiable; for Venice was the ancient rival of Spain in the navigation of the European seas, and her sailors had been the Admiral's own foes on many an occasion in the long- past days when he sailed under the orders of his native Genoa. For centuries the Queen of the Adriatic had held the keys of the only gates to the Orient, through the world- old road of Syria and Egypt; but the caravels now exchang- ing vivas with her galleys in the Andalusian harbor were bound for the ports of Cipango and Cathay by a route which was still a mystery to all the world save their Majesties of Spain and their Admiral, but which the latter did not doubt was destined to wrest from Venice her long-held commer- cial supremacy. Unconscious as they were of any such sequel, the shouts with which the men of St. Mark hailed the new Viceroy of the Indies, as the "Maria Galante " glided by, were the Moritiiri Salutamiis of the passing traffic of the marble city in the lagoons. In compliance with his instructions Columbus steered a southwest course as soon as he was off soundings and headed direct for the Canaries, thus avoiding all chance of an approach to the coasts of Portugal. The weather was fair, the breeze favorable, and ere long even the keenest eye could see nothing in the North but the same tumbling sea which stretched away into the haunted West. "The fleet which their Catholic Majesties, our Sovereigns, have sent from Spain to the Indies and the government of their Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Christopher Columbus, by the divine permission set sail from Cadiz the 25th day of September in the year 1493, with weather and wind favorable for our course. This weather lasted two days, during which we made about fifty leagues ; then it changed for other two days, during which we made little or nothing. After this it pleased God that the good THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 53 weather should return, so that in two days more we arrived at the Great Canary, wliere we made a port." So opens the journal or report which Dr. Chanca, surgeon of the fleet, wrote for the information of the Municipal Council of Seville, his native city. Its prosaic baldness is strikingly indicative of the widely diverse sentiment with which the sailing of the first andfsecond expeditions of Columbus were regarded, and no homily could be more eloquent of the instability of human emotions. It was only thirteen months since the three little vessels had left Palos on their desperate undertaking ; only six since the " Nifia " had returned with her amazing evidences of prodigious discovery and her tidings were hailed by the learned of all Europe as the fulfilment of ancient prophecy; only four since, as the result of that first voyage, the burly profligate who arrogated to himself the authority of Omnipotence had bestowed the half of the world upon the monarchs who had advanced a few thousand dollars to his " beloved son Chris- topher Columbus " for the mighty venture. And yet, upon a repetition of that voyage, we find one of the few men of education engaged therein jotting down in colorless sen- tences his notes about the weather, as though a journey to the Indies were no longer an occasion for special comment. The novelty of the Admiral's famous exploit had worn off; the finding of the New World was already an old story. To this same indifference we owe the poverty of detail concerning the companions of Columbus on this expedi- tion. How many of his comrades of the Discovery were now returning with him we cannot determine. Some of them certainly were, but their number at best was insignifi- cant in comparison with that of the new men who packed the vessels far beyond their normal capacity. When a muster was made, after leaving Spain, it was found that fifteen hundred souls were crowded into the quarters origi- nally destined for one thousand. Here was more trouble assured for the near future; for the provisions which were ample for the smaller number would be scanty for half as many more. A month's voyage, in an open caravel under 54 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. a tropical sun, which would be barely endurable with the larger allowance of room, would be insupportable when this was reduced by one-half; and the intruders, as "no man's men," not being in the royal pay-rolls, would have a constant pretext for complaint and mischief-making. Pre- sumably, moreover, they were in large part those who had already been rejected when the applicants were examined at Seville, and hence •ould bear no good will towards the commander or his lieutenants. Fortunately for the Admiral, there was also a contingent of men of substance and reputa- tion who might be depended upon to support his authoritv, — at least until this should conflict with their own pride or interests. Too many of them, indeed, held their appoint- ments direct from the Crown and considered themselves entitled, in case of dispute, to appeal from the Admiral to their Majesties; but this source of weakness did not develop at the outset. Rather did Columbus have cause to congrat- ulate himself as he thought of the men who had been chosen to accompany him, — officers who had won distinction in the royal armies; officials of trust and confidence in Court and Council; dignitaries of the great military orders; church- men of noted sanctity and ardor. Surely, he might have argued, so goodly a company could be trusted to sustain him in any contingency which should arise; if not from any sentiment of personal loyalty, at least from the alle- giance they owed the Crown and its interests. Only on this hypothesis can we account for the complacency with which he bade farewell to Spain and started on an absence which must necessarily be a long one, and during which, but for these men of the better sort, he must stand abso- lutely alone amid surroundings and in circumstances which would appal the most reckless adventurer, were he to think of facing them unsupported. How small a proportion of his followers proved worthy of their leader's confidence the sequel will show; but there were many in the number, disloyal as well as loyal, who achieved their share of fame in the opening decades of our continent's history. Among them were Ponce de Leon, of nielancholy Floridian fame; Diego de Alvarado, who fought THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 55 SO masterfully with Pizarro ; Francisco de Garay, who ruffled it so bravely against Cortez; and many another who helped storm Mexico and threw the dice for the spoils of Cuzco. On the Admiral's flagship was his younger brother, Diego, whom Columbus had summoned from Genoa to share his fortunes when he found himself a famous man six months before. "A virtuous person, very sensible, peaceable of disposition, and rather straightforward and well-meaning than reserved or designing. He was always soberly dressed, almost like a priest, and I believe he thought to be a bishop, and that the Admiral sought to make him one, or at least to obtain for him some preferment in the Church." This is the opinion of a writer who knew all the brothers Colombo, or Columbus, — Fray Bartolom6 de las Casas, himself afterwards bishop of Chiapas in Yucatan but better known by his nobler title of Protector of the Indians. His father, Pedro de las Casas, was with Columbus on this second voyage, but not the son, as is most usually asserted. A vivid contrast to Diego Columbus, who proved himself no faint heart despite his clerical tastes, was Alonso de Hojeda, a youth of twenty-one years, who had already attracted the attention of his sovereigns by his deeds of prowess and now commanded one of the caravels. Attached to the retinue of that Duke of Medina Cell whose powerful pat- ronage Columbus had enjoyed when he first came to Spain in 1484 and by whom his project of discovery was first pre- sented to the Queen, Hojeda had the best of influences in his favor when he applied to the Admiral for a place in his second expedition. We have the testimony of his com- mander that the sinewy young Andalusian soldier was "a very intelligent lad and possessed of a daring spirit," on which account Columbus entrusted him with more than one important mission. His fame rests less on these, however, than on his exploits when prosecuting voyages of his own along the coasts of Terra Firma; for Hojeda was the proto- type of all the long line of throat-cutting Spanish butchers who, under the thin disguise of an alleged concern for their spiritual welfare, carried fire and sword among the peace- able inhabitants of the western world. Others there were 56 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. in the motley throng on the caravels who achieved their measure of a like notoriety, but whatever distinction attaches to priority in evil belongs here to Hojeda, and none contrib- uted more generously than he to the black record of cruelty, extortion and rapine which weighed so heavily against the brilliant achievements in the New World of which Castile was so justly proud. Still one more figure may be detached from the throng, — that of Juan de la Cosa, the seaman who, even in the days of Magellan, Cabot, and Cabral, came to be known as "the ablest pilot of his times." No one, not excepting Columbus, crossed the Atlantic oftener or ex- plored more persistently the unknown coasts of the unnamed continent. Unfortunately, later on he transferred his alle- giance from the Admiral to Hojeda, and met his death, like the brave Spaniard he was, fighting single-handed against a horde of savages on one of the forays led by his hot-headed associate. To him we owe the oldest map of the western world which has come down to us, and to him Americus Vespucci was in later years still more indebted for much of the knowledge of which he made such skilful use. Vespucci himself was not engaged in this voyage. There is no evidence to show (for his own assertions as to dates go for nothing) that he ever crossed the Western Ocean before 1499.^ But he had a left-handed connection with the expedition, for he was factor, or manager, or whatever it was, for Juanoto Berardi, the contractor who supplied in large part the outfit for the fleet. No one at this late date 1 Professor Fiske, in his masterly " Discovery of America," has laid the shade of Vespucci under lasting obligations by his ingenious and powerful argument in support of Vespucci's date, 1497, for the dis- covery of Yucatan, Mexico, and Florida by Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon and Solis, accompanied by the Florentine in a subordinate capacity. At the same time, Vespucci himself asserts that the natives of La7-iab — which Professor Fiske identifies with the Mexican coast — called them- selves Cariabi., which is obviously the same as Caribs and entirely in- consistent with the Yucatan-Mexico theory; and both Las Casas and Peter Martyr explicitly declare that Pinzon and Solis made their voyage after the return of Columbus from his last expedition in 1504. Herrera, whom Professor Fiske quotes in support of his argument, merely copied from Las Casas and omitted the latter's allusion to Columbus. THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 57 believes that the imaginative Florentine really entered into a deep-laid scheme to saddle his entirely commonplace name upon the continent he was so far from discovering. Perhaps the worst that can be charged to him is that he husbanded his eloquence when a very few words of honest disavowal would have saved him from being branded as a fraud for four hundred years, and ourselves from the neces- sity of explaining that, although we call ourselves "Ameri- cans," we really know better. At all events, his first connection with the continent discovered by Columbus consisted in the furnishing to this fleet of a great quantity of supplies, — provisions and ship-stores of all kinds. It may have been only an unhappy coincidence that most of the casks the contractors supplied leaked so that water became scarce and a year's store of wine ran into the bilges of the caravels within the month, and that the bis- cuit and salt meat could not stand the voyage. The Admi- ral, in reporting the facts, does not intimate that it was Vespucci's fault, for to the day of his death he was a loyal friend to the glib Florentine; but these untoward events did happen, and Vespucci was the responsible agent for the fitting-out of the ships : so that it should appear that he was no more fortunate, at this early period, in the integ- rity of his supplies than he was, later on, in that of his log- books. We wish that we might know with equal assurance of the presence on or absence from the flagship of a far more in- teresting personality and one far more closely connected with the finding of the western hemisphere. Whether among the Admiral's associates was to be seen the spare form of Fray Juan Perez, of Marchena, lately father superior of the convent of La Rabida at Palos, is unfortunately a dis- puted question. Owing to the frequent and excessive divergences which had existed in the computations made by the pilots of the "Santa Maria," "Pinta," and "Nina" in the prior voyage, Columbus had proposed to their Majesties, before leaving Seville, the appointment of an astronomer to accompany him on his return to the Indies, whose duty it should be to study the changing stars and 58 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. record his observations for the greater security of the pilots in making their observations. He was himself far more deeply versed in this art than most navigators of the day and had been most fortunate in his own estimates of latitude and longitude on the former expedition; but, either because he had found the risk of relying on one set of observations to be too great, or because he wished to have the assistance of a trusty coadjutor in the work of naviga- tion, he had brought the proposal before the King and Queen. One man there was, abundantly qualified for the position, who had the confidence both of the sovereigns and their Admiral. That one was the learned friar whose interest in astronomy and its sister science, geography, had stood Columbus in such good stead when he knocked at the gate of the little convent above Palos two years before, as he was leaving Spain, disheartened. As successful advocate before the Queen of the plans of Columbus for a western voyage, there were peculiar reasons why the ap- pointment of Juan Perez should be acceptable to all inter- ested. Their Majesties accordingly forwarded to Columbus, just prior to his sailing, a commission for the office of astronomer, accompanied by a letter which strikingly manifests the extreme consideration with which they de- ferred to the Admiral's wishes. "It seems well to us," they wrote, "that you should take with you a capable astronomer, and that Fray Antonio of Marchena would be a good man for this office, both because he is skilled in that art and because he has always seemed to us to agree with your views. Therefore, if you think well of him for the place, let him go; if not, then any one else you may choose. We send you our commission for him with the name in blank; fill it in for whomever you think should go. But do not delay a single hour on this account; for if he does not go now he can follow in some one of the caravels which we shall have occasion to send after you to inform you of what happens here." Unhappily the record goes no further; nothing authoritative remains for us to deter- mine whether the priest to whom- Ainerica owes so much sailed for the new lands with the man he had aided so THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 59 efficiently to find them. It is not probable that he did, for Columbus makes no mention of his friend in record- ing, later on, the names of those who rendered service on this expedition, and an intentional omission is not con- ceivable. From this time Fray Juan Perez of La Rabida — the Fray Antonio of Marchena, as some called him — disappears from the record. Little did the mass of the Admiral's followers care for the means by which the New World ^ was discovered or the people who had planned the deed. All they cared for was to reach speedily those distant shores where both spices and gold "grew," and where there were none to oppose their harvesting save naked savages or, at the worst, the ill- armed levies of some Tartar prince. As for the Sea of Darkness across which lay their path, its mystery was ex- ploded. The Admiral and his men had crossed and re- crossed it in safety a few months before, and they knew whither to steer. It was small concern of any one else where the new lands lay. On Wednesday, the 2nd of October, the eighth day after leaving Cadiz, the fleet came in sight of the Great Canary and made for the first harbor. Columbus had wished to reach Gomera, another of the Canary group, where there was a settlement of some size from which he could obtain fresh supplies and water; but one of the caravels had sprung a leak and he made for the nearest port to repair it. It was not until after midnight that he could continue his voyage, and then a succession of calms detained him until the 5 th, when he anchored before Gomera. Here he spent two days in taking on wood and water, fowls, swine (eight of these interesting animals, at seventy-five cents each), sheep, goats and calves, and a stock of seeds and cuttings of oranges, lemons, citrons, melons, and other fruits and vegetables. When he had stopped here the year before, on his outward voyage, the townspeople had filled his inexperienced sailors with wild tales of the horrors of 1 We use the phrase advisedly; not as intimating that it was so called at the time of which we.write, but that it was such in fact to all who had heard of the strange lands oversea. 6o THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the unknown Western Ocean, and prophesied for captain and crew alike a dreadful annihilation. Now they, too, looked with complacency upon the conversion of what had been from time immemorial the Sea of Terrors into an ocean highway, and cheerfully drove their thriving trade with the man whom twelve months ago they had consid- ered a hair-brained enthusiast sailing to a certain doom. But the Admiral was in no mood to tarry at Gomera and exchange "I told thee so's" with the men who had until so lately believed that only Chaos lay west of their islands. By Tuesday, the 7th, he was ready to hoist all sail and stand for the farther side of the Atlantic. He had prom- ised Diego de Arana and the thirty-eight men left at the fortress of Navidad under the protection of King Guacana- gari that he would make all speed to return to them; and, now that all was ready, he was anxious to redeem his pledge. Before leaving Gomera he handed the pilot of each vessel a sealed packet, containing the course to be sailed in order to reach Guacanagari's territory in His- paniola, with positive injunctions not to break the seals unless the squadron should be dispersed by some tempest. In that case the pilots were to steer direct for Navidad; but, failing such disaster, they were merely to follow his lead. This precaution he deemed necessary in order to avoid all possibility of any knowledge of his route being communicated intentionally or by accident to the Portu- guese ; for he still expected to encounter them somewhere before reaching the Indies. This provision made, he weighed anchor and started on what Dr. Chanca naively describes as " the long journey it was proposed to make without seeing land." The fleet encountered calm weather shortly after leaving port, and it was not until the 13th that they passed Ferro, the westernmost of the Canaries, and got fairly out to sea. Columbus felt some anxiety to get clear of the archipelago, for it was just here that, the year before, a Portuguese flotilla had almost succeeded in inter- cepting him as he began his westward passage. No signs of an enemy now appeared, however, and the expedition settled down to the dull routine of the voyage that was ahead of them. THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 6 1 "By God's blessing favorable weather returned to us," Dr. Chanca writes, "the best that ever fleet enjoyed on so long a course; so that, having left Ferro on the 13th of October, we saw land on the twentieth day thereafter. We should have seen it in fourteen or fifteen, if the flagship had been as good a sailer as the other vessels; for often the others had to shorten sail, as they were dropping us far astern. In all this time we encountered no gale, save on the eve of St. Simon, when one fell upon us which for four hours placed us in great straits." There is little to be added from other sources to the worthy surgeon's brief record of the voyage. Columbus steered a more southerly course than in the previous year, when he held his ships due west from the Canaries in the belief that by so doing he should the sooner reach the Asiatic shores. He was moved by several considerations to strike out for the lower latitudes in this new venture, but chiefly because by so doing he should more probably reach the great islands which, his Indian interpreters had affirmed, lay to the southeast of Hayti, when he left the Bay of Samana in the preceding February, homeward bound. In that direction, his native guides assured him, were to be found the homes of those savage man-eaters at the mention of whose very names they shook with dread ; there, too, was Matinino, the island peopled only by warrior- women; there the land of Guanin, formed of solid gold. To visit these on his way to Hispaniola was motive enough to the mind of an explorer, but a stronger reason suggested itself to Columbus. On the first voyage, days before reach- ing San Salvador, both Martin Alonzo and himself were con- vinced by the flight of birds ^nd other signs that land was to be found in the Southwest. The former was disposed to alter their course to make it, but Columbus insisted that their objective was the eastern extremity of Asia; and the islands to the southwest, if such they were, must be sought on a subsequent cruise. Now, however, he desired to ascertain, if it could be done without too great delay, their character and position; for, he argued, if they in reality lay on the course to Hispaniola and so much nearer Spain, as 62 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. appeared, their possession was a matter of the first impor- tance in view of the present elaborate projects of acquisition and colonization in the Indies. There had also been some vague talk while he was coasting along Hayti of a great mainland to the south, and by bearing in that direction it was possible he might come upon, or at least learn more about it. Moreover, there was that hint of the Portuguese geographers to which King Ferdinand had referred, — that other lands, perhaps a continent, would be found lying south of the equator between the Cape of Good Hope and the line of demarcation fixed by the Papal Bull; and this it behooved Columbus to investigate. Finally, it was a fundamental proposition in the cosmography of the day that the greater treasures of India lay in its southernmost extremity, — wherever that might be, — or in the adjacent islands. Columbus had already alluded to this as his own conviction in the journal of the year before, and he now determined to go as far toward the south as he deemed advisable at the time. If Cuba, Hayti, and the other islands which he had found farther north had yielded such abundant promise of future wealth, what might he not find in the lands which lay nearer the equator, in those glowing regions which, as King Ferdinand observed, "owing to their neighborhood to the sun, must be very profitable and richer than all the others " ? Had it not been for his anxiety to reach the garrison left at Navidad, there is every reason to believe that he would, even on this voyage, have headed well down into the southwest, crossed the Line, and struck the coast between the Orinoco and the Ama- zons. The fleet pursued its unvex^d way across the unfamiliar sea, and the same marvels presented themselves to the con- sideration of sailors and landsmen alike as had been en- countered by the superstitious crews of a year ago; but now there was no thought of running aground on the fields of Sargasso, or being driven into limitless space by the monot- onous easterly breeze. Even when, on the eve of St. Simon, after a furious gale of several hours' duration, the ghostly flames of the sacrosants flickered at masthead and THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION 6^ yard-arm, they evoked only a chorus of Ave Marias and Laudates from the ships' companies, who saw in them the good St. Ehno's promise of smoother seas and kinder gales. It was well, perhaps, that no fiercer storms were encoun- tered; for a number of the ships were as leaky as the water- butts they carried, and, between the heat of the sun, the labor of bailing, and the short allowance both of wine and water, any prolonged season of bad weather would have found the iieet ill-prepared to resist it. Fortunately, just as the discomforts of the voyage were beginning to tell on the less enduring of the company, those more skilled in such matters began to discern signs of proximity to land. On October 24th the pilots estimated that they had made 450 leagues from the Canaries, which would put them in about that longitude where Columbus had first begun to observe such signs on his former voyage and now hoped to strike land. Shortly thereafter a single flying-fish came aboard one of the ships and was hailed as a harbinger of land, — a puny herald from the shores of the mighty con- tinent of Asia. Still later, the heavy massing of clouds in the afternoon skies, accompanied by sudden and violent downpours of rain, were interpreted as a sure portent of a neighboring coast, and all became watchful and eager. By the I St of November the fleet was within the charmed zone in which lies the noble chain of islands we call the Carib- bees. The practised eye of the Admiral accumulated so much evidence of the nearness of land that, in accordance with his custom on nearing a coast, he ordered sail to be shortened on all the vessels at sundown and a double watch to be kept. Two days more were passed in strained expec- tancy. Little doubt that they were busily employed by those on board in the polishing of arms and armor, the furbishing of gaudy apparel, and the preparation for a befit- ing entry into whatever port or city they might reach. The weariness and indolence of the long sea journey gave way to extravagant anticipation and the construction of fan- tastic dreams : the adventurous were heroes all in their own conceit; the covetous, rich beyond the dreams of avar- ice; the pious, blessed with a harvest of countless rescued 64 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. souls; the careless, happy in the thought of liberty and license. It was not in human nature, especially Latin nature, to be otherwise than buoyant, in their situation. At any moment the lookout in the tall castle at the bows might sing out that he saw the outlines of the new world which held the assured fortunes of every man of the fifteen hundred. Of the conditions, environments, or qualities of those fortunes they neither knew nor cared; sufitice it that they were there. Meantime they were sailing in a world of magic, where the skies were as blue as their own Medi- terranean seas and the ocean a so much deeper azure that the sky was pale by contrast; where by day the cloudless vault above was sustained by massive foundations of snowy vapor lying on the horizon's edge, which at the sun's setting became domes of burnished gold supporting vast arches of glittering opal and mother-of-pearl suspended above a lake of fire; where at night the familiar stars, though all misplaced, seemed far nearer and more brilliant for the change, and the very air itself took on a strange, caressing sweetness; where at all times, by day as well as by night, the steadfast Trade-wind hummed in the rigging and sang past the ear as though the spirits of the mermaids were abroad. There was reason even for the men of favored Seville and Cordova to feel that they were in another and more beautiful world. On Saturday, the 2nd of November, the pilots made their computations of the distance sailed since leaving Ferro. Some made it 780 leagues, others 800, others more or less. The variation was not great and their substantial agreement heightened the confidence all felt of soon seeing land. The signs multiplied as the day wore on, and the Admiral's trained eye saw in the color of the water, the haziness of the horizon, and other like omens the certainty of an early landfall. The night was passed in anxious watching. Who can doubt that the keenest lookout was that of the Admiral himself? No vagrant light appeared, as on that wakeful October night of the past year, to hint of an inhabited country hidden by the curtain of darkness, nor did a friendly moon, as then, ride overhead to illumine the black THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 65 seas and touch with silver the distant beaches. Yet, as steadily as the passage of the hours, more than one huge bulk was rising above the horizon and arraying itself across the path of the hurrying ships as they noiselessly drove deeper into the western shadows. So rapidly did these grand forms lift, that the nearest one at length loomed for- bidding and distinct against the dusky sky, even in that darkest hour which is said to precede the dawn; and the weary watchers on the Admiral's ship were startled by a sudden cry out of the darkness, " The largess to me, Seiior Admiral, for there is land ! " The cry was echoed from ship to ship, and answering shouts bore witness to the joy with which the welcome tidings were received. " I do not know any one who had not seen enough of water," pithily observes Dr. Chanca, in recording the delight with which the news was hailed; and we may accept his sentiment as that of his fifteen hundred companions. The impatience of the waiting voyagers was not long taxed, for within an hour the gray morning light began to break, and even before the rising sun appeared above the horizon its rays were gilding the stately summits which rose ahead of the fleet to a height of 5000 feet. It was day- break on Sunday, Domingo, the 3rd of November, and the Admiral christened the island (for such it clearly was) la isla Dominica (Sunday Island). To the right and left other majestic outlines showed themselves, betokening other islands within easy sail; but for the present all eyes were rivetted on the panorama unfolding before them as the sunlight, driving the white mists before it, crept down the mountain sides, penetrated the deep valleys, and at length flooded sea and land with its early splendor. None, except the Admiral and such as had already watched with him from a vessel's deck the breaking of day on the sierras of Eastern Cuba and Northern Hayti, had ever witnessed such a vision before; probably those who now saw for the first time the glory of early morning among the Caribbees never again felt, from a similar cause, the same emotions of exuberant delight and admiration. Imagination cannot picture a more romantic and inspiring ending to a voyage whose 5 66 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. result was so purely speculative, than to sail from the dark- ness of a night like all that had preceded it into the unsullied beauty of early day off the windward shores of Dominique. Orders were issued that the ships and their crews should be dressed in gala array preparatory to the formal act of landing and taking possession of the new discovery. The vessels were brought closer to the land and an unavailing search made for some accessible port. They had struck the coast where the rugged conglomerate cliffs rise precipi- tously from the water's edge, and although these were broken here and there, so that deep ravines and open valleys could be seen leading up into the heart of the towering ranges beyond, no safe anchorage could be found. For more than a league the Admiral led the way along the shore, without discovering a harbor or a trace of habitation. As far as the eye could penetrate inland the island, from the ocean's margin to the summit of the idle craters which crowned the loftiest peaks, was covered with a dense forest. The men were impatient to explore the secrets of a country which was literally hidden beneath so glorious a wealth of verdure and exhaled on the morning air a subtle perfume suggestive of myriads of flowers and spices, at a season when foliage and flowers were a rarity in their own Spain; but the Admiral would not risk his boats or his people in the venture. Some ten or twelve miles to the north of Dominica he had observed another island, much smaller in size and apparently much more accessible, since its outlines were far less mountainous than those of the larger one. Detaching a caravel to con- tinue the reconnoissance for a port along the coast of Dominica, he sailed northwards with the remainder of the fleet. On nearing the island he found that it offered no difficulty to his disembarking, and, selecting a convenient harbor, brought his ships to anchor and made preparations for the solemn ceremony of taking possession of these new territories and their circumjacent seas for the Crown of Spain. Shortly after noon the placid waters were alive with scores of small craft, plying between the vessels and the strand. THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 6y The Admiral entered his barge, grasping the royal standard with both hands, and was rowed ashore with all the cere- mony established for the passage of an officer of his rank. He was followed by the clergy, his principal officers, by the commanders of the vessels, their pilots, the men of rank attached to the expedition, and, finally, by a large propor- tion of the ships' companies and crews. Once landed, a convenient spot was chosen and the forces arrayed around their leader, who, unfurling the royal banner with one hand and unsheathing his sword with the other, took possession of the islands in sight, the sea which embraced them, and all the unseen lands its waves might lave. This he did, Dr. Chanca tells us, "in the manner provided by law"; a truly Castilian way of reporting the appropriation of that half of the world's surface whose existence had been denied within the twelve-month. The worthy sur- geon, doubtless, meant no more than that his chief broke the branches, dipped up the water, and piled the hillock of earth as he had done at San Salvador on the day of its discovery, practising therein the form adapted by still earlier discoverers on African shores and mid-Atlantic islands. To this simple political ceremony succeeded the more elaborate offices of the Church, and the new Viceroy set an example of attentive reverence to his followers as Fray Boil and his dozen of tonsured associates recited, for the first time in the western lands, those prayers and invo- cations which were to prove so fatal a shibboleth to their unhappy natives. The Admiral named this lesser island Maria Galante, — from the vessel he commanded, so it is said; but it is more likely that the name both of ship and island had a common origin in the invocation to Holy Mary, Full of Grace, — Galaute. As soon as the formalities of taking possession were finished and duly certified to by the attendant notary, the assembled throng dispersed in all directions, eager to feast their ocean-wearied sight upon the strange nature which surrounded them. They noted the dense forests which grew to the water's edge, the unfamiliar palms and vines which filled their dark recesses, the novel spectacle 68 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of blossom, fruit, and bud upon one and the same tree, and the absence of any sign of the approaching winter's touch upon the lavish vegetation around them. Some of the saunterers found a tree, the fragrance of whose bark and foliage convinced them that it bore the coveted cloves; others cautiously gathered and examined the singular fruits which abounded on all sides; still others plucked the dainty manzanilla and, deceived by its beauty, tasted warily of it, only to have mouth and face swollen and deformed by the violence of its poison. Much as there was to delight the eye and charm the senses of men who had been cooped unwholesomely in narrow quarters for so many tedious weeks, it soon became apparent that Maria Galante would yield nothing more substantial to protracted exploration. No signs of habitation were found, and the Admiral, after passing two or three hours on the island, gave orders for his people to reembark on the ships. His object was to make sail at once for another island, of huge bulk and lofty height, which lay at a distance of some fifteen or twenty miles to the north of Maria Galante; but he found it necessary to wait until late in the afternoon for the return of the caravel he had detached to coast along Dominica. This vessel reported that she had at length discovered a good port and seen both houses and people, so the Admiral was satisfied that these lordly islands were not unpopulated. The fact was of importance to him, because, according to his reckon- ing, these were either the homes of the Caribs, or Cannibals, of whom the natives of Hayti and Cuba had told such grue- some tales, or else they were the populous lands of gold which, the same informants indicated, lay to the southward. The Admiral lay at anchor that night, taught by his experi- ence among the shallow waters of the Bahamas and Antilles not to make for the islands in the darkness; but as soon as it was daylight he left Maria Galante, and steered for that end of the northern island where, in the words of Dr. Chanca, " there was a great mountain which seemed to want to reach to heaven." As the fleet drew nearer to this peak, the obser\^ers noticed that near its summit a broad strip or band of dazzling white was visible, stretching towards its THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. 69 base; and bets were freely made as to whether this was a stratum of rock, a road, or an immense waterfall. On a closer approach it was seen that from the loftiest smiimit of the mountain several cataracts descended, the most notable of all being the one which had attracted the Spaniards' interest from so great a distance, and which, from their decks, "appeared to fall from the skies." This was but one of the elements of unwonted grandeur in the scene which lay before them as they drew near to the southern shores of the noble island. Its coast was less forbidding than that of Dominica; but there was the same succession of gigantic terraces sweeping inland and upward from the sea, the same deep glens and open valleys, the same tow- ering precipices, strangely wooded craters, and piercing peaks, and over all was the same dense covering of deep forest shades. Many a wanderer who has seen far more of the globe than was open to Dr. Chanca's experience in 1493 will be disposed to agree with him that, as seen in the early morning, the landscape dominated by the great Sou- friere and Sans Tacher of Guadalupe is " the most beauti- ful thing in the world." As soon as the fleet drew near the island the Admiral despatched a caravel of light draught to look for a conven- ient harbor. The little vessel returned in a few hours, and her captain reported that a couple of leagues along the coast he had found a safe port and effected a landing near a native settlement, which had been deserted by its inhabi- tants as soon as they saw the Spaniards. In the houses were found a quantity of cotton, both unworked and in yarn, a store of food, some parrots of extraordinary size and beauty, and, most important of all, " four or five bones from the legs and arms of men." Of all these articles the captain presented his commander with specimens, but the Admiral neglected the others for the relics of departed humanity. What, to the general sight, were only evidences of the fero- cious habits of the wild races of these Indies, were to him a proof of the correctness of his conclusions as to the sit- uation of the dreaded Caribs, at whose mere names the peaceful islanders of San Salvador and Cuba had paled and shaken with terror. yo THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. "As soon as we saw them," Dr. Chanca writes, "we sus- pected that these were the islands of the Caribes, which are inhabited by people who eat human flesh; because the Admiral, guided by the signs which had been made to him on the previous voyage as to this locality by the Indians of the other islands he had before discovered, had directed his course to reach them, not only because they are nearest to Spain, but also because by this route is the shortest way to come to Hispaniola, where he had before left his people. To them we have come, by the mercy of God and the wis- dom of the Admiral, as directly as though we followed a beaten and familiar road." There is no warrant for challenging the sincerity or truth- fulness of this surgeon's report. It is free from all trace of servile laudation of his commander's acts and deeds; in fact, it is almost unique among the early records of the period in the straightforward, professional manner in which it relates events as they occurred. In ascribing, under Providence, to the foresight and rare ability of Columbus the successful conclusion of a voyage planned on such broad and comprehensive lines that it was intended, if possible, to establish a permanent route to the new possessions, while it solved the problem as to the habitat of the fierce savages who threatened the peace of the proposed colonies. Dr. Chanca did no more than justice. While cruising along the shores of Cuba and Hayti, Columbus had had pointed out to him every quarter of the compass as that in which the richest countries lay. All he had seen, besides those two great islands, were the Bahamas and the hazy outlines of Porto Rico as, homeward bound, he left the Bay of Samana. With a world to choose from, he so planned his voyage as to settle the most immediately important geo- graphical and political problems before him, without unduly delaying his arrival at the fortress of Navidad; and in so doing, we believe with Dr. Chanca, he gave new evidence of extraordinary sagacity and courage. It was too late in the afternoon when the captain of the exploring caravel made his report for the Admiral to attempt a landing; so he contented himself with sailing along the THE BEGINNING OF EMIGRATION. yi coast for a couple of leagues, and came to anchor in the port selected by the caravel. As the squadron passed along shore, numbers of native cabins were seen and their inhabi- tants could be descried fleeing to the woods as the strange winged craft drew near; so the Admiral gave orders that at daybreak a party should land with the Lucayan interpreters and endeavor to communicate with the people. To the magnificent island whose grand volcanic shapes were fast hiding in the gathering darkness he gave the name of Guadalupe, in fulfilment of a promise made to the monks of a convent nestled among the mountains of that name in the province of Estramadura, where he had gone to pay one of the vows assumed by him during the fearful tempests encountered on his homeward voyage the year before. IV. THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. THERE was no lack of matter for conversation aboard the Spanish ships as they lay at anchor on the night of November 4th, but we may doubt whether much time was spent in discussing the beauties of Nature. Officers and men alike had heard from the Admiral and his earlier followers of the bloodthirsty savages who drove their huge canoes of forty and fifty paddles across wide stretches of those quiet seas and ravaged from the most distant islands the living materials for their horrid ban- quets, and here they were at close quarters with these very demons. As the fleet made its way to the anchorage, all had seen small parties of natives scurrying into the woods; and the Admiral had remarked that they were as naked as the tribes he had met with on his former voyage. Later, came the report of the captain of the caravel, supported by the parcel of human bones; and thus ample food was fur- nished for the active Spanish imaginations to work their wildest. The prospect of being brought into actual contact, perhaps conflict, on the morrow with the savage anthro- pophagi of the Indies, of whom such wild tales were told in European markets and seaports, must have excited many a thrill of qualified anticipation among the soldiers and men- at-arms and led to many a speculation and boast. Fighting was no novelty to the seasoned veterans of the Moorish wars, but they might well dispute as to how it were best to act among such impenetrable forests, and be pardoned a shudder as they spoke of the doom that awaited the prisoner. 72 THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 73 The Admiral lost no time in putting his men to the proof. At daybreak he sent tvvo of his captains on shore, accompanied by a strong escort. They entered a neigh- boring village and were surprised to find that, while most of the inhabitants fled, two young men and half a dozen women ran toward and not away from the Spaniards. These they received, and succeeded also in capturing a number of the fugitives, including a little Carib who was abandoned by the warrior in charge of him. After exam- ining carefully the houses and their contents, the recon- noitring party divided, some returning with their prisoners to the ships, while the rest followed the paths which led inland from the village. Somewhere in the village they came upon what appeared to be the sternpost of a Euro- pean vessel, and an iron dish, or pan. The former was supposed to be a piece of wreckage carried across the Atlantic by wind or current, or else the timber from the Admiral's wrecked flagship of the first voyage. The pan they could not account for. There is no reason to doubt that more than one ship had been driven across the Atlan- tic and stranded on western shores prior to the advent of Columbus; but we know no more than those Spanish sailors did, as they debated the origin of the strange jetsam among the palm-thatched huts of Guadalupe. The young Indians were brought before the Admiral, and, with the aid of the San Salvador interpreters, made themselves fairly well understood. They came, they said, from Buriquen (Porto Rico we name it), having been captured there by the Caribs on one of their man hunts. This island where they now were was called Turuqueira, and was the chief home of the Caribs, although they also dwelt on Dominica (which they called Ceyre) and another island known to them as Ayay. They and their men companions were reserved by their captors for future consumption; the women who had fled to the Spaniards were also captives, but were not considered eligible for the cooking-pot. Their destina- tion was matrimony, or the Caribbean substitute therefor. They accounted for the appearance of so few Carib men among the natives seen by saying that ten canoe-loads had 74 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. lately gone off on a man hunt, leaving only their women to guard the captives. To prove them, the Admiral asked if they knew where Hayti was. They pointed at once to the northeast, where it lay, though distant from Guadalupe by more than 500 miles, as the homing seabird flies. All this they told, we are informed, "as well as they could, with hands and eyes, and motions and gestures of a soul in distress"; and the Admiral was greatly interested by their narrative. Meanwhile, a boat had returned to shore for the Span- iards who had remained, and it soon returned with most of them, and also a number of women, who, they afifirmed, had fled to them as they marched through the neighborhood. The Admiral, somewhat suspicious of these repeated ap- peals for protection, ordered that this last batch of refugees should be returned to the beach, loading them with beads, bells, and looking-glasses as an indication of good will. No sooner were they landed and the boat once more on the way back to the ships, than the natives appeared from the woods and coolly appropriated everything the women had received. Later on in the day, when some of the ships' boats went ashore for water, the same women came running down to them again, accompanied by two boys and a young man, all imploring to be taken off. This time they were kept, and added to the Admiral's fund of information by giving him the names of a multitude of islands which they affirmed to lie in those seas, as well as of a certain "great land," which the Admiral thought was probably Terra Firma. All this coming and going and making of presents had at last convinced the Caribs themselves that no harm was intended to them, and gradually all their women and a few men came down to the waterside to examine the ships, and even waded out to inspect the small boats when these drew up on the beach. The Spaniards called out " tayno, tayno," which was the word used by the natives of Hayti and the Bahamas to signify anything good or pleasing. But, as sometimes happens with the linguistic efforts of more modern travellers, this well-meant greeting was gibberish to the Caribs, and they remained on their guard, ready to THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 75 take to their heels at the first movement made by their strange visitors to leave the boats. The Admiral saw no reason for lingering at Guadalupe. He had verified the nature of the people inhabiting these islands and ascertained their condition. From the captives he had learned approximately the distance to Hispaniola and the existence of many islands on the way thither, and he was disposed to hoist sail and pursue his cruise without further delay. So far, no conflict had occurred with the Caribs, and he wished to avoid one. There had been enough of mild excitement and military activity to gratify the ardor of his soldiers and yet not expose them to the danger of becoming provender for the truculent man-eaters. His waiting garrison at Navidad was ever in his mind, and by leaving Guadalupe before nightfall he would be one day nearer them. To his surprise and disgust, a peremptory difficulty barred his departure. Diego Marquez, the royal inspector and captain of one of the caravels, had gone ashore at daybreak, it now appeared, with two of the pilots and a force of eight armed men, and had not since been seen or heard of. This was in direct defiance of the Ad- miral's authority and orders, and he did not attempt to hide his displeasure. Searching-parties were hastily sent on shore with orders to enter the forest at various points, sounding trumpets and firing arquebuses to attract the missing party. The remainder of the afternoon was spent unavailingly in this manner, and darkness fell with no signs of the absent men. All the gloomy conjectures of the preceding night were now revived. To the perils of the wilderness were added the horrors of an ambuscade by the treacherous cannibals. Some little comfort was gathered by their shipmates from the fact that Marquez was accom- panied by his pilots; for, they argued, with their aid it would be easier for him to extricate himself if he was merely lost in the woods. If he had been surrounded and overwhelmed by the natives, — well, the bundles of bones and the stories told by the rescued men and women indi- cated what would be the fate of inspector, pilots, and men-at- arms. In the morning the Admiral despatched new search- 76 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ing-parties, each with its trumpet and with instructions to penetrate the forest in different quarters and spare no effort to find traces of the lost men. The morning passed with leaden feet. "Every hour seemed a year," Columbus tells us, for he was impatient to start for Hispaniola. If the dark wilderness of the woods baffled his search, he would have to abandon the men to their fate and proceed with his voyage. He might, indeed, leave Marquez's own caravel behind, with directions to wait a reasonable time and then to follow the fleet; but he feared there was small chance of her finding Hispaniola alone. When the scouting- parties returned at evening, with no other tidings than a discouraging account of the impassability of the tangled woods, the Admiral reverted to his determination to pro- ceed without the absent party. He was loth to do this, for it seemed like abandoning his men to 'the most terrible of deaths; but the welfare of his 1500 other companions de- manded that he should not keep them confined in their cramped quarters for an indefinite time, and he felt, besides, that his first duty was to reach his garrison at Navidad. After much consideration and discussion he resolved to make a final effort. Liberty was given to all in the fleet who wished to go on shore during the day and there "disport themselves and wash their clothes" at pleasure, with such restrictions as discipline demanded. Alonso de Hojeda was ordered to take forty picked men and get on the track of the missing party, if possible. He was also instructed to make careful observations of all he saw, as he penetrated into the interior of the island, and report upon its products and character. The task was both difficult and dangerous, and the Admiral selected Hojeda as qualified to render the best account of himself in its execution. Day after day passed without any word of the lost inspec- tor, or of those who were searching for him. The crowd of men of all degrees who hastened ashore to avail them- selves of the liberty granted found only too much in the course of their investigations to confirm their gloomiest apprehensions as to the lot of their missing comrades. As THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. yj they entered the native cabins within a wide radius from the harbor and examined with curious interest all that they found, the Spaniards were horrified to meet with repeated evidences of the truth of the ghastly tales they had heard concerning the Caribs. Human bones neatly arranged in parcels, carefully prepared skulls hanging from the rafters of many of the huts, other bones from which everything eatable had been picked "so that nothing remained on them except what was too hard to gnaw," and "in one house the neck of a man cooking in a pot," were some of the tangible proofs of the gastronomic tastes of the Indians of Turuqueira. With these suggestive examples before them, the Admiral and his officers subjected the fugitives who were under his protection to a close questioning as to the habits of their captors. They answered without reluc- tance all that was asked of them, the women in particular speaking with great freedom, — as of a matter not inti- mately affecting themselves, perhaps, since they ran no risk of ending in the manner under investigation. According to them, the Caribs of the three islands already mentioned systematically raided the islands in those seas, sometimes pursuing their expeditions for a distance of three or four hundred miles. As a rule, they brought together a goodly fleet of canoes and presented a respectable force ; the party at present away in the ten canoes from Guadalupe would represent four or five hundred men, for example. They were armed with bows and arrows, and lances or darts, headed with sharpened fragments of turtle, fish, or human bones, which were quite sufficient to kill a naked enemy. On reaching the island they proposed to harry, the Caribs conducted themselves much as the Arab slavers of Central Africa do nowadays. They killed all who opposed them, but wasted no unnecessary lives, capturing all the men and women possible. Such men as were slain were eaten on the spot; the living captives were brought back to the island. Here the men were allowed a certain liberty for such time as they required to reach a proper condition for cooking, and then they were disposed of as the Spaniards had seen. The women added that the Caribs carried mat- 78 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ters so far that they did not scruple to eat their own sons whose mothers were not Caribs. When boys were made prisoners, they were kept as slaves until they reached man's estate and then eaten in their turn. Man's flesh was con- sidered by these interesting ruffians to be " so good that there is nothing like it in the world," — an opinion which we have ourselves heard asserted, but with much shame- facedness, in later days, by those who knew. Thus far we have followed Dr. Chanca's extremely busi- ness-like and unemotional report of his personal observa- tions of the cannibal practices of the Caribs. Peter Martyr, who might justly pass as a man of science in his generation, was in Medina del Campo in Old Castile when, in the following April, twelve of the Admiral's ships re- turned to Cadiz. He sought out their commander, Torres, and from him and other faithful and credible men who came with him from the Admiral procured a detailed account of this voyage for the information of his friend and patron. Cardinal Sforza. He writes that they told him that "they found also in their [the Caribs'] kitchens men's flesh, ducks' flesh, and goose flesh, all in one pot; and other on the spits ready to be laid to the fire. Entering into their inner lodgings, they found faggots of the bones of men's arms and legs, which they reserve to make heads for their arrows, because they lack iron. The other bones they cast away when they have eaten the flesh. They found likewise the head of a young man fastened to a pole and yet bleed- ing." The Admiral himself, according to Las Casas, went on shore one day and entered some cabins, where he saw, together with some looms and other signs of industry, "many heads hanging up and remains of human bones." Dr. Chanca mentions, quite as a matter of course, that he found an "infinite number of men's bones." We know that among scores of tribes, both in America and else- where, both in 1493 and at the present day, human flesh was and is sought for and fought for, and eaten for the mere love of it as frequently as for reasons of superstition or revenge. Doubtless some reader of these lines has him- self met with men who preferred the meat of their fellow- THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 79 creatures to veal or chicken. The writer certainly has. And yet we are asked by those whose self-imposed office is assumed to be "the destruction of a world's exemplar " in the interests of Historical Criticism, to believe that these reports were concocted by Columbus and his followers "to enhance the wonder with which Europe was to be im- pressed," and that to them "the cruelty of the custom was not altogether unwelcome to warrant a retaliatory merci- lessness." "Historians have not wholly decided," we are gravely informed, " that this is enough to account for the most positive statements about man-eating tribes. Fears and prejudices might do much to raise such a belief, or at least to magnify the habits." We have no more sympathy with those who would make a spectacular demi-god of Columbus than we have with those who labor to prove him a vulgar adventurer and discredited romancer; but we humbly submit that this is a question of fact beyond the province of armchair scepticism. Why Columbus and his companions should be accused of cheap (and wholly un- necessary) lying, and yet every missionary and traveller from Oceanica and Darkest Africa be listened to with bated breath and grateful spinal shivers while they relate similar experiences, is a mystery beyond our layman's compre- hension.^ In the course of their enforced stay in Guadalupe, the Spaniards had opportunity for securing many of the Carib women and a few of their men. These proved to be of for- bidding countenance, with long hair, beardless faces stained black around the eyes to render their appearance more ferocious, and with bands of cotton drawn tightly about the knees and ankles to make the calves of their legs bulge out in a grotesque manner. Their cabins were built in a sightly manner of branches wattled with cane, and were thatched with palm-leaves, much as we find them to-day among the 1 Herrera, writing one hundred years afterwards, affirmed that " to this day the natives of Dominica go to the island of San Juan to hunt men for eating." He adds that many of them had desisted from the practice by reason of the violent colic from which they suffered after eating a Spanish friar ! 8o THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. same mountains. They seemed to have a greater abun- dance of food than the natives of the other islands, and possessed no small skill in the arts of the potter and the weaver, their hammocks and cloths of cotton being notice- ably well made. Notwithstanding this comparative ad- vancement, they were brutal in all their habits, and so great was the terror they inspired that their former captives trembled at the very sight of one, even when they were themselves protected by the Spaniards and the Carib was a prisoner. In a word, every day confirmed further the accounts which the quaking inhabitants of the Bahamas and Northern Hayti had given to the Admiral the year before, when they pointed to the southeast and affirmed that there dwelt the "Canibals," whom he supposed to be the Asiatic anthropophagi of Marco Polo, — the subjects of the Great Khan. On the fourth day after setting out on their search, Hojeda and his command returned to the iieet. He brought no tidings of Marquez or his men, but told a mov- ing tale of hardship and fatigue endured in his long march through the pathless jungle. Of the riches of Nature, Hojeda had enough to report. Gum mastic, gin- ger, incense, wax, sandal-wood, and other aromatic treas- ures, he affirmed, were to be found in quantities. Game birds and songsters of every variety abounded. The land was fertile and the forests full of gigantic trees of precious woods. So well watered was it that he had crossed no less than twenty-six rivers, the waters in many of which came above the belt. He had encountered few natives, and none of these were men. So far as his observations went, it was evident that, in comparison with Cuba and Hayti, Guada- lupe was virtually uninhabited. Shortly after Hojeda's arrival, Marquez himself appeared with his pilots and soldiers and a train of ten women and boy prisoners. "We had already given them up for lost and eaten by these people who call themselves Caribs," writes Chanca; "for there was no reason to believe them lost in any other way, since there went with them some pilots, seamen who knew how to go to and come from THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 8l Spain by the stars, and we did not think it possible for them to lose themselves in so narrow a circuit." Both inspector and men were in so dilapidated a condition that their shipmates were filled with pity, which increased when they heard the story of their sufferings among the path- less woods and rugged mountains. They accounted for their long absence by saying that the woods were so dense that they could guide themselves neither by sun nor stars. Utterly without direction or hope, they had wandered among precipices, marsh and jungle, tattered and starved, apprehending an ambush behind every huge buttressed tree or liana-woven thicket. The sailors made shift to climb some of the tallest trees at night, in the hope of getting a glimpse of the polar star, but without avail. In truth, no more emphatic testimony could be borne as to their abject desperation than the attempt to climb by night, in the depth of a tropical forest, up or down the bare shaft of any tree of height apparently sufficient to view the stars. At length, when their exhaustion was complete, a pilot caught the gleam of the sea, and they made their way to the coast. Taking, whether by chance or intention, the right direction, they arrived in safety at the ships. " We were as delighted to see them as though they had just been found," Dr. Chanca tells us; but the Admiral judged that the perilous insubordination of Marquez required reproof. He there- fore placed the inspector under arrest, and punished his followers according to their degree; by which necessary measure he made at least nine enemies, one of whom had friends at Court, and afforded his critics, four centuries later, occasion to comment upon the facility with which he estranged the affections of his followers. On Sunday morning, the loth of November, the fleet weighed anchor and stood to the north along the leeward coast of Guadalupe, making slow progress on account of light winds. The next day they were clear of the land, and steered for another island, distant some forty miles to the northwest. This also proved to be mountainous in its character, covered with dense forests, and having bold shores i sing abruptly from the sea. O'ving to the resem- 6 82 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. blance of its wild and rugged contour to that of the famous penas of that name in Spain, the Admiral called this island Monserrate. The Indian women on board the flagship declared that it was desolate, all its inhabitants having been carried off by the Caribs; so no attempt was made to land. From this position a number of other islands were visible east, north, and west, and the fleet was headed a little more to the latter quarter. At a distance of a few miles to the leeward, a single barren dome of rock rose to the height of many hundred feet from waters whose deep blue denoted that they were wellnigh fathomless. Streaked with white and dim-colored patches, the side towards the fleet presented an inaccessible wall of forbidding smoothness, with no other growth than scanty lichens and no other life than screaming sea-fowl. The trained eye of the Admiral remarked its impregnable char- acter, and he noted " that without scaling-ladders and ropes let down from above it appears impossible to reach the top." To this lonely crag he gave the name of Santa Maria la Redonda. Near by were some shoals, where he found anchorage for the night, not caring to risk farther navigation in the darkness. The next morning, soon after getting under way, a long outline was descried in the northeast, which, in comparison with the lofty volcanic summits of its- neighbors, was low and regular. Without approaching it closer, the Admiral christened it Santa Maria la Antigua. Continuing on his course and bearing more to the westward, he soon came up to a lofty symmet- rical cone rising from the centre of a small island, which reminded him of a snow-clad peak near Barcelona, the scene of his recent triumphs at the Spanish Court. He gave the same name, Nieves, or Snows, to the dead volcano of these distant seas, and as Nevis we still know it. Near to this was still another group of forest-crowned summits, towering far into cloud-land out of the sapphire depths, and this he named St. Christopher, after his patron saint. From here he steered for the largest of the islands to the north, passing by several smaller ones to the westward. Whatever dis- position he had to tarry on his way and inspect some of THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. Z^ these inviting lands was put aside. All that he had seen and heard of the Caribs had inspired him with anxious concern for the safety of his forty pioneers at Navidad, and he was even more impatient to reach them than curious to learn the nature and products of the magnificent archi- pelago through which he was sailing. Past the majestic cliffs of St. Eustacio and Saba, the fleet held on its way towards an island of larger size, where the low savannahs of the coast swept up to a long range of elevated table- lands. To an island of much less size near by, the Admi- ral gave the name of St. Bartholomew, apparently in affec- tionate remembrance of the brother who had parted from him six years before to plead his great project of discovery before the English King Henry. As the ships drew closer, the larger island, which he called St. Martin, showed in the cultivated clearings seen along shore evidences of a consid- erable population. They came to anchor in a convenient harbor, as the Admiral determined to ascertain whether these natives also were Caribs, and verify, if possible, the distance and exact direction of Hispaniola, — not because he was wandering at random, as Dr. Chanca is careful to explain, "but because in doubtful matters one should always seek the greatest possible certainty." The Span- iards could find no one in the village where they landed to hold converse with, as all the natives had fled at their approach; so the fleet speedily continued its course, steer- ing now almost due west, as they had reached the latitudes wherein Hispaniola should be found. ^ On the second day after leaving St. Martin, November 14th, the fleet reached an inhabited island to which he gave the name of Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross), from some fanci- ful idea of its shape. Here he anchored and sent boats ^ Here occurred one of those trifling incidents which give us an insight into one of the chief causes of his success as an explorer. As the anchors were hoisted home, Columbus noticed that their flukes brought up the debris of coral instead of the muddy spoil of Guada- lupe's harbor. The observation was not without its significance when we bear in mind the fact that the group of which this is the centre is not of the same distinctively volcanic formation as are the other islands among which he sailed. 84 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ashore to have speech with the people. As usual, the natives betook themselves to the woods, but the Spaniards secured four women and a couple of boys. They also proved to be captives in the hands of the Caribs, and said that this was the island called Ayay by the cannibals and was one of their chief strongholds. A party of thirty men was accordingly landed, to protect the boats' crews who went ashore for water and to make a reconnoissance of the neighborhood. They found much the same kind of village as in Guadalupe, but could discover no traces of the people. While they were absent, a large canoe came around a point of the coast manned by four men, two women, and a boy. At the sight of the Spanish vessels they dropped their paddles and sat gazing in blank amazement at the bewildering spectacle. While thus engaged, the landing-party put off from shore in their barge and started for the ships, only to be surprised in turn by suddenly encountering the Carib canoe. The Indians were still so absorbed in contemplating the extraor- dinary spectacle of the great winged craft that the barge was almost upon them before they perceived the danger. In a twinkling they had seized their paddles, and began to make for the shore. A skilful movement of the Spanish boat cut off their retreat, and the white men, who sought to capture them unharmed, were on the point of seizing the canoe, when the Indians dropped their paddles, grasped their bows and, both men and women, sent a flight of arrows into the crowded barge. Two of the Spaniards were badly wounded, one with a couple of arrows through the chest, the other with one between the ribs. The interested spec- tators on the decks of the ships remarked that an arrow dis- charged by one of the women pierced through a shield carried by one of the soldiers. Before the Caribs could repeat their murderous volley, the barge was steered straight for the canoe, and, striking it squarely, threw its occupants into the water. Little difference did that make, however, for, finding a foothold on a sunken rock as they swam towards land, the Indians faced their assailants and sent another flight of arrows into them, which would have been as disastrous as the first had the soldiers not protected them- THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 85 selves with shields and targets. Even when the barge returned against them, they fought so desperately that it was necessary to run a spear through one of the men before he could be dragged inboard. With this exception they were finally secured unhurt and taken aboard the flagship, where, as Peter Martyr says, "they did no more put off their fierce- ness and cruel countenance than do the lions of Libya when they perceive themselves to be bound in chains." In due time these plucky cannibals were sent to Spain for the greater instruction of the King and Queen, and there Peter Martyr saw them. " There is no man able to behold them," he affirms, " but he shall feel his bowels grate with a certain horror, nature hath endowed them with so terrible, menac- ing, and cruel an aspect." The Spaniards themselves were inclined to give them full credit for their dauntlessness. "I say advisedly that they possessed great daring," Chanca says in describing the skirmish; "for they were no more than four men and two women, and our men numbered above five and twenty." By degrees they quieted down and even became communicative, telling their captors, among other things, that in Ceyre (Dominica) gold was so plentiful that when they went there, as was their custom, to fell trees for their canoes, each man gathered as much of the metal as he pleased. After making a stay of six or seven hours at Santa Cruz, the fleet steered for what appeared to be a large and lofty island somewhat to the north. On approaching nearer, it proved to be a group of forty or fifty islands, of which only one was of considerable size. To this the Admiral gave the name of St. Ursula, and to the surrounding archipelago that of the Eleven Thousand Virgins. The channels between these islands were so narrow and tortuous, and the white spray flying on all sides betokened so many hidden rocks, that he attempted no general landing, but sent a caravel of light draught to inspect a few huts, which, by their contents, proved to belong to fishermen. This group, unlike the other islands, was destitute of trees, and the Spaniards fan- cied they saw indications of valuable metal deposits in the brown, white, and grayish rocks of which it was chiefly com- 86 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. posed. The day was passed in getting clear of the skirts of these holy damsels, and at night the westerly course was resumed. Afternoon of the following day found the fleet off the southeastern coast of the great island known to the Indians as Buriquen, from which most of the captives who had fled to the Spaniards at Santa Cruz and Guadalupe had been brought by the Caribs. As they coasted along, close inshore, they saw evidences of considerable population and systematic cultivation. The country along the coast was a beautiful succession of savannahs and rolling hills, while inland the mountains towered skyward, as in the great islands first encountered. The natives on board the Spanish vessels vaunted the beauties and fertility of their home, whose only curse was the periodical incursions of the Caribs. On the other hand, the Caribs on the flagship claimed that the Indians of Buriquen were as bad as they; that they used the same weapons, and when any unlucky man-eater fell into their hands the lex talionis was fulfilled to the letter, the genial inhabitants of Buriquen promptly putting their cap- tive beyond all chance of further roving by the simple pro- cess of cooking and eating him. In one respect the Caribs had shown themselves to be masters of strategy : they had for so long systematically destroyed or carried off all the canoes of the people of the island that by degrees these had lost all skill in the use of boats and were now virtually impounded within their own borders. On the afternoon of the 19th the fleet reached the western extremity of the island and came to anchor in a spacious harbor. The Admiral christened this latest discovery St. John the Baptist, and the name still lingers in the Spanish records; but for us it has been displaced by the more familiar one of Porto Rico. In this haven, which is iden- tified with the modern one of Mayagues, the Admiral remained two days, and a large part of his force was allowed liberty on shore. The Spaniards were particularly impressed with the regularity and neatness shown in the arrangement of a native village near their anchorage. A broad plaza or market-place was surrounded by cabins of unusual size, and from it a cleanly swept street led directly to the water's THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 8/ edge, bounded on either side by walls made of living bam- boo wattled with cane. By the seaside was a tall edifice open at the sides, as if intended for a lookout or pleasure- house. Everything in the vicinity denoted recent occupa- tion, but not a native was seen during the time of the Spaniards' visit. At dawn on the morning of Thursday, November 21st, the fleet left Porto Rico and steered due west. Before night fell it was in sight of a huge range of mountains in that quar- ter, and the Admiral shortened sail accordingly. Early on the following day, the 22nd, he approached the coast, which at that point was so level and unlike the northern shores of Hispaniola that he had some doubt as to whether he had indeed reached his goal, and the doubt was shared by all who had been with him on the former voyage. The Indian women who were on the flagship insisted that this was in truth Hayti and not some other great island, like Dominica or Guadalupe; so the Admiral sent on shore one of the Indians whom he had taken to Spain from Samana Bay when leaving Hayti the preceding January. This man was told to ascertain the position of the fleet with reference to Navi- dad, and to explain to his countrymen the good intentions of the white men, their power and great resources, and the grandeur of their King and nation, as he had so recently seen it in Castile. He gladly accepted the service, was landed on the beach, — and disappeared from history. Las Casas thinks this Haytian was killed by his countrymen as a renegade. We prefer to believe that the sound of his own tongue and the sight of the familiar parrot-feathers and black paint, which formed the simple yet distinctive dress of his fellow tribesmen, pierced through his thin veneering of acquired civilization, and that he cast in his lot again with them, leaving the great Spanish cacique and his big winged canoes to shift for themselves. The Admiral waited in vain for his return, and at length got under weigh and resumed his course along the coast to the north. Toward evening he reached the entrance to a great bay, and had no diiificulty in recognizing it as that of Samana, whence he had taken his departure for Spain on the previous voyage. 88 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. He made for the point on its northern side, which he had called Cape Angel, and there came to anchor, partly to have speech with the natives, and partly to bury one of his sail- ors, a Basque, who had died of wounds received in the skirmish with the six Caribs at Santa Cruz. While a boat carried the body on land, two caravels drew near the shore to guard it. Immediately a crowd of Indians swarmed around the boat, begging to be taken off to the fleet and offering all they possessed in exchange for the trinkets of the Spaniards. The latter refused to take them, not having permission from the Admiral; whereupon two of the eager natives leaped into a canoe and paddled to a caravel, where they renewed their importunities. As many of them wore golden ornaments around their necks and in their ears, the captain thought it best to take them to the flagship, where they were kindly received. They told the Admiral that their king had sent them and their companions to learn what manner of men these strangers were who were seen approaching over the sea. If they were of the same sort as the astonishing beings who had visited his territory earlier in the year, he desired them to come ashore, that he might give them all the gold and provisions they wanted. Evi- dently the cacique of Samana bore the white men no grudge for the punishment they had inflicted on his warriors a few months before, but remembered only the priceless gifts of cloth and beads he had received from them. To his invi- tation the Admiral responded that he would surely pay him a visit at another season, but that he was now in haste to reach the country of Guacanagari. With this reply he sent a present of shirts, sailors' bonnets, and other trifles, and the messengers departed in glee. Their favorable report inspired their companions with confidence, and a thriving traffic in golden ornaments, cassava bread, fruits, and yams was soon established with the Spaniards; for it was clear that the people as well as their king remembered what their visitors of the previous voyage most wanted. But the Admiral this time would not delay a moment longer than was necessary. Even the sight of the yellow metal, for so little of which he had been so willing before to wait so long, THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 89 was now of secondary importance; and, weighing anchor, he stood past Cape Angel and turned the " Maria Galante's " bow to the west, in the direction of Navidad. The perils and excitements of his second passage through the terrible Ocean Sea were over, and again it had proved but a speedy cruise over summer seas, with no more of hard- ship or danger than the sailors of his and of all times hail as the salt of their existence. A second time he had wrested from these unknown western waters a generous portion of the secrets they had so successfully guarded since the foundations of their deepest caverns were laid, and again he had given to his sovereigns an accession of domin- ion in comparison with which all the islands in the Midland Sea, from the Bosphorus to the Pillars of Hercules, were as nothing. He had traced far down toward the burning zone, where Earth's choicest products were supposed to be hidden, this line of giant islands which began with Cuba, and found them surpassingly fertile and beautiful, abound- ing with promise of untold riches. He had solved the mystery of the man-eaters who devastated the northern islands, and formed the opinion that they could easily be subdued and their islands converted into ports of call for the fleets which were to ply between Hispaniola and Cadiz. Finally, he had become imbued with the profound convic- tion that by steering yet farther south he should find other Guadalupes and Dominicas, if not the mainland of Asia itself. He had learned that the Indians of the Lucayos, Cuba, and Hayti had told the truth when they said, the year before, that there were other great islands to the southeast; why might they not be equally believed when they spoke of the vast country of Caribana, with its mighty kings and hordes of people ? From Dominica he had seen the blue mountains of other islands in that quarter, and only sailed away because his men at Navidad were counting the days till his return; what lands and races might not be waiting discovery and annexation in the fiery South? Whatever they were, they must bide his time. His work of explora- tion must be suspended for a season and his attention devoted to questions of administration and government. 90 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Later on, if God were willing, he should strive to wrest from the ocean the secrets of the South as he had those of the West. As the fleet sailed along the Haytian coast in quest of Navidad, the Admiral marked the familiar headlands of the rugged shore as they hove in sight, and recalled the name he had given each as he had passed them homeward-bound on the former voyage. There was the Lover's Cape, and that of Father and Son; Spotted Cape, Cape of Good Weather, the Frenchman's, Round Cape, Dry Point, Iron Point, Angel Cape, Silver Mountain, Cape Fairlavvn, and then that River of Thanks where Martin Alonzo had landed and secured so much gold before rejoining his deserted commander. Each name suggested some incident of the eventful cruise in January, and there were not wanting tongues to vaunt the exploits of the days of the Discovery at the expense of those of the present voyage. But the mind of the leader was on other things, and it was the A^iceroy rather than the Admiral who watched the majestic pano- rama of forbidding sierra, smiling prairie, rugged promon- tory,, and inviting harbor which was slipping steadily by as the vessels held on their westerly course. Beyond yonder mountains was the province of Cibao, which he believed to be the Cipango of Marco Polo, abounding in gold and pre- cious commodities. One of his first cares woul.d be to inves- tigate its resources and the character of its people. In there, at the foot of Silver Mountain, was the Puerto de Plata (Silver Port). On the previous voyage he had examined it carefully and found it to be a noble site for a settlement, to serve as a base of operation and supplies for the golden districts behind it. The River of Thanks would be another good situation, but there was too little water on the bar. At Monte Christi, just beyond, was an admirable harbor, but the surrounding shores were low and might not prove well fitted for residence. He had left instructions with Diego de Araiia, at Navidad, to have these ports examined with the barge which he had left with the garrison for the purpose, for he was not satisfied with Navidad as a perma- nent situation for the town he proposed building, and, more- THE ISLANDS OF THE CANNIBALS. 91 over, he wished to be nearer the mines of Cibao. All this had no doubt been attended to, and the reconnoissance made of this province and those adjoining, as he had directed. He would hear his lieutenant's report, inspect the gold, drugs, and other products which had been gathered in his absence, and send them at once to Spain with such of the ships as he did not require. That done, the work of founding his colony, organizing his government, and pro- viding for the control of the natives and the speedy extrac- tion of the largest revenue possible would be diligently pushed. Subsequently the Viceroy would be again merged in the Admiral, and he would carry out his cherished plan of determining whether Cuba was really the eastern extrem- ity of Asia and whether that continent was prolonged to the south. This is no mere play of fancy. The writings of Colum- bus and his subsequent actions indicate beyond all question that he approached Navidad with a clear and definite pro- gramme conceived on these lines : indeed, the journal of his first voyage, in the portion written just after he left that garrison, allows us to see the tendency of his reflections; and all that followed, both in the preparations for the second voyage and in its conduct, only confirms the existence of a settled and systematic design of this nature. There was nothing blind or happy-go-lucky in his proceedings. What- ever other faults he had, this man acted on a consistent, well-digested, and comprehensive plan of campaign from the time he landed on San Salvador to the day of his return from his last voyage. Those who have the patience to fol- low his career will, we believe, admit as much.^ 1 In this chapter we have chiefly followed the report of Dr. Chanca, as he was attached to the Admiral's flagship and in a position to know all that occurred. We have no remains of the journal of Columbus himself before the arrival of the fleet at Samana Bay. Here Las Casas begins his condensation of the Admiral's own record. The letter attributed to Guglielmo Coma and printed by Scillacio gives the news at second hand, and ranks with the letters of Peter Martyr, as being founded on what some participants in the voyage related to the writers. V. A BITTER DISILLUSION. WHEN the fleet arrived at the port of Monte Christi, the Admiral came to anchor and sent a boat on shore. He considered this so desirable a harbor that, when home- ward bound in January, he had examined it with particular attention; and, as it was only some eight leagues from Navidad, he expected to find some trace of Spanish occupa- tion. He was not disappointed. The boat's crew returned with the report that on the river's bank they had come upon two corpses, one of a young and the other of an old man, bound by the arms upon two rude crosses. To the Admiral's anxious queries as to whether they were natives or Spaniards, the crew could only reply that there was no means of telling, except that around the old man's neck and feet were cords of esparto grass, such as those made in Spain. Fearful of evil, the Admiral now landed with a large party, and on that afternoon and the next day made a thorough search of the neighborhood in the hope of obtaining some further news. The natives appeared in considerable numbers and showed the utmost friendliness. They manifested no embarrass- ment in meeting the Spaniards, but gleefully paraded their acquisition of a few Castilian words, touching the dress of their visitors and repeating "jacket," "shirt," to indicate their proficiency in the white man's tongue. For the mo- ment, Columbus was reassured as to the safety of his garri- son, for it was evident the natives had been in long contact with his men; but his distress was renewed when some sailors, on ascending the river, found two more corpses, one 92 A BITTER DISILLUSION. 93 of which still bore traces of a beard. This could be no Indian, and it only remained to ascertain whether these bodies represented stragglers from the fort, slain while engaged in some forbidden foray, or whether all the force at Navidad had shared a like fate. Filled with the gloom- iest forebodings, the Admiral returned on board, weighed anchor, and stood for the port of Navidad without further delay. While the fleet was under sail, a large canoe put out from land and rapidly approached the flagship, as if to inspect it. In a few moments it put about, and returned to the beach with the same speed. It was late in the evening when the fleet made the en- trance of the harbor, and, with a lively remembrance of its fatal shoals, came to anchor about a league off shore and waited for daylight before attempting to enter. Late as it was, the flagship discharged two cannon to see whether the garrison would give an answering signal, but the echoes rumbled through the night without eliciting a response. Long time the crowds of anxious voyagers which lined the bulwarks and thronged the castles of the little vessels watched for, at least, some fire or the gleam of a torch; but, save for the bright flash of the drifting fire-flies, no light appeared. The ominous silence sunk into the hearts of all. The damp night-wind drew straight from land, but brought no hail or cry; not a sound was to be heard, except the swash of the breakers on the shoals near by, or the low tones of the awe- stricken men. The blackness of the tropical night was deepest in the direction of the fortress, for there lay the forests with their double shade, which seemed pregnant with disaster and death. So passed the early watches; ear and eye were strained to catch some indication, however feeble, of the presence on shore of Araiia and his fellow- pioneers. But all in vain; silence and darkness reigned unbroken. Truly a portentous welcome for the Viceroy of the Indies; a bitter disillusion for his light-hearted com- panions. Towards midnight, the muffled beating of pad- dles, drawing steadily nearer, came over the still waters, and every watcher on the ships strained his eyes to catch a sight of the approaching boat. Would it contain a Spanish crew, 94 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. or a band of naked Indians? Would its news be cause for excited vivas, or only deepen the deadly gloom which weighed down every soul aboard the fleet? Swiftly the dim outlines of a native canoe drew out of the darkness, heading for the caravel nearest the land. A few broken inquiries and eager rejoinders, and it swept away and steered for the flag- ship. As it approached, a throng of anxious faces bent over the rail and a score of questions were shouted into the dark- ness. No answer came, until the paddles ceased their hur- ried plashing and the canoe lay under the " Maria Galante's " counter. Then a single Castilian word was heard, buried in a flood of unfamiliar gutturals, — " Almirante ?" Yes, man, the Admiral is here; catch this rope and come aboard. Again the strange sounds ending with the one Spanish word, — ^'' Almirante ?'' The Admiral strode to the ship's side and ordered a bystander to hold a lantern, so the canoeman might see his face. No sooner did the light fall on his commanding form, than two of the Indians sprang on board and bent in prof ound salutations before him. The Admiral recognized in the principal one that nephew of King Gua- canagari who had so innocently betrayed the golden secrets of Cibao at the time of the Spaniards' first visit. Quickly calling Diego, the interpreter, Columbus asked the visitors what news they brought of his governor, Arana, and the garrison he had left in the fort yonder. The Indians gave some evasive reply and offered the Admiral two of the golden masks he had so willingly received when he was before with them, repeating at the same time a long com- plimentary harangue with which Guacanagari sent to wel- come the Spanish chief. Again the Admiral insisted upon knowing why his garrison had failed to answer his signals or give any signs of life, and at length the Indians ex- plained that some of the men had died from illness, others had been killed in a fight, and the rest had gone off into the interior with the harems which they had collected from among the native villages. Guacanagari himself was no longer at the town near Navidad, where Columbus had first met him, but was some distance off, laid up with a wounded leg. He wished greatly to come in person to see the A BITTER DISILLUSION. 95 Admiral, but his hurt would not permit; as soon as he could move he would come. There had been a great battle, these messengers affirmed, between Guacanagari and the two Kings of Maguana, Caonabo, and Mayrionex, who had invaded the former's territory. They had been beaten off finally, but not before they had burned Guacanagari 's town and the fortress of Navidad, and grievously wounded that cacique. As to the safety of the Spaniards in the fortress, they would say no more than that some had been killed and others retired inland. The Admiral detained them on board for three hours, questioning and cross-questioning them in the hope of reaching some definite knowledge concerning his men. The Indians appeared to be frank and outspoken, and, despite the throng of white men who crowded to listen to the examination, they exhibited only satisfaction at being again with the white cacique;. but they added nothing to their first statements as to the missing Christians. Colum- bus gave them the food and drink which they had liked so much when he first arrived among them, and made them liberal gifts of the trinkets they prized. When they were leaving, he sent Guacanagari a couple of pewter basins and a number of showy articles, which were sure to be highly appreciated, and bade them tell the King that the Admiral would visit him shortly. With this they entered the canoe lying alongside, and in a moment were lost in the dark- ness. The Admiral and his companions on the flagship were left in perplexity, as the result of this visit. They had iden- tified the canoe as the same which had put out from shore in the afternoon to inspect the passing fleet, and Columbus had intentionally questioned the two savages in the presence of his officers. At the same time, friendly as they seemed, no one quite believed their statements. The almost palpable gloom and quiet which hung over sea and shore were more eloquent than the ready protestations of Guacanagari 's emissaries. The Admiral had more than once recited to his associates the incidents of his first arrival in these waters, — the swarms of canoes which surrounded his ships, the thou- sands of hospitable natives who flocked to do him honor, 96 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the gifts of gold and other precious commodities with which he was received. They had themselves as often pictured the joy of their waiting countrymen when the stately fleet should appear in the offing, and had rehearsed the delights of dwelling amid such favored scenes after the discomforts and hardships of their long voyage. Here, however, was the stern reality. A single canoe, stealthily visiting them by night, stood for the thousand they expected; two naked savages, for the joyous crowd they hoped to see; the deathly stillness of this appalling gloom, for the noisy greetings of the pioneers of Navidad. They gathered some consolation from the repeated declarations of the two natives, to the effect that the greater part of the garrison was yet living; but an ugly report was circulated soon after the messengers departed that Diego, the interpreter, said they had told him that all the Spaniards at Navidad were dead. To the Admiral's apprehensions on this score was also added anxi- ety caused by the uprising of Caonabo and Mayrionex. He had counted on the same peace and friendliness which had so attracted him the year before, and had to encounter in- stead the difficulties and perplexities of a tribal war. His own expectations were as pitilessly annihilated as had been the brilliant hopes of his followers. For commander and followers alike, the long-anticipated arrival in the vaunted Hispaniola was the occasion of discouragement and mis- giving. Either because the wind did not serve, or because he deemed it more prudent to await Guacanagari's visit before landing, the Admiral did not enter the port of Navidad with the fleet until the afternoon of the next day, Thursday, November 28th. Early in the morning, however, he de- spatched a small force on shore to visit the fortress and examine the vicinity for traces of its former guardians. The search-party found nothing but the charred remains of the barracks and palisade, with some military cloaks and other garments scattered through the debris. There was no indication of a battle, beyond the destruction of the fort and its out-buildings. As the Spaniards were examining the ruins, a number of natives made their appearance; but, A BITTER DISILLUSION. 97 instead of coming frankly to meet the white men, they hung back and seemed to be afraid; for whenever the Spaniards drew near they fled to the adjoining woods. Behavior so different from that which they expected caused abundant speculation among the visitors, and they sought to conciliate the Indians by throwing beads and hawk-bells towards them as evidence of pacific intention. With this, four of the natives summoned courage enough to join the Spaniards, one of the number being, as it appeared, a rela- tive of Guacanagari. The party thereupon returned to their boat, the Indians with them, and went aboard the flagship, where the x^dmiral listened to their report with a heavy heart. In answer to his questions, Guacanagari 's kinsman repeated much the same story as the two mes- sengers of the night before. Caonabo and Mayrionex, he afifirmed, had joined forces and come to attack Guacanagari and his Christian allies. A great fight followed, in which the assailants lost heavily as well as the defenders; but Guacanagari was routed and received an arrow wound in the calf of his leg. He was very desirous of visiting the Admiral, as soon as he heard of the latter' s presence on the coast; and, if the Admiral wished, the narrator would him- self go and tell the King how anxious the Spanish cacique was to meet him. To this Columbus assented, for he had begun to fear that last night's messengers must have been capsized and drowned, since no word had been received from Guacanagari during the entire day. Accordingly the four Indians were sent ashore, with the usual allowance of presents, and promised to make all speed in bearing the Admiral's messages to their master. Friday morning, as nothing further was heard from the King, the Admiral himself went ashore with a large party and scoured the neighborhood. He had little hope now of seeing any of his imfortunate pioneers alive. Although the Indians had obstinately refused to admit the death of all the garrison, there was a vacillation and embarrassment noticeable whenever they were pressed for details of the catastrophe which, as all might see, had overtaken the little colony. Some of the Admiral's associates maintained that 7 98 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the whole disaster was due to some act of savage treachery on the part of Guacanagari, and that his persistent absence was proof positive of a guilty fear. Columbus, however, refused to listen to any such theories. If Guacanagari had wished to free himself from the Christians, he had had ample opportunity, the Admiral argued, when they were ship- wrecked off his harbor on Christmas Eve the year before. The recollection of the King's unbounded hospitality and generous assistance in those distressful days forbade any suspicion of a subsequent faithlessness which was certain to involve him in a terrible vengeance. Consequently the Admiral preferred to believe that the other and wilder tribes had attacked the fortress and Guacanagari 's town, and de- stroyed both. When he reached the ruined stockade, he examined minutely all the indications which might throw any light on the nature of the calamity. The tall coarse grass of the tropics had overgrown the site, but this, on account of the rapidity with which it grew, conveyed no approxi- mate idea of time. Here and there was a broken bow, a soiled jacket, a rough table-cloth such as soldiers might use. No other sign was discernible, and the visitors were puzzled to account for the clothing scattered about. If there had been a raid by distant tribes, how happened it that plunder so valuable in the eyes of naked savages as these mantles and cotton cloths had been left behind? If there had been a fight, where were the slain? No one could conceive of twoscore Spaniards, possessed of artil- lery, arquebuses, and cross-bows, and protected by stout pali- sades, yielding themselves alive into the hands of a horde of Indians armed with nothing better than bone-tipped arrows and wooden spears hardened at the fire. All that they saw only deepened the perplexity of the Admiral and his companions, and the singular disappearance again of all the natives lent color to the worst suspicions. The one ray of hope that remained to him was that he had so straightly enjoined Araiia, Gutierrez, and Escovedo, and their men, that under no circumstances whatever were they to separate into several bands; that, come what might, they were to keep together. It was barely possible, therefore, A BITTER DISILLUSION. 99 that they might, on hearing of the proposed attack, have abandoned the fortress as untenable and retired to some more defensible position. But another of his written in- junctions, on parting from them, had been that, in the event of leaving Navidad, they were to bury in the pit dug for the purpose within the fort all the gold, spices, drugs, and other precious commodities which, in pursuance of his orders, they were to collect against his return. By inves- tigating this cache something of importance or value might be discovered. The Admiral accordingly set a party to work to clear out the pit, while he took Dr. Chanca and some others of his suite alongshore in the barge to look for a place more suitable than Navidad, where he might disembark his forces, "because it was quite time that we did so," the Doctor remarks, with professional solicitude for his cooped-up charges. A few miles from the ruined fortress they found a native hamlet by the shore, the in- habitants of which fled as they saw the Spaniards approach. Entering their cabins ("the huts were so damp and covered with vegetation that I am astonished they can live at all," Dr. Chanca says), the explorers found hidden away, indoors and among the shrubbery outside, quite a store of Spanish goods, which were too valuable to have been acquired in a lifetime by legitimate barter. There were Moorish hang- ings in packages as yet unopened, trousers and pieces of cloth, and one of the anchors of the Admiral's lost ship, the " Santa Maria." All these, he knew, had formed part of the large deposit of Castilian goods which he had left with Arana for trading with the natives, and their presence in such a place only increased his perplexity; while those of his companions who attributed to Guacanagari's treachery the destruction of the garrison found material enough wherewith to fortify their theories. For a moment the visitors were horrified, on opening a carefully closed basket, to find therein a human head, which they naturally feared might have belonged to one of their countrymen; but a moment's scrutiny showed that it was that of an Indian, and they learned from the Admiral that he had lOO THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. found several such in different places, both in Cuba and Hispaniola, when on his first voyage.^ The Admiral returned with his party to the former site of Guacanagari's town, near the fortress, and there found that a considerable number of Indians had assembled to traffic with the Spaniards, having to all appearance laid aside their fears, and seeming anxious to show their friend- liness to the white men. The latter had already secured a small quantity of gold from the natives when the Admiral arrived, and he took advantage of the newly established confidence to make another effort to reach the truth con- cerning his ill-fated settlement. This time he was more successful, albeit the success was a confirmation of his dir- est apprehensions. The Indians pointed out where eight of the luckless garrison were buried near the fortress, and the Spaniards soon after came upon three more bodies lying amidst the grass, which, from their clothes, were easily identified as belonging to Araiia's force. From the appearance of these last corpses and the height of the grass over the graves, the massacre, if such it was, must have taken place a month before, more or less. After this dis- covery, there remained nothing for the Admiral to do but endeavor to fix the responsibility for the disaster. While he was directing a search for some written document or other record which might throw light upon this question, — for nothing had been found in the pit, — he was ap- proached by several Indians, among whom was that brother of Guacanagari who had wished to accompany the Admiral to Spain when he was leaving Navidad. Several of these natives had acquired enough Spanish from the men of the garrison, before the annihilation of the latter, to make themselves at least partly understood, and could repeat the names of Araiia and all his followers, thus indicating their ^ It was cherished with such obvious pains that Chanca says, " We judged it at the time to be the head of a father or mother, or of some greatly esteemed person," — clear proof, if any such were needed, that the observant Doctor distinguished between those fragments of human- ity kept from religious motives and those kept for merely nutritive purposes, as at Guadalupe. A BITTER DISILLUSION. loi familiarity with the occupants of the fortress. With the aid of the interpreter, Diego, a connected recital was pos- sible, and from this party the Admiral first heard a coherent statement of the circumstances attending the annihilation of the pioneer settlement of Europeans in the New World. According to their account, no sooner had the "Niiia" taken her departure, early in January, than disputes arose between the three lieutenants — Arana, Escovedo, and Guti- errez — and their men; the officers wishing to carry out the Admiral's instructions to explore the country, seek a better site for a town along the coast, and establish an active traffic with the natives, while the men wished only to enjoy life and secure all the gold they could for themselves. No doubt they argued that the chances were so small of Colum- bus ever reaching Spain, or, if he did, of his ever finding his way back to Navidad, that it was not worth their while to subject themselves to military discipline in his absence. At all events, every man traded for his own account, and each one appropriated as many of the native women as pleased his fancy, Gutierrez and Escovedo killed one of their associates in the course of a dispute, and thereupon made up a faction with nine others of the garrison who were Basques, and, abandoning the fortress, set out for the territories of King Caonabo, where the richest mines were said to be found, taking with them a bevy of Indian houris. On reaching Caonabo' s country, that wily chief at once per- ceived his opportunity, and, after learning all he could con- cerning the condition of Guacanagari and his remaining Christian allies, entered into a league with his brother May- rionex to descend upon Marien, as the territory of Guacan- agari was called, overthrow its king, and clear out the nest of mysterious strangers who had miraculously appeared in their island. As an earnest of his intentions, he killed every one of the Spaniards who had entered his country. While this plot was in preparation, most of the other mem- bers of the garrison had likewise wandered off in small groups of two, three, or four, as might be, bent upon lead- ing the lives that best pleased them among the simple and confiding people of Marien. At length Diego de Arana was I02 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. left with only five loyal companions to guard the fortress. All idea of fulfilling the Admiral's orders as to exploration and preparations for future colonization had to be aban- doned as completely as had been his injunctions to respect Guacanagari and offer no affront to his people. Affairs were in this posture when the two hostile kings made their appearance. Guacanagari endeavored to defend his town and avert the attack from the fortress, but was defeated and wounded. Caonabo and Mayrionex surrounded the stockade and succeeded in firing it and the surrounding cabins by night, whereupon Araha with his little band fled towards the water, hoping to escape in the darkness, but were all either slaughtered or drowned. The invaders withdrew into their own territories, Guacanagari took refuge in one of his own villages a few leagues away, and nothing remained to remind the Haytians of the wonderful visitation of the white beings they so foolishly believed had come from the skies, except a heap of charred timbers, a lot of scattered trumpery, and the corpses of thirty or forty strangers lying among their forests and mountains. The Admiral was inclined to accept this relation as true, but he found few among his companions of a like mind; they were equally convinced that the whole story was a fic- tion palmed off on the Spaniards by Guacanagari to conceal his own treachery, and pointed, as evidence, to the Euro- pean wares in the possession of his tribesmen and their avoidance of the white men when the latter first landed. "They all said, with one accord," writes Chanca, "that Caonabo and Mayrionex had killed the Christians, but at the same time they added their own complaint that, of the Christians, one had three wives, another four, and so on; from which we suspected that the harm which had befallen them had its origin in jealousy." Considering that the wives thus multitudinously appropriated by the white men were the wives and daughters of the speakers, one should think that their complaints might be justifiably made with- out necessarily implicating the complainants in a wholesale homicide. The next day further confirmation of the story told by the A BITTER DISILLUSION. 103 King's brother was received. The Admiral sent Melchior Maldonado and four or five of his officers, with a caravel, along the coast in one direction to look for a desirable site for the proposed new town, while he went in person, with a second caravel, to carry on the search in an opposite quar- ter. As seems to have been his habit, the Admiral carried with him the surgeon of the expedition, in order to have the benefit of his judgment as to the healthfulness of the sites examined. They came upon a port which offered many advantages, but was too far from the mines of Cibao to suit the Admiral's plans; so the party returned to the anchorage at Navidad, where they found Maldonado already awaiting them with important tidings. As he coasted leisurely along- shore, a canoe containing two Indians had put out from the beach and hailed the caravel. One of the natives proved to be Guacanagari ' s brother, who inquired who was on board the Spanish vessel. The Spaniards replied, some of their chief men; whereupon the Indian said that Guacana- gari had sent to invite them to visit him, as he was near there but could not yet leave his hammock. Melchior and the other officers accordingly landed and followed their guides to a village of some fifty cabins, where they found the King pretending, as they thought, to be invalided with his wound. He received them with much affability, and entered into a long story of the fate of the garrison at Navidad, which agreed essentially with what his brother had told the Admiral. In proof of what he alleged he showed the visitors his ban- daged leg, which somewhat modified their belief that he was shamming. When they took their leave he repeated his desire to see the Admiral, and presented each of the officers with a golden ornament, in proportion to what seemed to be his respective rank. This had a mollifying influence on some of the Spaniards, although others still insisted that the King was playing a part. Upon learning of the proximity of Guacanagari, the Admiral determined to visit him and satisfy himself con- cerning the attitude of his former ally. It was of the first importance to know whether he had indeed acted the part of a traitor or of a friend toward Araria's command. If I04 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the former, no punishment would be too severe ; if the latter, he might still be of invaluable assistance to the new colony. The next day, therefore, the Admiral set out for the vil- lage visited by Maldonado, taking with him Dr. Chanca in order to get a reliable report of the nature of Guacanagari's wound. He also ordered the whole fleet to weigh an- chor and shift to an anchorage nearer the hamlet where the King was. As we have, of late, heard so much of the heartless brutality of Columbus's treatment of the natives, it may not be uninteresting to hear Dr. Chanca' s own account of this visit which the Admiral paid to the disabled cacique, whom most of the principal officers were urging him to seize and punish for the massacre of the men of Navidad. "When we reached the place," the surgeon writes, "it was about meal-time ; so we breakfasted before going ashore. As soon as we were finished the Admiral ordered all of his captains to land with their boats. The Admiral landed at the same place with all his suite, so bravely attired that they would have made a goodly show in a capital city. He took with him some articles as presents, for he had already received quite an amount of gold, and it was right that he should show to the King the same liberality and good will. Guacanagari had also prepared an offering. When we arrived we found him stretched on a bed, of the kind they use, being a sort of cotton net suspended in the air. He did not rise, but from the bed made an attempt at bowing, as well as he knew how. He showed much grief, with tears in his eyes, for the death of the Christians, and began to speak of the affair, indicating, as well as he could, that some died of sickness, others had gone to King Caonabo to seek the gold m.ines, and others yet had been killed at the settlement by the natives who had come to attack them. (From the appear- ance of the bodies of the dead not two months had elapsed since this occurred.) At this time the King presented the Admiral with eight and a half marks of gold and five or six belts woven in stones of various colors,^ with a cap of the same work, which it seems to me they hold in much esteem. In the cap was a copper ornament, which was given with much solemnity. It seems to me that they hold copper in greater esteem than gold. 1 This is not the only mention in the records of Columbus's voyages of the " wampum " which the Indians of North America prized so highly. A BITTER DISILLUSION. 105 " I and another surgeon of the fleet were present ; so the Admiral said to Guacanagari that we were skilled in the ailments of mankind and he wished the King to show us his wound. The King replied that he was willing ; whereupon I told him it would be needful, if he could do so, for us to go outside the house, for there were so many people present that it was rather dark and we could not see well. This he did at once, — I think rather from timidity than from readiness, — and, I supporting him, we went outside. When he was seated the other surgeon went to him and began to unwind his bandages ; upon which he remarked to the Admiral that the wound had been made with ciba, which means a stone. After he was unbandaged we were able to feel him. It is certain that he had no more hurt in that leg than in the other, although he pretended that it pained him greatly. Altogether it was not possible to determine certainly, for the circumstances were unknown ; and with equal certainty there were many things which indicated that he had been at- tacked by hostile people." The Spaniards left the village and returned to their ships about equally divided as to whether Guacanagari was " play- ing fox " — to use their own expression — or was really the victim of his rival Caonabo's invasion. He was at least so much improved that he was able to join the Admiral and go on board the flagship, where he was regaled with the white men's delicacies and shown the horses, whereat he was mightily pleased. The Admiral took occasion to ex- plain that he desired to build a town near Guacanagari 's village, so as to be near him; to which he replied that he should be pleased, but that it was unhealthy by reason of the great dampness, — "and so it was of a surety," inter- jects the Doctor. Shortly after he took his leave and went ashore. Before he left, however, the Admiral hung around the King's neck a silver image of the Virgin, which he had before pressed upon him, but unsuccessfully. This inci- dent has been interpreted as an instance of his hypocrisy, but Columbus may have been telling the truth when he wrote of it that " he learned at the village that one of the thirty-nine men whom he had left behind [the garrison at Navidad] had spoken to the Indians and to Guacanagari himself certain things in insult to and detraction of our I06 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. holy faith, and that he [the Admiral] thought it necesary to set him [the King] right in this." The effort to make it appear that Colmiibus was forcing upon an unwilling sav- age the emblem of a faith which the latter loathed for the evil works which he had so recently seen done by its pro- fessors, is perhaps crediting Guacanagari with a sensibility as forced as would have been the suggested hypocrisy of Columbus. Silver was infinitely preferred to gold by the Haytians, and Columbus knew this, as we may see in the journal of his first voyage. To him the sacred image was a talisman as potent as it was to his companion Hojeda, or to ninety-nine out of a hundred of the men with him; while to its Indian wearer it was a fetish which would preserve him in this world and the next. As such, it was to Guacanagari an inestimable treasure, to possess which he might well sink the earlier fear of "bad medicine " which the disaster at Navidad had suggested. It was merely that best of all trades, — one in which both parties were thoroughly con- tented. At all events, the gentle savage monarch did not " shrink " from practising the very evils which we are asked to believe he so piously reprobated in the profligate garrison. Ten of the women rescued from the Caribs were on the flagship at the time of his visit, and among them was a tall beauty who had been christened Doiia Catalina by the Spaniards. The day after he had come aboard, Guacanagari sent to ask the Admiral when he purposed leaving the anchorage. Columbus replied, the next morning. Shortly afterwards the King's brother, with several other Indians, came aboard and engaged in bartering gold for the white men's trinkets. Some conversation passed between them and the rescued women, after which the men left the ship. That night, during the first watch, the dusky belles quietly slipped over the ship's side, one after another, and made such speed for shore that, by the time their absence was discovered and chase was made after them with boats, all but four had reached land and disappeared. As soon as it was day the Admiral sent to demand the fugitives from Guacanagari, saying that otherwise he should send at once and take A BITTER DISILLUSION. lO/ them; but the Spaniards found the village deserted by every living soul. With the women, Guacanagari, the earliest protector and ally of the Europeans in the New- World, disappears for a season from our ken. He is en- titled to all the credit he has received as an admirable type of the race to which he belonged; but there is some- thing grotesque in a criticism which asks us seriously to sympathize with his conscientious scruples against accept- ing from the hand of Columbus the badge of the Christian religion, because it permitted the wholesale abduction of women, and which then calmly proceeds to relate how, within twenty-four hours thereafter, he and his brother car- ried off half a score of the Spanish protegees who happened to attract their royal fancies. The sudden flight of Guacanagari intensified the suspi- cions of his bad faith cherished by most of the Spaniards. Some of the royal officers, and with them Fray Boil, the Papal legate, were disposed to criticise the Admiral because he had not laid hands on the King when the latter came on shipboard; while others as vehemently took the same view as Columbus and claimed that Guacanagari had only moved from the village to some other, following the sudden impulse of the moment, as was common with these childish people. The day was spent in discussion, for the direction of the wind was such that the fleet could not with advantage continue its cruise alongshore. Find- ing the same weather prevailing the next morning, the Admiral ordered out all the boats, and, accompanied by the lightest caravels, started to the eastward, keeping close to the land. His object was chiefly to find a suitable location for his proposed town, for none of those thus far inspected met all his requirements; but he also proposed, if possible, to make an effort to trace the runaway King. To this end he detached Melchior Maldonado with a force of three hundred men to explore a river which they came to, while the Admiral proceeded with the remainder to examine a harbor farther on, which he thought might serve. Wher- ever the Spaniards landed they found the native cabins deserted, and could meet with no one from whom to learn lOS THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the cause until, as they were walking in the neighborhood of one hamlet, they came upon a solitary Indian lying upon the ground with a ghastly lance wound in the back. The man said that he had been wounded in an encounter with Caonabo's tribe, and that they had also burned down Guacanagari's village. This only served to heighten the confusion under which the Spaniards were laboring con- cerning this enigmatical prince, and it was not lessened by the report of Melchior, who said that he had met a band of stalwart savages who disclaimed any knowledge of Gua- canagari, or connection with him, but had willingly exchanged tokens of friendship with the white men. Al- together, what with the imperfect knowledge Diego, the interpreter, had of the Haytian dialect, the still slighter skill in Spanish which the Indians near Navidad had acquired from the garrison, and the preconceptions which led the Admiral's followers to interpret gestures and half- understood phrases according to their individual bias, the mystery surrounding the destruction of the first settlement of Europeans in the western world was as far as ever from solution. "Thus, between our scanty comprehension of what they say, and the doubtful causes alleged," Dr. Chanca writes in despair, "we are all so befogged that even yet we have not been able to learn the truth concerning the death of our people." With this reconnoissance the Admiral suspended all active efforts to learn the exact fate of his lost garrison or trace the missing King. If any of the men he had left at Navidad survived, they were hidden somewhere in the inaccessible recesses of the gloomy Cibao mountains, or were living contentedly at ease in some remote native vil- lage. As for Guacanagari, any alliance with him now would be worse than useless. Not only was his power broken, but he had shown an unmistakable reluctance to reestablish the former intimate relations with the Spaniards. At the same time, Columbus could not bring himself to judge harshly the man to whom on that last fateful Christ- mas Eve he had owed his own life and that of all of his fol- lowers. He understood the native character better than A BITTER DISILLUSION. IO9 most of his companions; certainly he realized the necessi- ties of their present position as fully as they. If he, then, allowed the King to go unharmed, it must have been because, in his deliberate judgment, it would have been unjust as well as impolitic to detain him. We have heard so much in these later days of Columbus as a "slave- driver," a "man-hunter," and so on, that it is only fair to quote his own reflections, as he entered them in his jour- nal at the time, upon this question of punishing Guacana- gari for the disaster which had befallen the settlement at Navidad. It is also no more than fair to bear in mind that, when he wrote, the Admiral was still laboring under the double disappointment of having his men sacrificed so unworthily and finding all his carefully matured plans for the collection of a much-needed revenue thwarted by their insubordination and defiance of his orders. What more sufficient justification did he need than the suspicions with which Guacanagari was surrounded and the almost unanimous opinion of the Spanish ofificers that the King's guilt was abundantly proved ? With far less to color their acts, Pizarro and Cortez did not hesitate to dispose sum- marily of the native princes who fell into their hands. " The Admiral further says in this place," writes Las Casas, transcribing from the journal of Columbus which lay before him, " that that priest. Fray Boil, and all the others, wished that he should seize Guacanagari ; but he did not desire to, although, as he says, he might easily have done so. He reflected that, since the Christians were dead, the capture of the King would neither serve to bring them again to life nor send them to Paradise, if, perchance, they were not already there. He also says that it appeared to him that this King should be treated here as are sovereigns among the Christians, who have as relatives still other kings who would deem themselves offended in the imprisonment of one of their number. The sovereigns of Castile had sent him here to people the country, and had spent great sums in so doing ; to seize the King would be a great obstacle set in the way of this colonization, since a war would surely follow and the native princes would not permit him to establish his town. Especially would this be a great embarrassment for the preach- ing of and conversion to our holy faith, which was what their no THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Majesties chiefly had considered in sending him hither. So that, if what Guacanagari had related were really the truth, it would be a gross wrong to seize him, and the whole country would hold the Christians in hatred and contempt. They would likewise consider the Admiral himself to be an ingrate on account of the great good which he had received at the King's hands on the first voyage, and still more because the latter had recently defended the Christians, to his own hurt, as his wounds testified. Therefore the Admiral determined first to establish his colony ; if, after doing so and being firmly settled in the country, he should learn the truth to be otherwise, he might then chastise Guacanagari, should he be found guilty." That these may be the words of sublimated hypocrisy we concede; but, had they been written by any other than Columbus, even his critics would admit them to be weighty and politic conclusions. VI. TAKING ROOT. IN the ten days which had passed since the fleet anchored off Navidad, the Admiral had had ample opportunity to gain a better knowledge of the topography of Guacanagari's province, Marien, than had been possible during the hurry and anxiety of his first visit. He saw now that the country was low and unhealthy, destitute of materials suitable for building, and, notwithstanding its good harbors and abun- dant rivers, not well fitted for permanent occupation. He determined, therefore, to return along the coast towards the east and fix the site of his town at some one of the ports which had so attracted his attention both on his first voyage, when he was returning to Spain, and more lately when bound for Navidad. His preference was for the Puerto de Plata, near the mountain of the same name, which lay well towards the eastern end of the island, as access to the mines of Cibao would be easy from that situation, and the harbor afforded the best facilities for the establishment of a com- mercial city. The fleet accordingly weighed anchor and left Navidad on Saturday, December 7th, sailing along the coast in the direction of Cape Cabron. The wind was con- trary, and they could get no farther that day than the islands at the mouth of Monte Christi harbor. On Sunday they doubled the mountain itself, but met with such violent headwinds that progress was wellnigh impossible. "It cost us more trouble to turn back these thirty leagues," writes Dr. Chanca, " than to come from Spain." On reach- ing the River of Thanks the weather was so stubbornly 112 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. unfavorable that the Admiral ordered the fleet to put about and return to a port three leagues back, whose situation and features had attracted his attention. The vessels anchored in a spacious bay, into which poured a river of considerable size. The land lay in such fashion that shipping would be sheltered from all winds save those from the northwest, and there was abundant depth of water. A native village was situated at the river's mouth, and here the Admiral landed to examine the neighborhood. He found at a short dis- tance from the sea an admirable site for a town, at the con- fluence of a smaller stream with the river proper, where there was a fertile meadow surrounded by the dense prime- val forest. The water proved to be wholesome and fresh; a rocky bluff, partly encircled by a bend of the stream, afforded a commanding position for a citadel; and the gen- eral level of the land was such that the waters of the river could readily be diverted for filling a moat, irrigating fields, supplying power to mills, and other like necessary purposes. The Admiral was so pleased with all he saw that he decided then and there, " in the name of the Holy Trinity," to locate his colony. Orders were at once given to disembark both men and horses, and right joyfully were they obeyed.-^ Nearly three months had passed since they had left Cadiz, and the close confinement had told severely on men and beasts. More- over, provisions had begun to run short to such an extent that the quick eye of Dr. Chanca noticed with gratification that there was abundance of excellent fish in the harbor, — "of which we have much need by reason of the scarcity of meat," he adds. A camp was pitched in the meadow, at the foot of the eminence mentioned, and there, as rapidly as they could be unloaded, the supplies and munitions were brought from the ships. All who were able were willing to bear a hand in this work, if for no other reason than that they were once more treading on solid ground and moving 1 Chanca says that he landed on the 5th of January, " to sleep on shore for the first time." The general disembarkation might have occurred a day or two later; but Irving is clearly in error in holding that the first Mass was held in the church on January 6th. TAKING ROOT. II3 as freely as they pleased. Within a few days the ships were deserted by all save a portion of their crews, and the quiet meadow on the river's bank had become a swarming settle- ment of tents and leafy booths. Columbus wished that the first permanent colony founded in the new lands should bear the name of the sovereign whom he held in such especial veneration; hence he called the town which he was now establishing Isabella. He had discovered, to his great satisfaction, that in the immediate vicinity were good building stone, lime, clay suitable for brick-making, and abundance of timber. Therefore, as soon as he had become thoroughly familiar with the ground, and had conferred with his officers as to the best course to follow, he proceeded to lay out the town after what seems to have been a systematic and intelligent plan. On its front the site was protected by the river; on one flank a ravine prevented an easy assault by enemies; on the other and in the rear the jungle was so thick that, in the opinion of one of the settlers, " a coney could hardly squeeze through it, and so green that never in the world could it be set on fire." With the citadel built on the bluff hard by, the town would readily be defended in case of a hostile attack. Within this circuit the Admiral laid off the central plaza, so essential to all Spanish towns, from which the streets ran in designated directions. On these he assigned lots to his followers, grouping the principal men near the public square and apportioning the remoter sections of the town to those of less degree. Each man of rank or quality was directed to build his own house according to his own views; and most of them promptly intimated, on learning that they were expected to do the work themselves, that timber and palm- leaves would be preferable, from their standpoint, to stone or brick. But the Admiral ordered the public build- ings to be built in a more substantial manner, of stone and mortar, beginning with the immediate construction of a warehouse for the provisions, munitions, and stores of the colony, and following with a church and hospital, and a strongly built residence for himself. While a portion of his people were engaged on these labors, he put the rest to 114 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. work at digging irrigating ditches, fortifying the bluff, erecting saw and grist mills, and planting the seeds or cut- tings of the grains, vegetables, and fruits brought from Spain and the Canary Islands. In short, foreign as such effort then was to the Spanish nature, within a week the newly landed colony was deep in all the manifold occupations of founding a city in a virgin wilderness. In the bustling activity of the first few days, amid such novel and picturesque surroundings, even the querulous held their peace for the moment. Scarcely an hour passed without the discovery of some supposedly valuable product of the forest or field, and the excited imaginations of the colonists already saw whole argosies laden for distant Spain with the precious commodities of the teeming Indies. Now it was the delicate fibres of vegetable wool with which huge thorny-trunked trees were burdened; now the great pods of whitest cotton, which bent the boughs of shrubs taller than the tallest man. In one place the trees produced a wax which rivalled the choicest yield of the hive ; in another, stores of turpentine oozed from the bark, in quantity and quality superior to any the observers had ever seen. One man found what he believed to be the highly prized nutmeg; another was sure he had seen some roots of ginger; a third, that he had discovered gum tragacanth; a fourth, that mas- tic was plentiful; a fifth, that the true bark of cinnamon was common in the forests. It verily seemed as though, whatever else befell, the famous drugs and spices of the Orient were to be had by the shipload for the picking. Nor were the treasures confined to the vegetable world; for it was not long before confirmation was received from native sources of the stories which the Admiral had heard con- cerning the abundance of gold in the sierras whose rugged outlines were plainly visible from the site of Isabella. This news tended still further to raise the spirits of those who had seen in the disaster of Navidad a presage of evil for the new colony, and the prospect of gathering the coveted metal with their own hands inspired fresh courage in the breasts of those who were disposed to yield to the strange feeling of lassitude and apathy which had already begun to affect so TAKING ROOT. II5 many. For, despite the energy which the Admiral and some of his associates put into the work of building the city, the stimulus which all received as the evidences of natural wealth were disclosed to their eager sight, and the assurances of those who were supposed to know, that the climate was more salubrious than that of Andalusia, the men were drooping by the hundred under some insidious influ- ence. Both the Admiral and his fleet surgeon noticed this with an anxiety which they made no effort to conceal; but they hoped the evil would prove but temporary and that the change of habit and the ampler liberty of life on shore would soon restore the ailing. They had as yet acquired no ex- perience to teach them that in those otherwise favored lati- tudes Nature exacts a rigid penalty for the scars men inflict upon her smiling features; that every rod of black soil the Spanish implements upturned would sooner or later claim its tenant, and each giant felled in the surrounding forest supply a headboard for some grave. In our day the building of frontier towns and clearing of virgin wildernesses, whether in tropical or more temperate climes, has been so constantly described and illustrated that few are unfamiliar with the experiences encountered by those who undertake such enterprises. There is, however, a freshness and vividness in the description which Dr. Chanca gives of his life in those first days of the earliest city founded in our hemisphere which is free, at least, from all imputation of being a twice-told tale. "Many Indians, both men and women, are constantly coming in here," he writes, a few days after the landing, '• with their caciques, who are their captains, as it were. They are all loaded down with ages, which are a species of turnip, an excellent food, of which we make many kinds of dishes. It is so strengthening a food that it has brought comfort to us all ; for in truth the life we led at sea has been the hardest that ever men passed through, and it was so of necessity, as we did not know what weather might overtake us or how much time God might wish to keep us on the voyage. Thus it was prudence to deny ourselves ; so that, whatever should befall, we might preserve our lives. "These Indians exchange their gold and provisions, or what- ever else they bring, for lace-points, beads, needles, and pieces Il6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of crockery or plates. They call this age, hage, and the Caribs call it tiabi. All these people, as I have already said, go around just as they were born, except the women, who wear waistcloths made of cotton, or of grass and the leaves of trees. The holiday attire of men and women alike is to paint themselves ; some black, others white and red, in so distorted a fashion that to see them is enough to make one laugh. They shave their heads in places, and in places grow long locks in a way it is impossible to describe. In a word, all that shall be done yonder in Spain on the head of a lunatic, these Indians out here will heartily thank you for. "In this district we are in the vicinity of many mines of gold ; for, according to what the natives tell us, the most distant are not more than twenty or twenty-five leagues off. Some of them, they say, are in Niti, in the dominions of Caonabo, — the same who murdered the Christians ; others are in the country they call Cibao, which, if it please our Lord, we shall see and know with our own eyes before many days. We should have done this already, indeed, if there were not so many things to do that we are not enough in number to attend to them all ; because within these four or five days a third of our people have fallen ill, most of them, I believe, from the toil and hardship of the voyage, added to the difference of climate, although I hope in the Lord that all will rise again in health. " It appears to me that all these natives could be converted if we had an interpreter for them, for they do all that they see us do, in kneeling before the altars and in crossing themselves at the Ave Maria and other prayers. All of them say that they wish to be Christians, although they are in truth idolaters ; for in their houses are images of many kinds. I have asked them what those were, and they answer that they are something Tnrey, which means from Heaven. I pretended to wish to throw these things in the fire, and the people were so disturbed that they were ready to cry ; but in the same way they think that all we have is from Heaven, and call it all Tiirey.'''' The surgeon's sanguine anticipations as to the rapid re- covery of his patients proved unfounded. Not only were many more daily added to the long sick-roll, but those who had first fallen ill began to die off at a distressing rate. Those who were engaged in labors calling for severe bodily exertion, such as dressing and carrying stones, working on the walls, digging drains, and the like, were the earli- TAKING ROOT. II7 est victims; but the ofificials and people of the better sort were soon affected ahnost to the same extent, until the col- ony was little more than a huge hospital. The causes which conduced to this depressing result are readily enough traced. The long confinement on shipboard, scanty rations both of food and water, exposure in a new and trying climate with- out protection by day or night, change of diet and a contin- ued scarcity even of such as they had, absence of proper attention and medicines when sick, and a hopelessness born of their remoteness from all familiar surroundings, were enough to break down men sustained by a firmer faith and a loftier ambition than were possessed by the luckless hidalgos, soldiers, and artisans of Isabella. A gloomy de- spondency seized upon the whole colony, due partly to their enfeebled condition and partly to the bitter disappointments which their exaggerated expectations had necessarily en- tailed. The catastrophe at Navidad had produced an inerad- icable impression upon the light-minded followers of the Admiral, which had been profoundly augmented by the inevitable discovery that the vaunted treasures of the Indies were to be acquired only through the medium of sustained and laborious effort. Pursuing the one course which true wisdom and a loyal regard for the interests both of his sov- ereigns and his companions permitted, the Admiral adapted his resources to what seemed likely to be the requirements of his situation for such period as must elapse before he could receive assistance from Spain. He put all alike upon a stated ration, from himself down to the lowest laborer. He required that all alike should labor to place the town in a habitable and defensible condition, for he did not propose to have the disaster of Navidad repeated. It made no difference whether the objector were royal chamberlain, bureau ofificial, tonsured priest, or fiery veteran of Moorish and Italian wars; one and all must do something for the common good and share a common portion. Such medi- cines as were in stock were doled out with careful hand, and the small remnant of wine still contained in Vespucci's leaky butts was set aside for the use of the invalid and feeble. It has never been alleged, either then or since, by the Il8 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. belittlers of Columbus — and their number has not de- creased with time — that he established one course of life for his people and another for himself; nor is there any reason to doubt that he was entirely aware of the probable consequences of the strict regimen and discipline he felt it needful to enforce. None knew better than he, from harsh experience, the consuming pride of the Spanish nobles, the arrogance of the priesthood, or the intractabil- ity of the roving adventurers who formed so large a part of his command. But he knew equally well that to yield to their murmurings or be moved by their criticisms.was to expose all who were with him to quick destruction. If he could get his stores into a place of safety, his people under shelter, and his town protected by an adequate defence, he might hope to worry through until the newly planted fields began to bear and the second squadron of caravels prom- ised him by their Majesties should arrive. His anxieties on all these scores were sufificient, without the additional burden of bodily infirmity; but this, too, was laid upon him, and in the midst of his manifold labors he had to take to his bed with an attack of the prevalent fever. His life- long habit of keeping the deck at night, when in strange seas or on an unfamiliar coast, had recently cost him dear in the loss of indispensable rest, and the unintermitted activity and mental stress of the busy days since he first saw the peaks of Dominica, more than two months before, proved too great a strain upon his exhausted frame. For- tunately for all, he was yet able to direct the administra- tion of the colony's affairs, and after a short confinement regained his accustomed energy. Next to the alarming illness of most of his people and the loss of so many, the Admiral's greatest distress arose from the utter shipwreck of all those expectations which he had built upon the garrison of Navidad. It was a crushing blow to have to report the effacement of the fort and the complete absence of any signs of treasure there; but it was almost worse to have to add that, beyond the gifts of Guacanagari and the paltry proceeds of bartering with the natives around Isabella, no gold TAKING ROOT. I 19 had been secured after two months of stay on the coasts of Hispaniola, and no definite knowledge had been gained of where it "grew." The return of an empty fleet to Spain with such scanty evidence of future wealth, and reports so vague on all points save the unhappy condition of the colony and the urgent need of further outlay, would, the Admiral knew only too well, jeopardize the whole future of the enterprise which was, to him, so much more than life itself. In choosing for his future city a situation near the province of Cibao, he had, indeed, had in view an immediate exploration of the much-extolled mines of that mountainous region, and cherished the hope that even before his unloaded ships returned to Spain he might col- lect a considerable quantity of gold; but the sudden and widespread sickness of his people frustrated this expecta- tion and postponed to the indefinite future its realization. Meantime, with the exception of a few vessels which he desired to retain for his contemplated voyage in search of Terra Firma and the other requirements of the colony, there existed no cause for detaining longer in Hispaniola the fleet which he had brought out. The cost of each month's delay was in itself a heavy item ;^ and, moreover, he owed it both to his companions and their Majesties that news of the present condition and future prospects of the colony should be laid before the sovereigns in time for the prompt de- spatch of the supplies and additional men required. He therefore directed the preparations to be made for the return to Spain of twelve out of the seventeen ships, as soon as the progress of the buildings and defences should permit their withdrawal without affecting the safety of the settlement. While the necessary outfitting and overhaul- ing were going on he determined to make a vigorous effort to obtain a reliable knowledge of the mines which were so consistently reported by the natives to lie in the province of Cibao and in Niti, the territory of Caonabo. Both of these regions were within easy reach of Isabella, and both were re- puted to be fabulously rich in gold. The Admiral was still 1 From the accounts preserved by Navarrete, it appears that the fixed expenses of the colony amounted to about ^75,000 per month. I20 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. firm in his conviction that Cibao was the Cipango of Marco Polo. The very name of the redoubtable Caonabo was said to mean " Golden House," and legends rivalling the later myths of El Dorado, the Gilded King, excited some feeble interest even among the disanimated colonists. Two of the youngest commanders in the expedition were chosen for this important and perilous service. Alonso de Hojeda was ordered to take fifteen men and make a rapid march into the rugged sierras of Cibao, to the westward, while Gorvalan, a man of much the same spirit, who had won distinction in the Moorish wars, was to push south with a similar party into the still less known region of Niti. The two detachments left Isabella about the 12th of January with instructions to delay no longer than was necessary to form an intelligent opinion of the character of the coun- try, since any prolonged stay would expose them to the danger of an attack by overwhelming forces. On the 20th of the month Hojeda returned with those of his men who had remained with him, for several had been seized with fever while on the way, and had already made their way back to the settlement. He reported, in a word, that he had reached Cibao and found gold everywhere, both in the streams and on their banks; that from more than fifty ravines and creeks he had secured gold-bearing sand ; and that wherever he had gone in that province the coveted metal was so abundant that where a man chose to seek he should find it. His journey had not taken him more than fifty or sixty miles from Isabella, as his progress had been slow, at first, on account of the uninhabited nature of the country and consequent want of guidance, and, after- wards, because of the embarrassing hospitality of the natives. At a distance of some twenty-five miles from the colony he had to cross a chain of mountains, and on reach- ing its summit had found spread beneath his eyes the glori- ous Vega Real, or Royal Plain, which stretched inland from Monte Christi and had so charmed the Admiral and his companions with its extent and fertility when they had anchored in that port, both on this and the previous voyage. Descending into the vast plain, Hojeda found it dotted TAKING ROOT. 121 with Indian settlements, the inhabitants of which received him and his escort "as if they were angels," and treated them with the frankness and liberality of brothers. Once across this inviting prairie country, the Spaniards entered the mountainous region of Cibao proper. Here the Indians vied with one another in pointing out to their visitors the riches of the soil, picking out grains of gold from the sand of the streams and scratching the surface of the adjoining soil to show that the metal, as it were, permeated the ground in every direction. Supplied with a goodly quan- tity of gold both fine and coarse, and with a nugget of nine ounces' weight, which he had himself picked out of a river- bed, Hojeda retraced his way to Isabella. In so doing he crossed the second time a broad river winding through the Vega, which the natives called Yaqui. It was not until a much later date that the identity of this with the Rio de Oro, emptying into the bay at Monte Christi, was estab- lished. As a matter of fact, quite unknown to himself or his command, Hojeda had penetrated into the same dis- trict where, the year before, Martin Alonzo Pinzon had obtained so much gold and so many Indian slaves before he had been overtaken and called to account by his deserted Admiral. The news of Hojeda's success, confirmed by the exhibi- tion of his glittering trophies, did more to rally the spirits of the disheartened colonists than anything which could have happened, short of a return to Spain. The Admiral, more than all, was gratified and encouraged, not alone because of the corroboration thus given to the accounts so constantly received from the natives as to the extraordinary plenty of gold in Cibao, but also because the Indians of that district had shown themselves to be peaceable and helpful. Under these conditions, the wisdom of his choice of a site for the new city was amply demonstrated, and he might look for- ward with confidence to obtaining, by methodical exertions, enough of the precious metal to reimburse their Majesties, within a short time, for all the outlays of the expedition, and establish, once for all, the value of the Indies, and particularly of this long-sought Cipango, to the Crown. His 122 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. content was still further augmented when, on the very next day, January 21st, Gorvalan returned from his expedition into the territory of Caonabo. His report was also of gold found in quantity in three or four districts, and he produced in turn his contributions to the already important stock of treasure. With this supplement to Hojeda's story, the Admiral felt that he might allay to some degree the impa- tience and disappointment of his sovereigns when they should learn of the failure of his and their sanguine expec- tations concerning the men of Navidad. He accordingly redoubled his efforts to despatch the homeward-bound fleet, and planned, as soon as it was departed, to visit in person the mines of Cibao and provide for a systematic collection of their riches, and the adequate defence of those engaged in the task. He wished, he says, to see this natural treas- ure-house with his own eyes, and give, to all the others who, like so many St. Thomases, should see and touch it, cause to believe in its reality. No large number of his followers, apparently, required such material demonstration, if we may accept the confidence of Dr. Chanca as representative; for the mere sight of the heavy yellow grains and nuggets had revived, at least momentarily, in the most despondent, some portion of the hopes which had beaten so high when they first came in sight of the Haytian mountains. " Their Majesties, our sovereigns," reports the surgeon, apropos of Hojeda and Gorvalan, "may assuredly from henceforth call themselves the richest and most prosperous princes of the world, for never before has any one seen or heard of such a thing; for beyond question when the ships return here on their next voyage they may carry back with them so great a quantity of gold that whoever knows of it will be aston- ished." During the remaining days of the month the Admiral busied himself with the present requirements of the colony and with preparing his despatches, reports, and recom- mendations for his royal patrons. Looking with some anxiety at the freedom with which the natives came and went in his infant town, and realizing how exposed it would be in the event of any combined attempt to destroy it, he TAKING ROOT. 123 devoted particular attention to the completion of the stone fortress and storehouses. In anticipation of his proposed expedition into Cibao, he set a force to work opening com- munication in that direction, at least for a short distance out of Isabella, where there were several streams to cross. He took some comfort from the fact that his people began to show a slight improvement in health, and he caused those who seemed least disposed to rally to be set apart for return to Spain on the fleet. From his ofificers and lieutenants he sought to learn all that they thought the future welfare of the colony demanded, and incorporated their views with his own in drawing up his reports to the King and Queen. He detached from his service some of those whose presence at the Court he thought would tend to a better comprehension of the situation and prospects of his colony, and encouraged all those who so desired to send home their own accounts of their experiences. So great was his confidence that the recent gloom would be followed by exultation, as the result of bringing the treasures of Cibao into active exploitation, and that the opening up of the mainland of Asia with all its vast opulence would be the early sequel of the pacific sub- jugation of Hispaniola, that he made no attempt either on his own or his companions' account to suppress or distort the exact truth. It was not needful to do so, in his opin- ion. The difficulties, distress, and disappointments of the past month or six weeks were distinctly traceable to rank disobedience of his orders and defiance of his delegated authority. Had the garrison of Navidad followed his injunc- tions, there would have been treasure to remit home, a mass of information collected concerning the country and its people, and relations of confidence and profit established with all the native tribes. That none of these things had been done was not due to his remissness, and he saw no reason for concealment. The five vessels which he proposed to retain at Isabella were the "Gallega," the "Maria Galante," and three cara- vels, — the historic "Nifia," the "San Juan," and the "Cor- dera." This squadron he destined partly for the defence of the colony, in the emergency of any Portuguese force unex- 124 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. pectedly appearing, partly for a means of reaching Spain, sliould occasion arise, and partly for the investigation he proposed making as to whether Cuba were an island or the mainland of Asia. The remaining twelve ships he put under the command of Antonio de Torres for the return voyage. On these were shipped the Carib prisoners, both men and women, and some other Indians; such quantity of gums, barks, woods, cotton, and other valuable commodities as it had been possible to gather; specimens of the native foods, — maize, ages, peppers, and the like; the birds and animals which offered the greatest contrast with those of Europe; and, finally, a collection of the weapons, implements, and ornaments used by the various tribes of Hispaniola and the Caribbees.^ The presents of golden masks and native gold received from Guacanagari and in barter with the natives were to be sent to their Majesties by the hand of Torres him- self, as was also the gold collected by Hojeda and Gorvalan. With these ships a large number of men returned to Spain ; exactly how many is not stated, but it would appear that there must have been quite 500. Among them were some of the better sort who had been invalided, and we note, with a certain amusement, that the valorous Don Melchior Mal- donado had already acquired all the Indian experience he cared for and took advantage of their Majesties' permission to return to Spain by the first conveyance. Prior to the sailing of the fleet the Admiral, on January 29th, held a muster of such of his force as were able to appear for duty. To judge by what he says in his report to their Majesties, it was a sorry lot of men and beasts who faced their commander on the savannah at Isabella. The greater part of his forces was suffering in some degree from the malarial fever which was so prevalent, and even the soldiers who had enjoyed a change of air and scene with Hojeda and Gorvalan, had fallen victims to the insidious malady. Notwithstanding this, a better spirit prevailed among most of the people, due ^ Dr. Chanca observed that the Indians around Isabella " possess many implements, such as hatchets and adzes, made of stone, so neat and well fashioned that it is astonishing how they could be made without iron." TAKING ROOT. 125 in part to the fact that the fever had assumed a less violent form, and deaths from it were now comparatively rare, and in part to the renewal of ambition resulting from the bril- liant expectations of gain held out by the expeditions into Cibao and Niti. Under the circumstances the Admiral felt disposed to take a hopeful view of his situation, and to look upon the crisis of his enterprise as being successfully passed. The homeward-bound fleet got under weigh on Sunday, the 2nd of February, passing out of the harbor of Isabella and steering an easterly course for Cape Enamorado, or Cabron, as we now call it. It was the Admiral's expecta- tion that, if ships had not already sailed from Cadiz before Torres' s arrival, they would be despatched immediately thereafter; so that not later than May or June the colonists might hope to welcome new friends and receive fresh and ample supplies. VII. THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. COLUMBUS gave to Antonio de Torres, who com- manded the returning fleet, a bundle of despatches which were to be delivered into their Majesties' own hands. Torres took also, with his commander's knowledge and assent, the letters written by Fray Boil, the treasurer Villacorta, and such other officials as felt themselves authorized to address the King and Queen directly. The packet with which he was charged by the Admiral contained a report of the outward voyage and the occurrences at Navidad, several lists of supplies and materials urgently required by the colony, some letters recounting " all that has been done here since our arrival, and this in very great detail and at much length," other letters of recommendation and information, a confidential account of certain insubordinate conduct on the part of Bernal de Pisa and some colonists who abetted him, and, chief of all, that " Memorial " which has furnished the Admiral's censors with so much material for their vehement denunciations. None of these documents have come down to us in their entirety except the last named. From the replies of Ferdinand and Isabella and scattered references in the pages of Navarrete, Las Casas, Bernaldez, and others, we can reconstruct the contents of the others to some ex- tent; but the "Memorial" is the one which has reached us intact, and as such it has served as the text for a criticism of Columbus as sweeping as it is intemperate and, we believe, unjust. 126 THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 12/ It is not fair to judge a man, be he living to-day or dust for four centuries, by paraphrase and summary. It is still less reasonable to condemn him upon one clause picked out of a long document, written in the hurry and distraction of such surroundings as those which encom- passed Columbus when he penned the paper to which we refer. Without inflicting upon our readers those portions which concern matters of routine, salaries to officials, dis- cussion of details of equipment, and so on, we propose to lay before them, in the Admiral's own words, the essential parts of this first report from an American settlement. By so doing we hope to enable them to see somewhat of the workings of its author's mind, that they may be in a posi- tion to bestow censure, or withhold it, in accordance with the facts as they stand recorded. Nothing that we can write will convey so graphically the situation of Columbus and the motives which were guiding his conduct as this ex- tremely unpolished state paper. It is dated the 30th of January, the day after the Admiral reviewed his feeble array, and begins thus : — "That which you, Antonio de Torres, captain of the ship 'Maria Galante ' and Mayor of the City of Isabella, are to say to and ask from the King and Queen, our sovereigns, on my behalf, is the following: " First of all Torres was directed to kiss the royal feet and hands and present to their Majesties the Admiral's humble duty, with such ex- pressions of devotion as he, Torres, knew to be in con- sonance with his leader's life and sentiments. Then, notwithstanding the extended letters which Fray Boil, the treasurer, and the Admiral himself were forwarding by the same hands, Torres was to " Say to their Highnesses, as from me, that it has pleased God to grant me such favor in their sei^vice that thus far neither have I found [here], nor has there been otherwise found, in any respect, anything less than what I wrote, said, and affirmed to their Majesties in the past ; rather by God's grace do I believe that even much more will plainly and very quickly appear from the results. In the matter of spices, merely, on the borders of the sea, without having gone far inland, such indications and 128 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. beginnings are found as to warrant the hope of a far better conclusion. The same may be said of the mines of gold; for although only two of our men set out to explore, each one following his own path and not delaying because each had few companions, so many rivers have been discovered so abounding in gold that all those who saw and gathered it — merely with their hands, as a sample — returned so overjoyed and relate such tales of its profusion that I have some hesitation in saying and writing them to your Majesties." One of these explorers, Gorvalan, he adds, accompanies Torres "to tell what he saw"; ^ the other, Hojeda, remains with the colony, "although beyond all doubt and com- parison he discovered far more, according to the note of the rivers which he brought back, in each of which he says there is more gold than can be believed." Wherefore, the Admiral adds, their Majesties "may give thanks to God, since all their affairs are progressing thus favorably." " You are also to say to their Majesties," he continues, " although it has already been written, that I greatly desired to be able to send them by this fleet a greater quantity of the gold which we expect to gather here, if most of our people who are here had not suddenly fallen ill. But this I have not been able to do, as the fleet cannot longer remain here, both because of the heavy cost it entails and because the season is favorable for it to go to Spain and for the return of the ships which are to bring us the supplies so badly needed ; for if those which are to come back should defer setting sail they would not be able to reach here by May. Moreover, if I should undertake to visit the mines or rivers now with such of my people as are well, both on the ships in the harbor and in the town on shore, there would be many difficulties and even perils, for they are distant about twenty or twenty-five leagues from here, with many mountain passes and rivers to cross, and in order to provide for the long journey and for remaining there long enough to collect the gold, it would be necessary to carry a large supply of provisions. These could not be taken on our men's backs, and there are no animals which could serve for the purpose, nor are the roads and paths adapted to such work, although a beginning has been made towards making them passable. It was also a great imped- 1 Las Casas affirms, however, that Gorvalan finally did not go with Torres, and quotes a later letter of Columbus as his authority. THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 129 iment that our sick, as well as the provisions and supplies which are landed, should be left in cabins in an undefended situation, for although these Indians have shown themselves towards the explorers and each day show themselves here to be very harm- less and free from evil, it nevertheless did not seem to be the part of prudence, since they daily come among us, to expose our sick people and supplies to the risk and chance of destruction. A single Indian with an ember might bring this about, by setting fire to the huts, for they are coming and going by day and night, and for this reason we have guards about the neighborhood as long as the settlement is open and defenceless. " Furthermore," the Admiral wrote, continuing his reasons for not sending more gold to Spain at this time, " as we have seen that most of those who went exploring into the interior fell sick upon their return, — and some even had to come back while upon the road, — there was also ground for fearing that the same would befall those of our well people who should now set out. From this two dangers would arise ; first, that our men should be ill there, where there is no shelter and no protection whatever from that cacique they call Caonabo, — who is, according to all accounts, a very bad man and the boldest of them all, — who, seeing us thus disabled and feeble, might be able to attempt that which he would not dare if we were sound. The same cause gives rise to the second diificulty, that of bringing here the gold which we secured ; for either we should have to take little and go backward and forward each day, and thus expose ourselves to the risk of sickness, or we should have to send with it part of our force, with the same danger of loss. " Therefore, you are to say to their Highnesses that these are the reasons why the fleet has not been detained at this time, and why no gold is sent except the samples. However, putting our faith in God, who through all and in all has guided us thus far, these people will soon recover, as they already begin to, for the climate is merely trying them with certain agues, and they quickly get about. It is evident that if they had a little fresh meat to aid their convalescence they would all very soon be afoot, with God's help, and indeed most of them would be re- established by now ; notwithstanding which lack they will in good season recover. The few healthy men who are left busy themselves each day in enclosing the town and putting it and the supplies in some sort of security, which will be accomplished in a short time, since nothing is required except barricades, for the Indians are not the kind of people to attack us unless they should find us asleep, even if they should think of such a thing. 9 I30 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Thus they did to the others who remained here [at Navidad], by reason of their carelessness ; for, however few our men were and how mucli soever occasion they gave the Indians to have and to do all they did, they would never have dared to attempt injuring our people if they had seen the latter to be on their guard. As soon as this work is completed we shall arrange to go to the above-mentioned rivers ; either taking the road from here and seeking the best means available, or coasting by sea along the island to that place which, they say, is not more than six or seven leagues distant from the rivers. In this manner we shall be able to collect the gold in safety and place it under the protection of some fort or tower which shall be built there at once, so that it will be gathered by the time the two caravels return hither and shipped in security at the first opportunity which offers to make the voyage home. " You are also to say to their Highnesses, as has before been said, that the cause of the sickness, so general among all here, is the change of water and air, for we observe that all are affected in turn, but few dangerously. For this reason the preservation of their health, next to God, lies in their having the food to which they were used in Spain, for neither by these men nor by those men who may arrive in the future can their Majesties be served, if they be not sound. Such provision must continue until that which has been sown and planted here shall bear seed ; for example, wheat, barley, and vines, with which thus far in the present year little has been done, because we could not sooner settle down, and as soon as we did so the few laborers who were with us fell sick. Even had they remained well they had so few beasts, and those so weak and lean, that they could have helped but little. Notwithstanding, some sowing has been done, rather to test the ground, which seems to be astonishingly fertile, than because any assistance was expected therefrom for our needs. We are well assured, as the result will show, that in this country both wheat and wine will be readily produced, but we must await their yield, which, if it is equal to what the rapid growth of wheat indicates, from a very few seeds which were planted, certainly will not cause either Andalusia or Sicily to be missed here. So it is with sugar-cane, judging from the manner in which a few cuttings which were planted have grown ; for beyond question the quality of the land in these islands is such, whether in the mountains, sierras, and streams, or in the plains with their copious rivers, that no other country which the sun warms can be better in appearance or more beautiful." THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 131 The Admiral then instructs Torres as to the complaint he is to make concerning the careless work of the Seville coopers, whereby the greater part of the wine — so essen- tial to the life of all classes of people in Southern Europe — was wasted on the voyage, and also refers to the poor quality of the salted meats furnished the fleet. He charges his messenger to see that an abundance of these articles, as well as biscuit and wheat, are provided; " for the way is long and a supply cannot every day be obtained." "There is need," he adds, "of sheep, or, what is better, lambs, — more ewes than rams, — and also some calves and heifers, which may come in any caravel that is sent here, and also some asses, male and female, and mares for work and breed- ing; for here are none of these animals which a man can use or avail himself of." With a prudence born of long waiting upon the dilatory methods of the Court, he provides for the purchase of all these needed supplies out of the gold he forwards by Torres. The latter is to deposit it, if nec- essary, in pledge with some merchant of Seville and with the advances thus secured make the payments direct, "be- cause I fear," writes the Admiral, "that their Majesties may not be in Seville and neither their officers nor ministers be willing to make the necessary provision, without express authorization, for what it is necessary should come by the first conveyance; so that in the asking and receiving of instructions the time should pass for the sailing of those ships which should reach here in the month of May." Mindful of the welfare of his colony, and conscious of the hardships awaiting them and the embarrassments sure to accrue to himself during the three or four months of short rations and isolation which must elapse before other vessels arrive from Spain, he reiterates that " it is desirable that everything possible be done to have the caravels return some time in the month of May, so that our people before entering upon the summer season may see and have some benefit from these things, and especially on account of their sickness. Of some of them we already have great want, such as raisins, sugar, almonds, molasses, and rice, of which a great quantity should have come, but in fact only a little 132 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. came, and that which was brought is already used and con- sumed, as well as most of the medicines, by reason of the large number of sick." Torres was furnished with complete lists of everything required, "as well for the sound as for the sick," and was to send out by the first ships as much as he could procure money for, sending the rest later on, as he should arrange with their Majesties. Thus far in this famous Memorial we fail to see cause for criticism or censure. We are told, by the latest and ablest of his censors, that, upon the return of Hojeda, "there was now material to give spirit to the despatch to his sovereigns, and Columbus sat down to write it." As a matter of fact the Memorial was, as we have seen, a memorandum ad- dressed to Torres, not to their Majesties, and was to be followed by him in making his report to them ; it was only one of many documents forwarded by the Admiral to the King and Queen; it was not written until January 30th, whereas Hojeda returned on the 20th and Gorvalan on the 2ist; there was no lack of material for a "spirited, de- spatch " before their arrival, and no particular motive for extraordinary epistolary exertion thereafter; it covered all sorts and kinds of affairs, in the treatment of many of which it was anything rather than "spirited"; and of the 515 lines which it contains, as it "is printed in Navarrete's collection," to quote the brilliant censor again, just 35 are occupied with any reference, however remote, to the explorations which are alleged to have been its inspiring motive. Columbus did dwell with sanguine enthusiasm upon the prospects of a golden revenue from the rivers and mines of Cibao, but it was because he knew this to be the matter of the most immediate moment to his royal master and mis- tress, as it was to himself ; for he was keenly impressed with the burdensome charge of his expedition upon the coffers of the Crown and equally alive to the disappointment which was sure to result from the complete collapse of all the expectations concerning the treasures supposed to be wait- ing his arrival at Navidad. The future more than justified even his hopeful view of the mineral resources of Hispani- THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 133 ola, and in assuring his sovereigns of large and, as he believed, immediate returns from this, their first colony, he was performing his plain official duty. There was no lack of other witnesses than Torres and Gorvalan on the returning ships to contradict their statements should they attempt to romance, and no want of correspondence other than that of the Admiral to disprove his assertions, should they be unfounded or untrue. For the rest, so far as our feeble lights enable us to discern, the paper thus far quoted indicates that its author was a prudent and humane com- mander, an energetic and courageous leader, and a loyal servant to the Crown. Situated as he was, confronted by unexpected disaster at the very outset of his undertaking, forced to change abruptly all his plans in order to meet the altered conditions consequent upon the destruction of the pioneer settlement which he had founded at Navidad, and aware of the great expectations nourished in Spain con- cerning this returning fleet, the instructions given to Torres seem to us to be reasonable and wise. If, instead of com- ing from the hand of Christopher Columbus, this Memorial were the work of the chief of some colonizing and exploring expedition in the Congo Basin or East Africa, it would be read with sympathetic interest and appreciation. In what respect has this dead and gone forerunner of civilization's later heroes forfeited his title to a like consideration? The next clauses of his Memorial supply, perhaps, an answer, even if an insufficient one; for they have furnished the text for most of the angry and contemptuous strictures with which it is now becoming the fashion to atone for the four centuries of admiration lavished by a deluded humanity upon an unworthy object. " Item. You are to say to their Highnesses," proceeded the Admiral, " that because there is here no interpreter through whom our holy faith can be made intelligible to these natives, as their Highnesses desire and as do we who are here, — and we shall labor in this as much as is possible, — by these ships are now being sent some of the Cannibals, men, women, boys, and girls, whom their Majesties can direct to be placed in charge of persons with whom they can best learn our language. They 134 ^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. should be exercised in matters of utility, and little by little orders be given that somewhat more care be taken with them than with other slaves, so that some of them may learn from the others, not seeing or speaking with each other until much later on, for so they will learn more quickly there than here and be better interpreters, although we shall not cease to do here what is possible as well. It is true that, as among these people those of one island have little intercourse with those of another, there is some difference of dialects, according as they may be nearer or more remote ; and because, of all the islands, those of the Cannibals are very large and well peopled, it will cause here only a good impression to take some of their men and women and send them to Spain, so that once and for all they should be cured of that unnatural custom which they have of eating human flesh, and, learning the language in Spain, receive Baptism much sooner and gain the profit to their souls. Even among such of these people who have not the same customs great credit would be secured by ourselves, when they see us seizing and imprison- ing those from whom they were accustomed to suffer harm, and of whom they have such fear that they are frightened by a single man. You may also assure their Highnesses that the arrival and sight of this fleet, thus assembled and imposing, in this country has given much influence to the colony and greater security for the future ; for all the people of this huge island and of the others, observing the kind treatment which will be shown to the well-disposed and the punishment which will be done to the evil, will promptly reach a condition of obedience so that they may be governed as vassals of their Highnesses. Even now, wherever one of our men may be, they not only do whatever he wishes, but of their own free will endeavor to do all that they think would give us pleasure. Their Highnesses may also rest satisfied that not less in Europe, among Christian princes, the coming of this fleet will have given them a great fame for many reasons, which their Highnesses will be better able to imagine and understand than I know how to say. " Item. You are also to say to their Highnesses that the welfare of the souls of the said Cannibals and also of the natives of this place has suggested the thought that the more who should be carried to Spain the better it would be, and thereby their Highnesses be served in the following manner : That in view of how great is the need of cattle and beasts of burden for the maintenance of the people who are to be here, and for the good of all these islands, their Highnesses can give license and authority to a sufficient number of caravels to come out here THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 135 each year and bring the said cattle and other supplies and arti- cles for peopling the country and improving the land, and this at reasonable prices and for account of the people who should bring them. These commodities could be paid for in slaves from among these Cannibals ; a people haughty and froward, well built and of a very good understanding, who, being weaned from that inhuman habit, we believe will be better than any other slaves, and that habit they will soon lose as soon as they are away from their own country. Many of these men can be secured with the galleys which the people here know how to make, it being under- stood that their Highnesses should place a person of their confi- dence on each of the caravels which may come out, who shall prevent the caravels from making a landing at any other part of the island except here, where the lading and unlading of all the merchandise should be effected. Of these slaves also which should be brought, their Highnesses could receive their propor- tion in Spain. " On this point you are to bring or send an answer, so that the needful preparations may be made with the greater assurance, if to their Highnesses it should seem well." Having made, quite as a matter of course, this sugges- tion for relieving their Majesties' depleted treasury of some part of the heavy expenses entailed by his enterprise, the Admiral recommends that in the future the caravels sent out to the Indies be chartered by the ton, after the Flemish style, rather than by the clumsy one of a monthly rental. He then announces that he has decided to pur- chase and retain at Isabella two of the carracks, and three of the caravels. He has been moved to do this, he adds, because "these ships will not only give authority and security to the people who have to go inland to arrange with the Indians for collecting the gold, but also in the event of any other danger which might arise from foreign nations; besides this, the caravels are necessary for dis- covering the mainland and the other islands which lie between here [Hispaniola] and there [Spain]." The allu- sion to foreigners indicates that he either still felt some apprehension lest the Portuguese might follow him into these remote seas, or that he was thinking of the great ships of the merchant princes of which he fancied his in- 136 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. terpreters had told him as he sailed along the coasts of Cuba the year before. "Item," continues the Memorial. "You are to say to their Highnesses and entreat them on my belialf in tlie most humble manner possible, that they may be pleased to attend especially to that which they shall learn more minutely, from the letters and documents, affects the peace and quiet and concord of those who remain here ; that for the affairs of their Majesties' service they choose such persons that they need have no fear concerning them, who will regard rather the purpose for which they are sent than their individual interests. As to this matter, since you have seen and know everything, you are to speak and say to their Majesties the truth of all things as you have understood it, and see that the course which they may direct to be taken is communicated by the first vessels, if possible, so that no scandal may occur here in a matter which so nearly concerns the good of their Majesties' service." This plain reference to Bernal de Pisa and his fellow malcontents indicates the extent of discord which had already arisen between the Admiral and some of the Crown officials, and the serious consequences which, in his opin- ion, would result from its continuance. Later on we shall see the King and Queen promising to make amends for the heedlessness with which some of their appointments were made; meantime, their Viceroy surely cannot be accused of a lack either of energy or frankness in his efforts to free his government from this fruitful source of evil. The clauses which immediately follow are devoted to the commendation of deserving officers. Torres as alcayde, or mayor, of Isabella was to describe its situation to their Majesties and the beauty of the surrounding country, and to ask their confirmation of the appointment bestowed upon him by the Admiral in partial recognition of faithful ser- vice. He was also to recommend to the consideration of the sovereigns Pedro Margarite, Caspar, and Beltran, as deserving some special reward, and was particularly to say how Juan Aguado, the Queen's proteg^, had "well and diligently served in all that he was ordered to do." It would have been better for the Admiral had both his com- THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 137 mendations and their subjects, so far as these men were concerned, gone to the bottom of the Atlantic. Torres was also to inform their Majesties "the task which Dr. Chanca has had with the care of so many sick and the lack of supplies, and how, notwithstanding all, he has borne himself with exemplary diligence and self-sacrifice in all that relates to his duties " ; in recognition of which the Admiral suggested that the Doctor be allowed such special gratuities as were usually granted to army surgeons in active campaigning. Two other officers, Coronel and the lawyer Gil Garcia, are also mentioned with approbation and a fitting reward asked for them. Then the Admiral reverts to the all-absorbing question of revenue. " Item. You are to say to their Highnesses (although I have already written it in the letters) that I do not believe it will be possible to undertake any voyage of discovery this year, until this business of the golden rivers which have been found is pro- vided for, as the advantage of their Majesties' service demands. This done, the voyage can be much better made ; for it is not an affair which without my presence can be attended to by any one else to my liking or to their Majesties' benefit, however well it may be done ; as all is doubtful except what a man attends to himself." Torres is next to explain the deception practised in the exchange of horses at Seville, and lay the responsibility for the same at Soria's door. Then he is to show that more than 200 men had hidden themselves on the vessels and made the voyage without any provision for their pay or maintenance, and to ask that they be allowed to take the places of those regularly enrolled who had returned or been incapacitated. In the Admiral's opinion at least 1000 men should constitute the effective strength of the colony for the first three years; of these it would be well to have 100 mounted, but this would be expensive and could wait until the gold sent to their Majesties should provide ample means. Following this is a suggestion which, although it comes from " the man who was so anxious to become the first slave- 138 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. driver in America," sounds strangely like the deliverances of the intelligent head of an industrial colony. " Item. Inasmuch as the cost of this colony may be to some extent lightened by industry and the methods practised by other princes under similar conditions, more easily than it can be cur- tailed here, it seems well that, besides the commodities intended for general consumption and medicinal stores, the ships should bring out shoes, and hides for making them, shirts both common and fine, jackets, linen, skirts, trousers, cloths for clothing of a reasonable price, and other things, such as preserves, which are outside the usual rations and helpful for the maintenance of health. All these things will be gladly accepted by the people here on account of their wages, and if the purchases be made in Spain by faithful officers who consider only their Majesties' service, some advantage may be derived." If Columbus proposed that slaves should work, he did not intend that his own people should stand by in idleness. Torres is next instructed to bring to their Majesties' atten- tion the trickeries practised by the men-at-arms, in exchang- ing their good arms for poor ones, and to ask that two hundred cuirasses, one hundred guns, and one hundred cross-bows, with their corresponding ammunition, be sent out. He is also charged so to adjust the salaries of some of the officers that their families should receive a part in Spain. The succeeding clause is devoted to providing for the physical comfort of the colonists. " It would be very well," the Admiral writes, " that fifty hogs- heads of molasses be procured from the island of Madeira, for it is the best and healthiest nourishment in the world and does not usually cost more than two ducats the hogshead, exclusive of the casks, and if their Highnesses order some caravel to pass by there on the outward voyage this purchase can be made, as also ten boxes of sugar, of which there is much need. This is the best season of the year — that is, between now and April — for finding it and getting it at a fair price." A final reference to the prospects of securing a revenue follows. " Item. You are to say to their Majesties that, although these rivers contain the quantity of gold which those who have THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 139 seen them allege, it is certain that the gold is not generated in the rivers but in the earth, and that the water coming in contact with the mines brings down the metal mingled with its sands. Although some of these rivers which have been discovered are quite large, others are so small that they are rather brooks than rivers, which do not carry more than two fingers' depth of water and can be easily traced to their fountain-head ; so that it will not only be profitable for the washers to gather the gold from the sands but also for others to dig for it in the earth, where it will be more especially found in larger quantity. For this reason it will be well for their Majesties to send out some washers, from among those who work in the mines of Almaden, so that in one manner and the other the work may proceed. Mean- while we shall not wait for them, for with the washers who are now here we hope, with God's aid, once the people are well, to obtain a handsome contribution of gold for the next caravels which shall sail." In the succeeding paragraph the royal treasurer, Villa- corta, is recommended for promotion, and Torres told to see that this be done " in such a way that Villacorta shall know by the result that what he has done for me in that which I required from him has brought him advantage." A final clause reverts to Margarite, Caspar, and Beltran, and the other captains of caravels who remained at Isabella and who by the return of their vessels were left without stated compensation. " You are to request their Highnesses on my behalf to fix that which these men are to receive in each year or by the month, as their Majesties may see fit. Done in this city of Isabella the 30th day of January, 1494." So ends the Memorial. At the risk of wearying our readers we have translated, as closely as the rude and involved sentences of the original permitted, all that is of interest in this historic document. It exhibits with photographic fidelity the mind of its author as he sat amid the confusion of his growing town, with dis- appointment and disaster behind him and a doubtful future to face. Primarily intended, as we have seen, for the guidance of Torres, it was to be left (and was so left) with Ferdinand and Isabella as a memorandum or summary of the several matters discussed at greater length in other letters I40 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. and despatches. No attempt was made to deceive the sov- ereigns, for no deception was possible ; and no effort was made to make of it a forcible and elegant document, for it professed to be nothing but a string of isolated notes, jotted down as the subjects presented themselves to the writer's thoughts. Such as it was we have given it. Slavery is as much of an anachronism to-day as are the wheel and the rack. Neither eloquence nor logic is longer necessary to prove the right of every human being to that liberty with which Nature endows him. We of the United States have peculiar cause to appreciate both the iniquity of the institution and the fact that a sincere belief in its justi- fiability is not incompatible with moral integrity. Our his- tory is that of a people who, from their establishment on American soil, tolerated slavery as frankly as they did free- dom of speech and religion. To its inherently vile methods we owe no small part of our national grandeur. When we sit in judgment, therefore, on others who thought as our own people thought until yesterday, and who had the suffi- cient excuse that they lived four centuries before the days of Garrison and Sumner, it behooves us to show some slight moderation. Sir Arthur Helps only states the truth when he says, in his oft-quoted passage, that "a more distinct suggestion for the establishment of a slave trade was never proposed " than that which Columbus makes to his sover- eigns in this Memorial. It was meant to be distinct, for it was a deliberate suggestion submitted by their Viceroy to Ferdinand and Isabella for their royal consideration and decision. Every historian, from Las Casas to the present day, is justified in exclaiming against the iniquity of slavery as such. But in saying that, after penning the words which we have above translated, " the man who was ambitious to become the first slave driver of the New World laid down his quill praising God, as he asked his sovereigns to do," the more modern and learned critic who thus emphatically vents his righteous indignation is attempting a tour deforce, in his anxiety to carry his readers with him, scarcely less violent than that advocated by the subject of his criticism. Colum- bus no more cherished such an ambition than did those God- THE VICEROY'S FIRST REPORT. 141 fearing and stalwart Puritans who, one hundred and fifty years later, so willingly converted into household slaves the unregenerate Narragansetts and Nipmucks who fell into their hands as the prize of an unequal war. We are informed that this is special pleading, that "therein rests the pitiful plea for Columbus, the originator of American slavery." As a matter of fact, Columbus was not the originator of American slavery, or of any other. He found the vicious system as flourishing in the New World as he had left it in the Old. In opening communication between the two, he provided a means for exchanging the merchandise of one for the slaves of the other, as well as beads for cotton, or hawk-bells for gold-dust. He considered the cannibals to be enemies of humanity at large, assignable to the same category as heretics, Jews, or Moors. As such they were subject to extermination or captivity, as their Christian adversaries might determine. The whole proceeding was, to him, regular, even com- mendable, so far as its morality was concerned; for the cap- tives would be proselytized and enter the Church's fold. In this respect Columbus did not rise above the accepted dogmas of his age ; in others he did. He was great in so far as he led his times, but he was not little in being other- wise a part of them. To heap anathemas at this late day upon his head because, four centuries ago, he did not carry on an anti-slavery crusade as well as one against ignorance and bigotry, seems to be rather hypercritical than just.^ 1 In support of his vehement arraignment of Columbus as a slave- driver, Dr. Winsor (^Christopher Columbus) lays particular stress upon a quotation from Benzoni. The choice is scarcely a happy one; (ist) because Benzoni did not visit the Indies until sixty years after the days of Columbus; (2d) because Benzoni, in the passage quoted, was writ- ing of Guatemala in 1560 circa, and not of Hispaniola in 1493; (3d) because we have the learned critic's own authority, in another place, for saying that Benzoni " yielded not a little to credulity and picked up mere gossip," and that his discontent with the Spaniards " colored somewhat his views." It is only fair to add that Benzoni was an ardent and somewhat undiscriminating admirer of his fellow-countryman, and had no thought of criticising him in the words thus misapplied by the modern historian. ^m ^^^M- ^s ^^ ^-^^^=^''0^^^**. 1^^ VIII. THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. ALL that the departure of the "Mayflower," homeward bound, was to the sturdy Puritans, the sailing of Torres and his twelve ships was to the colony at Isabella, and more. In that case there was a sustaining trust and purpose, with a confidence that in due time other com- munication would be had with home; in the case of the Spaniards, their leader excepted, there was little sentiment loftier than the love of adventure, while the wide Ocean Sea was as yet so little known that there was no lack of prophets to predict that those who remained behind had seen the last of their countrymen from its farther shores. To their sense of isolation was added a feeling of abandon- ment, and to this a haunting fear lest they should perish vilely in the obscure corner of an unknown world whither their chimerical ambitions had so rashly led them. No sooner did they realize, therefore, that they had seen the last of the vessels, from whose crowded hulls they had so eagerly escaped a month before, than some of the more in- fluential among their number began planning to seize some of the five ships which the Admiral had retained, desert the colony, and make their way to Spain, where, as they believed, they could satisfy the King and Queen that the Italian ad- venturer whom they had appointed Viceroy over their loyal Castilian subjects was in reality a base deceiver and reck- less fabricator of wild romances. Situated as the colonists were, the spirit of mutiny was infectious. The Admiral's contemplated expedition into 142 THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 143 the golden district of Cibao would furnish the opportunity; the pitiful condition of the large number of fever-stricken, labor-worn invalids who must perforce be left behind, the excuse. The plot found an able head in Bernal de Pisa, royal comptroller, whose official standing at Court was known to be such that it lent a coloring of authority to his actions even when these were obviously illegal. He was assisted by other influential malcontents, among whom the royal assayer was perhaps most helpful. This scientific expert was willing to certify, from the abundance of his knowledge, that the golden nuggets of Hojeda and Gorva- lan were the inherited treasure of several generations of natives, melted down into lumps; and that when these had once been collected nothing remained for the Spaniards except the insignificant products from a laborious sifting of tiny grains from the river-beds. With this material and such other as his own craft supplied, Pisa quietly secured from many of the bitterest opponents of the Admiral and his projects a declaration or statement reflecting unspar- ingly upon the actions, plans, and methods of Columbus. This document, which seems to have been drawn up in proper notarial form for timely presentation to their Majesties, was hidden away on board one of the ships in the hollow of a rude buoy, such as was used for marking the position of a slipped cable. Whether by accident, or through that common treachery upon which every one else seems to count for the disclosure of a plot except those most interested in it, the Admiral, while yet busy with the preparations for his march, learned of the progress of Pisa's schemes. To seize the ringleaders and institute a formal inquiry into their guilt was the work of an hour. The comptroller, despite his rank and influence, was con- fined on one of the ships to await a convenient occasion for sending him to Spain. The more prominent among the followers were punished according to their quality, while the very afifidavits which were prepared by Pisa to secure the Admiral's overthrow were kept by the latter to be for- warded to his sovereigns as evidence of their comptroller's disloyalty. The revolt, if such it may be called, was 144 '^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. crushed out with a promptness which merits sincere ap- plause, but with a generosity toward the guilty as unwise as it was natural to the Admiral's disposition. Both those who had been detected and those who had escaped incrim- ination in the conspiracy united, at the first opportunity, in clamoring to their Majesties for relief from the rigor and injustice of the discipline inflicted by Columbus. No doubt he expected as much, and only withheld his hand from an unwillingness to mete out severer punishment upon Spanish nobles, being himself so constantly contemned for his foreign origin and jejune dignities. He could have been no more severely criticised, however, had he chastised the conspirators as they deserved, and an exhibition of un- bending determination would have commanded at least the respect of fear. As it was, sore as were the hearts of the ringleaders and the backs of their followers, the first were still beating and latter quickly cured; and the owners of both lived long enough to more than square accounts with their too-long-suffering commander. Impatient to start upon his journey to Cibao, and doubt- ful of the loyalty of many of those whose physical condition or official charges required that they should remain at Isa- bella, the Admiral preferred to place his trust, while absent, in the hardy seamen who manned his flagship, and thus effect- ually to remove all source of danger. He therefore trans- ferred from the four other vessels to the "Maria Galante " their artillery, ammunition, sails, and running tackle, and left that ship as well as those he had dismantled in charge of officers on whom he could rely. This done, he set dili- gently about completing his arrangements for the proposed reconnoissance. The government of Isabella was left in the hands of Diego Columbus, with an advisory council consisting of Fray Boil and others in whom the Admiral yet had confidence. All the men-at-arms, whether mounted or infantry, who seemed capable of standing the campaign were ordered to make ready, and to them were joined such of the carpenters, masons, miners, and other laborers as were strong enough to work. A force of natives was em- ployed to carry the tools and provisions, for as yet the THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 145 Spaniards had not learned to live on the food of the coun- try. As his Memorial intimates, it was not the Admiral's intention to cut loose absolutely from Isabella as a base, since he felt the necessity of keeping within relieving dis- tance of the town on account of the enfeebled condition of its defenders. At the same time, he wished to develop as large a knowledge as possible of the country beyond the Cibao mountains and establish at desirable points one or more fortified posts for the greater security both of those who should work the mines and of the necessary travel between these and Isabella. Columbus set out from the town at the head of his little army on Wednesday, the 12th of March, with trumpets sounding and ensigns unfurled. The occasion was one of rejoicing for the men composing his force, but for those who remained behind invalided or detained by duty his departure only added a fresh cause of misgiving or dissatis- faction. The certainty of novelty and adventure awaiting their more fortunate companions only increased their own captious discontent, and it was with no little apprehension that their leader began his march. The column made but ten miles on that day, as neither men nor horses were in condition to bear great fatigue. As soon as they struck the forest, all attempt at martial array was abandoned, and they followed the narrow Indian trails in such disorder as they found most convenient. Camp was pitched at the foot of a steep and rugged pass, leading over the range of moun- tains which divided the valley where Isabella lay from the vast plain traversed by Hojeda and christened the Vega Real by Columbus. This narrow path over the pass, for a dis- tance of a couple of bow-shots from its summit, was so abrupt that the horses could not attempt to scale it ; so the Admiral called upon some of the more spirited of the well- born soldiers who surrounded him to open a way for the column. They seem gladly to have carried out his orders, despite the hard manual labor involved; for by night a fea- sible road had been cleared to the top of the divide. In recognition of their service, — perhaps, with a glance of irony at the affectation of their caste never to work with 10 146 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. their hands, — their commander named the gap "the Gen- tlemen's Pass," and as such it was known for generations. On the next morning the march was resumed, and the Admiral soon had the satisfaction of seeing spread beneath his feet the whole extent of the great savannah. As far as the eye could range stretched the emerald floor, dotted at frequent intervals with belts of woodland and watered by serpentine rivers. From the number of native villages seen near at hand, and from the columns of smoke arising in the distance, it was evidently inhabited by a considerable pop- ulation. On its farther side rose the massive outlines of the rocky sierras of Cibao, the promised land of the Admi- ral's dreams and hopes. Whether, as he gazed across the smiling prairies of the Vega to the purple summits of the distant mountains, he still held the belief that he was face to face with the mysterious Cipango of Marco Polo's allur- ing tales, that ever-receding land of gold and precious stones which had so eluded his anxious search during the last year's voyage, he does not tell us. Had he still held the theory, it is probable some mention should have remained. What- ever his conjectures, as he swept the landscape with his watchful glances, one salient consideration was patent to his mind : access to the boasted wealth of Cibao was easy from Isabella and the people living on the route were rather of the mild type of Guacanagari's tribesmen than the fiery warriors of Samana Bay. The descent to the plain was much more gradual than the ascent of the Gentlemen's Pass just accomplished. Light of heart and cheered by the prospect of fertile lands and accessible mines, the Spaniards debouched on the level ground with a gaiety to which they had been strangers since the echoes of their lombards rolled unanswered into the darkness of Navidad. As they approached the first native village, the Indians swarmed forth to meet them with demon- strations of joyous welcome and reverent admiration, hail- ing their marvellous visitors as celestial beings and pressing upon them all the contents of their scanty hoards. A like scene was enacted at each succeeding settlement, until even the most contentious sceptic in the Castilian ranks was THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 147 forced to admit that, after all, there was some truth in the stories told concerning the natives of Hispaniola by their leader and his companions of the Discovery. Progress was so easy and their surroundings so agreeable after the dark days at Isabella that the men did not count their paces. They had already marched more than fifteen miles, when, towards evening, they reached the banks of a broad stream of clear water, which the Indians called the Yaqui, but which the Admiral named the River of Rushes, from the great beds of these growing along its borders. Here he camped for the night, vastly to the delight of his men, who showed the improvement in their spirits and health by betaking them- selves to the water and skylarking therein to their hearts' content. Breaking camp early on the following day, the 14th, the men crossed the river, they and their impedimenta being transported on canoes and rafts supplied by the willing natives ; the horses were brought over a deep ford near by. For five miles the pleasurable experiences of the preceding day were repeated, the route lying along the Yaqui and then away from it, until the column came to a halt by the banks of a smaller but unfordable stream. Some difficulty was met with in getting across this, probably on account of the absence of boats ; but the trouble was more than compen- sated by the discovery among the river gravel of several grains of gold. This, and the increasing nearness of the Cibao mountains, was enough, in the Admiral's opinion, to entitle the stream to be called the Golden. At a short dis- tance beyond it the Spaniards came upon a large village, whose people seemed to be divided as to the reception to be accorded the intruders. Some of them fled incontinently towards the foot-hills, which there ran down into the plain; others took refuge in their cabins and, once inside, deemed themselves secure from all molestation if they placed a few light canes across their doorways. The soldiers were dis- posed to make light of this Edenic simplicity, but the Admiral forbade that any Christian should enter a hut, and thus, with the aid of signs and proffered gew-gaws, soon placated the villagers and established relations of greater confidence. Beyond this settlement the country became 148 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. broken and more wooded, and when another stream was reached during the afternoon the column halted for the night on its hither bank. The charming freshness and beauty of the stream and its surroundings led the Admiral to call it the Verdant River; and from an abundance of polished and glittering pebbles in its bed and on its banks he saw that he was approaching the metalliferous region. Saturday, the 15th, the route lay across this stream and through a country of increasingly difficult passage. Several villages of importance were passed, and in each the natives fled to their huts and barred the open doorways with canes. Towards nightfall the column reached the base of a long and steep ascent which the Indian guides declared was the gate of Cibao, and here the wearied troops were glad to rest for the night. The distance travelled had not been great, but the roads, or rather paths, had been of the roughest, and all save the few horsemen were exhausted. Something of the novelty of their first sensations had also worn off, and the forbidding nature of the rugged district confronting them threatened a degree of toil and discomfort which was more vivid to their minds than the recollection of- the grateful scenes of the past few days. On Sunday morning the Admiral sent back to Isabella a party of men with some of his native carriers and several horses in order to obtain fresh supplies of bread and wine for the troops. Another detachment attacked the pass before them and shortly had cleared a passable road for the remaining horses and the main column, which accordingly resumed the ascent of the mountain. On reaching the crest of the divide the Span- iards had the choice of two widely differing panoramas, according as they looked ahead or turned and reviewed the district they had already traversed. In the one direction was the stern and troubled confusion of barren mountains and gigantic walls of rock; in the other, the fair and seduc- tive face of the lovely Vega Real. It is characteristic of the time and its men that they cared nothing now for the quiet charms and peaceful plenty of the broad savannahs where so lately they had revelled. Harsh as was the path ahead of them, it led into the recesses where the gold "grew," and that alone was worthy their consideration. THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 149 As the Spaniards turned their backs on the Vega and penetrated into the defiles of the sierras, they found cause to revise another of the censures so freely passed in secret against their commander and those who supported him. Not only was there evidence of gold, but of such quantity of it as seemed likely to lend confirmation to all they had ever heard of the golden treasures of the Indies they had so lately cursed. Not a creek or ravine but showed the yellow specks or spangles in bank or gravelly bed, while in many of the adjoining rocks those who laid claim to such special knowledge professed to discern indications of the precious ore. The column was now on ground familiar to Hojeda, where he had made his search for gold and gathered all he could obtain. The Indians of the district, mindful of the importance attached by their former white visitors to the yellow stuff they themselves cared so little for, hastened to meet the Guamiquina (the great chief) of these strangely bearded beings, and proffered him gifts of gold in dust and nugget which they had collected since they knew that their visitors cared for it. The Admiral accepted them all, readily enough, and made such return for them as satisfied the donors. Doubtless the advantage was on his side, but they did not think so; and there is every reason to believe that they acted freely and gladly at that time in pressing their offerings upon the Spanish explorers and that the latter treated them with a wise forbearance. The expedition had gone so far into the mountains that further advance with the horses was impracticable. In front of them rose the lofty wilderness of bald summits, sheer precipices, and towering peaks composing the sierras proper, and to attempt to thread their gloomy defiles was beyond the Admiral's plans. This was a task better fitted for smaller scouting-parties, who might conduct the work of explora- tion more successfully than the main column, with its demands of commissariat and transportation. He was al- ready satisfied with the mineral prospects of the district, for, in addition to the widely diffused indications of gold, he had found traces of copper and lapis-lazuli, besides amber and various aromatic trees and shrubs on the lower 150 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. hills, which, he thought, promised a yield of valuable spices. Therefore, when, in the course of the day's march, he came upon a rounded hill encircled on three sides by a swift stream of crystal waters, in whose gravelly bed the Spaniards found evidence of fine gold in plenty, he determined to call a halt and built there the fort destined to serve as the base of future operations. The river was called Janique by the natives, and was only one of a number of similar streams which flowed from the rocky gorges of the mountains beyond, so that the site was convenient alike for access to the depth of the Cibao ranges and for communication with Isabella. Here the Admiral passed four days, superintend- ing the building of the stronghold, which was to bear the name of St. Thomas, as he had foreplanned, in standing rebuke of the sceptics who had denied the existence of gold or mines. A deep ditch was dug on the side unprotected by the river, and a tower of rough masonry erected on the summit of the hill. Argund this were built the barracks and stockades of heavy beams iilled in with clay. A little island at the foot of the hill, across the stream, offered a safe place for the growth of such European vegetables and grains as the garrison might choose to plant, and the whole aspect of the spot was one of healthful quiet and security.^ The Spaniards drew varying auguries from an incident attending the digging of the ditch. At the depth of a fathom or more beneath the surface, the laborers came upon some fossilized birds' nests, with three or four eggs converted into stone. Great was the wonder excited by this unusual spectacle, and the more sanguine among the spectators argued that the petrifications were proof positive of the mineral character of the soil of Cibao. In the meantime, two cavaliers, Lujan and Caspar, were sent farther into the mountains, with a scouting party. They 1 Las Casas inherited from his father, who was with Columbus on this exploration, a small estate which included this fort and its vicinity. He expatiates with naive delight upon its beauties, and says that even at the time of his own residence there, thirty years afterwards, the little island produced " the best onions in all this Hispaniola," grown from the seeds planted by the garrison of the Admiral's fort. THE BEGINNING. OF CONQUEST. 151 returned in a few days with a report extolling the wealth of the district, and declaring that in many parts it was even as fertile as the lower country. Work upon the fort progressed so well that by Friday, the 21st of March, the Admiral felt justified in commencing his homeward journey, for the condition of the colonists of Isabella was a source of con- stant anxiety to him. He left Pedro Margarite at Fort St. Thomas, as commander and deputy, with fifty-two good men, giving him ample instructions as to his method of procedure both towards the natives and with regard to the prosecution of the mining, or rather washing, operations. Shortly after setting out upon their return, the main col- umn encountered the train of horses and Indian carriers which had been sent to the town the week before for addi- tional supplies, and these the Admiral ordered to continue on to the fort and there discharge their burdens. He and his own force experienced much difficulty on this march, owing to the rivers being greatly swollen by heavy rains in the sierra. They were detained so long that they were forced to buy from the villages through which they passed such native food as the Indians had to offer, and it was not until the 29th of the month that they reached Isabella. Throughout the return, as on the advance, they had met with nothing but confidence and hospitality from the natives, and this the Admiral had requited in kind by for- bidding any excess or offence, and scrupulously paying in beads and other trinkets for all that was supplied or given to his men. The seventeen days which had elapsed since the depar- ture of the expedition for Cibao had passed far less cheer- fully in the town than with the absentees. The sickness continued to spread among the people, and was aggravated by the short rations and enforced labor. There was, indeed, an intimate connection between the two causes which should have been sufficient for reasonable men; but the fever-stricken and discontented crowd which remained at Isabella, was in no frame of mind to listen to anything but the recital of its own grievances. The small stock of biscuit which was landed unspoiled from the ships had 152 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. soon been exhausted, and there was left nothing but the supply of wheat in grain. To grind this into flour, a mill was necessary, and no suitable site for it was found nearer than a league up the river. This involved an amount of labor beyond the forces of the few ditchers and artisans among the colonists, and when they succumbed to the climate, — as they were sure to do at such work, — either the "gentlemen " of the colony had to be called on to help or all hands would have to go hungry. In face of this dilemma, Columbus did not hesitate to order the work to be done by the arms available ; whether they were covered by black mantles or leathern jerkins was a matter of little importance. Unlike their ambitious peers of the Gentle- men's Pass, the ditch-digging hidalgos of the town looked upon their unfamiliar duty as an indignity, and as soon as the Admiral's back was turned, took counsel with other mal- contents among the officials. Poinding a congenial spirit in Fray Boil, they resolved to lay a representation of their unhappy condition before the Crown and demand the retire- ment of the foreign upstart who thus abused his authority as Viceroy to humiliate and sacrifice Spanish noblemen. Such was the posture of affairs which Diego Columbus had to report to his brother, upon the latter 's return from his successful expedition to the mines. There was nothing to do but to repeat his action in the more serious case of Bernal de Pisa, punishing the leaders in the dissatisfaction and warning their followers. If this had the momentary effect of repressing the open evidences of sedition, it only increased the hidden irritation, and there were many now ready to join any scheme which should be proposed for abandoning the Genoese Admiral, and betaking them to Spain to lay their complaints before the King and Queen. Incidentally, by so doing, they might obtain a larger share in the emoluments likely to flow from these self-same Indies; for they were only a "delusion" when administered by Columbus, his brother and their coterie. The Admiral's position was sufficiently harassing from the discovery of this new outbreak of discontent; but it THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 153 was rendered absolutely precarious by a new danger which arose most unexpectedly in another quarter. Scarcely a week had passed after his return to Isabella, when messen- gers arrived from Margarite, announcing that the Indians were abandoning their villages in masses and withdrawing into the mountains of Cibao, whence the redoubtable Caonabo had sent word to the Spaniards, that he should shortly issue forth with an overwhelming force and sweep Fort St. Thomas and its garrison from the earth as com- pletely as he had the ill-fated Navidad. This was in such complete contrast with all that Columbus had seen of the attitude of the natives while on his expedition, and all that he had learned concerning Caonabo, that the effect was well-nigh disheartening. Any hesitation might and probably would involve Margarite and his force in destruc- tion, and, at the same time, any half measures would be merely sowing the seeds of future embarrassment. The Admiral accordingly consulted with those of his adjutants in whom he had faith, and soon settled upon a course of action intended to deal radically with the present danger, and provide- against its recurrence. The plan contem- plated tallies so closely with the character of Hojeda, and that impetuous youth played so prominent a part in its execution, that we are disposed to attribute to him the sug- gestion of its main feature, which was, in plain English, the kidnapping of Caonabo. We hasten to add that we have no idea of shifting any responsibility from the Admiral's shoulders in saying this : the measure was too consonant with the spirit of the times to admit any doubt as to his probable willingness to originate it; but we think the sequel gives color to a belief that Hojeda was the author of the scheme, which undoubtedly received the hearty ap- proval of his leader. Orders were issued for all the healthy men to prepare at once for a prolonged campaign, and for the horsemen to make part of the force. Such provisions as the storehouses afforded were hastily packed for carriage by native por- ters, and to these were added the arms likely to be needed by the military portion of the force at St. Thomas. When 154 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the arrangements were completed, and the detachment ready to march, every available man in Isabella was in the ranks, leaving the colony to be cared for and defended by the convalescents, artisans and mechanics, with the officials and priests to help them. Hojeda was put in command of the relieving column, which mustered 396 strong; 16 horsemen, 250 lance and cross-bow men, no arquebusiers and twenty officers. Among the latter were those most trusted by the Admiral, so that in stripping the town of its defenders, and himself of his faithful adherents, he was giving the best evidence of the importance he attached to the movement. Hojeda bore a detailed letter of instruc- tions to Margarite, and was himself given certain verbal orders. He was to follow a different road from that taken by the first expedition, in order to avoid some of the obstacles met with at that time. His directions were of the strictest in relation to the considerate treatment of the Indians of the Vega Real and elsewhere. On arriving at St. Thomas, he was to turn over the command of the larger column to Margarite, who was to continue the advance into Cibao in search of Caonabo, Hojeda remaining meanwhile as commandant of the fort, with the original garrison of fifty-two, and a reinforcement of seventy more from the relieving force. The assignment of this relatively pacific duty to the young captain may, perhaps, be interpreted as indicating some doubt in the Admiral's mind as to his fitness for the diplomatic task of securing possession of the redoubted cacique without rousing the native population to a war of reprisal. Hojeda left Isabella with his command on the 9th of April. The letter of instructions which he was to deliver to Don Pedro Margarite was full and explicit, and was dated on the same day. It thus apparently includes the final deliberations of the Admiral in the matter of his policy towards the natives, whether these belonged to the peace- able tribes, like those of the Vega, or were warriors, like those under the leadership of Caonabo and Mayrionex. As it was written under the influence of a sudden surprise and an apprehended collision with the mountaineers of Cibao, THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 155 and was issued specifically under the absolute authority vested in Columbus as Viceroy and perpetual Governor of the Indies for the King and Queen, without fear of censure or criticism, it may safely be assumed to be the natural and genuine expression of his sentiments and intentions at that time with regard to the native population. From this point of view the document possesses a peculiar interest for those who care to form their own estimate of its author's character. Upon the arrival of Hojeda's column at Fort St. Thomas, it recites, Margarite is to divide it into as many separate battalions, preferably three, as he judges best for the service contemplated (for he was reputed a gallant and skilful gen- eral), appointing to the command of each the captain he may select. The Admiral declares, that, although what he writes is based upon such experience as has thus far been gathered in the several expeditions sent out from Isabella, he leaves to Margarite full liberty to add to, or take from, the in- structions which follow anything which, in his opinion, the special circumstances of the time or place may demand, "for the principal object in view is that you march with all the people here enumerated throughout this whole island, reconnoitering its provinces, people, districts, and produc- tions, and particularly the whole province of Cibao." In executing this programme, the Admiral adds, Margarite may rely upon being supported with all that he needs from Isa- bella as a base. "The chief thing which you have to do," proceeds the letter, " is to protect carefully the Indians, that no harm or wrong be done them, and nothing taken from them against their will; rather let them be shown respect, and be so satisfied that they will not have cause for anger." In somewhat violent contrast to this recommenda- tion, he directs that if any Indian should steal from the Spaniards he is to have nose and ears cut off, " for these are members which cannot be concealed," and thus the natives will soon learn, that " it was for the theft committed, and that the good will be very kindly treated, but the evil will be punished." The proposed chastisement has, of course, given occasion for a chorus of vehement outbursts from his 156 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. censors against the rank cruelty of Columbus; but they for- get that he was merely applying the accepted punishment of his day for the offence specified, and that the statute books of both Europe and America imposed the same or a worse penalty for theft for centuries after his fingers were dust. The Admiral based his order upon the tendency to pilfer, which he had observed both in his first voyage and on this recent march to Cibao. Whether it was policy or not to treat the Indians, to whom the appropriation of what they liked was no crime, as though they were thieving Span- ish peasants, is a matter of opinion; but it is idle to claim that any cruelty was intended or sanctioned in visiting upon the savages a retribution not deemed excessive for European offenders. The scantiness of Spanish rations available would compel Margarite to depend to a great extent upon the natives for subsistence; and, accordingly, minute instructions are given as to his treatment of the Indians in procuring supplies. Two minor officials are intrusted with a sufficient quantity of beads, hawk-bells, and other trinkets to be used in exchange for provisions, and are strictly enjoined "to pay in these articles for all the bread and other victuals which it may be needful to buy," keeping a detailed account of the time, place, and character of every transaction, and con- ducting each in the presence of a deputy of the Comptroller. To insure the execution of this order, Margarite is told to detach twenty-five men and place them under the command of Luis de Arriaga, who shall act in the double capacity of guard and overseer for the commissaries appointed, " so that there may be no excuse for any one, of whatever rank or condition he may be, to take anything from the Indians and thus cause them two thousand vexations. This is some- thing," pursues the Admiral, with an evident appreciation of the danger of unrestricted intercourse between his followers and the confiding natives, "which is especially contrary to the wishes and service of the King and Queen, our sover- eigns. Their Majesties desire more the salvation of these people, and that they may become Christians, than all the treasures that can issue from this country. Therefore ample THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 157 provision is made so that every one may be satisfied, since their Majesties have ordered that they should all be paid for food and such other things as may be necessary to you. If by chance you should not obtain enough food by purchase, you are to take measures to secure it otherwise, taking it in the most honest manner practicable and coaxing the In- dians." The latter advice resembles somewhat that attrib- uted to the Quaker parent; but its motive is clearly to pre- vent injustice to the natives. Having taken what precautions he deemed sufficient to ensure the maintenance of pacific relations with the Indian population in general, Columbus now proceeds to unfold his scheme for securing the person of that chief, who, he considered, represented the element hostile to the Spanish occupation of Hispaniola. It is hardly necessary, with the experience of four centuries of contact between European and aborigine to guide us, to dwell upon the futility of his calculations; nor is it profitable to hurl objurgations at the long-dead discoverer for the moral obtuseness which sanc- tioned such a plan. In proposing it, the Admiral and his advisers were following a custom not only permitted but applauded in the wars with which they were most familiar, and to Columbus the act was more than justifiable; it was obligatory in view of the massacre by Caonabo of the Navi- dad garrison. With this stroke the Admiral hoped to remove the main danger of a native revolt, and send to Spain the most famous warrior of the Indies as an earnest to their Majesties of the successful establishment of the Spanish power. There is a frankness about the whole proposition which would be cynical were it not for its transparent sim- plicity. "In this affair of Caonabo," the Admiral writes to Margarite, " I greatly desire that such a course should be diligently pursued that we may be enabled to have him in our power, and to ac- complish this you should proceed in the following manner, in my opinion : send some one, with ten very discreet men, who shall take a present of certain things which are being taken to you by those who carry the articles for traffic. Let these men flatter him, and show him that I have a great longing for his 158 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. friendship and will send him other gifts, and that he should send us some gold. Let them impress upon him how it is that you are there and that you are marching through the country at pleasure with many people ; that we have men beyond number and each day many more are coming, and that I will send him constantly some of the articles they are bringing from Castile. Let him be treated with this kind of speech until you have estab- lished friendship with him, so that he may be the more quickly taken. You should not attempt just now to go to Caonabo with the whole force, but send Contreras. He can take the ten soldiers, and they can return with the reply wherever you may be. As soon as this party has been received, you can send another and yet another, until the said Caonabo is satisfied and without suspicion that you intend doing him harm, when you can decide upon the method of capturing him as to you may seem best and according to what Contreras shall have told him. In this let Contreras do only what you shall have said and not exceed it. " The method to be pursued in seizing Caonabo, subject to what may be discovered at the time, is this : Contreras is to labor diligently with him and arrange that Caonabo goes to talk with you, so that you may the more securely accomplish his seizure. As he is accustomed to go naked, it would be difficult to hold him, and if once he should escape and flee it would not be possible to get him again in your hands, owing to the nature of the country ; therefore, when he is before you, give him a shirt and have him dress himself at once, let him have also a long gown and girdle it with a belt, and put a hood upon his head. Having done this you may secure him and he cannot escape. You ought likewise to seize his relatives who may be with him. If for any reason Caonabo himself should be indis- posed, so that he cannot go to visit you, so manage with him that he will accept in good part your going to him. Before you reach him Contreras ought to precede you to assure him, saying to him that you are visiting him for the purpose of seeing and knowing him and establishing friendly relations ; for upon your appearing with a large force he might become apprehensive and start to escape to the mountains, and you would miss the quarry. All this, however, is referred to your discretion, for you to do as you think best." Such was the elaborate stratagem planned to secure this one savage leader. We have given it to our readers at full length, because it illustrates so graphically that side of the THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. 159 character of Columbus which has been persistently attacked as contemptible and mean. Tried by the standard of morals which we preach, it admits of no defence, for it is a net- work of deceit and falsehood. Compared with the code of ethics which we ourselves have so consistently practised in our relations with the red man, an experienced ob- server would doubtless pronounce Columbus to be almost too thoughtful of his adversary to make a successful Indian fighter. The remaining instructions to Margarite relate to matters of discipline. He is to see that justice is respected and that all who disobey his orders are severely chastised, other- wise the errors of Arana's force might be repeated; the men would scatter, lose their sense of duty, and commit excesses, and thus be exposed to retaliation by the natives who would not hesitate to murder stragglers, although they were too cowardly to attack the larger parties. " Let me remind you," writes the x^dmiral, "that there are no people so evil as cowards, who never give quarter to any one ; so that if these Indians find one or two men straggling it would not be surprising if they killed them." Margarite is further ordered to open roads and paths on whatever journeys he should make, erecting crosses at convenient points and cut- ting them and the names of their Catholic Majesties on the largest trees in signal of possession. He is also to under- take a reconnoissance into the country beyond Cibao which the natives called Yamahuix, and determine its nature, as well as the extent of Cibao. But, since Caspar's scout established the nearly impassable character of those regions, Margarite is cautioned to leave his horses behind at Fort St. Thomas in care of a skilful trooper who will keep them in condition. The document closes by conferring upon Mar- garite "the same power which I hold from their Majesties as Viceroy and Captain General of these Indies," and charges all who are under his command to obey his instruc- tions as fully and under the same penalties for disobedience as though the author were present in person. It is signed with the signature generally used by Columbus after the Discovery, — "The Admiral." l6o THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Hojeda left Isabella with his column on the same day, April 9th. His progress to and through the Vega Real was marked by no incident more serious than meeting with three Spaniards coming from Fort St. Thomas, who com- plained that, in fording the Golden River, the Indians who were carrying their arms and clothes had abandoned the white men and gone back to their own village with the plunder, which they had delivered over to their cacique. The latter, instead of punishing them, coolly appropriated the clothing for his own adornment. On learning who this chief was, Hojeda vowed to take vengeance upon him for the theft, and as soon as he reached the village incon- tinently seized both the cacique and his nephew and sent them back to Isabella in chains. Not content with this, he caused one of the guilty Indians to be brought into the public square or meeting ground of the settlement, and there cut off his ears as a warning to his tribe, after which he resumed his march. When the two captives, with their guard, passed the villages adjoining their own, the sight of their chains and their tale of injustice so moved the other natives, that another cacique volunteered to accompany them to the white men's town and plead their cause with the great Guamiquina himself; confident that, when the Admiral should know that these prisoners were among those chiefs who had shown the most friendliness and hospitality both to himself while on the way to Cibao and to Hojeda on his first expedition, he would instantly order them released. In due time the party reached Isabella, and the case was laid before Columbus. He chose rather to believe Hojeda's report concerning it than the statements of the prisoners and their loyal neighbor, and, in order to impress them with an exhibition both of his authority and clemency, sentenced the captive cacique and his nephew to death. They were accordingly led out to the plaza and announcement made that they were to be decapitated, whereat their fellow-cacique implored the Admiral, with tears and sobs, to spare their lives, assuring him, as well as he could by signs and words, that never again should the offence be repeated. After a sufficient show of harshness, THE 'BEGINNING OF CONQUEST. i6l the Admiral consented to pardon them and ordered their release, vastly to the joy of their disinterested advocate. So far no harm had been done. The coup de theatre planned by Columbus seems scarcely worth while in our present lights; but it may have had its value under the circumstances. The same trick has been played since with good results. But before the captive cacique's peo- ple had an opportunity to learn the clemency shown their chief, they had taken the law in their own hands by sur- rounding a squad of five Spaniards, who passed through their village after Hojeda's departure, and threatening them with death in retaliation for the anticipated loss of their cacique. Just as the unfortunate Castilians had con- cluded that their last hour had sounded, one of the mounted men-at-arms from Hojeda's column came into the same village. Seeing his comrades surrounded by a crowd of several hundred angry natives, he promptly laid his lance in rest and spurred his horse into the naked throng. The effect was instantaneous, for most of the Indians still con- sidered the horseman to be some kind of composite demon : in a moment the five Spaniards were free men and their captors had fled to the woods. The soldiers reached Isabella safely, just after the Admiral had released his two condemned prisonel^^, and related their story. It did not affect his determination, but it gave him food for reflec- tion, for he saw more clearly than ever the danger of disaster from the unjust and despotic conduct of his fol- lowers in their dealings with the natives. He relied on the sincerity of his own intentions towards them, and the efficacy of his explicit instructions to Margarite to prevent a recurrence of such a disturbing incident as that just closed; but in this he was grievously in error, as we all know from the sequel. Nevertheless, as the days passed without further signs of discontent, and messengers came and went freely between Isabella and St. Thomas, he persuaded himself that the trouble at the Golden River was only a flash in the pan, and that, with Margarite in the field with 400 men, all risk of serious trouble was over. 1 62 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. He had laid down, in writing and by his actions, on clearly defined lines, the policy to be pursued by his peo- ple in their relations with the Indian population, and in the conviction that it would be loyally carried out, he antici- pated no further ground for anxiety on this score. IX. IDENTIFYING ASIA. WITH the organization of the expedition sent to Mar- garite the Admiral felt that he had provided, so far as his present resources allowed, both for the development of the Cibao gold workings and the systematic exploration of the island. The prompt measures adopted for repressing the mutinous tendency of the discontented faction in the colony had, he believed, removed all danger of open revolt, although he realized and discounted in all his plans the existence of a wide-spread spirit of dissatisfaction with himself and his methods. Since there was no prospect of an early arrival of vessels from Spain, and he had so recently sent thither a full statement of his proceedings, and the needs of the col- ony, he conceived that no opportunity would be more fitting for him to execute their Majesties' earnest and repeated in- junctions to complete at the earliest practicable moment his exploration of Cuba, and determine whether it was merely a great island, as the Indians had told him at the time of the Discovery, or the eastern extension of the Asiatic continent, as he was himself disposed to argue. In reaching this de- cision, there is little doubt that he was influenced by his natural bias in favor of the sea and the investigation of its mysteries. He thought that the question concerning Cuba could be settled in a month or two at the most, and he should then be free to pursue his plans of discovery towards the South in the near future. It is, perhaps, worth while to bear in mind these motives, for they furnish a sufficient answer to the accusations of sordid avarice and selfish ambi- 164 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. tion so freely brought against Columbus by his censors. If he were greedy of gold, why should he turn his back on the proven wealth of the gravels and rocks of Cibao? If he were covetous of power and official rank, why should he abandon the post of Viceroy, and subject himself to the certain hardships and doubtful rewards of another voyage of discovery? There was no lack of competent and spirited navigators and adventurers in his following ; why not send these to explore the Cuban coasts ? The result of their dis- coveries would redound to his glory, and the government of the lands they might find would fall within his jurisdiction, whether he or another were the discoverer. If the famous provinces of Mangi and Cathay were shown to lie among the Cuban mountains, as he had believed when coasting that island the year before, he could do no more than ascertain the fact with the force he proposed to take, and this could be as well done by a deputy. Look at the matter as we may, the record means nothing, if it does not prove that, in leaving Isabella at the time and in the manner he did, Columbus sunk the Viceroy in the Admiral, and subordi- nated every other sentiment to his persistent determination to solve the enigmas of the Ocean Sea. He was sailor and explorer in every fibre of his being ; and, having done all he deemed necessary to develop and protect the interests of the Crown in Hispaniola, his thoughts turned to blue water and unvisited shores as naturally as do those of certain of his critics to the degraded qualities which he did not possess and the crimes of which he was not guilty. His preparations were soon and simply made. The gov- ernment of the island was committed to a Council com- posed of Diego Columbus as President, and Fray Boil, Pedro Alonzo Coronel, Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, and Juan de Lujan, as members. These were to receive all his delegated powers, while Pedro Margarite was to be com- mander-in-chief of the military forces, and the Viceroy's lieutenant in pai'tibus. His selection of councillors and deputies, with the one exception of his brother, was guided by an honest desire to consult the preferences of his sover- eigns, for all the others were men who stood high in the IDENTIFYING ASIA. 1 65 esteem of Ferdinand and Isabella, and they were not all friendly to the Admiral. Fray Boil, Columbus knew, was opposed to him, for he had espoused the cause of Bernal de Pisa, and openly disputed the Admiral's right to make Cas- tilian hidalgos work like common laborers, and tonsured priests live on short rations like ordinary laymen. If he had been seeking only his own welfare and aggrandizement, his choice would have been otherwise ; in making it as he did he displayed both policy and moderation. Unfortunately, we have no copy preserved of the instructions left with the Council, and are dependent upon occasional references for our knowledge of its proceedings during his absence. He left with the colony the two large and well-armed carracks, fitting out only the three small caravels as better suited for his own purposes. On these he took no soldiers, but chose their pilots, officers, and crews with a view only to their pro- ficiency as seamen. The names of all the men have come down to us, and they represent nearly every seaport in Spain, and a few in Portugal and Italy. The Admiral was going on no summer cruise, and he wanted none but sailor- men on board his craft. The little fleet was scantily pro- visioned, for the colonial stores were at the lowest ebb. As interpreter he took the sole survivor of the natives of Guana- hani who had returned to Spain with him from the Discov- ery. This young Indian had been baptized by the name of the Admiral's brother, Diego Colon, and was proficient in Spanish as well as in some of the dialects of Cuba and the Bahamas. The Admiral selected his favorite " Niiia " as his flagship, with Juan de la Cosa and Francisco Nino as his chief pilots. A priest and the customary crown officials — notary, inspector, and comptroller — accompanied the squad- ron, together with three or four body-servants of his own. The caravels weighed anchor and sailed out of the harbor of Isabella at midday on Thursday, the 24th of April, barely a fortnight after the departure of Hojeda and his column to join Margarite. As was his habit, the Admiral began his voyage " in the name of the Holy Trinity," a pious formal- ity from which he derived much consolation. Taking a westerly course, he anchored for the night in the harbor of 1 66 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Monte Christi, and proceeded the next day to the old anchorage at Navidad. He hoped, by touching here, to find that Guacanagari had returned from his hasty flight, and to have a conference with him ; but although the natives came freely alongside the caravels in their canoes, and re- peated the familiar story about their king having gone on only a short journey and intending soon to return, Guaca- nagari failed to appear. After waiting a day, the squadron sailed to the island of Tortugas, where it was becalmed over night, and forced on the following day by winds and a high sea to take refuge in the mouth of the river called by the Admiral on his first voyage the Guadalquivir. At last, on Tuesday, the 29th, Port St. Nicholas, at the western end of Hayti, was reached, and from here the outlines of the easternmost cape of Cuba, that Alpha and Omega of the Admiral's former voyage, were faintly discernible. Was it, in truth, the beginning and the end of the mighty continent of Asia, or merely a rocky headland jutting out from a lordly island, distinguished from Hispaniola, Guadalupe, and Dominica only by its vaster size? This was the problem which he had come to solve, and in its solution he would gladly adventure every ambition and hope of advantage that he nourished. Leaving Cape St. Nicholas, adjoining the port of that name, the caravels traversed the fifty or sixty miles which separate the two great islands, and approached the coast of Cuba near the point from which he had sailed for Hayti the year before. At that time the Admiral had, it will be remembered, reached Point Maysi from the northern side of the island, and noted, on arriving there, that the coast line doubled abruptly toward the west and southwest, in which directions it appeared to continue indefinitely. On the present voyage his interest lay wholly on the southern side of the island, for it was to follow this coast in its west- ward trend that he had come. If, sooner or later, it turned again toward the north, he should have discovered one more island. If, on the contrary, it were to lead him fur- ther and further south, he should, in his opinion, have reached the shores of Asia itself, and have before him its IDENTIFYING ASIA. 1 6/ teeming wealth and countless myriads of people, the goal of all his long years of effort and sacrifice. Hugging close the coast line, the fleet sailed due west for sixty or seventy miles without observing anything more interesting than the luxuriant forests of the littoral and the magnificent mountain ranges of the interior. At about this distance from the eastern end of the island a harbor was found whose narrow entrance belied its proportions, for it ran far into the land. The squadron came to anchor here, and was soon surrounded with native canoes whose occu- pants brought fish and conies to barter with the Spaniards. The fame of these astonishing white visitors had evidently crossed the island from the northern shores, or else been communicated from Hayti, for these Indians exhibited a friendliness and freedom from all fear which showed that they had learned something of the favorable side of their visitors' character. The vessels remained in this bay until Sunday, the I St of May, and the Admiral exerted himself to learn more of Cuba and its people, but added little to his knowl- edge. Weighing anchor he continued along the coast, which now became more irregular, being indented with bays and the mouths of considerable streams. The great sierras came somewhat nearer to the sea, and the rank luxuriance of the forest growth bore witness to the soil's abounding fertility. From almost every inlet and point the natives put out in their canoes and paddled out to the caravels, bent on holding intercourse and traffic with the strangers. It was a repetition of the Admiral's experience on his first voyage, and the same expressions of joyful welcome and admiration rung from the thronging Cubans as they came near the ships. To them, as to their brethren of the north- ern shore, the Bahamas, and Hayti, these bearded new- comers were heavenly visitants, — no doubt they had been so described by the other natives who had brought the news of their arrival a year ago, — and, therefore, all the Indians had was placed freely at the white men's disposal. In due time they were requited for their hospitahty in the approved Castilian style, being exterminated with a thoroughness which left nothing to be desired. For the present, how- 1 68 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ever, the Spaniards acted with justice and liberality, for the Admiral's orders were of the strictest that nothing was to be accepted without fitting compensation of beads, bells, and other like trifles, all of which were received by the grateful Cubans as of celestial origin. In answer to the Admiral's persistent inquiries, they could give little information as to the extent of Cuba, whether it were island or continent, or in just what direction lay Mangi and Cathay. Of the latter Asiatic province he could learn nothing ; but he fancied that the name of the former one was repeated intelligently by the natives and that they indicated that it was some- where beyond. Of gold they had little or none and seemed to care nothing for it ; but all concurred in pointing to the south, and saying that in that quarter was a great country where was gold in plenty. So consistent and general were these affirmations, that after he had passed a fortnight on the Cuban coast and reached a point a little to the east of Cape Cruz, the Admiral determined to steer due south until he came to the land of which he heard so much. That it was not far off he knew, for the Indians passed fearlessly between it and Cuba in their light canoes. They called it Hamaica, or something that sounded like this, and there may have been, as Las Casas suggests, some thought in the Admiral's mind that this was the golden Babeque or Baveca, of which he had heard so much on his first voy- age. At all events, on the 13th of May, he headed the fleet directly away from the Cuban coast and sailed southward. The voyage was not a long one, for at daylight on the fol- lowing morning there lay dead ahead of the fleet a colossal group of mountain peaks, rising in symmetrical terraces from the water's edge to and beyond the heavy masses of vapor which partially hid their crests from sight. It was a repeti- tion, on a vaster scale, of the scenic glories of Guadalupe and Dominica, save that the outlines of this latest landfall were somewhat less angular, and there was a languorous haze which the islands of the Caribs did not possess. So majestic was the appearance of the island that it seemed worthy of a name of peculiar honor, and accordingly the Admiral christened it Santiago, in homage to the patron IDENTIFYING ASIA. 1 69 saint of Spain. A nearer approach to this favored land only revealed new beauties, but light winds kept the ships off shore until Monday morning. The Admiral hastened then to cast anchor in the first roadstead that offered a fair haven ; but, on the small boats attempting to land, they were beset by a numerous flotilla of canoes which put out from the beach filled with native warriors well armed with lances and bows, who made unmistakable demonstrations of hostility. Not wishing to provoke a conflict, for the Admiral's orders were positive against this, the boats returned to the caravels which weighed anchor at once and stood alongshore toward the west. Some twenty miles in that direction they reached a spacious harbor, shaped like a horse-shoe, to which the Admiral gave the name of Puerto Bueno. Anchoring here, the fleet encountered a reception similar to that from which it had just escaped. The Indians swarmed in their canoes about the vessels, threatening the Christians with a fierce- ness which led the latter to classify them rather with the warlike cannibals than with the pacific peoples of Cuba and the Vega Real. So daring were the Jamaicans that the Ad- miral thought it necessary to give them a realizing sense of the white men's power, so he directed a number of cross- bows to be discharged into the swarm of canoes surrounding the ships. Half a dozen Indians were wounded by the bolts which followed this order, whereupon their companions gave up their show of hostility and withdrew to a safe dis- tance. Having accomplished his object, — whether well or ill depends upon the circumstances of the occasion, — the Admiral caused every effort to be made, both from the ships and on shore when his men landed, by the offer of attractive gewgaws and constant exhibitions of friendliness, to restore confidence among the natives and establish peaceable rela- tions. It did not take long to accomplish this, and soon the usual traffic was in progress, and Indians as well as Spaniards were content with the result. Great throngs of the Jamaicans visited the ships, and from them some knowl- edge of their country was picked up. They knew where to find gold and it was plentiful. Their country was surrounded by water ; off yonder, somewhere in the south or west, was 170 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. another great country. Altogether, the sum of their in- formation was not great, and the Admiral saw that he was as far from Mangi and Cathay as ever. He proposed sail- ing westward along the northern shore of Jamaica to learn something more of its size and character, but before doing so wished to stop a serious leak which had sprung in one of his caravels. Accordingly, he careened her on a con- venient beach in the harbor where the squadron was lying, and, while the work was being done, accumulated a stock of provisions from the natives, and investigated as far as he could the country and its people. Three or four days were passed at this place, during which time the best of relations were established with the islanders. When the squadron resumed its cruise, following the coast towards the west, the Indians put out freely from points alongshore and accom- panied the vessels, keeping up a running traffic with the sailors and displaying every demonstration of eager delight. It was the experience of the first voyage repeated. On approaching the western extremity of the island a suc- cession of violent headwinds was encountered which forbade for the present any effort to continue the cruise towards the south. The insular character of Jamaica was determined, and nothing of immediate importance was to be gained by hngering on its shores. The Admiral, therefore, put about and laid his course again for Cuba, making its coast on the 1 8th of May at the cape now called Cruz, a little to the west of the point whence he had sailed for Jamaica. It was his purpose to continue his exploration of Cuba towards the west for 500 or 600 leagues, if need be, until he had finally discovered whether it was in truth a part of the Asiatic con- tinent, or only the huge island which some of its natives had affirmed. As he pursued his way the coast trended more and more to the south, thus strengthening the continental theory, and, as day after day passed without any indication of a northerly bend, this idea became well-nigh a settled conviction in the minds of all on board the three caravels. The difficul- ties of navigation increased as the voyage proceeded. The terrific rain-storms of the tropics, with their violent bursts of wind, inky skies, incessant hghtning and deafening thunder IDENTIFYING ASIA. \-ji peals, broke daily over the undecked vessels, threatening to overwhelm them between the weight of water entering from overhead and that shipped from the tempest-lashed sea. Long lines of dangerous shoals beset their course, on which they would infallibly have been wrecked but for the exer- cise of a laborious and constant vigilance. The experience was new and alarming to all, for the precautions with which they were familiar seemed idle ; if they attempted to heave to and ride out the storms, they were in peril of the surround- ing shoals, and if they carried the sail necessary to avoid these, they were liable to be thrown on their beam ends by the first fierce blast. In spite of these obstacles the Admiral pursued his course, keeping as near the coast as it was pru- dent and picking his way through the cays and shallows as best he could. As he got farther westward he entered a labyrinth of small islands ; some were reefs awash with the surface of the water, others were well wooded and inviting. This archipelago expanded, as he made his way cautiously through its tortuous channels, until, in a single day, the sailors counted i6o islets of varying sizes. Even the Admiral's fertility in name-choosing was unequal to furnish- ing a distinctive title for each of this infinite array, so he called the whole group The Queen's Garden, as he had, the year before, called the corresponding group off the northern coast of Cuba, the Garden of the King. The slow rate of progress to which the vessels were necessarily confined, afforded frequent occasion for landing on the islands, and thus the Spaniards observed the strange animals and birds with which they abounded. For the same reason they watched more closely than was their wont the countless varieties of fish which swarmed in the narrow waters, and found a wel- come change from their limited commissariat in the shoals of turtle which floated sleepily on the water's surface or lay idly on the sandy keys. As the squadron cleared the shoals and entered the maze of forest-burdened islets, the air grew heavy with the fragrance of blossom and shrub, especially at night, when, the day's storm being over and the brilliancy of a growing moon flooding all about them with its grateful light, even the rough seamen found some compensation for the 1/2 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. toils and perils of the trying day. Even in the clearer chan- nels through which the vessels were now threading, they were exposed to constant risk of running aground, and, despite double watches and masthead lookouts, the " Nina " drove on a hidden bank and was only warped off with infinite patience and labor. Few of the islands were inhabited, and on these the population was small and scattered. Generally the Indians showed no fear, approaching the caravels and offering their fish or other trifling commodities with simple hospitality. On one of the largest, — of sufficient importance to be christened by the not very distinctive name of Santa Maria, — a village of considerable size was found ; but here the natives took to the woods at the approach of the white men, leaving their scanty possessions to be examined by their visitors at leisure. To all the natives encountered some gift of beads or bells was made, and nothing was taken from them, even when freely offered, without an equivalent being returned. For a slave-driver, Columbus certainly acted with a singular considerateness in dealing with his prey. The Indians of this archipelago united in saying that it spread out in all directions away from the mainland of Cuba, and was of indefinite extent. This, with a threatened scarcity of fresh water on the vessels, decided the Admiral to return to the Cuban coast ; so, on the 3rd of June, he gradually worked his way to the northward and struck the coast somewhere about the modern Trinidad or Xagua. Here the forest was so dense, down to the very water's edge, that it was impossible to ascertain whether this part of the coast was inhabited or not. The small boats were rowed close alongshore to look for signs of native habitation, but none were discovered until a sailor, less fearful or more en- ergetic than his shipmates, arming himself with a cross-bow, landed and entered the woods to hunt birds. Scarcely had he disappeared in the thick jungle when his companions heard him calling loudly for assistance, and hastily ran to his rescue. When they arrived he was alone, but related that he had run against a band of some thirty Indians, stealthily watching the caravels and boats from behind the curtain of trees and vines. All were armed with wooden IDENTIFYING ASIA. WS spears and bows and arrows, and some carried in addition great double-edged swords of heavy wood.^ One of the men, he affirmed, was clad in a long white tunic reaching to the ground. They offered no harm to the solitary invader when he came among them, but, at the sound of his shouts for aid, had instantly dispersed and gUded into the trackless woods. The Spaniards returned on board ship, and related their experience to the Admiral, who sent an armed party ashore the next day to trace the fugitives to their home, if possible. The detachment stumbled through a mangrove swamp and forced a painful way through the matted under- growth for a couple of miles, and came back empty-handed to report the impracticability of conducting a pursuit through such obstacles, only to be confronted with the jungle-covered slopes of the steep mountains visible in the distance. The Admiral accepted the result with regret, for the story of the white-clothed warrior — the only Indian thus hampered who had been met with in the New World, so far — had revived his hope of meeting with indications of higher civ- ilization as he pursued his western journey. It is, indeed, permissible to question the absolute veracity of the Spanish sailor who made the discovery. It was a golden opportu- nity for the lonely tar to exercise his active Andalusian or Basque imagination, and he should be an exception to the class did he not, on meeting his comrades, draw with his tongue a bow far longer than the one he carried in his hand. Whether true or false, his tale gained a ready credence, and even in the Admiral's lifetime the solitary Indian in his alleged tunic had expanded into a whole race of white-robed Asiatics. As such it has been the subject of learned con- jecture and dissertation in our modern histories, and thus is likely to remain. We give the fact as Columbus related it in his lost journal, and as Las Casas copied it therefrom. Still following the coast towards the west, the squadron ^ Las Casas describes these formidable weapons minutely, and says that the Cubans called them vtacanas. Similar arms, of the same name, are still common among the more warlike tribes of the Amazon Basin and Guiana, and constitute only one of the many links which bind their possessors to the Caribes of Columbus's day. 174 ^'^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. came upon a village by the seashore, whose people swarmed out in their canoes to offer what they possessed in exchange for the strangers' trinkets. One of these natives was kept on board by the Spaniards, greatly to the distress of his companions and to his own evident alarm, in order to learn something of the country which seemed to stretch so inter- minably beyond them. From him the Admiral gathered that Cuba was an island, that the sea surrounded it on all sides, that an infinite number of smaller islands lay along its shores, and that, in the part of it which he had now reached, ruled a king who never spoke, but indicated his wishes by signs alone. Moreover, this mysterious potentate wore a long robe, and some faint hope suggested itself to the Admiral's mind that he might be that famous Prester John of whom such marvellous tales were told by the few Euro- peans who had penetrated Asia and Africa. The mere thought was enough to stimulate him to fresh effort, and he found in this part of his informant's story a conclusive refu- tation of that other part which affirmed the insular character of Cuba. Who had ever heard of an island in connection with this famous prince? Was he not known to rule in the very heart of Asia, — somewhere ? It was worth a struggle against every difficulty to reach such a goal. Continuing thus hopefully on his course, he shortly found his vessels entangled amid treacherous banks of sand, on one of which they grounded, despite the utmost caution. A scant fathom of water covered this bar, which was two ship's-lengths wide, and there was nothing to do but turn to and warp the cara- vels off their dangerous berth, if it might be done. The task was a difficult one, and for a season it seemed as though the disaster of the Christmas of '92 was to be repeated on a more fatal scale ; but at length the ships were hauled into deep water with no greater damage done than the starting of some seams. The voyage was resumed and the fleet again became entangled amid a maze of small islands and shoals. The Admiral noted with interest, despite his perils, the variety of animal life with which both air and water abounded in this curious archipelago. The shallow seas swarmed with fish and turtles ; dense flocks of pigeons and IDENTIFYING ASIA. 1 75 doves passed overhead ; gulls and other marine birds circled about the vessels in countless numbers ; and, on one day, the air was literally filled from morning until night with myriads of gaudy butterflies drifting Cuba-wards in one of the vast migrations which herald the changing seasons. We know all about these things now, but to the sailors of the little fleet they were marvels. An " island " along one of whose shores they had been sailing for six weeks without changing their main direction ; a wilderness of shoals and islets, the like of which they had never so much as heard of; a sea as milk-white as that of the Carib Islands had been sapphire blue ; sea, land, and air filled with strange shapes in multi- tudes surpassing belief, and all these prodigies increasing in number and degree as the long westward journey continued, — such were the influences at work on the minds of the Admiral's companions as they slowly worked their vessels through the tortuous channels of the island groups which fringe the southwestern coasts of Cuba. With Columbus himself other considerations weighed heavily against his eager desire to set at rest the nature of the land he had been so patiently examining and the mysteries it contained. According to his computations he had sailed for more than 300 leagues towards the west from Cape Alpha and Omega, without discovering any indication of the coast turning northwards. He was now, he thought, 700 leagues west of Dominica, the most easterly of the new lands he had discovered. Who could conceive, under these circum- stances, that Cuba was other than the extremity of Asia? Who had ever imagined an island a thousand miles long, or an archipelago two thousand miles in width? Moreover, the coast was now trending more and more to the south, thus clearly demonstrating the fact that the country was expand- ing into continental proportions. What doubt remained that Hispaniola, Jamaica, Buriquen, and the isles of the Caribs were the gigantic islands said to lie east of Asia, and that Cuba was the easternmost province of that continent? He could, indeed, by proceeding on his voyage, add more leagues of coast to those already followed ; but they might, after all, add nothing to his knowledge, unless he were pre- 176 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE AD AURAL. pared to prolong indefinitely his absence from Hispaniola, and this was far from being the case. In truth, he was already painfully anxious to return and inform himself of the welfare of the colony. It was time for some news to be arriving from Spain ; Margarite's expedition should be con- cluded by the time the squadron reached Isabella; the building of that town required attention, and, even more, its citizens. All these reflections, the Admiral says, caused him to pass days and nights of painful thought. Added to these were the facts that the ships were now dangerously bare of provisions of all kinds, that the men were gnmibling with ever-increasing audacity, and that further navigation toward the west seemed to offer only a succession of the same perils from which they had already more than once so narrowly escaped. To pursue the voyage, in face of these conditions, would be to risk more than would be justifiable. Had he consulted only his own inclinations, he would have followed the setting sun until he had — as he firmly beheved he should — reached Spain by circumnavigating the earth. So emphatic was his belief that he had only to skirt this pre- sumedly Asiatic coast for enough weeks and he should arrive at Cadiz, that he formulated his itinerary: "doubhng the Golden Chersonesus,^ crossing the Gulf of Ganges, and by a new route, either around Africa, or going up the Red Sea and so overland to Joppa and Jerusalem, reach Spain." The prospect was one of captivating brilliancy to a mind filled, as his was, with grand schemes of geographical ex- ploration and mystical dreams of ousting the Paynim from the Holy City. But this was not his present mission ; he had left Isabella to discover the true character of Cuba, and had established beyond all possibility of cavil that it was part of some mainland. That this was Asia was, in his opinion, a matter of course. His duty fulfilled, there was, consequently, every reason why he should sacrifice his own preferences and return to the colony at Isabella with all convenient speed. It was the consistent habit of Columbus to consult with his pilots and chief mariners on all occasions of crisis or ^ The Malay Peninsula of our times. IDENTIFYING ASIA. 177 difficulty. We find him doing it frequently on the first voyage of discovery and all succeeding ones ; he did it now. His own belief was that Cuba was the eastern extremity of Asia ; he re-christened, in his diary, the cape formerly called Alpha and Omega — in symbolic reference to this faith — by the more emphatic title of " End of the Orient." Every indication, to his mind, confirmed this view. But some of the natives, both on the northern shore during his first voy- age and along this southern coast during the present one, had asserted, or seemed to assert, that Cuba was only an- other vast island. This, therefore, was the question which he determined to submit to his skilled companions : Was this land of Cuba, in their judgment, an island or not? They had seen all the other huge islands ; was this only another one? Their Majesties of Spain had repeatedly urged the Admiral to satisfy himself on this score, and re- port to them as fully as possible. It was essential, in their dispute with Portugal, that they should know whether their officer had indeed reached the eastern extension of the oriental continent. It consequently behooved Columbus to collect all the evidence he properly could on this vital point before ceasing his exploration. This he accordingly proceeded to do in the customary and established manner. Our readers will no doubt recall the extreme, almost ludi- crous, importance attached in all Spanish and most Latin countries to the solemn notarial acta. Among all but the most sophisticated, it is considered to rival the Tables of Stone in its imperative force and the Medean laws in its inviolability. Four hundred years ago it was even more revered than now ; and when, on the morning of Thursday, the 12th of June, 1494, the Admiral called upon the royal notary, Fernando Perez de Luna, to draw up an acta as to the general opinion prevalent in the fleet concerning Cuba, he was complying with one of the commonest formalities of his day and station. Nothing that he or any one else could say would have the weight of such a document, and the notary present on the flagship was there to obtain for the information of the Crown just such official depositions con- cerning matters open to dispute. The notary was directed, 178 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. in this instance, to first take the declarations of the officers and crew of the "Niiia," and then proceed, in company with credible witnesses, to the " San Juan" and " Cordera," and take the opinions of those ships' companies. Before doing so he was obliged, by law, to read the demand or requisition made upon him by the Admiral, so that all who were questioned should have full knowledge of what they were expected to answer. As this portion of the paper contains the deliberate asseveration by sixty-five men, in- cluding some of the foremost navigators and seamen of the lime, that the island of Cuba was part of the continent of Asia, and as it gives the arguments which satisfied Colum- bus himself, it will bear translating. " On board the caravel '■ Nina,' which is also called the ' Santa Clara,' Thursday, the 12th of June, in the year of Our Lord's Birth 1494, the most noble Senor Don Christopher Columbus, High Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Viceroy and Perpetual Gov- ernor of the island of San Salvador and of all the other islands and mainland of the Indies, discovered or to be discovered, etc., etc., demanded of me, Fernando Perez de Luna, one of the no- taries public of the city of Isabella, on behalf of their Majesties, [to bear witness] : '■'■ That he had sailed from the said city of Isabella with three caravels to come and discover the mainland of the Indies ; for, although he had already discovered a part of it on the other voyage which he made here the last year of our Lord, 1493 \_sic\, he was not able to learn definitely concerning it, since, notwith- standing that he had remained a long time upon its coasts, he found nobody who could give him positive information, as all the people were naked, having no property or society, being a folk who do not go away from their homes and are visited by none others, according to what he was told by themselves ; for which reason he did then not affirm positively that it was the mainland, but pronounced the matter doubtful and called the country Juana in memory of Prince John, our sovereign ; " That he has now sailed from the said city of Isabella on the 24th of April and arrived at that part of the said country of Juana which lies nearest to the island of Isabella \jic\ and which is shaped like a gore running from east to west, with the point at the end towards Isabella, from which it is twenty-two leagues distant ; that he has followed the coast of this country towards the IDENTIFYING ASIA. \'jc^ west, on the side of the south, to reach a very large island called Jamaica by the Indians, and has found it after sailing a great distance ; that he named this the island of Santiago and fol- lowed its whole coast from east to west, returning afterwards to the mainland, which he calls Juana, at the place whence he had departed ; that he followed the coast of this latter country west- ward for many days, until he declares that, by his rules of navi- gation, he has sailed more than 335 leagues from the time he first struck it until now ; that on this course he has recognized many times, and so proclaimed, that this was the mainland, both because of its shape and of the information he has acquired con- cerning it and the name of the people of the provinces, espe- cially the province of Mango ; that now, after having found countless islands, which no one can accurately number, and arrived here at a village, he has taken several Indians who have told him that the coast of this country continues toward the west for more than twenty days' journey, and they do not know whether it ends even there ; that from that point he determined to continue on somewhat farther, so that the people on these vessels — among whom are masters skilled in sailing by the charts and very good pilots, the most famous which he could choose from among those of the large fleet he brought from Spain — should see how very great is this country and that from here its coast runs toward the south, as he had told them ; that he therefore sailed on for four days' journey more, so that all might be very sure that it was terra firma, — for in all these islands and countries there is no town on the seashore, but only naked people who live upon fish, who never go inland, or even four leagues from their houses, or know what the world is like but believe that it is made up of islands, — a race without law or belief of any kind, except to be born and die, and who have no education by which they may learn aught of the world ; " Therefore, in order that when this voyage is finished no one shall have cause through malice either to speak evil or slight- ingly of things which deserve great credit, the said Admiral has required of me, the said notary, as above recited, on behalf of their Majesties, that I should go personally, with faithful wit- nesses, on board each of the said three caravels, and should demand of the master and crew and all other persons who are aboard them that they publicly declare whether they have any doubt that this is the mainland at the beginning of the Indies, or its end for any one who should desire to come into these parts overland from Spain ; and, if there should be among them any doubt or contrary belief, that I should ask them to declare l80 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. it, so that it might be set at rest, and they should be shown that this is true and that it is indeed the mainland. And I have thus done and have demanded publicly," etc. The notary then recites in detail the question he put to each officer or sailor individually, and their sworn answers. To quote one of these replies, for all : — " The pilots, masters, and seamen, after studying their sea charts, reflected and said as follows : Francisco Nifio, townsman of Moguer, pilot of the caravel ' Nifia,' declares by the oath he has taken that he has never heard of or seen an island which could be 335 leagues in length on one coast, from west to east, and its exploration even not yet ended ; that he sees now the coast turning S.SW., West, and SW., and assuredly has no doubt that this is the mainland, and no island ; and that before going many leagues along this coast a country would be found where civilized people live, who know what the world is," etc. The master of the " Niiia," Alonzo Medel, Juan de la Cosa, her famous chart navigator, and seventeen seamen and sailors made similar affirmation. So did Bartolome Perez, pilot of the " San Juan," Alonzo Perez Roldan, her master, and Alonzo Rodriguez, her first mate, together with twelve of their crew. So did Cristobal Perez Nirio, master, Fenerin Ginoves, mate, and Gonzalo Alonzo Galeote, chief seaman, of the " Cordera," with all of her crew, to say nothing of the half-dozen witnesses. The name, birth- place, and station of each deponent are given, and each in his turn makes a declaration identical with that of the " Nifia's " pilot ; and at no subsequent time, even when such assertion would have brought profit and applause, did any one of them claim that he had been deceived by Columbus. So far as such a "round robin" could have weight, this was one without a flaw. It was not the first of its kind, as its cut and dried phraseology abundantly indicates ; it surely was not the last, for even comparatively modern voyagers have availed themselves of much the same kind of con- sensus. But it was proposed by Columbus and prepared for him, and, hence, in the judgment of his critics, bristles with fraud, hypocrisy, and tyranny. The notary, in closing IDENTIFYING ASIA. l8l his formal period, invokes the ancient penalties for per- jury : " and I have imposed the fine of 10,000 maravedies for each time that any one should in the future say the con- trary of what he now swears, and he shall have his tongue cut out ; and if he is a sailor or person of that class he shall receive a hundred lashes and also have his tongue cut out." The Admiral had nothing to do with this ostensibly san- guinary provision ; the notary included it in his acta as an obligatory recitation. He threatened to mutilate the per- jurers, not Columbus. Just how he was going to cut out their tongues the second time is not clear, or how they were to repeat their offence when already tongueless. Nor does it matter that the whole threat was an empty piece of what the Spaniards would term "of course," — a relic of still ruder days to which no one paid less heed than did the worthy notary, who was obliged to paddle from one ship to another, between the showers, to take the tiresome testimony of these wooden-headed mariners from Palos, Huelva, Moguer, and every port between Fuentarabia and Rosas Gulf. It was enough that the acta was in support of the Admiral's own convictions and hopes for it to excite a tempest of denunciation among his recent censors. In using this means of certification, we are told " Columbus committed himself to the last resort of deluded minds when dealing with geo- graphical or historical problems." His conduct was " auda- cious and arrogant." He " forced his men to sign a paper expressing the same belief" as he held concerning Cuba, and so on, and so on.^ We may admit, without argument, that Columbus did vacillate sadly on this point ; that some- times he understood the Indians to say that Cuba was an island, and gave them unwilling credence ; and again gath- ered with joy from their gestures and jargon that it was of boundless extent, and earnestly impressed upon all about him this supposed confirmation of his own hopes. Beyond all dispute, had he possessed a reliable atlas of the West Indies and the American continent, such hesitation would ^ Yet these same writers see nothing to criticise in the same claim when made by Cabot two years later, who believed that he had seen the shores of Tartary when off Labrador. 1 82 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. have implied great mental obtuseness, and his endeavor to persuade others that Cuba was the mainland of Asia would have merited most of the violent criticism it has received. But, under the circumstances as they existed, there really seems to have been a reasonable excuse for his course ; and those of my readers who have tried to gain an exact knowl- edge of their surroundings, among untrodden wilds or un- navigated waters, from savages speaking an only partially comprehensible tongue, will sympathize rather with the Admiral in his dilemmas than with his critics. While these depositions were being recorded by the notary the three caravels were lying at anchor at the west- ern extremity of what we now call the Gulf of Batabano on the southwestern coast of Cuba. From the repeated references in the acta and elsewhere to the direction taken by the prolongation of this coast as seen from the vessels, Humboldt has established with his customary acumen the fact that they were in all probability then lying in the iden- tical bay which Cortez, in 15 19, appointed as the rendezvous for his armada and whence he sailed upon his expedition against Mexico. Columbus himself, at one time, was almost persuaded that it was the veritable Gulf of the Ganges, on account of its myriad islands. It proved to be the western limit of his present voyage, for on the following day, June 13th, influenced by the motives we have stated, he reluctantly abandoned the prosecution of his westward cruise and led the way toward the south, with the intent of escaping the tangle of shoals and islands in which he was involved and finding an open sea for his eastward run back to Hispaniola. He steered first for an island of greater size than its fellows, where he provided his vessels with wood, water, and such poor supplies of native food as it might afford. To this island he gave the name of Evangelista, but it stands on our maps as the Isle of Pines. After leaving it, the vessels slowly felt there way for ten days through a maze of blind leads, now grounding, now threatened with wreck on some bank to leeward in the sudden squalls of the afternoons, until the crews became disheartened and sullen, and their commander could with difficulty infuse into them any of his IDENTIFYING ASIA. 1 83 own persistent courage. At the end of this time they had to return baffled to EvangeHsta and make a fresh start. They succeeded now in getting clear of the tortuous chan- nels, but found themselves in shallow seas whose unfamiliar colors, — vivid green, milky white, inky black, — shifting with startling abruptness and frequency, added a new terror to the sailors' minds in their constant menace of imminent destruction. On the 30th of June, while the Admiral was writing in his cabin, his flagship drove hard and fast on a shoal. So firmly was she held by the greedy sands that the staunch little " Nina " wellnigh shared the fate of her quondam consort, the " Santa Maria " ; but by dint of much ingenuity and exertion she was lifted over the narrow bank and launched in safety on the farther side, with her timbers badly sprung from the merciless pounding to which her hull had been subjected. Soon after they made the Cuban coast at the point from which they had sailed after return- ing from Jamaica, and thence proceeded eastwards along- shore. At one place, where a native village was built close to the beach, the Admiral landed to hear Mass on Sunday, July 6th. An old cacique, who watched with keen interest the white men's ceremonies, at their conclusion offered Columbus a calabash filled with fruits as a token of amity. Squatting then upon his heels, he made an address to the Admiral which Diego, the interpreter, translated into as philosophical a disquisition on immortality and the future life as Socrates delivered in prison. To this his auditor replied in becoming phrase, agreeing in the main with his theological propositions and explaining that his own motive in visiting Cuba and the adjacent islands was to benefit their inhabitants, especially by ridding them of their dreaded Carib invaders. We are informed that the venerable chief- tain received these assurances with tears of joy, and the affect- ing incident was brought to a close by a brisk interchange of gifts. What the old Indian really did say it is, of course, idle to conjecture ; but we may safely assume that it was not the Platonic discourse which the interpreter supposed, and which has excited so much edifying commentary from the days of Peter Martyr down. 1 84 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. After leaving this anchorage, the fleet encountered a suc- cession of gales which nearly ended its career. The seas continually shipped by the little vessels, especially over the low freeboard they presented amidships, kept all hands toil- ing at the pumps ; while the scanty rations were still further reduced until each man's daily allowance, except when a few fish could be caught, was a pound of spoiled biscuit and a half-pint of watered wine. These harassing experiences persisted until the i8th of July, when the voyagers arrived at the Cape of the Cross, where the natives supplied them abundantly with cassava, fruits, and fish. After resting here two or three days, the Admiral resumed his homeward cruise, only to be met with such stubborn headwinds that he was blown off his course and was glad to make for the western extremity of Jamaica. The occasion being propi- tious, he decided to sail around this island, and accord- ingly doubled its western cape and followed its coast toward the south and east. After the fatigues and perils of the past weeks, the Admiral and his companions fairly revelled in the majestic beauty of the varied panorama which un- folded as they swept along the apparently well-peopled shores. The natives thronged in their canoes from bay and headland, proffering the Spaniards food and fruits " as though they all were the fathers and the Indians their sons." The Admiral himself, freed from his recent distressing cares, allows his love of Nature to have full play, and dwells with delight on the fertility of the soil, the numbers and frank disposition of the inhabitants, and the evident comfort in which they lived. He notes that some of the loftiest moun- tains seem to attain a height sufficient to ensure snows in the proper season, and attributes the heavy rains he encoun- tered to the dense and extensive forests which clothed their flanks ; " for in the past the same thing happened in the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores," he remarks ; "but after the forests had been cut down and the vapors were dried up and dispersed, the heavy rainfalls in great measure came to an end." Landing frequently as he pursued his voyage, and main- taining the most cordial relations with the Indians every- IDENTIFYING ASIA. 185 where, he reached the eastern extremity of Jamaica on the 19th of August, and called it Beacon Cape. The wind serv- ing for Hispaniola, he put out to sea at once, and on the following day was in sight of the western point of that island, which he christened Cape St. Michael and we know as Tiburon. X. THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. WHEN he bestowed its name on Cape St. Michael, the Admiral did not know that it was part of Hispan- iola; it was so far to the west and south of Cape St. Nicholas that he at first thought it was part of another island. But as he lay at anchor, the day after making land, a canoe- load of Indians came alongside the flagship and their leader called out "Admiral, Admiral," in good Spanish, following the words with a flood of native gutturals. Columbus was hugely delighted at this occurrence, for he gathered there- from not only that he was again in Hispaniola, but that, in his absence, the expedition he had sent out under Margarite had penetrated to the western confines of the island and, as he presumed, met with no opposition. He determined to sail along the southern coast, rather than return by the northern route around Cape St. Nicholas, and, if the winds served, make a descent on the chief villages of the cannibals in Guadalupe and Dominica for the purpose of impressing them with the power of the Spanish arms. This project was doubtless based upon the expectation that by this season the Carib men should have returned from the forays on which they had gone when he landed on their islands a year be- fore, and that it would redound greatly to the credit of the Spaniards, in the estimation of the other native tribes, if such a lesson were inflicted upon their dreaded invaders. That he should have contemplated doing anything of the sort with the petty force at his disposal is a striking instance of the supreme confidence the Europeans felt, both then and THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. \%j always, in their superiority over the aborigines of the west- ern world. Coasting leisurely to the eastward and studying the country as he passed, the Admiral reached on the 30th of August a lonely islet, which he called Alta Vela, from a fancied resemblance to a hoisted sail. Here he had to wait a week for his two consorts, which had become separated from him by a sudden tempest. Thence they passed to an island he called Beata, which is off the point of the same name about midway between Capes Tiburon and Engafio. From here he sailed into the Bay of Azua, whose level shores opened into wide and thickly populated savannahs corre- sponding closely with the great Vega Real on the northern coast. Wherever the fleet touched the natives came off in their canoes with gifts and friendly greetings, and from them the Admiral learned much concerning the condition of the colony at Isabella and the extent to which the scouting-par- ties had scoured the country. One band of Spaniards, it appeared, had come overland from Isabella to the very coasts where the fleet now was; so when he reached the River Hayna, not far from the present city of San Domingo, the Admiral landed a detachment of nine men, who were to cross the country to Isabella, bearing news of his welfare and intended early arrival at that port. The tidings given him by the Indians respecting the colony were uniformly favorable, so that his anxieties as to what had befallen it since his departure were to a great extent relieved. Without further incident of interest the southeastern end of Hispaniola was reached, but here the voyagers met with a reception much like that the Admiral had suffered in Sam- ana Bay on the first voyage. When the ships' boats landed for water the natives poured down upon the Spaniards, brandishing their bows and lances and shaking cords to inti- mate that they would capture and bind the strangers if they approached. By the display of gifts and a friendly dispo- sition a conflict was averted, and when the Indians learned that it was the Guamiquina in person who was on their shores they hastened to bring food and water in abundance with every indication of cordiality. P'rom their warlike bearing and superior weapons, as compared with the tribes 1 88 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. farther west, and especially from their possession of poi- soned arrows, Columbus argued that they were of the same hardy clan as the courageous warriors of Samana, and treated them with marked consideration. It is worth noting, in turn, that although only four months had elapsed since he had left Isabella, and the colony had not more than four or five hundred men who were capable of undertaking any severe exertion, the Spaniards had spread so far beyond the narrow radius of forty or fifty miles, within which they had moved up to the time of the Admiral's leaving them, that on his return he found his title and power recognized from one end of the island to the other, a distance of four hun- dred miles. Had their energy been governed by a policy in which humanity and wisdom were one, the white men would have made a different history for the noble islands they so easily overran. Leaving the pacified inhabitants of Higuey, — for so their territory was termed, — the fleet made for Cape En- gano, — or, as Columbus had christened it in June of '94, Cape St. Raphael, — intending to steer thence for Porto Rico and the Carib Islands before returning to Isabella. From various indications of sea and sky, and especially from the excited antics of a huge devil-fish which rose to the surface and threw itself about in a frenzied manner, the Admiral anticipated severe weather and accordingly sought for a haven. The rising storm separated the vessels, but the " Niiia " found shelter under the lee of Saona Island, off the southeastern extremity of Hispaniola. The gale and subsequent contrary winds lasted a week, at the end of which time the "San Juan" and "Cordera" rejoined their consort, a good deal the worse for the buffeting they had received. While lying at anchor Columbus succeeded in taking a satisfactory observation of an eclipse of the moon, which occurred on the 15th of September. From the ele- ments thus secured he deduced the calculation that there was a difference of five hours and twenty-three minutes in time between his position and Cadiz. To this eclipse, with an admixture of astronomy and meteorology characteristic of the day, he also attributed the duration and violence of THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 189 the tempest which had overtaken him, — a conclusion in which he was no doubt supported by the Ephemerides from which his data were derived. From Saona the fleet steered for Cape Engano and thence passed to the island of Mona, about midway between Hispaniola and Porto Rico. From Mona a course was laid for the latter island, and the vessels had all but reached its coast when, without any premonition of the approaching calamity, the Admiral was stricken with a profound coma and fell to the deck as though dead. Flis affrighted companions gave him such attention as they thought efificacious, but he lay in such a lifeless stupor that they did not expect to see him survive the day. In this emergency they put about ships and headed again for the shores of Hispaniola. Their commander continued in the same deathlike trance for day after day, without a movement or sign of intelligence, as they rounded the Samana Point and steered for Isabella; and when, on the 29th of Septem- ber, the three caravels entered that harbor and came to anchor below the town, it was little better than a corpse that Don Diego Columbus and his newly arrived brother, Don Bartholomew, found when they hastened to greet the Admiral and Viceroy. For two and thirty nights in succession this indefatigable sailor had kept the deck in the perilous navi- gation among the Cuban shoals, besides sharing by day the labors of his shipmates and their scanty fare. The constant demands upon his attention and interest when coasting Jamaica and Hispaniola had prevented his getting any ade- quate rest later on. Now Nature had imposed her inevita- ble penalty, and it was an open question whether or not he * should be spared the distresses of the future years by ending his career then and there. Had he never regained consciousness, but passed away in the narrow cabin of the "Nina" or in his half-com- pleted "palace" at Isabella, the fame of Columbus would, perhaps, have been none the less, while the limitations of his character would not have been so sharply defined as they were by subsequent events. The close of this cruise to Cuba and Jamaica marked, in fact, a distinct epoch in the Admiral's life. It rounded off his discoveries of the 1 90 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. colossal islands to which the older world, in its confusion of ideas, variously referred as Antillia, the parts of India beyond the Ganges, Ophir, and Cipango. He had set at rest the fluctuating speculations which the Middle Ages had inherited from Antiquity, and fitted the missing half of our sphere to the one with which mankind was familiar. We say advisedly that he had done this, for had his life closed in September, 1494, any one of the pilots, masters, or mari- ners who had manned the fleet he brought from Spain could, and some of them would, have found the continent which lay so near. This was the inevitable sequel to the work Columbus had already performed. Nothing but the absolute and contemporaneous annihilation of every soul who had accompanied him could now prevent such a con- summation. From Dominica to Jamaica and the western end of Cuba the Caribbean Sea was open to the Spaniards, and they had heard from scores of sources that populous and wealthy countries lay to the south, west, and north. Here were both direction and inducement. It was merely a question of a year or two, more or less, when some one should reach these goals. The Indians made the passage in their great canoes, and what they did with paddles surely Europeans might be expected to do with sails. In a word, the book was open for whomsoever had the desire and the means to read. Whether Columbus was right or wrong in conjecturing Hayti to be Cipango, and Cuba the Asiatic mainland, was immaterial. When his three caravels sailed into the port of Isabella with their unconscious comman- der, all that was essential in the problem of western naviga- tion had been solved. An otherwise niggard fate did, ■ indeed, later on, allow the Admiral to be the actual dis- coverer of the southern continent, as he had been of the great western world of which it was a part; but from our point of view his discovery of Paria was only an interest- ing incident in his career, not an element of his fame. Several days elapsed before Columbus regained the full use of his faculties. When he was able to recognize those about him, and saw in their number the stalwart form of his brother Bartholomew, his joy knew no bounds; for this THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 191 was a man after his own heart. The last time the brothers had met was in the trying days when, wearied with his ineffectual efforts to obtain the assistance of the Spanish Crown, Columbus turned to the other courts of Europe for the aid he needed to prosecute his plans of discovery. At that season Bartholomew had undertaken to present the project to the English king, Henry VII., and had parted from Christopher with that intention. How and where he had been delayed during the intervening years is largely matter for conjecture, and is not germane to our narrative. He was, at all events, in London when he heard of his brother's return to Spain from his first voyage. Making such speed as he could to rejoin him, Bartholomew reached Seville only to find that the Admiral had already sailed on his second expedition. That there was some communica- tion, however infrequent and unreliable (as the times com- pelled), between the two brothers, is shown by the fact that he found letters awaiting him from the Admiral, indicating what course he should pursue. In compliance with these he presented himself before the King and Queen, by whom he was graciously received, and commanded to follow the Admiral in a squadron of three caravels which was leisurely being fitted out to carry supplies and despatches to the colony. These vessels sailed from Cadiz towards the end of April, 1494, and reached Isabella early in August, long after the Admiral had left on his Cuban cruise. During the seven weeks which passed between his arrival and the return of the Admiral, Bartholomew had ample oppor- tunity to learn from his younger brother Diego all that had occurred since the colonists had reached Hispaniola. Being a man of affairs and action, devoted to his brother's interests, prudent, well-poised, and coolly courageous, his presence was an inestimable advantage to the Admiral, and no doubt contributed more than anything else to furnish to the latter the moral stimulus needed to overcome the physical collapse into which he had fallen. Equally grateful to the disabled leader were the de- spatches which Bartholomew had brought from the King and Queen. The squadron in which he came was on the 192 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. point of leaving Cadiz when, on the loth of April, the twelve vessels commanded by Antonio de Torres sailed into port on their return from Hispaniola, bearing the first tidings which had been received from the colony. The three caravels were accordingly detained until Torres could send to their Majesties the budget with which he had been entrusted by their Admiral and Viceroy. The news only emphasized the necessity of hastening forward the provi- sions and supplies with which the squadron was laden, and it was hurried away as soon as a few short letters could be written and some slight additions made to its cargo. Ferdinand and Isabella did not wait to receive the detailed reports which Torres was preparing to deliver in person, but contented themselves with sending a short message of sympathy and encouragement, with the promise of longer correspondence and more abundant supplies by another squadron which should be fitted out immediately. Few as were the words Don Bartholomew brought from the sovereigns, they were more efificacious than a cordial to the exhausted and anxious Admiral. '• In much esteem and consideration we hold you," their Majes- ties wrote, "for what you have done out yonder, which could not be better. . . . Rest assured that we deem ourselves to be greatly served and laid under obligation by yovi on account of it, and bound to render you thanks, honor, and advancement, as your great services demand and merit. . . . There is no time now to reply as we would wish, but when the other squadron goes, we shall answer and provide for everything by it, as may be needed. We have been displeased by the things which have been done out yonder in opposition to your wishes. By the first vessels which come here send Bernal de Pisa, to whom we have written that he get his affairs in shape to leave. In the office which he has filled place the person whom to you and Fray Boil should seem best, until other arrangements can be made from here." This association with himself of the meddlesome priest may have seemed to the Admiral to be an invasion of his prerogatives; but it was not, under the circumstances, a matter of moment. The wily churchman had already gathered his robes around him and shaken the rich mould of Hispaniola from his sandals. THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 193 Columbus had double cause for self-congratulation upon his brother's arrival when he heard of what had occurred at Isabella and throughout the island during his absence; for a strong hand, quick understanding, and inflexible will were needed to prevent the complete disintegration of the Span- ish colony and preserve its authority among the native tribes. As he listened to the discouraging reports and reflected upon his own inability to leave his couch, the one consola- tion he possessed lay in the thought that he had at last by his side a deputy whose loyalty was beyond suspicion and whose energy was equal to his own. The tale that was poured into his ears was enough to have shaken the spirit of the strongest; that it did not break his own, in his enfeebled state, is evidence, if any were needed, of the indomitable courage which was his most salient characteristic. The troubles had their origin, it appeared, with Margarite. In- stead of carrying out the Admiral's written instructions and pursuing a systematic course of pacific exploration, this officer, as soon as the commander-in-chief had sailed from Isabella, had marched back with all his forces from Cibao into the Vega Real and quartered himself upon the hospit- able inhabitants of that favored region. Far from investi- gating the rugged interior and leading a demonstration against the warriors of Caonabo, Margarite had abandoned himself to the agreeable idleness of a life where he was reverenced as a god and anticipated in every wish by a confiding and attractive people. Like master, like man : his 400 soldiers, or the greater part of them, each chose such village or household as to him seemed best, installed himself as a deity, inferior, indeed, to the great central divinity, but yet a god, established his own harem, and ruled over his own band of obsequious and somewhat frightened drudges. Viceroy, King, Queen, Spain, Isa- bella, Caonabo, — all these were but words to jeer at; Mar- garite and his merry men were leading the life of the Golden Age and recked nothing of the morrow. The inevitable consequences followed a license which knew no shame and a despotism which feared no restraint. The Indians saw their homes violated, their little stores of food squandered, 13 194 ^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. themselves abused, and their fellows murdered, until their Pantheon of bearded gods rapidly developed into a vei itable Pandemonium of insatiable tyrants. Unaccustomed to ac- cumulating provision for the future, the natives soon were unable to supply the apparently fabulous requirements of their now unwelcome guests for all kinds of food; scarcity brought renewed ill-treatment and violence, in which the caciques and their King himself were menaced with outrage and torture. Gentle and simple-minded as the people were, they began to resent a treatment which threatened their very existence. Rumors of their disaffection reached the sur- rounding and more vigorous tribes of the mountains, and they agitated the question of making common cause with the plainsmen. The situation began to be grave, and the Council which represented the Viceroy in his absence felt called upon to remonstrate with Margarite for the course he was following. That high-spirited cavalier furiously re- sented their interference, scorned their remonstrance, and defied their authority in their own seat at Isabella. In this proceeding he was abetted, either openly or covertly, by Fray Boil and those who had sided with him and Bernal de Pisa in their earlier disputes with the Admiral. The towns- people were for the most part indisposed toward the govern- ment on general principle; the Council was utterly unable to enforce its requirements, and was, moreover, divided as to these. At this juncture the three caravels arrived from Spain, bringing fresh supplies and another foreign inter- loper in the person of Don Bartholomew Columbus. Per- haps Margarite and his faction gauged the man at once and saw that they had to deal with some one of a very different type from mild Don Diego; perhaps some sort of a com- promise was reached by which the Admiral's brothers and their colleagues were glad to get rid of the malcontents.-^ At all events, as soon as the three ships were unloaded they 1 That the loyal majority of the Council retained some control of affairs is exhibited by the retention of Bernal Diaz de Pisa at Isabella, under restraint. Had the malcontents been as powerful as some have claimed, they would surely have taken with them to Spain this invalu- able witness against the Admiral. THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 195 were despatched again to Cadiz, and with them sailed Margarite, Fray Boil, nearly all his priests, and a goodly number of their sympathizers. Hispaniola was well rid of the whole connection, but they had only transferred their intrigues to the other side of the Atlantic, and were to be heard from again later on. The colony at Isabella was relieved by their departure and a quieter feeling prevailed than at any time since its foundation; but a contrary effect was produced among the soldiers who were living at ease in the hamlets of the Vega Real. Conscious of the motive and method of Margarite's defection, and sensible of the inability of the Council to control their actions, they aban- doned all idea of discipline, and, breaking up into bands of greater or less size, wandered in whatever direction fancy dictated. Several parties made their way across country into the adjacent territories of Guacanagari; others went into the sierras of Cibao in search of gold ; still others struck across the island to its southern shores ; others yet drifted towards the east into the confines of Higuey: and so they went their several ways until they had emerged at the widely separated points where their traces had been found by the Admiral. They had, indeed, explored the island, but with far different results from those he had anticipated. Where- ever they had gone there had been pillage, rapine, cruelty. What they coveted they took by force; what they wanted done they secured by violence. Presuming on their own prowess and despising the native feebleness, they became increasingly heedless of all consequences, until they placed themselves in the power of the people they were goading to desperation. News began to reach the colony of ambushes and massacres. Guatiguana, cacique of a large village on the Yaqui, quietly put ten Spaniards out of the way at one stroke, and then set fire to a cabin wherein several more lay disabled by sickness. Other petty chiefs were glad to fol- low his lead, and here two or three, there half a dozen " Christians " were despatched. Rumors of these notable deeds circulated among the tribes and inspired the more warlike chieftains to efforts at emulation, until a concerted movement was set on foot, led by Caonabo, Mayrionex, and 196 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. two equally prominent native kings, to clear the whole island of the now abhorred strangers. This was the position of affairs as described to the Ad- miral when he had recovered sufficiently to hear it: the native population was aroused to open hostility from one end of the island to the other; his soldiers scattered from Samana Bay to Cape St. Nicholas; no gold collected; no fortresses established; his enemies on their way to Court to undermine his reputation, — and he helpless on his back in the grip of a disease which threatened to hold him prisoner for many a weary week. While he was considering the measures to be adopted for the restoration of the Spanish authority and the prosecution of his plans, he was visited by Guacanagari, who had heard of the Admiral's illness and had come from his own territory to confer with his former ally. This action of itself dispelled all doubts which might still have existed in the mind of Columbus as to the King's loyalty, and his confidence was further strengthened by the motive of the present visit. Guacanagari said that he had given shelter and protection to 100 Spaniards who had sought his assistance when the other caciques began to make reprisals upon the white men; that Caonabo and his associates had resented this as an act of treachery to the other tribes and had harried his country, slain his sub- jects, and in every way endeavored to force him to abandon the Spaniards and join his countrymen in warring upon them; that notwithstanding this persecution he was firm in his intention to maintain his alliance with the Admiral and to lend him every support in his power. Coming, as it did, at a moment when the whole aspect of his relations with the natives was so gloomy, this tender of cooperation was heartily welcome. Columbus explained to his old friend that as soon as he was well he should go to attack the hostile tribes and would gladly avail of Guacanagari 's proffered help, in return for which the Spaniards would chastise his enemies and he "be rewarded for his fidelity. With his knowledge of the inoffensive character of the people of Marien, the Admiral could not have attached great impor- tance to their military efficiency, but it was something THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 197 gained if even a single tribe stood out in favor of the "Christians" when the whole island was in arms against them. The situation was in truth serious enough. The whole effective strength of the Spaniards at his disposal did not exceed 400 men, a large proportion of whom were rather invalids than sound soldiers. Besides these were small groups scattered, if not lost, throughout the country, and the garrison of Fort St. Thomas, which Hojeda still held with fifty or sixty men. Against this paltry force was arraying the entire fighting population of the central portion of the island, armed, it is true, with nothing better than bows and arrows, wooden spears, and heavy wooden swords, but formidable by reason of their numbers. How many really were mustering at the call of Caonabo and his associates there is no means of knowing, but it was an immense horde. The position of the colonists seemed desperate and Columbus found in Hojeda a man who would assume corresponding risks to relieve it. With nine mounted companions he undertook to execute the suspended project of seizing Caonabo, who was regarded by all, Europeans as well as natives, as the head of the whole insurrection. Rid- ing far into this king's territory, overawing the Indians on the road by his formidable display of the terrible new ani- mals, — half man, half great quadruped, — Hojeda succeeded in gaining possession of Caonabo and brought him safely to Isabella. One account says he cajoled the King into accom- panying him by promising that the Spaniards would make him lord over the whole island. Another, on the correct- ness of which Las Casas insists, attributes Hojeda' s success to the exhibition by him before Caonabo of a brightly polished chain and handcuffs of the coveted hard metal to which the Indians attributed a divine origin. They took its clanking to be the voice of the deity speaking to the white men, it appears; for they had remarked th'=". signs of reverence which the colonists showed when the A ngelus rang out from the little bell in Isabella, and the readiness with which they gathered around it when it sounded for Mass. This, the natives believed, was because the white men's god was talking to them, and that the divine gift was common to 198 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. all their strange metal. Hence, so goes the story, the offer of a brilliant and jangling chain of the celestial material was bait suiificient to separate the native King from his surrounding people and lure him to a distance, where the tempting links were quickly and safely attached to his limbs. When we consider the part taken by this same chief in the existing uprising, and, in particular, his reasons for distrusting the captain whose fort he had so lately been besieging, it is ditificult to reconcile these stories with the probabilities, especially as a third version relates that Cao- nabo was taken prisoner in a skirmish. In whatever man- ner it was accomplished, the warrior King did become the Spaniards' prisoner and was securely confined at Isabella.-^ Having thus disposed of his most formidable opponent, the Admiral sent out an expedition against Guatiguana, the cacique who had caused the massacre of ten Spaniards and the burning of many more. The results were as might be expected when matchlock, cross-bow, and keen-edged blades were used by mail-clad veterans against naked levies armed with bone-tipped arrows and wooden assegais. No particular harm was done the Spaniards, while the Indians were shot and cut down in numbers which it was too trou- blesome to estimate. Their cacique escaped, but some 500 of his followers were secured alive and brought to the colony as slaves. With this example before him,Guarionex, the overlord of Guatiguana and of all the other caciques in the Vega Real, was willing enough to follow the advice of Guacanagari and enter into an alliance with the Span- iards, which was cemented, to travesty the language of diplomacy, by the marriage of his daughter to Diego, the Admiral's trusted interpreter. There is no evidence that the colony gained an effective ally by this arrangement, but it was something that another chief whose territories bor- dered so closely upon Isabella was willing to refrain from ^ If we compare the accepted account of Caonabo's seizure by Hojeda with the letter of instruction sent by Columbus to Margarita, we shall find some ground for believing that the story was in after years invented to agree with the orders known to have been given for Caonabo's capture. THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 199 joining the native confederacy. The seizure of Caonabo had only infuriated the other kings and caciques. Insti- gated by his three brothers, they were gathering their forces for an assault upon the colony which was intended to be irresistible. The Admiral attempted to frustrate this by send- ing out occasional raiding-parties into the nearer disaffected districts, and caused to be built another fortress, which he named Conception, in the heart of the Vega Real, between Isabella and Fort St. Thomas. But although the Indians were uniformly beaten in every skirmish and the Spaniards drove them by hundreds into the town to be held as slaves, the movement was too far-reaching and deeply rooted to be checked by any partial measures. During all this time the Admiral was bed-ridden. Rely- ing chiefly upon his brother Bartholomew and the ubiqui- tous Hojeda, he had directed the various movements and measures which seemed best calculated to check the threat- ened invasion, hoping to avert it until his health should be sufificiently recovered to enable him to take the field in person and conduct an offensive campaign. Affairs were in this critical posture when, some time early in November, the anxious colonists saw with a joy whose extravagance was pardonable four caravels sailing into their harbor, coming direct from Spain. It was not long before all on shore knew that they were commanded by the same Antonio de Torres who had taken back the fleet of twelve ships in February, and were laden with the supplies of all kinds which were so sorely needed. To the Admiral the man, with the messages he brought, was as welcome as the provisions and stores, for he trusted Torres and saw in his speedy return to Hispaniola the establish- ment of a regular communication with the mother-country without which the settlement was likely to be hard pushed for existence. The report made by his officer was deeply gratifying to Columbus. Torres related his arrival at Cadiz a few days before Don Bartholomew's departure for Isa- bella in April, and the reasons which delayed his own immediate access to the King and Queen. As soon as he had been able to have an audience with their Majesties, 200 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. he had presented the Admiral's packet of letters and memorials, and the sovereigns had promptly instructed Fonseca to fit out eight caravels with abundant supplies of all kinds for the colony at Isabella. Later on, owing to the chronic scarcity of funds with the Spanish Crown, this squadron was divided into two : four caravels were to be prepared hastily and brought out by Torres, while the other four were to come out later. Their Majesties had been greatly pleased with all that Torres had to report and with the contents of the Admiral's despatches, and had given repeated orders to have everything arranged as the latter desired. Shortly before sailing with his four vessels, Torres had a final interview with the King and Queen, at which they had delivered to him sundry letters for the Admiral, and also the famous Memorial given by the latter to him on January 30th. On this document their Majesties had caused to be written, at the side of every paragraph, their replies to the representations and recommendations made by Columbus, and they now returned the annotated original to him as their reply to his report. We can ima- gine the interest with which the invalid Admiral broke the seals and ran his eye over the commentary which embraced the verdict of his royal master and mistress upon his course of action, under the unexpected conditions he had found confronting him on reaching Navidad. His enemies, headed by Fray Boil and Margarite, were already at Court or would soon be there, and it was all important to Colum- bus to know in what mood, concerning himself, they were likely to find Ferdinand and Isabella. The running com- ments dictated by their Majesties and inscribed on the returned Memorial left no doubt on this score, and freed the Admiral of at least all present anxiety as to the attitude of the King and Queen towards himself. It has pleased that class of critics, who have undertaken to free the world from the superstitious admiration under which it has so long and lamentably labored in respect of Columbus, to represent the Spanish sovereigns as entering " in the mar- gins their comments and orders" . . . "just as it was perused by them." We are informed that, as the Admiral THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 2OI ''makes excuses and gives his reasons for not doing this or that, the compliant monarchs as constantly write against the paragraphs, 'He has done well,' " etc. It must have been cause of added satisfaction to Columbus to notice (as his censors might have done, had they cared to be exact) that this is precisely what his royal patrons did not do. They did not pass their formal judgment upon his acts and proposals until the 15th of August, as the document itself shows, — four months after Torres had delivered it to them. At that time the comments were written out in his presence, to be enlarged upon and supplemented by the verbal mes- sages which, as the paper shows, he was charged to give the Admiral. It is true that their Majesties did uniformly approve and applaud the report and its suggestions; but they did it after ripe reflection and with entire familiarity with all the facts; not impulsively and out of mere com- plaisance, as the detractors of Columbus would have us think. Even in the matter of the proposed enslaving of the Caribs, their Majesties heartily approved, in so far as the measure was ostensibly based upon a solicitude for the salvation of their souls. It was only in regard to the pro- position to pay in cannibal slaves the costs of the future supplies needed for the colony that Ferdinand and Isabella informed Columbus that they preferred to wait until they should hear further from him on the subject; and in doing this they appear to have considered only the commercial expediency of the plan, not its moral obliquity. In short, as the Admiral read the royal comments upon his own memorial, and heard Torres add this, that, and the other verbal message from King or Queen, he had just reason for feeling that all he had done and projected was emphat- ically endorsed by them and would receive their cordial support. It was a vast relief to his anxious mind, and the fact that this approbation was not the fruit of an outburst of enthusiasm, born of a natural pleasure at seeing the great fleet safely returned and hearing of the successful founding of the colony, but was sober second thought on the eve of Torres's setting out on his return to Isabella after four months of conference and consultation, added immensely 202 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. to the importance of the royal concurrence in the estima- tion of its recipient, — as it should in our own. In face of the record it is not worth while to try to minimize the acquiescence and applause of Ferdinand and Isabella. What Columbus had done and wished to do they liked and extolled, and they did not hesitate to say so unreservedly. The formal letter which they sent by Torres, dated on the i6th of August, — just before his departure, — was still more pronounced in its sympathy and encouragement. "We have read the letters and memorials which you sent us by Torres," their Majesties wrote, " and have had great pleasure in knowing all that which you tell us therein. We return many thanks to our Lord for all this, because we hope that with his help this affair of yours may be the means by which our holy Catholic faith shall be much more widely extended. One of the chief reasons why this business has so greatly pleased us is that it has been planned, begun, and carried out by your skill, effort, and perseverance ; for it appears to us that all which you assured us at the outset could be accomplished has, for the most part, proved exact, as though you had seen it all before you spoke to us about it." What more could any servant of any monarch desire than such words as these from the Crown he served ? " We have faith in God," continues the letter, " that what yet remains to be learned will correspond with that which is past, for which latter we hold ourselves under much obligation to recompense you in such manner that you shall rest satisfied." What more specific acknowledgment of duty well per- formed could a servitor of the state receive? The King and Queen add that, "although you have written us suf- ficiently in detail about all matters of interest, so that it is a great joy and delight to read your letters, we should wish that you write us something more." They catalogue the subjects upon which they desire more explicit informa- tion, — the number of all the islands found and their Indian names; the distance from one to the other, and the produc- tions of each; the results of the sowing and planting of European seeds and cuttings; the climate of each month as compared with that of Spain, whether as " some would have THE REVOLT OF THE TRIBES. 203 US believe, there are out yonder in each year two winters and two summers." Ferdinand would like all the falcons which can be secured in the new lands/ and specimens of all other birds. Torres will report concerning the filling of the Admiral's requisitions. Now that no further cause of dis- pute exists with Portugal, and the Spanish vessels can cross the ocean without fear of interception, at least one caravel per month should be despatched from Hispaniola, so as to maintain constant communication between Spain and the colony, provided this meets with the Admiral's approval. "In what relates to the methods which you should adopt with the people you have out yonder, what you have so far done seems well to us, and so you should continue, giving them as much satisfaction as circumstances will allow. But do not allow them to fail in any of the things tliey ought to do and which you should order them to do in our name. In regard to the settle- ment you have founded, there is no one who can prudently give directions or improve anything from this distance. If we were there, we should follow yovu advice and opinion in this matter ; how much the more when we are away! Therefore we leave the affair in your hands." Their Majesties then refer to a copy which they enclose of the treaty signed between Spain and Portugal in the pre- ceding June for the amicable adjustment of all disputes concerning the rights of each in the unknown ocean, and express the desire to have the Admiral or his brother Don Bartholomew present at the approaching deliberations of the joint commission which was to determine the limits of each nation's rights. In any event the Admiral was to send them a full discussion of the whole subject from his point of view, together with his own suggestions as to the proper line of demarcation and such maps as he should consider useful. Unmistakably cordial as was the whole tenor of this letter, Ferdinand and Isabella were not contented to limit their expressions of support to the letters written to the Admiral in person. Torres was also entrusted with a royal ^ The King was evidently tliinking of the frequent mention made by Marco Polo of the superior quality of falcons found in Asia. 204 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. rescript or proclamation addressed to the " Knights, squires, officials, gentlemen, and all others of whatever degree or condition you may be, who, by our orders have gone, are going, or hereafter may go" to the Indies, enjoining them under heavy penalties to "do and fulfil everything which our Viceroy and Governor shall order or deem necessary for our service." The effect of this document was naturally to strengthen the Admiral's hands, even among those who were inclined to sympathize rather with Bernal de Pisa, Boil, and Margarite than with him. Those who were loyal gathered new courage from this palpable evidence of their sovereigns' satisfaction and support, while the new men who had come out with Torres saw in it a sufficient answer to the criti- cisms which they were sure to hear of the Admiral's rela- tions to the King and Queen. Whatever might be the danger threatening from without, Columbus felt that he might count upon at least a season of peace within the colony. As the voyage to Cuba and Jamaica marked a distinct epoch in the Admiral's career of discovery, so did the arrival of this budget of royal approvals and commenda- tions mark a corresponding phase in the history of his con- nection with P'erdinand and Isabella. He had to report to them a vast extension of their new domains, with the cer- tainty of still wider dominion, and had received from them their last expression of frank, spontaneous, and unqualified confidence and countenance. The long, bitter struggle with his enemies for the royal favor, which ended only on his deathbed, had begun. XI. THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. AS we follow the Admiral along the southern shores of Cuba, Jamaica, and Hayti, on the cruise which was just finished, we find the engaging scenes of his first experiences among the Bahamas repeated at almost every beach and bay where native villages were found. Swarms of delighted and friendly Indians, flotillas of welcoming canoes, hospitable offerings of food and fruits, marked the progress of the Spanish ships as they slowly sailed from one headland to another. Although to most, if not all, on board the caravels the novelty of such a reception had long worn off and its constant repetition savored of tame- ness, the Spaniards met the natives in the same spirit of cordiality and left them far more enriched, in their own conception, than they were before the white men's treasures of beads and bells had been distributed. In all this time we find no trace of impatience, contempt, or harshness in the Admiral's treatment of the islanders. What they offered was received with appreciation and paid for, in the donors' estimation, with overwhelming generosity. No injustice was done them, no advantage taken of their ignorance and weakness. His references to them are kindly and indulgent, and his two correspondents, — the Cura de los Palacios and Peter Martyr, — who have trans- mitted to us his familiar opinions concerning those islands and their peoples, uniformly preserve the same tone of sympathetic friendliness. There was, therefore, no dif- ference between the benevolent sentiments he cherished 205 2o6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. toward the Indians at the time of the Discovery and those which he exhibited during this second voyage, — as there was none in the voyages which succeeded. Where the natives were peaceably disposed and met him in a spirit of frank- ness and confidence, he was quick to respond in a similar strain. There is absolutely nothing in the record to justify an honest doubt, that in pursuing this humane course, his ideas of policy coincided with his personal inclinations. But where he was received with menaces and brandished weapons, he opposed arms to arms; where the cannibals threatened the permanency of his projected settlements and the anatomical integrity of his settlers, he treated them as natural foes; where his men were slaughtered and his colony endangered, he looked upon his savage adversaries as Miles Standish did upon the pagan disturbers of the Puritan peace. What were the merits of the several issues is not the question. Doubtless there were as flagrant cases of injustice in the Indian affairs of Hispaniola in 1494 as there were in those of the United States centuries after- ward. We cannot deny the academical correctness of the plea that the aborigines were entitled to resist the invasion of their sierras and savannahs, and repel, if they could, the Europeans vi et armis. Las Casas urged that point as eloquently and logically in the time of Columbus as Mrs. Jackson, or Mr. Welsh, or any of the devoted friends of the redman, have done and are doing in our own day, — and with just about the same measure of success. Columbus did not go as far in his classification of Indians good and bad as have some of our own bravest soldiers, for he was contented to believe that an Indian was safely disposed of when he was made a slave; but there was no shadow of turning in his emphatic conviction that a bow was to be met with an arquebuse and an assegai with a lance. Fight- ing was not even an accomplishment in those days to a man of active life : it was a necessity of his existence. Battle, murder, and sudden death were good things to be delivered from, no doubt, but the chance of escaping them was small for most adult litanists of the stronger sex. To their credit be it said, that they fought cheerfully and manfully on all THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 207 occasions, whether evenly matched, outnumbered, or out- numbering; they did not wait to make their reputation by some easy conquest of a weakling foe. But the feeble- ness of their adversary did not deter them; if he chose to withstand them, on his head be the pains. If the scene was laid in Europe and he was Italian, French, or Flem- ing who opposed the Spanish arms, he was good for a ransom if taken alive; while, if killed, he was an enemy the less. If, on other fields, he was Moor of Granada or Barbary, Guanch^ of the Canaries, or black savage of the Guinea coast, he was his captor's property, or that of the Crown, and worth what he might bring in the nearest mart. Therefore, after doing a reasonable amount of killing, the Spanish soldier was wont to withhold his hand and devote himself to the acquisition of locomotive plunder. Noth- ing can be said in defence of such a code; it was as bad as bad can be. We accomplish the same laudable ends now by far less ostentatious means. But in the times of which we write, as every schoolboy knows, such was the code of every nation in Europe; and to brand Columbus, as some do, as "the originator of American slavery" be- cause he did not introduce a different style of warfare into the New World, is only a captious method of saying that the natives of Hispaniola, with whom he and his compan- ions fought, were natives of the recently discovered western islands and not of Europe, Asia, or Africa. To this purely military aspect of the subject must be added the religious. Columbus was a devoted — it is easy for us Protestants to say a bigoted — son of the Church. Its law was his duty; its honor, his pride. Those who raised their weapons against the holy symbol of his faith — and he sailed, marched, and fought beneath the Green Cross — or against those who brought salvation to the Gentiles, were Anathema, — the lawful spoil of Christians, who conferred an everlasting boon upon them by saving their souls at the trifling expense of their bodies' pain. Nothing is easier than to scoff at this feeling now, dub it hypocrisy, taunt Columbus with finding it a convenient cloak for his alleged schemes of avarice. But it is a fact, little as we may share the senti- 208 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ment, and as such cannot be laughed out of court. We are not living in the fifteenth century, it is well to remem- ber, nor are we Columbuses. This radical distinction, between those natives who re- ceived the Spaniards amicably and accepted their tutelage, and those who resented their coming and sought to compel their withdrawal, is the key to the apparent inconsistency of the Admiral's treatment of the Indians. Both in the past and in the future he treated those who met him peace- ably with justice and consideration; but those who opposed him he met sword in hand, as he had faced Moors, Vene- tians, French, and Portuguese in the stormy years of his youth. Even on his first voyage, he had frankly recom- mended such a policy as the only one compatible with safety and success. The power of Spain and the honor of the Church must be upheld at all costs. This is why he did not reprove his men for the blood they shed in Samana Bay, when on their way to Spain from the Discovery; why he looked upon the punishment of the Caribs as obligatory; why he considered it imperative to capture Caonabo, the destroyer of the garrison at Navidad; why he met the menaces of the Jamaicans and Higueyans with counter demonstrations; and why, since his return to Isabella, he had sent Hojeda and his other captains on devastating raids through the surrounding country. What was wise policy in a time of peace was criminal weakness in a season of war. Those who were his friends among the natives, he rewarded; those who were his enemies, he sought to punish. The ethical objections are obvious but not relevant. The prac- tical flaw in his system, viewing it from the moral level of his day, was that he could not impose upon his deputies and subordinates a like discrimination to that which he himself exercised. In the absence of such a distinction, all the natives came to be looked upon as legitimate prey by the Spaniards. The fact that, with the exception of Guarionex and Gua- canagari, all the caciques of the island were banded together to destroy the Europeans was, in the Admiral's estimation, ample justification for proceeding against them with all the THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 209 rigors of an offensive war. Self-preservation was added to the otl>er motives which influenced his conduct towards the Haytians, and what he had in contemplation he proposed to do thoroughly. His malady did not yet permit him to take an active part in the preparations, but he directed them with his wonted care, and felt no doubt as to the results of the campaign he was planning, notwithstanding the overwhelm- ing superiority of the natives in number. Only two years had passed since he and all his companions were thrown, wellnigh defenceless, upon the shores near Navidad and succored with such rare hospitality and magnanimity by some of these very islanders. If, in that short time, the white men had so far antagonized the natives that the former were now threatened with actual extermination, the causes of the evil lay in something deeper than any fan- cied callousness of the Admiral toward the people whose amiable guilelessness he had so often vaunted. The root of the trouble was, undoubtedly, the excesses and cruelties committed by the worthless rabble which constituted so large a proportion of colonists, and the disorganization which made possible the continuance of such dangerous license. As Viceroy and the commander-in-chief of the soldiery, Columbus was, of course, responsible for this con- dition of affairs, and it would be useless to attempt to relieve him of the consequences. At the same time, it is only just to bear in mind that on leaving the colony and starting upon his Cuban cruise, at what the event proved to be a hazardous season, he was fulfilling the repeated injunc- tions of his sovereigns to settle the problem of Cuba's geog- raphy at the earliest practicable moment. He was detained on that voyage by untoward circumstances, and, upon his return, was incapacitated from active exertions for five months by an illness which repeatedjy menaced his life. Opposed to him, in secret and overtly, was a strong faction of Crown-appointed officials who possessed, and were known to possess, the confidence and — as in the case of Margarite, Boil, and Bernal de Pisa — the friendship of the King and Queen. If we duly weigh these circumstances, we shall find that the responsibility of Columbus was not properly of 14 210 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. his own making, and that in pursuing a policy of repression and punishment lie was acting in the one manner consistent with the interests of his charge in the conditions which he found existing. The problem immediately confronting him was not how to establish and maintain a just and righteous code of procedure towards the natives, but how to preserve his colony from destruction and uphold the authority of the Spanish Crown in the New World. In deciding it he adopted the only argument which his experience or that of his contemporaries had found efficacious, — a vigorously conducted military campaign. The history of the relations of white men and Indians in the western hemisphere does not suggest that there was any alternative. The Spaniards were surrounded on all sides by a numerous, united, and not despicable foe. To attempt to treat with such a horde of savages was as futile then as it would be now. No course was open except to reduce them to submission before trust- ing to any parleys. Columbus followed the same reasoning that we have ourselves consistently pursued in our alleged Indian policy, and committed the same error afterwards as we have, — of not enforcing a just and humane treatment of the conquered tribes. That is the true extent of his fault. To charge him with indiscriminate cruelty is to falsify history. Before the Admiral was ready to take the field, he de- spatched Antonio de Torres back to Spain with the four ships in which he had come out. As on his former voyage, this officer took with him a budget of letters, reports,^ and memorials from Columbus to his sovereigns, but the Ad- miral did not trust to these alone. The defection of Boil and Margarite, the result of his Cuban cruise, and the present dangerous crisis in the colony's affairs demanded 1 Herrera summarizes (Lib. I. Cap. III. of the ist Decade) a long and minute description of the island of Hayti forwarded by Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella at the time. It is full of interesting detail, and has been reproduced by Irving and other historians; but its author- ship has escaped their notice. In the same budget was the Admiral's pa>-escer, or opinion, concerning the relative geographical rights of Spain and Portugal under the Papal Bull. THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 211 that their Majesties should have a full knowledge of all that had happened from a source certain to do justice to Colum- bus. The latter accordingly deputed his brother, Don Diego, to accompany Torres and represent the Admiral's interests before the King and Queen. By his hands were sent such commodities, curiosities, and valuables as had been collected since the departure of the last squadron in August. Of gold there was little to be sent, for the disturbed condi- tion of the country had put an end to all systematic mining and washing. But the fleet was laden with a cargo which would excite almost as much interest and satisfaction in Cadiz and Seville as though it brought a goodly heap of yel- low ingots for the mint. Five hundred of the Indians cap- tured in the expedition against Guatiguana, and the other raids into the interior, were crowded on the caravels, con- signed to the godly Bishop of Badajoz, Juan de Fonseca, as a welcome remittance from the colony at Isabella. It is shock- ing enough to read of, and our own laws were right in mak- ing it a capital offence; but it was the custom of the day in 1494. Moors, Canary Islanders, and negroes were imported in droves and sold freely in the Spanish markets, and the addition of a new brand of human goods to the current supply was received with no other objection than that it tended to depress prices. There is a pretty story to the effect that Queen Isabella resented this appropriation of her new " vassals " and angrily exclaimed against the Ad- miral's presumption in so dealing with them. But a care- ful study of the records discloses that her anger was directed against the man himself and not his act; for the King and Queen freely condoned, if they did not frankly permit, the enslavement of the natives for several years after this first shipment. They feigned to discriminate between captives taken in arms and peaceable Indians wrongfully kidnapped, but they did not scruple to cover all the proceeds into the royal coffers. Judged from our point of view, — as improved within the last twenty-five years, — the whole business was atrocious. But we might as logically inveigh against the Spaniards of the fifteenth century for not maintaining a system of public schools as for trading in slaves. We need 212 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. not go back very far to find ourselves in their place, if we desire to look at the matter from both sides. By the beginning of March the Admiral was well enough to put his plans into execution. He had collected a force of 200 infantry and twenty horsemen. Many of the num- ber were more fitted for the convalescent hospital than for campaigning, but all who were strong enough to bear arms were pressed into the service. In addition to this force there were twenty bloodhounds, now for the first time in- troduced on the scene in western lands. These savage animals had been brought by Torres from the Canary Islands, where the breed had long been used in hunting down the natives. These particular ones were destined for service against the cannibals, when the Admiral should undertake his expedition among their islands; but they were too valuable an ally to be discarded by the feeble army. Guacanagari, with some of his tribesmen, also ac- companied the Spanish column, and may have been of some assistance in the commissariat; neither he nor his people were fighters. The town was left in care of the invalids and artisans, who were considered a sufficient guard when aided by the artillery and defences of the fort. The Admiral, in fact, had not to cut loose from this base, for the enemy was gathered in force in the nearest part of the Vega Real, only two short marches from Isabella. At the most, the Spaniards had only to advance thirty miles from the town to reach the native host. Committing the blunder which has been perpetrated with such pathetic monotony by so many savage armies, the Indians had aban- doned all the advantages of a position in the neighboring hills and had come down into the level savannah to meet their assured fate. How many there may have been is not even to be guessed. Las Casas says that some of the Spaniards alleged that there were more than 100,000. It is not improbable that there were one-fifth of the number, for the insurrection was general and the population of the island considerable.^ They were, as to the majority, quite 1 According to Las Casas, Columbus estimated the population at 1.100,000. The good Bishop thinks this referred to the province of Cihao alone. THE PENALTY OF DEFEA T. 2 1 3 naked; some of the tribes wore a kind of waistcloth. Their weapons were generally bows, light arrows of reeds tipped with bones of fish, or bits of turtle shell, spears of hard wood, with their ends hardened in the fire and sharp- ened, and fiat two-edged wooden swords. Some of the mountaineers even retained the primitive arms of the stone age, — hatchets, maces, and flint-headed javelins. The Spaniards were well armed, if weak; they had both fire- arms and cross-bows, were in most cases protected by steel corselets and helmets, carried long, keen swords, and their mounted men had the heavy lances used to overthrow the mail-clad soldiery of Europe. The natives were com- manded by one of Caonabo's brothers, who displayed a rude generalship in dividing his host into several columns, with the intent of encircling the petty force opposed to him. But the Spaniards did not await an assault. Mov- ing against the nearest column, the infantry discharged their arquebuses and bows, while the little band of horse- men, led by Hojeda, plunged headlong into the naked crowd before it. The "battle " was over in a moment, and instead was to be seen nothing but swarms of fleeing Indians pursued by horse and foot and smitten down as fast as swords could fall and lances thrust. The leashes which held the bloodhounds were slipped, and the hungry animals sprang at limb or throat, leaping from one bare victim to another and inspiring almost as much terror among the distracted fugitives as did the awesome animals of larger size which were thundering at their heels. In a dozen directions across the plain the luckless Haytians streamed, seeking the shelter of neighboring woods and foot-hills, and after them followed infantry, cavalry, and dogs, killing and mangling to their savage content. After all, a couple of hundred men can only slaughter a limited number of their kind in a given number of hours, even when their quarry is defenceless. It takes an appreciable time to hew down or thrust through even a naked body and recover one's weapon for da capo ; and there is, besides, the time consumed in chasing. In later years the Spanish conquista- dores scientifically reduced the needful motions to a 214 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. minimum, thereby largely increasing the mortality among their adversaries and correspondingly diminishing their own fatigue; but in the affair of the Vega Real they were yet unskilled and would consequently weary the sooner. What the death-roll among the natives was has not been given; it is not likely that any one made a count. It could not have much exceeded a thousand. No one among the Spaniards seems to have been seriously hurt.' As soon as the heat of the pursuit was over and the dispersion of the main bodies complete, the victors turned their attention to corralling the largest available number of their opponents for slaves, and the whole dreary business was finished. It has not been often necessary to repeat an object-lesson of this kind among nations having as little inclination for war as the people of Hispaniola. The defeated confeder- ates slunk to their several retreats and counted themselves fortunate if they were not quickly haled therefrom by some raiding-party from the Spanish forces. The authority of the native caciques was gone, the confidence of the tribes forever broken, the population scattered, their plantations and settlements deserted, and the whole economy of the central portion of the island fatally disorganized. The murders of two or three score Spaniards had been abun- dantly revenged, and the peace of hopeless subjection established throughout the land. It was the fortune of war, as war was considered then, — the natural and inevitable penalty attaching to defeat. The Spaniards would have expected a similar fate had they lost the day, and would have met with it. The Admiral now divided his forces into numerous par- ties and sent them into the disaffected districts to complete the work of pacification, so called. Sending Don Barthol- omew back to Isabella as governor, in his absence, he himself marched through the Vega Real, thence into Cibao, thence to Maguana, — the country of Caonabo, — and so, by a wide detour to the south and east, back to Isabella. This progress consumed many months; Las Casas says it lasted until the end of the year 1495. Con- cerning its incidents not a great deal remains. Those vil- THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 215 lages and districts which submitted to the Spanish authority were undisturbed; those which offered any opposition were harried with fire and sword. As is always the case, the subordinate officers were more royal than the King, and meted out punishment with scant regard either for justice or mercy. It is on record that the Admiral himself en- deavored to temper what he believed to be the military ex- igencies of the situation with the exercise of a more humane policy. In some instances he met with organized resist- ance, notably from two brothers of Caonabo, who endeavored to avenge the rout of the Vega. The result was, of course, always the same, and the effort only increased the straits into which the natives had fallen. Many districts were aban- doned at the approach of the Spaniards; into others they could not penetrate. In some, a certain amount of gold was collected; in others, large quantities of cotton, a little amber, the highly prized brazil-wood, and so on. The expe- dition, so far as the Admiral was concerned, was not entirely for retaliation and discipline; he wished to exhibit to the native population the power of the Spaniards, but he was equally desirous to complete his knowledge of the island and its productions. At the end of his long journey he was able to report to the King and Queen that the country was pacified, all resistance at an end, and the people dis- posed to accept the Spanish rule without opposition. In token of their subjection he proposed to establish the payment of a tribute. This was adjusted to meet the supposed abilities of the several tribes. Each Indian, whether man or woman, between the ages of fourteen and forty, who lived in the vicinity of the mines or gold-bear- ing rivers of Cibao, the Vega Real, and Maguana, was to furnish every three months as much gold as a hawk's-bell would contain. The natives of the other reduced districts were to deliver within the same period, in lieu of gold, twenty-five pounds of raw cotton. As each Indian paid his quarterly tax, a metal token was to be given him as evidence of quittance for that instalment. If he could not produce such evidence, he was subject to "moderate" chastisement. Unfortunately, the text of the decree im- 2l6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. posing this tax has not been preserved. We know little of it save its consequences, which were miserable in the last degree. Had we its terms to guide us, some light would be thrown upon a measure the unwisdom of which seems so patent that it is difficult to comprehend how any one should have adopted it. The object was, obvi- ously enough, to replenish the royal coffers and make the large and absolutely idle native population contribute something in return for the benefits, spiritual and tem- poral, which the Spanish occupation was supposed to confer; for in the Admiral's day, as in ours, the untutored savage was assumed to be pining for a "civilization" whose first fruits were his own extermination. It was not singular that, with the evidences of gold so abun- dant on all sides and with the recollection of the free- dom with which the natives bartered away considerable quantities of it, the Admiral should require them to collect in three months the amount they had cheerfully offered in exchange for the little bells which were now made the meas- ure of value. What is strange is that he should have sup- posed whole tribes could support such a tax upon their strength for any length of time. They had no idea of con- tinuous labor and knew nothing about gathering gold, for the most part. It was a common sight, after the impost was established, to see an Indian heaping up a pile of earth or gravel by the side of a brook, throwing water over it with his hands, and then searching painfully for the yellow grains to add to his little hoard. Both for "mining " and cotton- planting the only implement the native possessed was a pointed stick. Under such conditions, to expect every man and boy in a wide district to secure the stated quantity of gold or cotton was to ignore the intrinsic limitation of the case. It can only be explained by the theory that the Indians had literally nothing to do, and they themselves were the authority, ever since the first landing in Hispaniola in '92, that gold existed in vast quantities and could be "gathered in the hands." Before the first quarter-day arrived it was clear that there would be a general default in the payment of the tribute. Guarionex stated the case THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 21/ fairly when he appealed to the Admiral for a mitigation of the tax. His people in the Vega Real, he said, knew noth- ing about gold or its gathering; it was absolutely impossible for them to make up the required amount. Let the Admiral permit them to pay the tax in corn, instead of gold, and he would gladly undertake to plant a belt of grain for the King of Spain which should extend right through the island, from Isabella to the south coast. At first the Admiral declined to listen to the representations made by Guarionex; he saw no reason why able-bodied men, as the natives certainly were, could not get together in three months the small quantity of gold which he had demanded. After much argument and entreaty, he yielded to the accumulating evi- dence in support of the cacique's position and reduced the tribute by one-half; thereafter, only the contents of half a hawk's-bell were required. This measure implied, of course, a vast relief to the Indians; but even at the diminished rate they did not meet the demands of the tribute. In some of the richer districts the tax was paid, as in certain of the more fertile ones the requisite amount of cotton was forth- coming; but in general only a feeble response was made. Whether, if the impost had been reduce to a tenth, or even less, the indolent and labor-hating Indians would have done any better is very doubtful. They did not know how to work, and either could not or would not learn. The whole theory of the tribute was as impolitic as it was unjust, and it had no chance of success. As the failure in the payments became first general and then permanent, the Admiral ap- pointed officials to visit the several districts and endeavor to secure their collection. This was, in substance, handing over the natives to be dealt with as the character of the collector might dictate. The Admiral's instructions were explicit and emphatic that justice and kindness were to be shown in all transactions with the delinquents, as the object was to secure the largest revenues for the Crown, not to chastise the peaceable Indians. The recent behavior of Margarite and his men when sent among the friendly tribes, and the remembrance of the tyrannical performances of the garrison of Navidad, should have been enough to cause him 2l8 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. to hesitate before placing the lives of the defenceless Hay- tians in the hands of his rude and ignorant followers. No doubt he assumed that he could control his agents; but this was the one thing which he did less successfully than another. The inevitable result was that in many cases the collectors of the tribute became persecutors, and much cruelty and extortion were inflicted on the unfortunate tax- payers. The natives learned to dread the sight of a Span- iard in many districts and to flee to the mountains and woods at their approach. This exposed them to the con- venient charge of resistance, and that meant violence, cap- tivity, or death, according to the disposition of the collector. With only the choice between a life of what to them was intolerable effort, and the loss of life or liberty, the Indians gradually abandoned all hope of satisfying their new lords and forsook en masse their homes and plantations, prefer- ring a precarious but free life among the sierras to the hard- ships of the white men's rule. At first, the more ignorant among them hoped that such a course would cause the Spaniards to despair of ever getting enough of the coveted gold to make it worth their while continuing the effort, and that sooner or later they would take to their ships and sail away as suddenly as they had come. But work con- tinued at Isabella, two new forts were commenced in the Vega, the Admiral pursued his journey through the central provinces, and his officers with their parties persistently invaded district after district in their inquisition after the tribute; so that in time the natives learned that their_ sacri- fices availed nothing and that the strangers were a fixture in the land. The very general cessation of planting and sow- ing did inflict upon the Spaniards no small distress and embarrassment, and when the revenue chasers entered the mountain country they had often to make shift with roots and wild fruits, as did the disheartened people whom they were tracking down; but, in the long run, the real suffer- ing fell upon the Indians themselves. It was no mere boast, that in which one of the Spaniards indulged, when he said of his countrymen, "the hungrier they are the more tenacious they are, and the more disposed to suffer THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 219 and to make suffer." It was the creed of the conquistador epitomized. To Columbus the situation was one of profound discour- agement, little less in degree than that which confronted him upon his return from Cuba. He had put down the insurrection among the natives at the price of widespread devastation and a distrust beyond all remedy. Foiled in his plans for a systematic and legitimate working of the gold- bearing rocks and gravels, he had endeavored to ensure its equivalent to the royal treasury by the imposition of a trib- ute which the universal customs of war recognized as fit and commendable. This effort likewise promised to be futile and to involve him in a policy of severity and persecution little in consonance with the relations he had expected to maintain with the natives. The failure of both these plans for raising revenue accentuated the peril in which, as he fully realized, his credit with Ferdinand and Isabella was involved. The outlays in connection with the colony had been enormous, the returns pitifully small. So far from being even self-supporting, the intrigues and demoralization at Isabella had prevented any methodical execution of his really far-seeing projects, while disease had more than decimated his followers and left the survivors all but inca- pacitated for any useful work. All this, he knew, was at this very time being iterated and reiterated to the King and Queen by men who had their confidence, and who hated him with all the malice of arrogance rebuked and pride offended, added to the contempt of race and caste. In the justice of their Majesties and the loyalty of his own good friends he had unshaken confidence, but the censures and insinuations of his enemies derive their best support from the very con- dition of affairs which he saw confronting him. Instead of the evangelization of the natives upon which so much stress had been laid, here were destruction and war; instead of a steady stream of gold, a constant requisition for new ex- pense; instead of a flourishing, united, and successful col- ony, a long record of disaster and discord. There remained only the "slave trade," of which we have heard so much; but Columbus was too familiar with arithmetic and the 220 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. resources of Hispaniola to imagine that he was going to be able to obtain a hundred thousand slaves there, or, if he did so, dispose of any such number in Spain, or in all Europe, and thus amortize the costs of colonizing this one island. A few cargoes of captured Indians would help matters financially, ecclesiastically, and politically, — for what other disposition was to be made of such prisoners of war? — but they were merely an item, not a basis, of rev- enue. In his own heart, dark as was the present outlook, there was room neither for doubt nor fear as to the ultimate future of his whole gigantic enterprise. Reap the reward who might, he knew the end must be success. With the vast panorama of his voyages through the Caribs' Islands, along the Cuban shores, past the long coasts of Jamaica and His- paniola, clearly pictured in his mind, he, at least, realized what their Majesties of Spain had received in exchange for their ducats and maravedies. With his fund of accumulated knowledge and information, he held with abiding confidence to the faith that far greater returns were yet in store for them. The present confusion and partial frustration of his and their anticipations was not fairly chargeable to him. He had been brought into it in a swoon and left to fight his way out as best he could. Before long, the island would settle down, a revenue be assured by peaceful means, and he be at liberty to satisfy his sovereigns that this western world held more than islands, — vast, fertile, and wealth- abounding as these were. Until then, he should pursue his way with unabated energy and act as to him seemed best for the interests of the King and Queen whose deputy he was. However little we may agree with some of his meth- ods, no one can fail to respect the undaunted courage and inalterable faith of this sore-tried sailor-Viceroy. Meantime, matters were shaping themselves evilly for him in Spain. Boil and Margarite reached Cadiz at the end of November, '94, a few weeks after Torres had sailed for Isabella. They lost no time in presenting themselves before the King and Queen at Madrid and unfolding their budget of grievances. According to them, the whole enter- pnse of the Indies was a delusion and a snare, invented and THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 221 sustained by Columbus for his own aggrandizement. There was no gold worth the trouble of gathering, no spices worth the curing, no products which would repay the cost of col- lection. The climate was deadly, and the inhabitants naked barbarians. The colony was badly situated and worse gov- erned. The foreign parvenu whom the sovereigns had placed as Viceroy over so many of their noble and spirited subjects had outraged the pride and dignity of gentlemen by compelling them to work like common hinds and accept a scanty dole of wretched fare. Not satisfied with humili- ating his superiors in the social scale, he had impiously obliged the clergy to live on short commons like their half- starved flock. When hidalgos and priests alike resented such coarse measures, he, or his brother in his absence, had cut down their rations still farther, imprisoned some of the critics, and punished others yet more severely. His brothers were more insupportable than himself, because less en- titled to recognition for their achievements. The Viceroy had sailed away, leaving his powers in the hands of Don Diego, who had thereupon attempted to lord it still more offensively over the unhappy Castilians. Where the Viceroy himself had gone, no one knew; it was more than doubtful whether he should ever be seen again. The relators had borne this wretched condition of affairs as long as they could, and had at last felt that their duty to their sovereigns de- manded that they return to Spain and lay the truth of the whole matter before their Majesties. Whatever might be the outcome, this at least was certain, — the Crown would never receive any return from these new lands commen- surate with the sacrifices it had cost to secure them and those which would be needful to retain them. The vaunted Indies were neither more nor less than a yawning pit for the royal treasure, and a certain grave for the loyal servants of the Crown. Supported as they were by the stories of their fellow-malcontents who had returned with them, and by the letters and depositions of those who had not been able to leave Isabella, the representations of these influential place- men had no little weight with Ferdinand and Isabella. An active intrigue was set on foot against Columbus, backed 222 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. with all the ingenuity of envy and disappointed ambition; and for some time it seemed destined to success. If their Majesties were not moved to act immediately in the direc- tion desired by Boil and Margarite, they at least went so far as to seriously consider the wisdom of some such step. No doubt the violence of the Admiral's accusers somewhat detracted from the credibility of their assertions, and there was, moreover, a certain amount of evidence in his favor received by the same vessels, including a remittance of gold in dust and nuggets of sufficient importance to warrant its coinage and use in buying fresh supplies for Isabella. But when the new year opened, and the weeks went by with- out any further word from beyond the seas of Viceroy or colonists, the King and Queen began to fear that the worst had happened to both, and ordered the early departure of four caravels which were to bear ample provisions and supplies, in accordance with the Admiral's own former requisitions, and on which was to go a commissioner empowered to investigate the charges made by Boil and his friends and make a report upon the condition of affairs in general. This squadron was to sail in March and was to be followed by four other caravels in May or June. In pursu- ance again of the Admiral's suggestions, a contract was entered into (with Juanoto Berardi, Vespucci's employer) for furnishing twelve vessels in all, as they might be required, at a fixed rate per ton; and Fonseca was directed to hasten the despatch of the first four. The reason alleged by their Majesties for this urgency, in writing to him, was "because we somewhat fear that God has disposed of the Admiral of the Indies on the voyage which he undertook, as so long a time has passed since we heard anything from him." The real motive lay probably in the next sentence, — "We have therefore decided to send out Commander Diego Carrillo and another personage of confidence, who shall provide for everything out there if the Admiral be absent, and even if he is present shall remedy those matters which it is desira- ble to remedy, according to the information we have had from those who have arrived from there." Carrillo was to go out with the second squadron; the "other personage," THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 223 who was to go on the vessels now preparing for sea, was left at first to Fonseca's choice, but before he had exercised it their Majesties wrote again and directed him to appoint Juan de Aguado to the position of captain of the little fleet and royal commissioner. This worthy, it will be remem- bered, had sailed with the Admiral on the voyage of colon- ization in '93, and returned with Torres, who was especially charged by Columbus in his Memorial to recommend Aguado to the sovereigns for having "well and diligently served in everything he had been ordered to do." There is no reason to believe that Ferdinand and Isabella chose the man for this post because he had become an intriguer against his commander; but it is not easy to see how any loyal subordinate could have accepted the task, now given to Aguado, of investigating that commander's actions. Prob- ably he was merely one of those invertebrate entities whose only chance of elevation is over their prostrate benefactors. At all events, he accepted the task of acting as spy against Columbus and rendered invaluable assistance to the cabal laboring for his humiliation. The instructions given by their Majesties concerning this mission, in the letter to Fonseca already quoted, well por- tray the confusion of mind in which they were involved by reason of their desire to believe in their Admiral and in Boil at the same time. As we have seen, if Columbus were absent from the colony, Aguado was to take charge of everything; if the Admiral were present, the commissioner was to "remedy" what was out of sorts. He was to hear the complaints which were made by each side against the other, inform himself minutely of the true position of affairs in the colony, — "how it is governed and what re- forms are necessary; at whose door lies the blame for what- ever wrong has been done or is doing there," — and then return to Spain and make a report of all that he had learned. Some sense was shown in forbidding any one of the malcontents from returning with Aguado to Hispaniola and so stirring up more mischief, and an appearance of impartiality, in ordering him to inquire also how these ex- officials had discharged their duties. But the utter folly of 224 ^^-^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the whole commission, as an administrative measure, was displayed in the authority given to Aguado to ignore the Admiral. He was to have charge of all the provisions and supplies with which the caravels were laden, and was to "divide them in the presence of the Admiral, should he be there, and if not, before those who may be present." Finally, he was to be instructed by Fonseca, " that he must act in strict conformity with these directions, — but if he should find the Admiral [in the colony] he was to be under his authority in all things " ! Here was a rare opportunity for a meddlesome and conceited courtier to put a too suc- cessful newcomer in his right place. If the Admiral should point to one phrase as limiting Aguado's powers, the latter could retort by showing another clause making him entirely independent of the Admiral. The commission was a strik- ing example of the vacillation exhibited by Ferdinand and Isabella in their attitude toward Columbus and of their seemingly uncontrollable propensity to interfere, at every stage, in the direction of affairs falling specifically within his official jurisdiction. He was not gifted with great executive ability at best, but had he been less loyal to his sovereigns' commands, and more independent, he would probably have succeeded better. As it was, no viceroy could have been successful in the face of the persistent and disconcerting intervention of the King and Queen. The preparations for the despatch of Aguado were actively proceeding when Antonio de Torres arrived, on April loth, with his four slave-laden vessels. His coming caused a marked revolution in the sentiments of Ferdinand and Isabella. He brought despatches from the Admiral an- nouncing the safe completion of his voyage to Cuba and Jamaica, and of the supposed identification of the former with the Asiatic continent. His own testimony to the position of affairs at Isabella was favorable to the Admiral, and, besides, he was accompanied by Don Diego, who was prepared to champion his brother's cause with a complete knowledge of all the facts distorted by Boil and Margarite. True, the latter' s faction received an important accession in the person of Bernal de Pisa, but this dignitary returned in THE PENALTY OF DEFEAT. 225 disgrace, sent home by the Admiral at their Majesties' ex- press commandment. Moreover, Torres brought a tangible earnest of the colony's productiveness in the gold, copper, brazil and other dye-woods, cotton and other commodities which his ships contained. As for the slaves, they were so much ready money, and were accepted as such by the sov- ereigns. It is almost amusing, in view of the efforts which have been made to contrast the cruelty of Columbus with the enlightened humanity of Ferdinand and Isabella, to find the latter, in the same letter in which they acknowl- edge the news of Torres' s arrival, saying to Fonseca that " it seems to us that the Indians can be sold to better ad- vantage there in Andalusia than anywhere else : do you have them sold as to you may seem best."-^ The effect of this opportune arrival was distinctly favorable to Columbus. The very fact that he was alive and back at his post de- prived his adversaries of their chief argument. The equip- ment of Aguado's squadron was not suspended, for the reports brought by Torres only confirmed the urgent need of supplies for Isabella; but the King and Queen evidently leaned again more towards the Admiral's side than that of his detractors, and insisted upon the officers of the Crown respecting his authority and wishes. Fonseca wished to lay claim to some gold brought by Don Diego, as his per- sonal property, and also refused to honor the demand of the Admiral's agent for the one-eighth part of the gold and slaves brought by Torres; but their Majesties very emphat- ically directed him to permit Don Diego to keep his gold and Juanoto to draw out the full share to which Columbus was entitled under his agreement with the Crown. Fonseca was evidently bent on putting difficulties in the way of re- enforcing the Admiral's exchequer, for it took no less than 1 It is true that a few days later they ordered Fonseca not to deliver any of these Indians to their buyers until their Majesties had an oppor- tunity to learn, in discharge of their delicate consciences, from the Admiral's letters, whether the captives were taken in war or kid- napped; but Fonseca was to take care that the intending purchasers " do not know anything of this." Columbus at least had the courage of his convictions, and made no secret of his actions. The Indians were duly sold, we may add, and some sent to man the galleys. 15 226 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. four letters from the sovereigns to secure his final obedience. He gained little by the obstruction, however, for in one of them his royal master and mistress added a command which must have been peculiarly distasteful to the sulky bishop. "By those who go out in the caravels now load- ing," they wrote him, "you must write to the Admiral all that you think needful to remove whatever disagreement he may have with you, and you must try to learn from those who have just arrived from the Indies what you ought to do in order to satisfy him, so that everything may be smoothed over by you, and do what is necessary." Clearly the pendulum of royal favor had temporarily swung over to the Admiral's side. The timely return of Torres with his reports and cargoes had given the lie direct to the most serious accusations of Boil and his partisans, and what remained of their allegations might safely be set down as malicious exaggeration. If, while ordering Fonseca to do all that he could to conciliate Columbus, the King and Queen had likewise directed the issue of revised instruc- tions to Aguado, much of the future trouble might have been avoided. As it was, the commissioner took out his original ambiguous credentials, and the Admiral found himself confronted with these at the same time that he received an apparently sincere commendation of his course from their Majesties direct. If this was royal diplomacy, intended to discredit their Viceroy in fact while seeming to sustain him, it was of an extremely low order; if it was negligence, it is difficult to conceive how it was possible. XII. INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. AGUADO did not leave Spain with his four caravels until August. There were delays in chartering the vessels and in loading them, and the King and Queen were too much preoccupied with the affairs of their kingdoms to give any prolonged consideration to the fitting out of a few ships for their Indian colony. They had promptly issued the necessary orders and the rest was in Fonseca's hands. Perhaps the delay which ensued was unavoidable, but it is doing no injustice to the reputation of the worthy prelate having the matter in charge to suggest that he found it agree- able to hold back as long as practicable the supplies intended for the Admiral. On the 2nd of June, Ferdinand and Isabella wrote him to take whatever vessels he could find, "so that they may not be delayed a single hour," and two months thereafter they were ready to sail. They took out a widely assorted cargo, in compliance with the Admiral's requisitions. Large quantities of provision — wheat, barley, bacon, salt-fish, biscuit, figs, sugar, rice, almonds, wine, oil, and vinegar — were taken; mares, asses, calves, sheep, chickens, swine, and rabbits for breeding; canvas, cotton, pitch, tallow, and oakum for shipbuilding; rice, barley, seeds, and cuttings for planting, and a huge store of lesser articles of comfort or necessity. The losses which had occurred among the more useful class of colonists by death or sickness were supplied by new men. Field laborers, a master millwright, a master armorer, mining experts and laborers, a physician, a surgeon, an apothecary, some 227 228 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. coopers, a horseshoer, several fishermen with their boats, and artisans of all the trades already represented at Isabella were sent out, to allow the return of those who desired to leave the colony. Finally, more dogs — bulldogs and mas- tiffs — were also sent, "to protect the supplies and for the security of the people," — an indication that the importa- tion of these animals was not necessarily due to cruelty. The list which was prepared by Columbus shows a well- conceived and thorough plan for rendering the colony self-supporting, and a careful attention to details. Had Ferdinand and Isabella been content to let the fleet sail with its helpful lading of men and supplies, and left their Viceroy to work out his own projects vj'ith the aid thus opportunely afforded, the past disasters would have been in great part remedied and those of the future wholly avoided. Instead, Aguado, in addition to the confused instructions to which we have already referred, carried with him this enigmatical mandate : — " To the knights, squires, and other persons who are by our orders in the Indies. We are sending out yonder Juan Aguado, our gentlenian-in-waiting, who will speak with you on our behalf. We command you to give him faith and credence. Madrid, the 9th of April, 1495. I, the King. I, the Queen.*' He bore other letters from their Majesties to individuals at Isabella, and also several to the Admiral himself. Two of these latter have been preserved. They are dated June ist, seven weeks later than the extraordinary powers conferred on Aguado, and, while dry and abrupt, do not intimate that the Viceroy's authority had been superseded. It may have been of no especial significance that in them Columbus was addressed merely as "our Admiral of the Ocean Sea," with- out his joint title of Viceroy of the Indies, but with such a monarch as Ferdinand the omission was not likely to be acci- dental. In the first of these communications the Admiral was told to permit as many of the colonists to return to Spain as desired to do so, and to reduce the total number retained in Hispaniola to 500, "because it seems to us that there are a great many people out there who are drawing salaries. INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 229 and it is a great expense and trouble to send out provis- ions." As fast as newcomers arrived from Spain a cor- responding number of the earlier settlers were to be sent back, so as to keep the population of the colony always at the figure stated. In the second missive their Majesties touched upon the burning question of the curtailment of rations, out of which the malcontents made so much capi- tal. "We have been informed," they wrote, "that in the past, especially while you were absent from Hispaniola, the provisions were not divided among the people who were there, and those who yet remain, as they should have been, and that for whatever offence any one of them committed the ration was withdrawn, by which many of them were placed in peril." The Admiral was therefore instructed to appor- tion the provisions, in the future, in strict accordance with a list prepared by Fonseca, which accompanied the letter, whereby each colonist was to receive his share every fortnight. Under no circumstances were these rations to be diminished to or withdrawn from any one, " unless the offences should be such as to merit the pain of death, for the withholding of the provisions from any one is equal to this penalty." If this rebuke was somewhat softened by the allusion to the Admiral's absence, it was none the less a victory for his adversaries; and its promulgation in the colony, when coupled with the mysterious discretion entrusted to Aguado, was sure to be received as an abatement of the Admiral's authority. The whole episode is clouded and confused; one fact only is incontestable, — that no governor or vice- roy could possibly achieve a measure of success when sub- jected to such humiliating and perplexing interferences. The sequel proves that it was not the intention of Ferdi- nand and Isabella to subject Columbus to the exasperating indignities which flowed from their ill-digested orders; but a conflict of jurisdiction was inevitable unless their com- missioner was a man of rare sagacity and self-control, and in this case he possessed neither of these qualities. To a person filled with a sense of his own importance, and bent upon asserting it in frank opposition to the already consti- tuted authority, the opportunity for mischief was unlimited. 230 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Aguado reached Isabella in October, and Don Diego with him. Columbus was then in Maguana, carrying on operations against the brothers of Caonabo, who had again attempted to revenge themselves upon the Spanish in- truders. When the commissioner arrived he lost no time in asserting publicly that he held certain broad and supreme powers from the Crown. He imprisoned several members of the crew which had brought him over, for some alleged lack of reverence or obedience, endeavored to interpose in matters of colonial government, and made little case of Don Bartholomew and the town council. The absence of the Admiral was a sore affliction to Aguado, for he could not officially proclaim his own authority and institute his intended "reforms" until the royal letters had been delivered. He therefore proposed to go in search of Columbus, with a view of more quickly assuming the jurisdiction with which he fancied himself clothed. Gathering together a small force of horse and foot, he started out for Maguana. As in Isabella he had originated, or permitted, the rumor that he had come to supplant Columbus, so now, as his party crossed the Vega Real in the direction of Maguana, they spread broadcast the report that "a new Admiral " had come to take the place of the "old Admiral." The consequence was, naturally, to induce nine out of ten among the hearers to look upon Columbus as deprived of his rank, and to foster all kinds of hopes among Europeans and natives alike. Don Bartholomew meantime had despatched messengers to his brother, informing him of the new complications, and the Admiral responded by making a hurried march to Isabella. Advised of his coming, Aguado retraced the road to the town and there met his former commander and endorser. When he proffered the royal letters and creden- tials, Columbus declined to receive them unless in public and with the ceremony befitting the arrival of a commis- sion from the Crown. The little army was drawn up in the plaza, all the officials and colonists then in the town were present in gala costume, the trumpets were sounded, and, with such state as he could muster, the Viceroy re- INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 23 1 ceived the commissioner. When the documents were pre- sented, he accepted them in dignified silence and retired to read those which had not been read aloud to the assem- blage. All this was formally set forth in the acta pre- pared at the time by the royal notaries, but, notwithstanding such official testimony, Aguado afterwards claimed that Columbus had acted with studied disrespect and indiffer- ence towards the bearer of the royal commands. This was merely the beginning of a long train of vulgar and ostenta- tious arrogance. Interpreting his contradictory instruc- tions to suit his own aims, and appealing to the singular letters of credence which had been proclaimed by the Admiral himself, Aguado pursued a course of intrigue, misrepresentation, and usurpation which had for its avowed object the destruction of the last vestige of the Admiral's authority and prerogatives. It requires no great famil- iarity with the conditions prevailing in a remote colony, composed of such elements as was that of Isabella, to comprehend the effects of his actions. The old king was dead; with the new one were the keys of the money-chest and storehouses, and the gift of places. Under the Admi- ral's government the colonists had been hungry, hard- worked, and severely disciplined; under the beneficent commissioner they were comparatively well-fed, relieved from their labors, and permitted to do pretty much as they pleased. They ignored the fact that the very provisions they were eating had been sent out in compliance with their own governor's far-sighted requisitions, that their tasks had been essential to their own safety, and that the former scarcity of food was directly traceable to their own excesses and insubordination. All they cared to know was that there were meat, biscuit, and wine to be had, and that work on mills, roads, fort, and government house was at an end. In like manner, the Indians recovered boldness and energy. The Guamiquina, or " Almirante, " as they had learned from the Spaniards to call him, was dethroned, and they believed they had less cause to fear the new chief. Several of the more daring caciques banded together again and revived the insurrectionary spirit, refusing to pay tribute and renewing 232 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. their hopes of sooner or later casting the white men from their shores. Had the issue depended upon the King's ex-gentleman-in-waiting, they would very possibly have suc- ceeded. Under all this provocation the Admiral seems to have borne himself with moderation and dignity. Las Casas, who never spares him when there is cause for criticism, says that he " treated Juan Aguado always very well, as though he were a count." The same chronicler declares that he makes this statement with a full knowledge of all the facts, gathered from eye-witnesses and a careful exami- nation of the records. Yielding no jot of his prerogative, exercising his authority, as far as he could, with his ac- customed activity and decision, Columbus met the arro- gance of his rival with irritating calmness, and absolutely ignored him in all the affairs of the island beyond the town walls. Aguado, in fact, soon busied himself more in working up an elaborate indictment of the Admiral's administration than in endeavoring to institute a govern- ment of his own. Like too many other reformers, his abilities lay rather in the direction of disturbance than of amelioration. When his claims or actions clashed with those of Columbus, the latter upheld his own rights with pertinacity, and, despite a certain inevitable loss of prestige, managed to sustain his position effectively. The following of Aguado was the more numerous, but that of the Admiral more influential. Such a condition could not long con- tinue. Aguado, after a few months of turmoil and intrigue, announced his intention of returning to Spain and laying his reports and recommendations before the King and Queen. To his publicly asserted intimation of the prob- able effects of his disclosures upon the fortunes of Colum- bus the latter as publicly replied : " I, too, am going to Castile, to testify to the King and Queen, our sovereigns, . against the lies which have been told them by those who have gone from here " ; and he began to make preparations for leaving Hispaniola for an indefinite time. On this occasion, at least, he would trust neither to friendly influ- ences nor the recollection of his own great services to INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 233 advocate his cause before their Majesties. Perhaps he felt that the royal memory was as short as the royal treasury, and there was a sensitive connection between the two. Premising the retirement of Aguado from the colony, there was no reason, other than the enforced suspension of his own projects, why Columbus should not go to Spain at this season. Don Bartholomew could be trusted to keep the malcontents of the colony in order, and to carry out the work of "pacification" and tribute-gathering among the natives. The Admiral had no apprehension of any suc- cessful rising among the latter, although there would prob- ably be outbreaks here and there to be dealt with in the customary vigorous manner. He had caused three more forts to be built at convenient strategic points through the disaffected districts, making, with St. Thomas and Concep- tion, five garrisoned posts in all. In command of these he had placed soldiers of his confidence, with enough men to hold them against any native attack; so he felt satisfied with the military situation. The difficult problem of the reve- nue remained to be dealt with, but even that was somewhat simplified by recent developments. The king of the Vega Real, Guarionex, and some of his colleagues among the lesser caciques, wearied with the continuous hardship of the tribute, thought to relieve themselves of the burden of gathering the gold by informing the Spaniards where it could be found in such abundance that they would be willing to release the natives from the toilsome obligation of collect- ing it grain by grain. Whether this was a disclosure of some long-guarded tribal secret, or only the repetition of a report brought to his chief by some Indian, anxious to be spared the labor of hunting for his share of the tax, does not appear. Either case would be in consonance with what has happened numberless times since in many parts of the western world. At all events, the caciques of the Vega notified the Admiral that beyond the mountains which shut in the great plain on the south was another plain of less extent, watered by a large river which they called Hayna. In the ravines and gulches at the headwaters of this stream, and in the gravels of its affluents, they affirmed, the yellow 234 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. metal was to be found in quantities surpassing even the greed of the white men for it. Let the Guamiquina send his Christians there to see for themselves. In the old days much gold had been taken out of this country, which the natives knew as Bonao; its treasures might now be used to redeem the present generation from the hated impost of the strangers. The information was too circumstantial to be doubted, and the Admiral lost no time in sending a pros- pecting party into Bonao under command of a certain Miguel Diaz and that Francisco de Garay who, twenty-five years later, nearly saved the empire of Mexico to Monte- zuma. This force crossed the forbidding sierra, entered the golden district, met with a pacific reception at the hands of the inhabitants, and found gold so plentiful that, they reported, one man could gather as much there in a day as the quarterly tribute for each Indian amounted to. What was still better, they brought back a store of large nuggets and dust sufficient to convince the most sceptical of the value of the new mines. They had found ancient pits and workings, such as had not been seen elsewhere in the island, which testified to the importance attached to the deposits in early days. Altogether, their report was con- clusive as to the superior extent and productiveness of the Bonao fields as compared with even the vaunted wealth of Cibao. To Columbus the news was incalculably welcome, coming at a time when he was marshalling every available evidence of the value of the Indies to the Crown. In the ancient workings which his men had found he fancied he saw the mines of Ophir, sought by Solomon of old. His own bold conception of passing to Spain from the south of Cuba, by way of the Red Sea, recurred to his mind, and he thought that by the same route the son of David had sent his ships to fetch from Bonao the gold for the Temple. Alive to the importance of his latest discovery, he directed Don Bartholomew to send an expedition to the mines and establish there a fortress to be called St. Christopher, — as a token of the Admiral's gratitude for the assistance thus opportunely afforded. Don Bartholomew was also charged to have the mines opened and worked by the new men INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 235 brought out by Aguado, and to secure the largest output possible during the Admiral's absence in Spain. The records do not show that the Indians gained anything by their revelation, but the results to the colonial and imperial exchequers were almost immediate; and this was the object of most import in the eyes both of King and Viceroy. While the preparations were making for the departure of the Admiral and Aguado, a novel and unexpected disaster befell the colony. For the first time since the Spaniards arrived in the western waters they were subjected to the terrors and devastation of a Caribbean hurricane. To the enfeebled and disheartened among their number, it might well seem that the Judgment Day was at hand; while even to the more courageous there was enough of horror in the diabolical ferment of the elements to quail the toughest spirit. To add to the consternation of the observers, the waters of the harbor seemed to flee before the outburst of the gale, only to return with incredible violence and invade the land to a distance never before thought possible. When the fury of the awful tempest was past and the cowed settlers had an opportunity to examine its effects, they observed with dismay the havoc worked on their lightly built town and among the adjoining forests. What was of most moment to the Admiral and many of his people was that no trace remained of the vessels riding in the harbor, save the shat- tered wrecks of two or three hulls cast far inland by the wild rush of the tidal wave. Six of the ships had entirely dis- appeared, — overwhelmed, so some spectators said, by the first fierce shock of wind and sea. The damage might have proved wellnigh irreparable but for the shipwrights and materials which had been sent out on Aguado' s squadron, in answer to the former requisitions of the Admiral. With the aid of these, and the efforts of the seamen who survived the hurricane, Columbus began the construction of two new caravels of small size, and the repair of the only one of his other vessels which was capable of reconstruction. Strangely enough, this was the little " Niiia," which thus again escaped from dangers which proved fatal to so many of her consorts. There is something so uncanny, judged from the standpoint 236 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of marine superstition, in the persistent evasion by the stout little vessel of the long series of varied perils to which she had been exposed in the three last eventful years, that one is tempted to consider the story of her present escape as mythical. But there is no ground for doubting the sin- cerity of the matter-of-fact record concerning her, and we must class it among those coincidences which form the best excuse for faith in Kismet. The effect of the hurricane on the mind of Columbus was so extraordinary that it is strange it has not been referred to. It was at this time, so Las Casas distinctly affirms, that he assumed a garb resem- bling that of a Franciscan friar, "because he was deeply vowed to St. Francis." The historian adds that he saw the Admiral in this dress in Seville at the time of his arrival from the voyage he was now contemplating, and intimates that the motive for his humility was connected with the horrors of the dreadful night when the powers of sky and sea com- bined to aid the unfortunate Haytians in sweeping the strangers from the earth. Situated as Columbus was, with what he believed to be the Spanish control of the empires of the East at stake, the man need not be a weakling who felt his heart sink within him at the first sight of a West Indian hurricane bursting upon his people and ships. In such an extremity it was second nature for Columbus to make a vow, as we have seen him do when the "Nifia " was on the point of foundering on his return from the Discovery; and it was consonant with his recent experiences that this latest vow should take the form of an abandonment of the outward pomps and vanities of official rank. Such, at least, is the conclusion to be drawn from the statement of Las Casas, and it is the only one which fits the case. It has been often asserted that the adoption of the friar's dress was due to hypocrisy, ostentatious self-abasement, politic pity-seek- ing, and other motives similarly acceptable to their sugges- tors; but these are all based upon conjectures. The one cause assigned by companion or follower is that quoted from Las Casas. There was no lack of occupation pending the building of the new vessels. Columbus concerted with Don Bartholo- INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 237 mew, whom he appointed his deputy, the policy to be pur- sued during his absence in Spain; charging his brother especially to visit the southern coast, where the new mines had been found, and thence to march into the western por- tion of the island, which had not as yet been explored by the Spaniards. With regard to the colonists at Isabella, he enjoined the necessity of a moderate and conciliatory atti- tude and the avoidance of all irritating measures. He appointed as governors for the live forts, which had been established in the disaffected districts, men on whose fidel- ity he could rely, and carefully instructed them as to their relations with the natives. As Chief Justice of the whole island he named Francisco Roldan, one of his personal followers, who had been supervisor of laborers at Isabella and had acceptably filled other minor offices, and whom he regarded as devotedly attached to his interests. Don Diego was to assist Don Bartholomew in the administration, and, in the event of the latter' s death or incapacity, was to take his place. Great stress was laid upon the necessity of in- creasing the revenue, and Don Bartholomew was directed to encourage the discovery of forests of brazil and other valu- able dye-woods, and increase the shipment of these, of cot- ton, and of other natural products as well as of gold. The small consignments of these articles which had already been sent to Spain had led to a demand for more, which promised to prove an important factor in the revenue returns. Many weeks elapsed before the new caravels were fin- ished, but by the end of February, 1496, one was reported ready for sea, together with the "Nina," the repairs on which were also completed. The new vessel was called the "Santa Cruz," and was given to Aguado; the Admiral him- self preferred the more familiar, if less sightly quarters on the "Nina." As the time approached for the sailing of the caravels, it became necessary to select the men who were to return to Spain under their Majesties' orders to Columbus. All who were seriously ill, those who had come out without salary and were suffering in consequence, and those who had wives and children dependent upon them at home and 238 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. were tired of staying away from them were to be permitted to leave the island. When a count was made of these classes it was found that nearly three hundred of the colonists were entitled to consideration. All could not be taken, and a fierce wrangle at once sprang up among the candidates as to who should remain. Some appealed to Aguado and some to the Admiral, and a very pretty conflict of authority was the result. The commissioner claimed the right of making the choice; the Viceroy denied it and per- sisted in choosing the lucky individuals himself. Aguado threatened, stormed, and requested, in turn, but in the end had to yield, and the emigrants were named by the Admiral. In all 225 men were granted permission to return and were distributed between the two caravels. This reduced the number remaining to about 500 or 600, but it cleared the colony of most of the useless human lumber which idle- ness and disease had caused to accumulate about Isabella. Of the vicious, turbulent, and refractory there was no lack among those who were left, but at least they were men of action; and, if they envied their worthless comrades the chance to see Spain, they were consoled by the prospect that their absence would assure more ample rations to those that were left. In fact, the subject of provisions was a serious one, for the colony could ill spare the supplies required by the crowded vessels on their long voyage. The stores of European foods had to be husbanded with the utmost care, for the country about Isabella was yielding little or nothing of native produce. In this emergency the Admiral decided to turn to account the large plantations of cassava and maize which he had observed at Guadalupe on the westward voyage two years before, and to call at that island to replenish his stock. This involved a certain amount of risk, in view of the large number of passengers to be fed for so many weeks; but he had their Majesties' especial injunctions against cut- ting down the portions of the colonists, and did not venture to draw too heavily upon the magazines at Isabella for his voyage. On Tuesday, the 22nd of March, the two. caravels got under way and left the harbor below Isabella, homeward INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 239 bound. Their departure was attended neither by the pomp of Cadiz nor the misgivings and regrets of the return of the first fleet to Spain. Two years had been sufficient effectually to dissipate from the minds of the colonists of Isabella all the glamor and enthusiasm about the Indies; and, though the hope of gain and successful adventure beat high in the hearts of most of those who watched the ships drifting into the distance, they cherished now no illusions as to the price of such success. As for the Admiral, some few no doubt regretted his departure, but most rejoiced thereat as remov- ing a standing check upon their freedom of action. Their experience in the new lands he had discovered had not thus far been such as to excite a permanent enthusiasm, and they were not of the sort with whom loyalty counts for much. So, beyond such formal ceremonies as his rank called for, Columbus left the capital of his vast dominions without especial pomp or circumstance. His little squadron was only one the more sailing for home, and he himself was but another officer returning to lay his reports before the King and Queen. The departure and arrival of such ships and such officers was beginning to be an old story to the men of Isabella. Besides the returning colonists, the caravels carried thirty chosen Indians whom the Admiral was taking with him to exhibit to Ferdinand and Isabella. Among these, if we may credit some authorities, was the redoubtable Caonabo; but other chroniclers of equal weight hold that he was drowned in the great hurricane which destroyed the six vessels, in one of which he was confined. The question is not material, as those who place him with the Admiral aboard the "Niria" admit that he died before the flotilla reached Spain. His prowess as a warrior, and fame as a great cacique, interested the few intelligent men who con- cerned themselves with the people and nature of the new countries, and a number of more or less improbable but attractive legends are related concerning him. As the proto- type of all the aboriginal heroes of later romance and fable he possesses a certain interest, but the fact that within thirty years after his death the manner of it was so variously 240 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. related is evidence that he was looked upon by his captors as only a curio of a superior kind. Of more real interest was the fact that Don Bartholomew and a small escort accompanied the Admiral as far as Puerto de Plata, some twenty-five miles along the coast to the eastward of Isa- bella, and were landed there in order to examine the vicinity, with a view to removing a part of the colony to that site and commanding more nearly the adjoining country of Cibao. This port had always been a favorite with Columbus, and his recent experiences with the climate of Isabella had doubtless revived his earlier project con- cerning it. Landing his brother and companions, the Admiral made sail again and stood eastwards along the coast. Contrary winds so far detained the vessels that they did not reach the end of the island until the 22nd of March. From Cape Engailo, or, as we call it, Cabron, they steered direct for Guadalupe; but it was not until the 9th of April that they came to anchor off Maria Galante. The Admiral was learning to his cost that it is one thing to run down the Trades and another to beat up against them. The winds to which he owed the discovery of the Indies offered little aid for his return to Spain. On Sunday, the loth of April, the caravels sailed over to Guadalupe and anchored in a convenient haven. When the Spaniards essayed to land they were opposed by a throng of women who sallied from the forest armed with bows and arrows. " Because the surf ran very high they decided not to land," the chronicle reads; but the height of the breakers may have been magnified by the background of bellicose femininity, for two of the Haytian Indians were able to swim ashore and hold a parley with the women. The latter were assured that the white men intended no harm ; that all they wanted was food, and for this they were ready to pay; but the women refused to be persuaded into letting the strangers land, and told the interpreters that they must go to another part of the coast, where the Carib men were at work on their plantations. There was nothing to do but follow this counsel; so back the Haytians swam to the boats, and these in turn bore the report to the Admiral. The INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 24 1 caravels weighed anchor and cruised alongshore until they reached a beach which swarmed with warriors, who, in token of defiance, sent showers of arrows in the direction of the ships. Here were the fields of maize and mandioca which the Spaniards coveted, and the prospect of having a brush with the cannibals added materially to the zest of foraging. The Admiral ordered out the boats and sent a party ashore, who were so warmly received that it was necessary to sup- port them with a discharge from the ships' lombards. The savages could not withstand the thunders of these novel weapons and the havoc wrought by their missiles, and fled to the woods, leaving the Spaniards masters of the field. An examination disclosed a considerable store of food in the native cabins and an abundance of corn and mandioca in the plantations near by. The Admiral accordingly detailed a number of his own men and the Indians aboard the caravels to land and make a quantity of bread, after the native fashion, for use on the homeward voyage. While this was being done, he sent forty men inland to learn some- thing of the country. They returned in a day or two, bring- ing ten Carib women and three lads as captives. One of the women, of commanding stature and unusual strength, who had been taken only after a hand-to-hand fight in which she had nearly strangled her pursuer, was said to be the chieftainess of the tribe. When she and her companions were brought before the Admiral, he questioned them ex- haustively, through the interpreter, concerning their life and customs. Ever since he had reached Hayti, on his first voyage, he had heard of an island inhabited by women warriors who could be none other, in his belief, than the Asiatic Amazons of Mandeville and Marco Polo. His experience at Guadalupe both on the outward voyage and this later one tended to confirm the theory, while the state- ments frankly made by the captives in answer to his in- quiries left little doubt in his mind that the island was under the dominion of the legendary heroines. It was an additional link in the chain of evidence proving, to his satisfaction, that he had reached the shores of Asia. By the 20th of April the bread-makers had accumulated 16 242 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. a store of that provision, thought to be sufficient to last until the anchors were dropped in the port of Cadiz. The Admiral therefore made sail and laid his course for the Canaries. The captives taken in Guadalupe had all been put on shore, with the exception of the woman cacique and her little daughter. If we may believe the gossip of the ships, the mother was first touched with the misfortunes and then enamoured with the heroic qualities of Caonabo, and willingly sacrificed her liberty to share his imprisonment. Her fortitude and devotion were soon put to the test, as were those of all on board the caravels, whether captors or prisoners. In his desire to keep as near as possible the latitude of the Canary Islands, the Admiral maintained a course which was almost directly in the face of the north- east Trades. As often as he was blown off this, he would slowly and laboriously return, only to be driven away again. Week after week passed in this tedious blind beating about on the face of an unfamiliar ocean, until sickness broke out on the overcrowded vessels and white men and Indians alike began to droop and die. To this was added the distress caused by scanty rations of unwholesome food, followed all too soon by stark famine. " They suffered the last extremity of hunger," Las Casas says, quoting from the journal of Columbus, " so that all expected to perish. " The biography attributed to the Admiral's son Fernando enlarges upon this, and alleges that the famished sailors and colonists went so far as to propose eating the Indians on board, but were shamed by their commander into bearing their suffer- ings with patience.-^ A ray of hope encouraged them when they caught sight of land and recognized it as one of the Azores, but this gave way to a deeper gloom when they were driven off its coast by contrary gales and failed to reach it again. To Columbus this experience must have vividly recalled the perilous days and sleepless nights of his return from the Discovery. There is something almost impressive 1 Those critics who scoff at Columbus's tales of cannibalism among the Caribs accept without comment this story of the same villainous appetite among civilized Europeans. Perhaps we should be grateful that they do not lay the suggestion at his door. INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 243 in the persistency with which the elements assailed this one explorer on nearly every voyage he undertook. Other fleets far less skilfully captained crossed and recrossed the At- lantic without let or hindrance; but, with a single excep- tion, no sooner did the unveiler of its mysteries venture upon its bosom than he was exposed to every form of dan- ger known to those who go down into the deep in ships. In this instance, fifty-two days were spent in making the voyage between Guadalupe and Cape St. Vincent, and it was not until the nth of June, 1496, that the weak and exhausted voyagers came to anchor in the bay of Cadiz. Many of their shipmates had succumbed to disease or privation, and among these, as some say, was Caonabo. The arrival of Columbus commanded only so much interest as attached, in a country devoted to form, to the return of an officer of his high rank from a distant station. Since he left that port, in command of the colonizing expedition, in September, '93, three fleets had arrived from and as many left for the Indies. In the minds of the vulgar throng, Hispaniola and Isabella ranked with the Canaries and the Guinea Coast, as remote and pestilential colonies where profit and adventures could be had in plenty, did one live long enough to obtain either. The news that he had made new discoveries may have engaged the attention of the few, but to the populace at large it was only a matter of outlandish names. Their conception of the golden Indies was not based on increased geographical knowledge, but on the emaciated frames, empty pockets, and sallow features of the ex-colonists as they disembarked from the two caravels; and nothing the townspeople heard from their returning countrymen tended to arouse any enthusiasm for the lands beyond the sea, or the man who had discovered them. They had built high hopes upon the sailing of the Admiral and his expedition three years before, but nothing had resulted so far for Cadiz or her people. Whether the future had anything in store was more than doubtful. This indifference was not shared by the crews of three vessels which were anchored in the harbor when the Admiral entered with his two battered caravels. To them the haggard crowd 244 ^^-^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of returning adventurers possessed a peculiar, if not an inspiriting interest; for the three ships were on the point of sailing for the colony which the arriving caravels had left. In command of the outward-bound flotilla was that Pedro Alonzo Nifio who had served as pilot of the "Santa Maria " on the first voyage, and who was now only too glad to meet his old commander before sailing for Hispaniola. Nino's ships were laden exclusively with provisions for the colony, for a fleet of four ships which had been despatched with a similar cargo in January had been wrecked on the coast, and the colonists were supposed to be by this time in great need. Nifio was also the bearer of the latest letters from Ferdinand and Isabella to the Admiral, in which they replied more in detail to the despatches brought by Torres than they had been able to do by Aguado. These letters were now read by Columbus, and Nifio 's departure delayed until corresponding instructions could be written to Don Bartholomew. The only matters of especial interest touched upon in the Admiral's hurried communication to his brother were that the King and Queen directed that all Indians captured in arms against the Spaniards, or otherwise refrac- tory, should be sent to Spain as slaves, and that it was desirable to move the colony from Isabella to some conven- ient point on the southern coast of Hispaniola. In these measures we find the sovereigns readily concurring in the suggestions made by their Viceroy when their material inter- ests were concerned, however much it may have suited their plans to curtail his authority and criticise his methods. The conscientious scruples of the Queen concerning the natives had been allayed by the familiar sophism that they were in revolt against her authority. The change in the site of the colony was due partly to the unhealthiness of Isabella and partly to the greater convenience of a port on the south coast, in view of the Admiral's discoveries in Cuba and Jamaica. The information then acquired all pointed to the development in the near future of discovery toward the south, and in such event Isabella would be prac- tically useless as a base of operations. Columbus finished his despatches in four days and Pedro INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 245 Alonzo set sail for the Indies on the 17th of June. The Admiral at once left Cadiz for Seville, where Fonseca and the officials charged with the administration of the new Indian House were established. The King and Queen were in the north of Spain; the former engaged on the frontiers of France in the war he was waging against that kingdom, the latter in the maritime province of Biscay, superintend- ing the preparations for her daughter's voyage to Flanders to marry the Archduke Philip. Under these circumstances Columbus forwarded to their Majesties the announcement of his arrival and inquired their pleasure as to his move- ments, remaining meantime in Seville and Cordova. In those cities he met as many friends as enemies, for the bitterest opposition to his schemes and methods existed among the followers of the Court, and this was located for the time being at Burgos in Old Castile. But there was no lack of angry criticism and scornful incredulity in Seville and its vicinity; for so many ambitious townspeople had set sail with him in '93 to gather the riches of the Indies, and either never returned or returned wrecked in health and fortunes, that both the Indies and their Viceroy were a laughing-stock among the sober-minded. This Columbus could have borne, for it was only a long-familiar experience revived; but he could not support with patience the news he heard on every side, among his seagoing acquaintance, of preparations making by Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon and others to fit out ships and go on private cruises to the Indies under the general license of April, 1495. That he con- sidered a direct and flagrant breach of the Crown's engage- ments with himself, and the fact that the men who had obtained the issue of that decree and proposed to turn it to their own advantage were his former followers or associates only added to his sense of cruel injustice. We catch a few glimpses of him during these weeks of waiting, walking through the streets of Seville in his monk-like garb, chat- ting about his Cuban voyage and Haytian skirmishes with his friend the Cura de los Palacios, showing to his acquaint- ance the strange relics and rich specimens he had brought home. But, at best, little remains to inform us as to the 246 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMH^AL. manner of his reception, or his own sensations on returning from his long and eventful absence. Sometime about the end of July he received the answer of the King and Queen to his letter from Cadiz. It was dated from Almazan in Castile, on the 12th of the month, and was addressed to "Don Christopher Columbus, their Majesties' Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of the Indies in the Ocean Sea." In a few lines of rather formal condescension the Queen acknowledged his letters and report and expressed gratifi- cation at his safe arrival. " Since you say you will soon be here," she concluded, "let your coming be whenever in your judgment it will not cause you trouble, for in what is past you have had trouble enough." The phrase, in the original, is genuinely kind and was no doubt grateful to the Admiral ; but what was of even more moment was the use of his full ofhcial title. Whatever was the motive for ignoring his rank in the missives sent by Aguado, it had disappeared, and their Majesties were once more disposed to meet their deputy with apparent frankness and cordiality. Soon after receiving this letter Columbus set out for Burgos, accompanied by a considerable retinue, in which were Caonabo's brother and other Indians. He took with him all the more notable gifts of gold and other products which he had collected, the large nuggets and coarse gold which had been found by the Spaniards or delivered to them by the natives, golden masks, stone idols, Carib weapons, strange birds, and whatever else he thought would support, before their Majesties, his persistent assertions as to the wealth of the Indies. His journey lay through nearly the whole width of Spain, and wherever he went he displayed to the learned and curious the tawny natives from the new- found Indies, bedecked in golden ornaments and bearing their fragile weapons of wood and reed. Ferdinand and Isabella were not at Burgos when the Admiral arrived, but reached the city a few days afterward. Their welcome was apparently sincere and free from all taint of displeasure. They listened with extreme interest to his account of all that had happened in Hispaniola and on the- Cuban voyage, plying him with questions concerning their people and INVESTIGATION AND VINDICATION. 247 products and his own theories as to the identity of the islands with those mentioned by travellers in Asia. His own health and personal welfare were also inquired for with flattering minuteness, and much solicitude expressed at his severe and repeated sufferings. Their Majesties showed particular concern about the mines of Hispaniola, and were well pleased with the specimens of their output which the Admiral presented. They listened with sympathy to his relation of the trials to which the colony at Isabella had been subjected, but expressed themselves as satisfied with all that he had done. On a later occasion, in writing to their Majesties, he records the assurances which they gave him during this interview : — " Your Highnesses answered me with that courage which the whole world knows you possess, and told me that I should not care for anything of that kind, because it was your intention to prosecute this undertaking and support it, even if it produced nothing but rocks and stones ; that you did not attach much im- portance to the cost involved, for in other affairs of less moment you were spending a great deal more ; and that you considered everything that had been spent thus far to have been very well employed, and that what should be spent in the future would be equally to your advantage, as you believed that our holy faith would be extended and your royal dominions enlarged. You also said that those who spoke evil of this enterprise were not friends of your royal estate."' In short, on leaving the royal presence, Columbus was entitled to feel that he had the hearty support and approval of the King and Queen, and that the intrigues which his influential enemies had so successfully initiated met with no encouragement from Ferdinand and Isabella. Las Casas, who had all the documentary history of these cabals in his hands when he wrote, sums up the case effectively when he says : " Of the reports which Juan Aguado brought and laid before the sovereigns, very little was heard; and so there is nothing more to say, or to waste time over, about Juan Aguado." One significant declaration was made by the Admiral to their Majesties in this audience at Burgos, — that whatever 248 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. he had done thus far in their service was little in compar- ison to that which he would accomplish on his next voyage. He had given them grand islands heretofore, he told them; now, if it pleased God, he would give them a great land, "which should be, perhaps, another continent." This, he assured his august hearers, would prove to be as certain as had the assertions he had made them, before starting on his first voyage, concerning lands in the West. This " great land," it is clear, was not Asia or Cuba : it was that country to the south, of which he had heard in Cuba itself, Jamaica, Hayti, and Guadalupe. We have seen him on the outward voyage in '93 pondering over the vague hints he had gath- ered at the time of the Discovery concerning this southern mystery, and planning to explore it later on; we find him three years later, with the experiences among the natives of Southern Cuba and Jamaica fresh in his mind, telling his royal patrons that, if they will but permit him, he will add a new "terra firma " to their dominions, in addition to that easternmost Asia which, as he believed, he had already discovered for them. XIII. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. NO time could have been less favorable for engaging the attention of Ferdinand and Isabella in colonial affairs than was the summer of 1496. The King was deeply immersed in the operations of his armies in Sicily and along the frontiers of France, with all the complex diplomatic relations attendant upon these two wars ; while the Queen was equally absorbed in the elaborate preparations making to celebrate the double wedding which she and her husband had so shrewdly negotiated with the Emperor Maximilian of Germany. The crown prince, Juan, of Spain was to marry Margaret, the daughter of Maximilian, and the latter's heir, the Archduke Philip, was to wed the Princess Juana, the second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. As became so auspicious and mighty an alliance, the Crown of Spain proposed to challenge the admiration of Europe with the splendor of the nuptials. An imposing armada, consisting of no less than 120 vessels manned by nearly 20,000 men, was brought together at Laredo on the Biscayan coast to transport the Princess Juana to Flanders and bring back the Princess Margaret, after which a formidable succession of tourneys and pageants was to be celebrated by the Court. A marriage was also being arranged between Prince Arthur, the son of Henry VII. of England, and the princess who, in after years, attained a melancholy fame as Katherine of Aragon ; and this also involved no little negotiation and effort. When we consider the restless and far-reaching nature of Ferdinand's ambition, and the ceremonious and 249 250 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. scrupulous interest with which Isabella supervised every incident affecting the welfare of her children and the dignity of her realm, we can conceive that neither sovereign could find much leisure to give to their wrangling colonists beyond the Western Ocean. Moreover, once they had heard their Admiral's reports, listened to his projects for the future, and expressed their approval of one and sympathy with the other, there remained the awkward question of ways and means to be considered. The programme sketched by Columbus, to which their Majesties heartily assented in general terms, involved the outlay of ten millions of mara- vedies at the least. The treasuries of the twin kingdoms had been drained dry between the foreign wars and domes- tic ostentation. With two armies in the field and what amounted to a third on board the Flanders armada, with this fleet and the Sicilian armament afloat, and with a people burdened with the last straw of taxation and a mihtary levy which called for one in ten of the entire adult male popula- tion, not even the prospect of adding another continent to the recently discovered Asia could induce the Crown to set aside so great an amount just at that season. Don Christo- pher Columbus, Admiral and Viceroy, must wait, brilliant and seductive as were his new proposals. That his presence at the Court had immediately and effectually checked the progress of the intrigues against him is apparent. To the King and Queen the rephes he made to the strictures of his adversaries were conclusive. They were equally gratified with the evidences he presented of successful exploration and with the plausibility of his argu- ments concerning a Terra Firma to the south of Hayti, Cuba, and Jamaica. They chided him gently for his sternness with the Castilian, hidalgos, but accepted his explanations as sufficient, and gave repeated indications that, whatever want of confidence they had shown in the wisdom or propriety of some of his actions as related to them by Fray Boil and his party, they looked upon them as venial errors of judg- ment when compared with the tangible outcome of his labors. He was assured that in the near future his plans should be adopted and carried out to their fullest extent. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 25 I and that no amount of calumny or criticism could swerve their Majesties from this attitude. In fact, the same in- fluences which deterred them from acting promptly in accordance with his urgent recommendations had deprived the intrigue against Columbus of all importance. The King and Queen had now neither leisure nor inclination to sit in judgment on the merits of a colonial squabble, and it rapidly shrank to the proportions of a dead issue. We have a con- cise statement from the Admiral's own pen of the situation of this whole business as it existed after his arrival at Court. Exhibiting as it does both his own position and that of his opponents, and detailing the considerations which in- fluenced Ferdinand and Isabella to support him in spite of the accusations heaped upon him, the exposition will bear translating : — " In Spain they vilified and derided the enterprise which was inaugurated in Hispaniola, because I did not at once send back the ships freighted with gold ; not considering the shortness of the time, or all the other difficulties of which I have spoken. For this reason, — either on account of my sins, or, rather, for my salvation, as I believe it shall prove, — all that I said or asked for was treated with detestation and obstructed ; wherefore I resolved to come to your Majesties, to express my astonishment at such treatment and show you the just grounds I had for all that was done. I told you of the towns I had seen, in which or from which many souls might be saved ; I brought you the sub- missions of the tribes of Hispaniola, under which they agreed to pay tribute and acknowledged you as their sovereigns and lords ; I brought also a large quantity of gold, to show that there are ores and very large nuggets, and copper as well; and I brought specimens of many kinds of spices, which it would be tedious to enumerate, and told you of the great abundance of brazil-wood and infinite other products. All this availed noth- ing with those persons who were bent on slandering the under- taking and had already begun to do so. They did not weigh the service done Our Lord in the salvation of so many souls, or say that this was a glory for your Highnesses, of a higher qual- ity than that which any prince has enjoyed until this time, since the labor and sacrifice were both for temporal and spiritual ends, and it is inconceivable that, with the progress of time, Spain should not receive therefrom great advantages, as the indica- 252 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. tions are so manifest from what has aheady been written of these expeditions that the fulfihiient of the future may Hkewise be looked for. Nor did they care to mention the deeds done by the great princes of the world to extend their fame ; as Solo- mon, for example, who sent from Jerusalem to the end of the Orient to examine the mountain of Ophir, in which voyage his ships were detained for three years, which Ophir your Majesties now possess iti the islaiid of Hispaniola ; ^ or Alexander, who sent to study the government of the island of Taprobana,^ in India; or the Emperor Nero, who sent to investigate the sources of the Nile, and the reason why they rose in the summer when rains are few ; or the other many great actions done by princes ; or that to princes these achievements are given to be done. Nor did it avail for me to reply that I had never read that kings of Castile had ever won any lands beyond its borders, and that this land out here is that other world to secure which the Romans, Alexander, and the Greeks labored with such vast sacrifices. Nor, to speak of the present, was it of any use for me to refer to the kings of Portugal, who have had the courage to support the Guinea enterprise and the discovery of that coun- try, and who have spent gold and men to such a degree that if any one should number the people of that kingdom he wouid find that half as many as are left have died in Guinea. Yet these kings continued until the undertaking produced for them what now is apparent, although they began with it a long while ago and it is only very lately that it has yielded any revenue. The .same sovereigns also had the daring to invade Africa and engage in the conquest of Ceuta, Tangiers, Arcilla, and Alcagar, and to wage perpetual war against the Moors ; all this at great cost and with the single end of doing that which is worthy of a king, — to serve God, and to extend their kingdom. " The more I said, the more was the effort redoubled to expose this enterprise to scorn and to show hatred of it, no attention being paid to the fact that all the rest of the world so much admired it. and that throughout Christendom your Majesties were so extolled for having assumed it that there was no prince, great or petty, who did not desire a letter about it. To all this your Highnesses answered by laughing and telling me not to trouble myself about anything, for you attached neither weight nor credence to those who spoke evil of this enterprise." 1 The italics are ours. The reference to the " End of the Orient " has a special meaning when compared with the change made in the name of Cape Alpha and Omega on the return voyage from Cuba. 2 The ancient and mediaeval name for Sumatra. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 253 From the time of his arrival in Burgos, in August or September of 1496, to the spring of 1497 the season was one of comparative inaction for Columbus, and was devoted by him to the settlement of old affairs and the organization of his new plans. At their Majesties' desire he drew up an elaborate estimate of the cost of executing the plans he had formed for a new voyage of discovery, and also a minute or scheme of the policy he proposed to follow with regard to the government of Hispaniola. These suggestions were discussed in a desultory way and accepted by the Crown, but their execution was deferred until a more convenient season. The Admiral wished to despatch as soon as possi- ble two more caravels to Hispaniola, which should take out additional supplies of provisions and also a full equipment of miners and apphances for developing the mines of the island to their full capacity. With a fleet of six more ves- sels he would himself sail into the Southwest, in search of the countries which he believed lay in that direction, and, after discovering these, or proving their non-existence, would guide his course to Hispaniola. Other proposals of minor importance were made, the whole subject being treated in a broad and sagacious spirit, which has been care- fully obscured by the censors of its author. In addition to elaborating these designs, the Admiral found much to do in liquidating the complicated accounts of his government and overseeing the adjustment of the contracts existing between the Crown and those colonists who had returned, or the heirs of those who had died. From the records of these transactions it appears that he had advanced from his per- sonal resources considerable sums to indigent settlers, and shown a solicitude which would reflect honor on any other governor to protect the interests of the heirs of such of his people as had lost their lives. " Many men, both natives of Spain and foreigners, have died in the Indies," he represented to their Majesties, " and I ordered that their wills should be taken out and fulfilled, in virtue of the powers conferred on me by your Highnesses. To this end I charged Escobar in Seville and Juan de Leon in Isabella that they should well and faithfully attend to all this matter, both in paying the 254 ^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. debts of the deceased (in case their heirs failed to do so) and in collecting all their property and salary." Both in connection with these financial settlements and in his schemes for the future the Admiral came frequently into open conflict with Fonseca and his heutenant Ximeno de Bribiesca, and as he was invariably successful in carrying his point, on appealing to the King or Queen, the arrogant churchman and his wily proselyte nursed their wrath until an occasion for revenge should arrive. Columbus was not so absorbed in magnificent schemes of future discovery and development, or in strengthening the strained foundations of his standing at Court, that he neg- lected his personal interests. He remonstrated with emphasis and boldness against the general license to make voyages to the Indies, granted by the Crown in April, '95, and secured the promise of its revocation as far as it infringed his sol- emnly guaranteed rights. He also pressed upon their Majesties the propriety, in view of the recent disputes con- cerning the extent of his authority, of giving him a specific and definite confirmation of his rank and prerogatives, and sanctioning the entail of these upon his heirs male. To both requests Ferdinand and Isabella gave a ready acquies- cence. Indeed, everything that the Admiral now proposed was apparently accepted by them with the same unhesitating alacrity as they showed in the preparations for the second voyage in '93. They could not undertake to meet his wishes at once, but they were willing to commit them- selves frankly to his projects and instruct their officials to make provision for their convenient execution. We can find no trace, during these and the succeeding months, of the intrigue against Columbus. Whatever might be the cause of this sudden accession of royal favor, — whether recognition of services rendered, expectation of still greater advantages to be derived from their connection with him, compensation for their hasty condemnation of him in his absence, or otherwise, — Ferdinand and Isabella lent them- selves to all of the Admiral's proposals with a facility which baffles comprehension, if we accept the theory that he was a reckless adventurer, insatiate speculator, and visionary PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 255 romancer. There must have been about this man more of what we moderns term " personal magnetism," and the weighty influence born of successful achievement, than his critics have cared to admit. Not even the untoward incident of Pedro Alonzo Niiio's stupendous blunder was sul^cient to shake the regenerated confidence of the King and Queen. That worthy pilot had safely navigated his little fleet across the seas to Isabella, and there delivered his cargo and despatches to Don Bar- tholomew some time in August, '96. The latter, having no other cargo at hand, and anxious to send back Pedro x'Vlonzo without delay, loaded the vessels with 300 Indian slaves. The fleet made a good passage home, arriving in Spain about the end of October. Elated with his successful voy- age and aware of the value of slaves in the Seville market, Pedro Alonzo wrote hurriedly to both the King and Queen and the Admiral, claiming the customary gratuity for a signal service and announcing that he brought back his ships freighted with gold. This done, he hastened to his home at Moguer, carrying with him the letters sent by Don Bartholomew to the Admiral. The receipt of such gratify- ing news, apparently confirming all that Columbus had said to their Majesties of the surpassing wealth of the lately dis- covered mines of Bonao, — or Ophir, as he thought it surely was, — was doubly grateful on account of the solution it afforded to the financial difficulties surrounding the outfit- ting of the proposed new voyage. Here were funds in plenty for the Admiral's projects, without interfering with the domestic requirements of the Crown. " Since Pilot Pedro Alonzo has brought so much gold," Ferdinand is reported to have said to the Admiral, " you can take from it the amounts I have promised you, and more too." There- upon the King notified his treasurer not to distress himself further about providing the sums called for by the Admiral's estimates, but to apply his whole available resources to the needs of the French campaign. Weeks passed without other tidings from Pedro, and the King and Columbus became anxious for confirmation of his assertions. At length, toward the end of December, the tardy pilot reached the Court, pre- 256 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. sented his budget of letters, and explained that his boast of October was a mere figure of speech ; that his gold was in the shape of slaves, — who were as good as money, after all. The blow was a cruel one to the Admiral, for he had acted, since receiving the first report, on the assumption that noth- ing now remained but to fit out his fleet, adjust his affairs with the King and Queen, and start on a new career of discovery. It was all the more bitter because of the im- mense advantage it gave his adversaries. Neglected by Ferdinand and Isabella, they had been compelled to watch the steady advance of the Admiral in the royal favor until, with the news that a great remittance of gold had arrived and the colony was at last a source of large revenue, their chief argument was destroyed and they seemed to be finally dis- credited. When Pedro Alonzo's reckless folly was made known, all their allegations gained new strength, and they found themselves armed with a corroboration of their charges which surpassed their utmost hopes. Once more the cabal raised its voice and, with renewed activity, prosecuted its intrigues. It was too late. Ferdinand and Isabella had espoused the Admiral's cause and were bent on putting his brilliant programme to the test. However unpopular he and his en- terprise were with the Court and nation at large, — and, we are told, they were esteemed Httle better than a jest, — the sovereigns held to their faith both in the man and his schemes. Notwithstanding this grateful countenance, the winter passed in weary waiting. No further word came from the Indies, and the absolute want of funds prevented any vessels being sent thither. Don Bartholomew had written by Pedro Alonzo that he intended to march at once to the new mines, found a settlement there, and push the mining operations with energy ; after which he should visit the brazil-wood forests in the southwestern part of the island and endeavor to win over the caciques of that hitherto undisturbed region. Beyond this, Columbus knew nothing, and his solicitude con- cerning the welfare of the colony was as keen as was his im- patience to put his plans into execution. But it soon became evident that their Majesties were not willfully procrastinating. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 257 Early in March, '97, the fleet arrived from Flanders with the Princess Margaret, and on April 3rd her marriage with Prince Juan was solemnized. Within three weeks there- after the royal secretaries began to issue decree after decree relating to the affairs of the Indies, and scarcely a week passed during the succeeding three months without some provision relating to the Admiral's interests being signed by Ferdinand and Isabella. By the end of June all of the most important measures which had been under discussion since his arrival at Court in August were formally disposed of. He was authorized to carry out his proposal — made under the pressure of financial straits — of reducing the number of colonists to 330, — or 500, in certain contingencies; to purchase in Spain the supplies and materials he needed at such prices as he should deem fair ; to liquidate the accounts which were due in the Indies with the proceeds of such gold or other valuable products as might be obtained there ; and to dispense with the payment of local and general taxes on his vessels and their cargoes. His recommendations con- cerning the administration of the colony were approved in a letter of instructions " For the population of the islands and mainland already discovered and placed under our dominion, and of those which yet remain to be discovered in the direction of the Indies which are in the Ocean Sea." This document adopts without alteration the suggestions made by Columbus for reforming the government of the colony. The Indians were to be diligently taught by the clergy who were to take the place of Fray Boil's runaways ; a systematic cultivation of the soil was enjoined, and the tithe of the crops granted the Church for its support ; cattle and horses were to be bred on farms maintained by the Crown ; the colonists were to draw fixed pay and rations, but only until the crops should be sufficient to support them ; the salaries of the officials and employees were to be deter- mined by the Admiral and paid on his authorization ; the gold obtained from the new mines was to be coined in the colony into moneys corresponding with those of Spain ; and the tribute imposed upon the Indians was to be collected under the supervision of an officer especially appointed, 17 258 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. who was to have five per cent of all that was received. We look in vain for a reservation or exception in any of these decrees ; they are as frankly, distinctly, and unreservedly issued in the Admiral's interest as though no one had ever questioned the wisdom of his actions, the extent of his au- thority, or the value of his achievements. Boil, Margarite, and Aguado might never have existed, so little did the royal provisions suggest any divergence of views as to the eminent prudence of the Admiral's conduct. As if to emphasize their satisfaction with his past course and their adherence to his plans for the future, the King and Queen signed on the same day three elaborate instru- ments ; the first, confirming to Columbus and his descend- ants the emoluments and benefits assured to him in the famous agreement of discovery signed on April 17th, 1492, before the walls of Granada ; the second, confirming to him and his heirs the rank and prerogatives of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Viceroy and Governor of the Indies, bestowed upon him on April 30th, 1492 ; and the third granting him authority to entail these rights and privileges in the line of his male successors. Moreover, their Majesties, in ful- filment of the contract of '92, caused to be copied from the Castilian archives all the letters patent, decrees, and rescripts conferring emoluments, prerogatives, and distinctions upon the High Admiral of Castile, and authorized the enjoyment of like privileges by Columbus and his descendants as Admi- rals of the Indies. Apart from the dignities of this elevated rank, the salaries and perquisites were, for the day, enormous, and by this measure Columbus was assured of a large income independent of the returns from the lands which he dis- covered. This was not the only provision made for his financial welfare at this time. The accountants of the Crown were directed to write off, or cancel, the huge sums with which Columbus was charged on the royal books as his share, under the contract cited, of the cost of the armaments de- spatched and operations conducted heretofore in the Indies (excepting of the voyage of Discovery, which had been already liquidated), but to allow him, nevertheless, his one-eighth share of all the proceeds received from the colony. This PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 259 liberal modification was also made applicable to the expedi- tion about to be fitted out. Still another generous amend- ment in the terms of the contract exempted the Admiral from contributing, for three years, his one-eighth of all ex- penses, while allowing him to draw his share from the gross receipts of the colony. It has been claimed that, in securing these extraordinary largesses, Columbus played upon the too confiding and sus- ceptible natures of his royal patrons, and, by his blandish- ments, extorted from them concessions which shamed his magnanimity as much as they discredited the royal sagacity. Those who hold this opinion have been careless students of the lives of Ferdinand and his consort. There is something grotesque in the idea of Columbus beguiling their Catholic Majesties — perhaps the two shrewdest princes of their time — into signing away a vast revenue by the recital of his dazzHng expectations. Isabella, it is true, was often generous by disposition, and Ferdinand sometimes so from policy ; but they both were amply endowed with the homely virtue of thrift, and were wont to drive as hard a bargain as any Jew they had forced across their borders. In releasing the Admiral from his obligations and bestowing upon him princely gifts, there was some motive other than maudlin sentimentahty or blind carelessness.' In our belief, that motive was the deliberate conviction that it was to the in- terest of Castile and Aragon to heap honor, rank, and profit upon the one man who had shown himself capable of con- ceiving and executing the greatest undertaking of historic times. It was " good business," to use a purely commercial phrase, to reward him for what he had done and satisfy him as to the outcome of the future. They believed they would be the gainers, for they grasped the significance of the dis- coveries he had already made, and shared his confidence in the importance of those to follow. Some spark of enthu- siasm there may have been at the outset, but its last embers had smouldered beyond revival by the time of the Aguado episode, and what Ferdinand and Isabella were doing in 1497 was the effect of studied calculation, not of over-per- suasion or benevolence. The King was not a philanthropist, 26o THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. or the Queen an impressionable school-girl. Nor was Columbus the hypocritical self-seeker his censors would fain have us believe. They pass over with scanty mention the crowning recompense which was at this time offered to him, and refused, although it was thought by the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella to be almost too extravagant a return to make to Cortez and Pizarro for the empires of the Aztecs and the Incas. Their Majesties offered to him, in addition to the grants we have recited, a tract of land 200 miles long by 100 miles wide, to be selected by himself in the island of Hispaniola, with the rank and title of duke or marquis, as he might elect. The proposal was accom- panied by no conditions ; its acceptance would place him and his successors in the front rank of the proudest nobility of Christendom at a time when such a distinction possessed a value inconceivable to us ; it was peculiarly tempting to Columbus, whose chief ambition, as we shall see, was to per- petuate, in his descendants, the fame of his achievements ; it was made in conjunction with other boons which assured both him and his successors a great fortune to sustain the honor worthily. From every consideration, the opportunity for gratifying a legitimate ambition would seem fairly irresist- ible. Yet Columbus declined the offer without hesitation, even with bluntness. We do not remember to have seen his own words quoted : " I entreated their Majesties," he wrote to his brother Bartholomew, " that they would not command me to accept it, in order to avoid the scandal of being calumniated, and so that the rest of my plans should not be lost ; because, however httle my lands might be colonized, the evil tongues would always say that I settled my own and neglected theirs, and also that I had chosen the best for myself. From this would arise disputes which would redound to my injury ; therefore I said that, since their Majesties have bestowed upon me the tenth and the eighth of the products of all the Indies, I desire no more." The same pens which allege that his one purpose was " to make the Indies a paying investment " for himself charge Columbus with consistently exaggerating the importance of his discoveries. In the case just cited, at least, he refused PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 26 1 the most glittering prize that could be offered him, rather than jeopardize his hopes in the remote regions he was so painfully bringing within the pale of the known world. The liberahty of the sovereigns did not end with their acceptance of the Admiral's policy and the bestowal of re- wards. The friction which had existed for so many years between him and Fonseca was in no small degree responsible for the delays and disputes which had so constantly arisen. Conscious of this want of harmony and of its dangerous consequences to the colony, Ferdinand and Isabella now proposed to relieve Fonseca of his office of director of Indian affairs and put in his place Antonio de Torres, whose devo- tion to the Admiral and familiarity with the requirements of the colonial situation made his appointment doubly accept- able to the latter. Unfortunately, Torres had his whims ; he demanded such conditions of rank and authority that he finally wearied his royal master and mistress, and they with- drew his appointment and reinstated Fonseca. We find a few despatches, dating from this period, running in the names of Columbus and Torres, but the project scarcely became an effective reality ; and thus what was probably the most important to Columbus of all the measures sanctioned by their Majesties was nullified by the vanity of his associate. Had Torres succeeded Fonseca, the following ten years would have borne other fruit for the Admiral. One of the matters which Columbus had most at heart was the settlement of Hispaniola by a more industrious and reliable class of persons than those who had heretofore gone thither. To this end he solicited from their Majesties certain exemptions and allowances in favor of the colonists, which were granted as soon as asked for. They exhibit in every line a rational and temperate plan for the development of the new possessions, and should go far to acquit their pro- poser from the charge of hasty and reckless administration. One of the decrees which relates to these measures provided for the return of all the colonists in the Indies who should so desire, and their substitution by an equal number from the 330 whose engagement has been alluded to ; for the shipment of a sufficient equipment of mining tools and implements of 262 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. husbandry ; for the transporting of the cattle and live stock in an old vessel which could be broken up on reaching His- paniola and used in the construction of the town to be built near the new mines on the south coast ; for grain and biscuits to last until mills could be erected ; for the machinery and stones needed in the latter ; for a physician, apothecary, herbalist, and, oddly enough, " some musical instruments and players for the diversion of the people who are to be there." A special clause provided for the settlement in Hispaniola of a number of priests and friars, who should regularly per- form the offices of the church in the colony and endeavor to convert the natives. x\nother decree authorized the Ad- miral to allot lands to such of the colonists as seemed to him worthy, provided that the settlers should cultivate their holdings, build houses and mills, and reside at least four years on their allotments. All metals, dye-woods, spices, and other valuable commodities were reserved to the Crown. We have been thus minute in referring to these arrange- ments because of the censures unstintedly heaped upon Columbus by reason of his alleged suggestion that "the prisons disgorge their vermin " in order to supply him with the men he needed to man his ships on the coming voyage, and to keep his colony up to the estabhshed number. The decrees we have quoted prove emphatically that he had no such intention ; his programme of colonization was equal in breadth and wisdom to any which followed it for two cen- turies. What he did propose, and what was authorized, was that, in addition to the useful and salaried colonists already provided for, such offenders against the laws as " deserved or ought to be exiled, according to the code and laws of the kingdoms, to some island, or to labor and work in the mines," should go " to work in the island of Hispaniola in such things as the Admiral of the Indies should specify and direct, for the time they were to pass in the other island at work in the mines." Upon serving one or two years, according to the gravity of their offence, arid obtaining from the Admiral a certificate of satisfactory conduct, they were to be pardoned the remainder of their sentences. Otherwise PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 263 they were to continue to perform the service prescribed. In doing this, the Crown obtained a supply of labor which would relieve the better class from the excessive service of which such bitter complaints had been made, and, at the same time, would not be called upon, to pay more than the convicts would cost elsewhere. The arrangement, in short, was thought to be beneficial to the colony and a great economy to the Crown. It was a great improvement on some of the methods adopted, centuries later, in settling certain of the North American colonies, the English West Indies, and the great Australasian islands ; for the convicts were subordinated to the responsible classes and were prac- tically sentenced to hard labor in the service of the com- munity.^ The common assertion, that the prisons were emptied by Columbus in desperation at his inability to get enough men so deluded or so ignorant as to join him on the new venture, is easily disproved by a reference to the dates of the several decrees. The final provisions for the engage- ment of the salaried settlers were made on June 15th, 1497, and the decrees concerning the convicts issued just one week later, on June 22nd. In seven days, during which Columbus did not stir from Court and the decrees could not have been generally published, the enhstment of the decent element of society could scarcely have failed so hopelessly as to force him to look to the prisons as affording the only solution of his schemes of colonization. The Court had left Burgos and gone to Medina del Campo some time in May, and the second half of this long series of decrees was dated from the latter city. It closed with the confirmation, on July 22nd, of the appointment of Don Bar- tholomew as Adelantado, which, when made by the Admiral at Isabella three years before, had been considered by their Majesties as an excess of authority. Its legalization now was only an additional evidence of their desire to gratify and reward Columbus. Another instance of their Majesties' recession from the 1 Las Casas's testimony is emphatic : " I knew some of these men in Hispaniola, and even an occasional one who had had his ears cropped, and I always found them very responsible people." 264 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. position taken at the season of their displeasure against the Admiral was given in a decree rescinding the general license granted in April, '95, to make voyages to the Indies, " in so far as that is prejudicial to the Admiral." That license was a bold infraction of the solemn guarantees given by the Crown to Columbus. We beheve that it never would have been issued had not Ferdinand and Isabella been per- suaded by Vincente Yaiiez Pinzon and the Admiral's enemies that he had probably perished on the Cuban cruise. It is commonly asserted that several voyages were undertaken under this permission in the year elapsing between its date and the return of Columbus to Spain, and an effort has been made to connect Vespucci with one of these. ^ We do not find any evidence supporting either of these assumptions, and the negative testimony is strongly against them. Under the decree of '95, any navigator undertaking such a voyage was bound to account to Columbus for the latter's one-eighth interest in all the traffic with the Indies, and there is no men- tion of any such claim by the Admiral, even when recapitu- lating in later years the several injustices to which he had been subjected. If the license itself was a gross breach of faith, the partial revocation of it proved to be an act of sheer hypocrisy ; for no sooner did Columbus get well away from Spain than several projects were set on foot, with the connivance, if not the actual assistance, of the Crown, to infringe his rights by making independent voyages of discovery. Of these we shall find the Admiral complaining, and with reason, for following so soon after this renewed assurance of his exclu- sive rights of navigation ; but, in soliciting the latter, we are inclined to think he was protesting against an abstract injus- tice and not against any particular act. If he were bent only upon his own aggrandizement and justification, he certainly had no cause for discontent with the result of his stay at Court, long as it had been, when, toward the close of July, he took his leave of the King and Queen and started for Seville. But, tenacious though he ^ This was written before Professor Fiske's " Discovery of America" reached our hands. His scholarly advocacy of Varnhagen's theory gives a new importance to the whole question. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 265 was of his rights and fame, these were subordinate to the realization of his grand schemes. His heart was in his hfe's work, and its success was the absorbing consideration in his mind. When, therefore, he had satisfactorily adjusted all the matters upon which he desired the royal concurrence or authority, his thoughts turned with impatient energy to the instant realization of his plans. A year had passed since Pedro Alonzo took out the last cargo of supplies to Isabella, and the Admiral was haunted with the fear that disaster might ensue were not additional succor promptly sent. His eager desire to fathom the secrets of the South had only increased as time had passed, but his first duty was to his colony in Hispaniola. Consequently he urged upon Fon- seca that at least a part of the funds whose expenditure had been authorized by the King and Queen should be applied at once to fitting out a couple of caravels to be despatched in advance of his own departure. He even went so far as to reengage the " Niila " and " Santa Cruz " for the voyage and put his own men in charge of them. Fonseca could not find the necessary money for the purchase of the sup- phes, and the weeks slipped by with nothing done, until the captains of the contracted vessels, Colin and Medel, made other engagements and sailed off with the Admiral's artillery and equipment. Columbus exhausted every argu- ment and inducement to secure the granting of the needful credits, but the royal exchequer was bankrupt, and the most he could secure were promises for the future. At last, on the 9th of October, an order was issued by Queen Isabella assigning to the Admiral and Fonseca, for the costs of the proposed expedition, three million maravedies, — less than one-half of the total sum needed. This was to be derived from the sale of grain to some Genoese merchants, and would at least provide for the despatch of the needed sup- plies to Hispaniola. Almost immediately thereafter fresh causes supervened to delay still farther the despatch of the vessels. King John of Portugal died, and the opportunity arose for fresh matrimonial negotiations between Ferdinand and Isabella and his successor. At about the same time their son Juan, the heir to the crowns of Aragon and Castile, 266 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. also died suddenly, and the whole machinery of government was thrown for a time into confusion. Additional afflictions overtook the royal family, until it was out of the question to intrude upon their Majesties with questions of state, and, the affairs of the Indies being left wholly to Fonseca, that digni- tary consulted his own ideas in complying with the Admiral's reiterated appeals for urgency. The ensuing delay was well- nigh intolerable to Columbus, although he realized the finan- cial straits of the royal treasury and was continually brooding upon the best means of enabling the new possessions to come to its assistance. He had to stand idle while the Court and maritime circles rang with the departure of Vasco da Gama from Lisbon, to reach the Indies by a voyage around the recently discovered Cape of Good Hope, which, it was claimed by the Portuguese, would enable them to get to the land of spices and gold without violating the ocean boundaries fixed by the Pope. There were also rumors from England of the Venetian navigator, Cabot, sailing to the west in the service of King Henry, in search of a northern way to the common goal of Asia. To the proud spirit of Columbus these tidings were as gall and wormwood. Now that he had shown the way, the very monarchs who had rejected his proposals ten years before were rivalling one another in their efforts to secure some share of the world he had unveiled, while his own sovereigns let the golden opportunity escape in pro- crastination and delay. In these dark days he wrote at great length to his favorite brother Bartholomew, setting forth his difficulties and trials as well as his hopes and aims. The letters had to await the sailing of the vessels he was so anxious to send out, but it was seemingly a relief to his anxious mind to put his thoughts on paper. " Our Lord knows," he wrote on one occasion, " through how much distress I have passed to know how you are, so that these troubles, painful as they are in my relation of them, were far more so in fact ; so much so that they have led me to weary of life, because of the great extremity in which I know you must have been. In this, tliough, you must count me as one with yourself, because of a certainty, although I have been here dis- PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 267 tant from you, my spirit has been and is out yonder with your- self, thinking of nothing else, without ceasing, as Our Lord is the witness. Nor do I fear that you or your own heart will doubt this, for, besides the ties of blood and our great affection, the nature of the case and the very quality of the toils and perils encountered in far-distant regions teach and constrain the mind and sensibilities to suffer more under whatever trial may be imagined as occurring there than would be the case were you nearer. All this would be very profitable if this suffering were endured in a case which should redound to the glory of Our Lord, for which we are bound to labor with a cheerful spirit ; nor is it fruitless to reflect that no great action can be perfected without affliction. In the same manner it is comforting to bear in mind that everything which is laboriously acquired is pos- sessed and enjoyed with the greater delight. And much more I will add to this same effect, but I shall refrain from writing in greater detail concerning it, because this is not the first time that you have endured, or that I have seen, such trials." If there is one trait in the character of Columbus which is beyond the attacks even of hypercriticism, it is his unalloyed and unvarying affection for Don Bartholomew ; and when we find him thus addressing his brother, in the unrestraint of intimate correspondence, we may safely assume that he is not posing for effect. To allege, with all the circumstances of his own and Bartholomew's respective situations before us, that these are not the words of a brave, patient, and manly nature is openly to proclaim one's own narrow- mindedness. It was not until the end of the year that he was able to get ready the two caravels which he wished to send out at once. He had recovered them from their recreant skippers, and loaded them at Seville with the supplies most immedi- ately required by the colony. Apart from the mere question of provisions, he was desirous of pressing with the utmost energy the development of the mines, for by this means he could the sooner relieve the Spanish treasury of the burden of colonial expenditure and himself from the repetition of the harassing and degrading experiences of the last six months. The tools and rude machinery suggested by the Spanish mining experts were accordingly placed on these 268 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. two vessels, and a dozen skilled miners included in the roll of ninety persons of various callings who were to go out on this advance squadron. But, as the time approached for its sailing, a new embarrassment arose in the difficulty of secur- ing colonists, even on the advantageous terms offered by the Crown. The reputed mortality among those who had al- ready gone out ; the interminable delays on the part of Fonseca and his brother officials in paying the salaries and allowances of the men in service in the Indies, whereby their families in Spain were often the sufferers ; the active propa- ganda to discredit the enterprise carried on by its opponents, and the well-known fact of the extreme scarcity of money, all combined with the heavy demands for men for the royal fleets and armies at home to make the task of securing emi- grants a tedious one. Columbus exhausted his ingenuity and resources in spurring Fonseca to take such action as would remedy at least so much of the trouble as had its origin in financial remissness. He could not even secure the payment of their past due salaries to Carvajal and Coronel, two of his most devoted and experienced heutenants, whom he wished to send back to the Indies on the two first ships, and who had exerted themselves to get together the required number of colonists. In a sharp letter which he wrote to Fonseca on this subject, in January, '98, we get a clear view of some of the embarrassments under which he was laboring. "At the time of my leaving the Court," he wrote, " the King and Queen, our sovereigns, being then together, I told them that, since it was not practicable to provide for the payment of cer- tain persons of rank whom I had brought with me, and since, if they were not assisted, they could not go back to the Indies, it would be well for their Majesties to see whether I could not use for their payment some of the money I was taking, or was going to take out to Hispaniola with me, to pay the salaries of those who were already there. [This I said because] that busi- ness was so discredited that, if these men did not go, no one would, and I trusted in God that I should find gold or some other article of value by means of which I could refund the money thus taken and given to them. The King replied that I should do as I proposed, considering the position of the indi- viduals, so that they might do what they had promised." PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 269 In virtue of this assent the Admiral now called upon Fonseca to fulfil what had been authorized six months before, and in the course of another fortnight the Bishop complied with the demand. The two caravels sailed from Seville with a full complement on the 23d of January, 1498, and from Cadiz on the 6th of the succeeding month. They were under the command of Coronel and carried as pilots, among others, Juan de la Umbria, or Ungria, and Francisco Nino, both of whom became famous in later years. By this conveyance the Admiral sent out his weighty budget of correspondence to Don Bartholomew, — the accu- mulation of eighteen months of busy negotiation and con- sultation. He informed his brother of all that had occurred to retard the sailing of the new expedition ; explained his intentions as to the southern voyage ; discussed in detail the conduct of affairs at the colony under the regime estab- lished by the late decrees ; and gave instructions concerning the distribution of work among the emigrants going out with Coronel. In particular, Don Bartholomew was to ex- pedite the development of the n.ines and the cutting of dye-woods, as being the two products yielding the largest revenue with the least outlay. He was to seek out all the colonists, whether newcomers or early settlers, who were adepts in these crafts, and assign to them, in convenient gangs, the laborers now being sent out ; while the farm and garden hands were to bring the land around the settlements under cultivation as rapidly as possible. Contrary to the frequently repeated allegation, Columbus exempted the natives from all enforced labor either in the mines or otherwise. They were to pay their tribute, as before, but beyond this were to be their own masters. Exception was always made of the rebellious or hostile Indians. These were to be dealt with as enemies and sent to Spain as slaves, for so the pious fathers to whom the knotty question was referred by the King and Queen had decided. The Admiral even went so far as to point out that these captives might be advantageously disposed of in the Canary and Azores Islands, and in doing so apparently had the approval of his sovereigns ; for he charged his brother that in shipping the 2/0 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. slaves, as in the case of all other exports, express pains were to be taken in seeing that the Crown was credited with its full share. Shocking as seems the proposal, it was entirely consistent with a sincere interest in the welfare of the natives ; and a few weeks afterwards we find Columbus writing indig- nantly to their Majesties that "the revenue of a rich diocese or archbishopric, and I even venture to say of the richest one in all Spain, would be well spent if employed in preach- ing Our Lord's holy name in these unknown regions ; but, although there are many revenues, there is not a single bishop who, though they have all heard that here are infinite races of people, has been willing to send out learned and able persons, friends to Christ, who shall endeavor to con- vert these people into Christians, or at least make a begin- ning of the work." Coming from so devout a son of the Church, and addressed as it was to the pious Isabella, this outburst is at least free from all suspicion of insincerity. Columbus saw nothing inhuman in enslaving his enemies, but he considered it a wicked injustice that they should be deprived of the chance of salvation. After the sailing of the caravels, another considerable delay ensued before the funds required for equipping the Admiral's own fleet could be accumulated. By dint of much laborious financiering this was at length arranged, and then followed a prolonged series of disputes, quibbles, and conflicts of authority on the part of such of the Crown officials as were inimical to Columbus and his enterprises. From these unseemly and unpatriotic intrigues Las Casas, who was on the ground, is disposed to exonerate Fonseca, laying the blame rather on certain ill-conditioned subordi- nates whose powers of obstruction were disproportionate to their rank. The Bishop has enough to answer for, and is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. The culprit, whoever he was, had reason to congratulate himself on his success in impeding the progress of the Admiral's plans and seri- ously jeopardizing their ultimate success. We are told that, even after the funds were provided and all the needful instructions issued, the work of collecting provisions and materials for the vessels was most onerous and toilsome to PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 27 1 the Admiral, involving not only great labors and grievous trials, but slights and contrarieties as great, all the more difficult to bear because they were the work of under- strappers. Bribiesca seems to have taken an especial delight in insulting the Admiral, and on one occasion was knocked down for his pains. The punishment was undignified, but natural enough under its circumstances. The offence was not merely against an irritable vanity. Columbus had caused to be gradually collected at Seville, under his own super- vision, the emigrants chosen to go out with his squadron. These, to the number of over two hundred, were drawing rations and pay, as well as the crews of the six vessels chartered from Juanoto Berardi for the voyage ; and such an expense was a severe drain upon the comparatively moderate credit at his disposal. When, to this sufficient motive for anxiety, were joined his impatience to get back to Hispaniola and his weariness at the long delay in start- ing upon his southern exploration, there is little cause for surprise that his patience was at length exhausted, and he determined to withdraw from the further prosecution of his projects, at least for a season. To quote his own words concerning this grave resolution : — " I greatly desired to take my leave ot the business, if that had been loyal to my queen. The instigation of Our Lord and of her Majesty caused me to continue with it. In order to relieve her somewhat of the distress into which Death had plunged her, I undertook a new voyage to the new sky and world which had until then remained hidden. If this, as well as the other affairs of the Indies, is not regarded with favor in Spain, it is no wonder; it is enough that it is the fruit of my labors." Columbus had been in Seville ^ since leaving the Court at Medina del Campo, making such excursions from that city to Cadiz, Cordova, and elsewhere as his interests and prepa- rations demanded. He had chosen his six ships, as was his 1 The curious may care to know that he occupied a suite of rooms in that quarter of the city known as Santa Maria, and appears to have maintained an establishment commensurate with his lofty rank. ■1 2/2 TI/E LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. invariable custom, from among the vessels of the smaller class, on account of their greater convenience in explora- tion. The largest was of one hundred tons burthen, four of sixty or seventy tons, and the smallest between thirty and forty. They were to take out six months' supplies for the colony, in addition to the considerable amount required for the crews and emigrants on the coming voyage, which would be a long one by reason of the wide detour to the south that was proposed. He exercised also his usual care in select- ing his pilots and principal mariners, striving to eliminate as far as possible all fractious or turbulent characters. The command of the vessels was given to men whom he believed he could trust, and in many respects this fleet was better equipped, both as to personnel and material, than any which had preceded it. While these arrangements were making, Columbus drew up and executed, with all the formalities known to Spanish law, the deed of entail by which he provided for the inheritance of his titles, offices, and revenues by his heirs male in perpetual succession. This remarkable document was the work of his own hand, and deserves to be read by every one interested in knowing the real character of its author, for it portrays the man with absolute fidelity. No other writing of Columbus so frankly depicts the intimate aspirations of his life and so vividly reflects the influences upon his conduct of the age and circumstances in which he lived. Opening with that invocation to the Trinity with which he began all his formal writings, the Admiral ascribes to divine suggestion his first conception " of being able to navigate and go from Spain to the Indies, passing to the west across the Ocean Sea." After reciting the rank and authority conferred upon him by Ferdinand and Isabella in reward for his discoveries, the cession to him of one-tenth *' of all that should be found in or received from the said jurisdiction," and the one-eighth " of the lands and all other things," he relates the finding of " Terra firma [Cuba] and many islands, among which is Hispaniola, which the Indians call Hayti, but the Monicongos call Cipango." The results of his two voyages " will be gathered more in detail PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 273 from my writings, reports, and charts." "And because we trust that before a great while a sufficient and vast revenue will, under God, be derived from the said islands and Terra Firma," he deemed it prudent to provide for the future dis- position of his offices and prospective estates, " inasmuch as we are mortal." His early departure on a voyage which was to be, in a sense, as great a plunge into the unknown as his first one, was of course the moving cause of his making this entail at this season rather than another ; but the pro- found conviction that, little as the world might think it, the returns from his discoveries would shortly reach such colos- sal proportions that his share in them would equal a king's income also suggested the wisdom of regulating its disposal. We are wont to call him visionary, when referring to these splendid day-dreams, but we must bear in mind that, when he executed this deed before the Seville notaries, he attached to it the solemn guarantees of the King and Queen of Spain, executed under the royal seals, that he and his heirs should enjoy forever the " tenth and the eighth " of all the results of whatever kind flowing from his discoveries. Bear- ing this in mind, and recalling the incalculable gains which accrued to the Spanish Crown within even fifty years of the landing on San Salvador, no one can justly consider the projects as chimerical or his expectations as unfounded. The succession was to be in the direct male line, through Don Diego, the Admiral's elder son, Don Fernando, his sec- ond son,^ Don Bartholomew, his elder brother, Don Diego, his younger brother, or their respective sons. Failing the direct line, it was to pass to the nearest male relative ; and only in the event of the absence of any male heir in the collateral branches of the Columbus family, " either here or in any other corner of the world," was it to descend to a woman. Don Diego, the Admiral's son, was to inherit the whole estate, subject to the following provisos : One-fourth of the revenue from the estate, up to the sum of 1,000,000 mar- avedies, was to be paid to Don Bartholomew and his heirs ^ This effectually disposes of the assertion sometimes made that Columbus neglected his second son, on account of his presumed illegitimacy. 18 274 ^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. forever, " for his support and the labors he has had and will have in connection with this entail." Another quarter, not to exceed 2,000,000 maravedies, was to be paid to Don Fernando and his heirs. Don Diego, the Admiral's brother, " because he purposes to enter the Church," was assigned no specific share, but was to be allowed by the others " all that he may need to maintain himself becomingly," and he was to receive this allowance before anything went to the others, — presumably because of his clerical leanings. Having thus provided liberally for his sons and brothers, the Admiral turns to more general endowments. One-tenth of the whole revenue of the estate was to be devoted to charity, — preferably to the relief of necessitous members of the Columbus family and to the dowering of its unmarried women. At a convenient season, as large a sum as was nec- essary should be devoted to building a church and chapel in some desirable situation in Hispaniola, to which was to be attached a hospital, " the best arranged which it is possible to have, like those in Spain and Italy." This church was to be called Santa Maria de la Concepcion, and was to have erected within it in the most public place a marble block upon which was to be cut the following solemn engagement : That Don Diego, or whoever should be heir, is to labor to support in Hispaniola as many devout teachers of religion as the income of the estate will justify (" and for this there ought not to be any reluctance to expend all that is requi- site "), who are to "convert to our holy faith all these races of the Indies " ; and as the income increases so shall the num- ber of teachers increase, until " all the people shall be Chris- tians." As an additional safeguard against neglect, Don Diego and the other heirs were required to submit this obhgation to their confessor each time they went to confes- sion, and receive his specific assurance that they had thus far faithfully complied with it. All the income of the estate was to be sent to Genoa and there invested in shares of the Bank of St. George, " which now yield six per cent and are very safe funds." The reason given for this is semi-comical, — "because it is becoming that a person of substance and property should be prepared PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 275 to act for himself, and profit by his revenue, for the service of God or for the advancement of his reputation." These deposits were to be allowed to accumulate and grow until such time as Ferdinand and Isabella, or their successors on the throne of Spain, should undertake a cvusade against the Saracens for the recovery of Jerusalem, in which case the Columbus fund was to be placed at the service of the Crown to aid in the holy work. If no Spanish sovereign undertook the crusade, when the fund attained sufficient proportions the then heir was to equip an armament himself and lead it against the Moslem. All this seems fantastic enough now ; but, as we have said, in what respect was it impracticable, if the descendants of Columbus had received, and invested, say for half a century, eighteen per cent of the fruits of the Span- ish discoveries in the western world ? When Columbus exe- cuted this deed, he knew that they would be entitled to this share and believed they would receive it. His long voyages in the Levant had imbued him with the sentiment, which was still so strong among devout Christians, that the Holy Sepulchre must be wrested from the infidel ; and the project was a favorite subject of debate in the years following the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. With him it had been a long- cherished ambition, if it was not actually an influen- tial factor in his original plans. That he was under a vow of long standing to dedicate to it the wealth to be derived from his discoveries is an oft-repeated fact. The Admiral charges his heirs to support always in the city of Genoa a family of his lineage, so that they may depend upon the influence of that city in their favor, should occasion arise. The reason he gives is, " that from Genoa I came and in it I was born." His heirs are always to use their authority and possessions to the advantage of this "noble city," and to employ them in her defence in any war which may arise with her adversaries other than Spain or the Pope. They are also "to support and serve their Majesties of Spain well and truly, even to the sacrifice of their lives and fortunes," and, in the event of any quarrel arising between the Pope and any secular power, are re- quired to " lay their rank and properties at the feet of the 276 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Holy Father " in defence of the Church. It is evident that the Admiral's behef was that, in the course of time, his family would attain such power, by reason of their colossal wealth, that their aid would be important even to the states of Europe. Yet there is nothing boastful in the declaration of these intentions. He writes with perfect simplicity and naivete, as of a future logically assured. He appeals to the grandees and councillors of Spain, " that it may please them not to permit that this, my ordinance and bequest, may be without force and effect, but that it may be complied with as estab- lished by me ; for it is eminently just that one who is a man of title and who has served the King and Queen " should have his wishes respected. He instructs his heirs to use the coat-of-arms granted him by Ferdinand and Isabella and to employ his seal, without venturing to alter either. And he directs his successors, as each shall enter upon his inheritance, " to sign with my signature, which I am now accustomed to use, namely : an X with an S above it, and an M with a Roman A above it, and above that an S, and then a Greek Y with an S above it, with its strokes and dots as I now make it, and as it may be seen in my signatures, of which many will be found, and as will appear from this deed." Each heir " shall not sign except The Admiral, although the King should grant him, or he should obtain, other titles." At the close of the document Columbus wrote his signa- ture in the manner he had 'prescribed for his successors : — • s- s- A. s. . X M Y The Admiral. ^ No satisfactory interpretation of this signature has been proposed, chiefly, we believe, because it is usually read from top to bottom, whereas Columbus particularly declares that the cardinal members oi: the cryptogram are X, M, and Y. It is in keeping with the singular strain of mysticism which ran through his character and deepened with years, that Columbus should have imposed upon unborn generations the use of a signature whose meaning he did not think it expedient to disclose. PLANNING NEW DISCOVERIES. 277 One other provision the Admiral was keenly anxious to have made by the Crown. Of all the charges brought against him by Boil and his other accusers, none had seemed to make the impression upon the King and Queen that did the allegation of cruelty to Spanish subjects. This was the one complaint on which the King had dwelt, in his conver- sations with the Admiral, and it was the only one con- cerning which he had thought it necessary to utter a word of caution. Now that Columbus was about to leave Spain for a protracted absence, he feared lest his adversaries might revive the old falsehoods and distort into intemperate harshness every necessary chastisement inflicted by him upon a delinquent colonist. He foresaw that his inde- pendence of action in the meting out of justice might be curtailed by the desire to avoid a renewal of the slanders, and realized that unless the colony was governed by a strong hand a revival of disorder was inevitable. In this dilemma he urgently requested their Majesties to appoint some responsible servant of the Crown to accompany him to Hispaniola in the capacity of chief justice. To quote his own words, " I repeatedly entreated your Majesties to send out at my cost some one who should have charge of the administration of justice." For whatever reason, the appeal failed ; and the Admiral was left to discipline his people as best he might, with the assurance that every punishment he inflicted would be promptly reported to the Crown as being excessive and unmerited. Well might he exclaim, in after years, that " therein I received a grievous wrong " ! (^ (} ?,<;:==:::: ^^S^ ^^^ ^ M 1^^ ■'iL /— e ^^ ^ ^^3^ XIV. SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. WHEN, on Wednesday, the 30th of May, 1498, Colum- bus set sail from the port of San Lucar de Barra- meda, near Cadiz, with his fleet of six vessels, it was with the clearly defined purpose of adding a new continent to the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella before he steered for Hispaniola. Although in this determination he was influ- enced by considerations both of policy and pride, the bases upon which he founded his expectation of success were none the less the outcome of patient investigation and close reasoning. His pride was deeply involved, for he had but narrowly escaped losing altogether the opportunity of seek- ing this new land. Nothing but his timely arrival in Spain, in '96, had hindered the sailing of Vincente Yafiez Pinzon and the other audacious navigators who were fitting out private ventures of discovery in the Indies, under the gen- eral license of the preceding year. That some of these expeditions would have forestalled the finding of the west- ern continent was not to be doubted, for ever since the return from the Discovery it was a matter of argument in maritime circles that momentous secrets awaited disclosure in the southwestern Atlantic. So much had been conjec- tured by Columbus on the first voyage outward, even before San Salvador was sighted, and all his later explorations had only strengthened this belief. A theory so inherently attractive to the nautical mind was sure of debate and ventilation, and so many capable mariners had been engaged in the succeeding voyages to and among the Indian islands 278 SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 279 that most of the knowledge obtained by the Admiral from the natives must have been shared by all. Therefore, hav- ing frustrated the intentions of those who had endeavored to anticipate his plans of renewed discovery, Columbus assumed the obligation of himself probing the mysteries of the southern seas. But his rivals were not only those of his own household, for he shortly found himself confronted by an entirely new complication, which threatened alike the integrity of his sovereigns' recently annexed domains and his own preeminence as an explorer. The brilliancy of the one and the vastness of the other had not failed to excite emulation as well as envy beyond the borders of Castile, and both England and Portugal were bent on deriving some measure of benefit from the far-reaching achievements of the Spanish Admiral. The efforts of the English were directly inspired by their knowledge of Columbus's success both in finding the Indies and in colonizing them. This we are told in so many words by the man who first sailed an English hull in the wake of the Spanish caravels across the Western Ocean. Sebastian Cabot affirms that it was the receipt of news of the "divine" exploits of Don Christopher Columbus, "the Genoese," which stirred his own spirit to attempt a rival enterprise; and in so saying he doubtless answers for his father as well, for the two acted together. At all events, in 1496 King Henry VII. granted to the Venetian, John Cabot, Sebastian's father, a patent to carry on explorations under the English flag in imitation of those undertaken by Columbus, the Genoese, under the ensign of Castile. Cer- tain merchants of Bristol supplied the funds and wares requisite for the first voyage, and in May of 1497 John Cabot, following the lead given by Columbus, sailed west- ward from that seaport. In August he was back again from his "exploration." In the words of a not unfriendly pen, " he landed nowhere and saw no inhabitants." He did descry land and coasted it for some days. Modern cosmographers think it was Labrador. On the strength of this record we are invited to consider him as the discoverer of the western continent. Cabot himself, again following his great master, 28o THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. was confident it was Asia. When Columbus heard of it, — as he did at Seville, possibly from Cabot's own mouth, for the Venetian was there soon after his own return, — he only grew the more impatient to get under way. Cabot's little voyage did not affect him directly. It was not in the North that the spices grew. While the English were putting his theories to this tardy test Columbus was watching an enterprise nearer home which promised to affect his plans far more seriously. Barred by the papal line of demarcation from traversing the Atlantic Ocean and confined by the same invisible boundary to its eastern waters, the Portuguese had equipped a fleet and placed it in charge of Vasco da Gama, with instructions to sail southward until he reached that Cape of Good Hope to which their explorations had extended in '88, and, round- ing that, to endeavor to reach the Indies of Columbus by an eastward passage. The Portuguese shared with the Spaniards the Admiral's conviction that he had reached the end of the Orient, but they appear to have doubted whether he was as near the treasures of Ceylon and Cathay as he imagined. If, while Columbus was pushing his way westward from Hispaniola towards the Ganges, Da Gama could, so to speak, take the Indies in the rear and open up an easy communication with them by way of Good Hope, his Holiness of Rome and their Majesties of Spain would find their schemes for monopolizing the products of the Orient sadly interfered with. Da Gama sailed from Lisbon in June, 1497, and his departure^ was an additional strain upon the patience of Columbus, for the latter gravely doubted the honesty of the Portuguese designs. Ever since his conver- sation with the late King John, on returning from the Dis- covery, he had fancied that the wily rivals of Spain had reasons of their own for believing that some great land lay to the west of Africa, and, Pope or no Pope, were bent on settling the question under the mask of a voyage to Southern Africa. The sailing of Da Gama revived these apprehen- sions and increased tenfold the Admiral's anxiety to solve the problem for himself. These projects of the maritime rivals of Spain promised SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 28 1 to traverse the whole colonial policy of Columbus. Doubt- less the knowledge of them influenced him in reconsidering his refusal to return to the Indies. English, Portuguese, and Castilians were moving in an intellectual atmosphere of seductive mirage, where the Golden Chersonesus, Ophir, and Cipango; the Ganges of India, and the Yellow River of Cathay; the capitals of Prester John and the Khan of Tartary, floated as goals now easy of attainment. They might question the correctness of this or that identification made by Columbus, but they all shared to the full his gor- geous anticipations as to the logical issue of a not remote future; and the other nations did not propose that Castile should monopolize those oriental wonderlands. Hence Columbus not only yearned for the opportunity to bring safely under the dominion of his sovereigns that southern Terra Firma in whose existence he had such faith, but laid his plans for a far broader and more comprehensive series of explorations than any to which he had as yet definitely committed himself. In doing this he argued from the known to the probable with a facility born of twenty years of continuous reflection and experiment. No other, not even the shrewdest and most observant among those who had shared his voyages and councils, had more than a partial appreciation of the problem involved. Although the very boys of Seville, Palos, and Cadiz knew that "the Indies" lay hidden behind the western horizon, the wisest school- man of Paris and Salamanca knew no more. With the exception of the comparatively narrow area lying between San Salvador and Jamaica, the Caribbee Islands and Cuba, the farther side of the Ocean Sea was yet hidden in mystery as old as the world and as dense as human ignorance. Now that so much had been established, many were willing to try and learn more; and Columbus urged Ferdinand and Isabella to retain the control of such knowledge as was essen- tial to their monopoly of the western lands. He accordingly addressed to their Majesties a memorial in which he pro- posed, after completing the " new voyage to the new heavens and world " upon which he was about to embark, to under- take " the affair of the Arctic Pole " as well. It was only a 282 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. daring dream, if you please, — this first design of seeking a "northwest passage "; but its projector had his own grounds for supposing it feasible. No doubt he was stimulated to this by the reports of Cabot's voyage, but he had learned nothing from the latter which he had not known before. The one-eyed sailor of Murcia, and Pedro de Velasco, the Basque, had told Columbus years before of a dreary coast spied in the remote Northwest, after a stormy voyage from Ireland, which they and their shipmates conceived to be the shores of Tartary.^ Cabot could tell him no more than that, by sailing west from Bristol, he had seen the same. Columbus himself had shown that by keeping to the paral- lel of the Canary Islands the easternmost borders of the Indies could be reached, and had demonstrated to his own satisfaction that by pursuing a westerly course from Cuba the mouths of the Ganges would be accessible. The voyage he now was planning was to carry him to the south of that Asiatic continent ; for, to his mind, the latter could not extend as far as the Equator. Since, however, Cabot had reached Tartary in his northern voyage, there might easily be a means of skirting its Arctic shores and reaching the golden lands of promise by a northerly, as well as a southerly, or an intermediate route. All means of access to the Indies by the west were, in his conception, placed under the undis- puted control of Spain by the Bull of the Holy Father ; con- sequently, in proposing to essay in succession these several possible methods of penetrating to the famous marts of the Orient, he was planning nothing which was not logical and consistent. As he had led the way in this world-hunting, so it behooved him not to allow others to anticipate his wider schemes of annexation. Our own conceit of the man and his attainments is so apt to be bounded by the narrow limits of San Salvador that we forget the breadth of his schemes of exploration and the persistency with which he prosecuted them. In starting out to search for the new continent, he took no one into his entire confidence except the King and Queen. 1 " With the Admiral of the Ocean Sea," Note E, Appendix. SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 283 Ostensibly, he was bound for Hispaniola by a new route ; to divulge the fact that he was going to launch out boldly into the pathless wastes of the southern seas would be to revive among his followers the dread and opposition of the first voyage to the west. His theory was that the land would be found in about the same meridian as Hayti, and the voyage, in consequence, would not have to be greatly pro- tracted. In fact, this belief amounted to assurance, for the lading of his vessels was chiefly composed of additional supplies for the Hispaniola settlers, and he could not afford to tarry unduly on the way. His health, too, was precarious. The experience of the past year had not been of a nature to diminish his tendency to gout, and of late he had been suf- fering keenly from an attack of that remorseless enemy which had enfeebled his whole system. The long lapse of time since he had received news from his Indian government inspired grave misgivings as to the safety of the colony, and served as an additional incentive for him to hasten his return thither. For all these reasons he determined to make what speed he could, and limit himself to merely establishing, or disproving, the existence of the " great land " in which he had such faith. If it were found, its exploration in detail could be systematically conducted at leisure. It was not in his power personally to investigate all these new regions ; his task was to find them. From San Lucar the Admiral steered for Madeira, avoid- ing all near approach to Cape St. Vincent from fear of falling in with French cruisers, as, on the two preceding voyages, he had avoided it to escape the Portuguese. A favorable run of seven days brought him to that island of Porto Santo which was the birthplace of his wife and had been so important a factor in his earliest speculations con- cerning a voyage to the west. Landing here, he found the inhabitants in a state of great alarm at the approach of his vessels, which they had taken for a French fleet. On learn- ing who it was, they exchanged their attitude for one of welcome and willingly furnished the supplies he desired. Doubtless with some reference to his former visits to the island, the Admiral sought out its little church to attend 284 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Mass, after which he returned on board and made sail for Madeira, some fifty miles distant. Here he was received with open arms and hearty greetings ; for he was well known by the residents on account of his long sojourning among them in past years, and they were proud, in virtue of his later achievements, to claim him as one of themselves. Some popular demonstration of this sentiment was made, in the way of the fiestas dear to the Portuguese and Spanish heart, and these, with the stocking of the ships with water, wood, and fresh provisions, detained them for six days. This brief stay in Madeira is one of the few recorded inci- dents which link that portion of the Admiral's career which is known to us directly with his obscure past. Here he had stopped when voyaging to the Guinea coast twenty years before ; here he had eagerly gathered such fragmentary indications of lands beyond the awesome Sea of Darkness as storm-tossed sailor-folk or observant residents could offer ; and here he had received, with his wife, that dowry of rough charts and notes which had given the confirmation of experience to the speculations of the schoolmen with which his mind was already so deeply imbued. Surely no wanderer ever returned to once familiar haunts and met again his old companions with a stranger tale to relate or a more marvellous experience to unfold. As if to emphasize the contact with the past, he was called upon to revive for a moment his ancient craft as privateer. Leaving Madeira on the i6th of June, he steered for the Canaries and reached Gomera on the 19th. As his fleet approached the anchorage, he saw three vessels already lying there, two of which at once made sail and stood out to sea. Mindful of the war existing between Spain and France, and recognizing, probably by her build, one of the fugitives as belonging to the latter nation, the Admiral sent some of his own ships in pursuit. The Frenchman was the better sailer and made good his escape, but the caravel in his company soon put about and came to meet the Spaniards. The episode was explained when the Spaniards learned that two of the three ships belonged to their own countrymen and had been captured by the French corsair, who had just SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 285 slipped through their hands. The returning vessel had started to follow him, in charge of a prize crew, but the Spanish prisoners on board, as soon as they espied the Castilian flag in their wake, had risen against their captors and retaken the vessel. As he watched the chase and its result, we can believe that for once the thoughts of Columbus were busied rather with the memories of his fighting days in the landlocked Mediterranean than with the grandiose projects of later years. Gomera, as the very farthest outpost of the Old World, had been his starting-point into the Western Ocean on each of his former voyages. On the first, in pursuance of his long-meditated plan, he had headed his little squadron due west, and held to the parallel of the Canaries with stubborn pertinacity, in the conviction that on that course was to be found the shortest route to Cipango and Cathay. On the second, steering somewhat farther to the south, he had aimed to strike the islands of whose existence the flight of the birds on his first voyage had hinted, and which the natives of Hayti had afterwards said lay in that direction. Both of these ventures had proved preeminently fortunate, from a sailor's point of view, and in seeking the same point of departure for his new expedition Columbus was doubt- less counting upon the smooth seas and friendly gales which had so greatly aided his earlier passages. Here he decided to divide his fleet, sending the three larger ships directly to Hispaniola and taking the three smaller ones with him to search for the new continent. His motive in doing this was twofold : first, to advise Don Bartholomew and Diego of his welfare and present plans ; and, second, to furnish them with the supplies with which the ships were laden. When Coronel had sailed, in January, the future was still uncertain, and the Admiral sympathized with the anxieties which he knew must possess the minds of his devoted brothers. After consultation with his captains, he drew up a set of formal instructions for their guidance in which his own intentions are exhibited with trenchant emphasis. The three ships were commanded by loyal adherents of the Admiral : Pedro de Arana, a brother of Dona Beatriz 286 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Enriquez, the mother of Fernando Columbus and cousin of Diego Arana, the ill-fated governor of Navidad ; ^ Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal, whom Las Casas characterizes as " an honored cavalier " ; and Juan Antonio Columbus, a Genoese kinsman of the Admiral. Each of these captains was to command the whole squadron for a week at a time, in rota- tion. They were to steer a west-southwest course for 850 leagues, at about which distance they should find the island of Dominica. From there they were to sail west-northwest until they reached San Juan — or Porto Rico, as we know it. Passing this to the south, they were to sail by Mona, Cape Engaiio, Saona, and so, coasting the southern shore of Hispaniola, arrive at the new settlement which Don Barthol- omew was to have founded. Wherever they should land for fresh provisions or water, the Admiral enjoined in posi- tive terms that they were to pay the natives in trinkets for everything received. However little they might offer the Indians, he repeated, it would secure their good will, even if they were cannibals, and they would supply the Spaniards willingly ; but if the latter should attempt to take anything by force, the natives would hide themselves and seek to retaliate. As for himself, he added, he intended to steer for the Cape de Verd islands ('' which the ancients called the Gorgodes, or, according to others, the Hesperides," he explains) . From there he would shape his course, " in the name of the Holy Trinity, with the purpose of steering to the south of them until I get underneath the Equinoctial Line, and follow the path to the west until the island of His- paniola shall lie to the northwest from me, in order to see whether there be islands or lands [in that quarter]. May Our Lord guide me," he concludes, "and disclose to me 1 Whatever may have been the exact nature of the relations existing between Columbus and the mother of his second son, it is evident that they had the approval of her family. The brother and cousin of a woman who has been wronged do not place their lives and fortunes at the service of her betrayer, especially in Spain. Las Casas — a godly man, if ever there was one — says of Pedro de Arana, "He was a greatly respected man and very sensible, whom I knew intimately." SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 287 something which shall be His glory and that of the King and Queen, our sovereigns, and to the honor of all Chris- tians ; for I believe that no one has ever before made this voyage and that this sea is utterly unknown." In view of later events it will not be superfluous to recall the fact that whoever should follow the equatorial line to the west " until Hayti lies to his northwest " will, at just about that time, fall upon land near the mouth of the Amazon. By their own admission, or that of the most honest among them, Pinzon, Hojeda, Vespucci, and the other imitators of Columbus who successively discovered the great southern continent after he had visited it, had secured copies of the charts and writings he made while upon this voyage. Under the circumstances, it is not remarkable that they all should have reached the mainland. What more efficient guidance would they require ? Having concerted with his captains the course to be pur- sued, the Admiral led the way out of the harbor at Gomera on the 2 1 St of June. The whole fleet stood for Ferro, the westernmost of the Canaries, which had been the point of departure for all his calculations on the two previous voyages. On passing this island, the fleet divided, the Admiral laying a southerly course for Cape de Verd, and Arana, Coronel, and Juan Antonio Columbus holding to the westward. It was not without misgiving that the Admiral watched the three vessels recede in the dusk, — for it was sunset when they parted, — and, as he bade his officers fare- well, he commended them and their charges to the special protection of the Holy Trinity. His care was less for them than for the colony whither they were bound, for he was haunted by the fear lest his people in Hispaniola should be suffering for the want of the supplies he was taking out. The frequent mention made in his journal of this feeling testifies to the persistency with which it assailed his mind. The Admiral reached Salt Island, the nearest of the Cape de Verd group, on the 27th of June. Here again he was among scenes familiar to him from the voyages of his earlier years to and from the Guinea coast, and the sight of their barren rocks outlined grimly against the brilliant azure of 288 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the sea leads him to remark sarcastically that these islands are falsely named, for he " had never seen a green thing on them." Passing to the island of Buena Vista, — which was yet more sterile, if possible, — he anchored in a little bay on whose shores stood six or seven cabins, most of which were occupied by lepers sent there from Portugal to recover or die. His object in touching here was to lay in a stock of salt and dried goat's meat, the two productions of an otherwise unfruitful soil ; and when his boats landed to make known their wants the Portuguese Majordomo of the islands, one Rodrigo Alonzo, promptly visited the flag- ship to place the scanty resources of the island at his visitor's disposal. We catch a glimpse of the personahty of Columbus in the entry which he makes in his journal of this visit : how the lonely official derived much comfort from the good cheer offered him on board the Spanish vessel ; how he and his host had a long talk on the subject of lepers and leprosy; how they discussed the merits of turtle- flesh as a cure for the disease, and thence passed to the habits of the turtles which swarmed in the waters of the archipelago. All this is set forth in the Admiral's journal with such minute- ness that one can almost see him and his guest comparing notes of their widely diverse experiences. There were some consolations, even in the worthy Majordomo's lot, for he said that in certain years the islands brought him in a reve- nue of 2000 ducats from the sale of hides from the goats killed by the lepers. But he dwelt with most emphasis on the hardship of having to live sometimes for months, when no vessels arrived from Portugal and the stock of bread and wine was exhausted, upon nothing but the flesh of these animals, or fish and turtles, washed down with brackish water. The Admiral carefully wrote down the substance of his conversations with Rodrigo and his few fellow-residents, and was clearly much interested thereby. It is only another instance of the industry with which he gathered every item of intelligence new to his own experience. The fleet sailed from Buena Vista on Saturday night, the 30th of June, for Santiago, the southernmost island of the group, where the Admiral expected to take aboard the cattle SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 289 intended for breeding in Hispaniola. Reaching port on the following morning, he lay at anchor for several days waiting for a herd to be collected, but secured nothing more sub- stantial than promises. As at the other islands where he had touched, the residents of Santiago visited the Spanish squad- ron and offered such hospitality as they controlled to the voyagers. Columbus, in accordance with his ingrained habit, catechized them freely and gained information which he thought bore directly upon the present expedition : Twelve leagues to the west of their own island, his visitors told him, was that of Fuego, and some Portuguese mariners who had sailed far beyond it into the southwest had seen, in the dim- mest distance, another and greater island, which had not, however, been visited. Other navigators in these same seas, his informants added, had encountered canoes, manned by negroes and laden with savage merchandise, steering boldly from the Guinea coasts into the Western Ocean. Whither they were bound was mere conjecture, for no land was known to lie in that direction ; but when the facts w-ere reported to the late King John of Portugal, that geographical schemer had declared that there surely must be lands in the southwest which would be worth the finding. This unexpected substan- tiation of his own ideas revived in the Admiral's mind the remarks made to him by King John in 1493, when he visited his Majesty on the homeward voyage from the Discovery, and he enters in his journal his reflections concerning the matter. He wished to sail to the south, he repeats, because he looked forward to finding "islands and lands," by the help of the Holy Trinity, and also because he desires to see just what was the meaning of the Portuguese king when he said "that in the South lay Terra Firma," This behef was, the Admiral adds, the reason why King John insisted upon hav- ing the boundary between the Spanish and Portuguese spheres of exploration, originally fixed by Pope Alexander at 100 leagues west of the Azores, removed to 370 leagues, for the King calculated that within those limits at least " were to be found marvellous things and countries." As he passed these arguments in mental review, the Admiral's confidence in the success of his undertaking gathered fresh strength. 19 290 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. " He who is both Triune and One guide me in His mercy and pity ! " he concludes, " that I may serve Him and give to your Majesties and all Christendom some great rejoicing, such as was that derived from the finding of the Indies, which resounded throughout the world." During the stay of the Spanish vessels at Santiago the heat had been intense, although the sun had not been visible on account of a heavy curtain of murky cloud which seemed so thick, to use the Admiral's phrase, that it might be cut with a knife. These unfavorable conditions told heavily on the health of the crews, and they began to succumb to the common malady of equatorial regions at such seasons. Fearful of a general outbreak of fever, their commander determined to wait no longer for the expected cattle, and on Wednesday, the 4th of July, weighed anchor and laid his course toward the southwest. He gives his reasons for doing this : that he would thus reach a position due west of Sierra Leone and the Cape of Santa Anna in Guinea, which are beneath the Equator, and because " in that parallel of the world the greatest amount of gold and other objects of value is to be found." Once the Equator was reached, he would sail directly westward to verify the theory of King John and also to prove the truth, or the reverse, of what he had been told by certain Indians in Hispaniola, who affirmed that from the south and southwest had come to their island a black race,^ bearing spears pointed with a peculiar metal called "guanin." The Admiral secured some of these weap- ons, and when this metal was analyzed it was found to contain 56^^ per cent of gold, i8|- per cent of silver, and 25 per cent of copper. The legitimate inference was that the country inhabited by people whose military arms were liter- 1 The belief in the existence of a black race on the coast of the Spanish Main became a fixed article of faith with the Spanish explorers. Certain tribes of the upper regions of the Amazon Basin are dark enough to be described as " black," and there is no reason why their ancestors should not have fiad contact with the roving Caribs or other islanders of the Antilles. Intercourse between the islands and main- land, as well as between widely remote districts of the latter, was far more general in pre-Columbian times than we are apt to imagine. SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 291 ally of gold and silver must be of surpassing richness, and it would be an evil day when such an one should fall to any power other than Castile. The weather was fair and the breeze light for several days. On taking the altitude of the polar star on the night of July 12th, the Admiral found that he was in 5° of north latitude. The next day the wind dropped suddenly and a dead calm set in. The vessels seem to have entered, from one moment to another, the fiery zone of the early geographers. An intolerable heat, such as none on board had ever experienced, fell upon the ships, which lay sluggishly rolling from beam to beam on the oily sea. The Admiral had been as far south before, along the African coast, but the violence of the pres- ent heat was so great that he records his fear lest " the ships should be burned and all on board perish." The first day of calm the sun shone in all its fierce vigor from a cloudless sky, but for the next seven the heavens were clouded and occasional showers fell. Had it been otherwise, the Admiral writes, not a man could have escaped with his life. The wine-butts burst their hoops, the water-casks sprung aleak, the wheat burned like fire, and no one ventured to go below decks to repair or prevent the damage ; for, if life was insup- portable in the open air, in the seven-times heated holds it was impossible. In all this it is easy enough for us to recog- nize the stifling climate of the Equatorial Calms, where the sky is pitiless, the ocean repugnant, the ship's deck a fur- nace-lid, and the air a debilitating vapor ; or where the very rain falls warm from steaming clouds, and lazy hulls rock idly to the monotonous rhythm of slatting sails. To Colum- bus, notwithstanding his forty years of sea-life, it was all new. As day after day elapsed and no change befell, his mind was assailed with gloomy forebodings. It was second nature for him in such stress to mingle devotion with a desire to probe the causes of the phenomena surrounding him, and we find thanksgivings for each shower followed by specula- tions as to the reasons for such an unexpected condition. If God will only give him wind enough to fill his sails, he says, so that he may escape from that misery, he will steer directly west on the parallel he now was on, until a milder 292 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. climate was reached, and then would turn south again to the Equator. It was an error to have come so far south at once. He recalls, " among these glowing fires," that on his other voyages the mild temperature and delicious atmosphere which had so enchanted all who sailed with him, were not encountered until he had sailed 100 leagues west of the Azores, and it would have been better if he had waited to attain that meridian on the present voyage before steering for the Equator. He observed, too, with apprehension, that the ocean was free from the great banks of sargasso which had so attracted his attention in about these longitudes on his former voyages to the west, and that, although the stars were changing and the heavens assuming an unfamiliar appearance, the temperature did not seem to moderate. All this argued, to his mind, a yet greater intensity of heat should he persist in trying to reach the Equator in the meridian where he then was. Moreover, he reflects, the Azores — " which the ancients termed the Cassiterides " — are situated at the end of that "fifth climate" into which they divided their world, and all below this was supposed to be too ex- cessively torrid for human existence. He does not fail to reflect upon the extraordinary difference between the present experience and that of the voyages he made in earlier years, along the African coasts to the Equator, but accounts for it by supposing that the forests, rivers, and meadows of the neighboring land temper the heat to those who follow the coast, while out in mid-ocean no such mitigation is possible. It is evident, from the extracts from his journal which have come down to us, that this whole episode was fraught with keen anxiety for Columbus. Despite his philosophizing, there was far too great a difference between this voyage and any other he had made, — and that difference too nearly supported the older theory of a zone of torrid flames, — for him to contemplate with equanimity the long continuance of this portentous and distressful calm. The untoward aspect of Nature led him, as was his wont, to spend his nights in watching and revery ; and his old scourge of gout seized the opportunity to fasten upon his exhausted frame and add a new terror to his many trials. Some slight con- SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 293 solation was had from the fact that, on the night of the 14th of July, the north star stood at seven degrees above the horizon, which indicated that whatever progress the vessels were making was toward the north, and on the next day he was yet more encouraged by the appearance of some birds and flying-fish, which he took to be signs of not distant land. The same indications were seen on the two following days, but on the 19th the vehemence of the heat seemed to increase to such an extent that all hands anticipated nothing less than the destruction of both ships and crews. This proved, however, to be their last day of sufl"ering; for a favorable breeze sprang up as suddenly as the former one had died away, and in a moment the squadron was once more speeding under prosperous canvas into the now inviting West. The hearts of Admiral and men alike revived under the cheering change, but two real difficulties still remained to vex the former's spirits. The stock of water on board the vessels had been much reduced by the failure of the casks under the fiery ordeal to which they had been sub- jected, and the stores intended for the use of the Hispaniola colony had seriously deteriorated under the same destructive agency. Either of these accidents was sufficient to limit the voyage, and it became apparent that no great time could be spent in beating about in search of unplaced lands. Meanwhile the ships held their westerly course without interruption. The Admiral did not now intend to return toward the Equator until later on in the voyage, but he maintained the purpose of doing so before reaching the longitude of the Carib islands. When he did steer again for the Line, he would sail on westward until he either found land or came to the south of Hispaniola. In either event he would have to make his way promptly to the colony, both for its sake and that of his own men ; for the ships were beginning to show, in yawning seams, the effects of the scorching to which they had been subjected, and their con- struction was not of a quality to permit of much peace of mind once they began to leak. Late on Sunday, the 2 2d of July, the wind still holding good, the sailors were rejoiced to see many flocks of birds 294 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. passing overhead from the east-southeast towards the north- west. This continued at intervals for several days, and the Admiral drew from the incident, as he had done in his earlier voyages, the confident expectation of shortly falling in with land. The whole week passed, however, without further novelty. The squadron's course remained un- changed, no doubt because of this hint of land in the north. Each morning the watch in the bows of the vessels expected to see the welcome blue haze looming above the horizon, and each night closed in disappointment. The Admiral had no manner of doubt that land was compara- tively near ; for the pelicans and frigate birds, which had so often heralded the neighborhood of new shores, were now constantly seen, and not infrequently lodged on the ships. From the presence of all these signs he believed that land would surely appear during Monday, the 30th of July, and when that day passed without novelty he fixed the next one, Tuesday, as the last on which he could afford to keep to his present course. If he did not sight some coast on that day, he decided, he would bear more to the north and west, so as to make Dorninica, or some other of the Caribs' islands, before his stock of water was exhausted. He had been twenty-seven days under sail from the Cape de Verds, on all but seven of which he had made fair progress in his chosen direction. If nothing had been found in that time, it would not be safe to continue indefinitely without putting in at some one of the known islands to refit. When Tuesday morning dawned, with nothing but an un- broken horizon in view, he gave the order to bring the ships' heads to north-northwest, and keep that course, as tending to bring them nearer to the Caribs' islands, without altogether abandoning their westerly direction. The early hours of the day were spent as had been the tedious weeks preceding them, and no signs more notable than those which had been seen before distinguished that morning from another. Towards midday an incident occurred which, considering its moment- ous consequences, is best told in the words of the Admiral himself as he wrote them in his journal : "■ As His Divine Majesty," he writes, " has always shown mercy to us, a SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 295 certain seaman of Huelva, — one of my servants, — named Alonzo Perez,^ by chance climbed up into the crow's-nest to look about, and descried land in the west, at fifteen leagues' distance, and what was visible of it was three mogotes, or three mountains." The announcement that land was in sight from the masthead was soon followed by the rising of the blue summits above the horizon, and the wearied voyagers gave vent to their joy with an effusiveness pro- portioned to their recent trials. All joined in chanting the Salve Regina, " with other pious verses and couplets con- taining praises to God and Our Lady," and the Admiral formally bestowed on the yet distant shores the name of Trinidad, in honor of the Holy Trinity, and in allusion to the triple peak now gradually assuming shape before his eyes. " It has pleased Our Lord," he writes, " for His divine glory, that the first sight was three mogotes, all united ; I should say three mountains, all at one time and in one view. May His Mightiness, through His mercy, so guide me that He may be greatly served and your Majesties derive much delight from this ; for it is certain that the find- ing of land in this quarter was as great a miracle as was the finding of it on the first voyage." The Admiral indulged in no rash speculations as to the territorial extent of this latest landfall. He had found too many great islands with towering mountain chains to per- mit himself, without further evidence, the grateful illusion that this was the Terra Firma he was seeking. But, whether it should prove to be this or only another Guadalupe or Dominica, it did possess the distinctive value of showing that land lay beneath the Equator in the West as well as in the East, and that the new world whose gate he had opened at San Salvador, and which Cabot had found reached into the farthest North, extended indefinitely toward 1 Our readers will recall that Columbus was careful to credit one of his sailors, Juan Rodriguez Bermejo, with the first sight of Guanahani in 1492. In now crediting Alonzo Perez with the first sight of the new continent, it seems to us that he furnished a conclusive answer to the modern allegation that he sought to appropriate to himself the merits of his subordinates. 296 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the unplaced southern pole. He realized, even at this early day, that the establishing of its extent lay beyond his sphere of duty and must necessarily fall to others. The arguments of Jayme Ferrer, who had urged him in 1495 to prosecute his plans of trans- equatorial investigation, and of the older philosophers recurred with fresh force to his mind. In the South lay the greatest treasures. So it had proved in Africa, and so it would prove here, if he might judge by those spear- heads of guanin. " I am now in the same parallel as that from which the gold is taken for the King of Portugal," he wrote in his journal, " and whoever shall explore these seas should find things of great value." This partial justification of his theory of a southern continent he attributes modestly to Divine mercy, — " for there is no man in the world to whom God has shown such grace." He rejoices in con- templating the satisfaction with which Ferdinand and Isa- bella will receive the tidings of his success, and reverts with a natural pride to the prophecies of evil which " the wicked tongues and false witnesses through envy related " concern- ing the outcome of his undertaking. " Even should no other advantage result," he writes, "except these beautiful lands which are so fertile and so filled with forests and palm-trees that they put to shame the gardens of Valencia in May, they ought to be held in high esteem." And he closes his reflections with the pregnant remark " that it is a miracle that as near to the Equator as 6° the sovereigns of Castile now possess dominions, whereas Isabella is distant 24° from the Equatorial Line." He might have made San Salvador, four degrees farther north, his basis of calculation. To have added, in six years, to the petty acreage of Aragon and Castile an empire already to be estimated only by climatic zones, one whose limits might, without extravagance, even then be supposed to rival those of Africa, was a vaster achievement in the closing years of the fifteenth century than it appears in those of the nineteenth. We may search with all the captious- ness of prejudice in the writings of Columbus, even when he was presumably in the full flush of a triumphant vindica- tion of his much-maligned project, and we shall fail to find SEEKING THE GREAT SOUTH LAND. 297 a word of vaunting or vainglory. He knew far less of geography than most of his modern critics and was un- speakably their inferior in the art of self-advertisement, but he had an uncanny habit of working out by courage, endur- ance, and patient faith the problems he set himself to solve. That he fully reahzed the scope of these, his future course will show. XV. "THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." NIGHT was falling when the squadron approached the shores of Trinidad, a httle to the north of the point of land which had been first seen. The Admiral had called this Galley Point, from a rock which bore some resem- blance to one of those crafts under sail, and had altered his course for it as soon as the land lifted so that the coast-line was apparent. As he drew nearer he scanned its every feature with anxious attention, for he half feared lest he should find the regions so near the Equator less in- viting than the fertile islands farther north. To his great contentment the mountains and shore were alike covered with luxuriant forests which yielded nothing in beauty to those of Hayti and Cuba. Finding no safe anchorage near where he first made the land, he put about and stood south- wards, along the coast, intending to find shelter behind the cape. Darkness closed in before a harbor was found, but in the meantime the Admiral had noticed a number of people gathering on the beach, together with houses and signs of extensive cultivation. A canoe manned by natives was also discovered, and, although they paddled away in fright, there was no question as to the country being well populated by a race at least equal to the Haytians in de- velopment. The vessels lay to over night, and on the fol- lowing day, the first of August, doubling Galley Point, sailed down the coast to the west. By this time the Admiral was satisfied that he was skirting an island ; doubtless because, from the cape named (the modern Point Galeota), he could ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD P 299 discern the abrupt angle which the southern and eastern shores of Trinidad there make. The lofty mountains which showed inland, with the long extent of visible coast, satisfied him that the island was a large one. He pursued his way, searching for a place where a landing might be effected and speech had with the people, until a cove was reached where he came to anchor and sent men ashore. They reported that they had found fishing-implements and other signs of habitation, but had seen nobody. They spoke with enthu- siasm of the country's fertility, and said that great palms, lignum-aloes, and other valuable trees abounded, and that among the tracks of other animals they had found those of goats. What was of more immediate importance, they had come upon both springs and streams of delicious water, wherefrom the exhausted casks on board ship could be replenished. All this was welcome news to their commander, as confirming the impression he had derived from scruti- nizing the shores as he sailed by them. From this anchorage he could clearly distinguish other land to the south, although at a distance of many leagues. It appeared to extend for eighty miles or more,^ east and west, and to be an island, whereupon he named it Sancta, or Holy, as a complement to that already called Trinity. On the next day, the 2nd, he weighed anchor and continued westward down the coast of Trinidad, saihng close inshore so that he might examine the country as he passed along, and watching meantime the Holy Island, which lay afar off in the south. He began to be impressed by the obvious size of the latter, for it seemed to extend into the remote distance ahead of him : " it must be very great," he entered in his journal. His attention was diverted from it by the approach of a huge canoe, con- taining a couple of dozen men, which bore swiftly down upon the squadron from the east. It was checked when a gunshot from the ships, and its occupants hailed the white men in a loud voice and with many words, the meaning of which was lost upon their hearers. As the most intelligible ^ " He might properly have said for 2000," is the comment of Las Casas, " for this was the Terra Firma." 300 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. reply possible under the circumstances, the Admiral caused a number of tin basins and other shining objects to be dis- played, at the same time inviting the natives by signs to come nearer. This they did by degrees, advancing a little and then retreating, but always keeping at a safe distance. After two hours spent in this fashion, the Admiral sent a party of the sailors up on the poop-deck to dance to the music of a drum and fife, thinking by this act of evident good-fellowship to satisfy his visitors of his amicable inten- tions. To his surprise they instantly dropped their paddles, grasped every man a shield, bow, and quiver from the bottom of the canoe, and in a twinkling had sent a goodly flight of arrows toward the vessels. The Admiral stopped the danc- ing and ordered a couple of cross-bows to be discharged in the direction of the canoe, as a warning to the bellicose In- dians. The effect of this was as unexpected as that of the music, for they at once laid down their weapons and paddled quickly away from the flagship and under the stern of one of the caravels. The pilot of that vessel, hastily gathering together some trinkets, dropped a rope over the ship's side and slid down into the canoe. Singling out the leader of the band, he gave him a cap and skirt such as the Spanish sailors wore, while to each of the others he gave a trifle of some sort. The Indians seemed dehghted with their re- ception and made signs that the pilot should accompany them ashore, which he, nothing loth, signified he would do. But when he entered his own boat, and rowed ofl" to the flagship to get the Admiral's consent, the Indians seized their paddles and sped away, as though fearful of some treachery. No one had been so close an observer of all that had occurred during this incident as the Admiral himself. These were the first inhabitants of the southern lands whom he had seen near at hand, and their every movement was watched with extreme interest. According to all the learned theories of the times, supported, as to the older world, by the evi- dences accumulated in Africa, and, as to the new, by the reports of the Haytians, the natives of the South should be black. Instead, the Admiral remarked that, " although they ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." 30 1 are so near the Equinoctial, they are not black, but Indian color, like all the others who have been discovered." If anything, they were less tawny than the Haytians. Of good stature and proportions, they were easy and graceful in their movements, naked, except at the waist, wearing the hair long and banged at the forehead like the Spaniards them- selves, and with the head wrapped with a scarf of gaudy colors. Their weapons were better made and more service- able than those of the northern islanders, especially their arrows, which were bone-tipped and barbed. Their cloths were superior in quality to any before found in the Indies, and the whole appearance of the men indicated a higher type. To the Admiral all these indications were significant. They lent support to the theory that in the unknown South both Nature and mankind were more inviting than in the North, and that his latest exploit was likely to prove his greatest. Every gesture of his visitors was studied with thoughtful regard, in the hope of extracting some intelligent meaning, and at length he gathered that they wished to know, among other things, whether the strangers had not come from still farther south. This interpretation, whether right or wrong, at once suggested a weighty inference to the Admiral's mind : " Toward the south there must be great countries," is the conclusion he reaches, after entering the incident in his journal. And thereafter his thoughts turned naturally to the distant coast of the Holy Island. Continuing his westward course, he came to the long tongue of land which forms the southwestern extremity of Trinidad, where the coast of that island turns abruptly to the north. This cape the Admiral named Arenal, or Sandy ^ Point, and, as it offered a convenient harbor, decided to come to anchor and allow his men liberty to go ashore. The following day, August 3rd, was passed in this manner, the ships' companies spreading through the neighborhood, revelling in their strange and beautiful surroundings and devoting themselves to the enjoyment of an experience as novel as it was fascinating. The Admiral himself, preoccu- ^ It is called Point Icacos on the modern maps of Trinidad. 302 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. pied with his desire to compare these equatorial countries with those farther north, committed to paper the result of his own careful observations. What astonished him most was the notable difiference between Nature and man in this western world and in the same latitude in Africa. The climate, he records, was much more temperate, as was evi- denced by the lighter color of the natives and their straight locks. Indeed, notwithstanding the fact that the sun was in the constellation Leo, the mornings were so cool as to make a heavy cloak necessary for comfort. The forests were far more luxuriant in their growth, coming down to the water's edge as though undisturbed by storms. The rise and fall of the tides were much greater than in Spain, and the currents very swift. The fruits and birds were more varied in kind and of larger size than those of Hispaniola. Oysters abounded in the shallow waters, — an indication of much promise to one whose thoughts were of the pearls and gems of the Orient. The men reported an infinite number of tracks of small animals, which they supposed to be goats, and this also was different from Hispaniola and Cuba, for there were no animals in those countries larger than conies. In short, just as the Admiral had always found the climate change for the better on reaching a longitude loo degrees west of the Azores, so now he found it still milder and more temperate the farther south he had proceeded in the western world. A comparison between this amenity and the terrifying heat encountered so short a time before on this same parallel farther east was inevitable. From Point Arenal the coast of Holy Island was clearly visible, the tv/o being separated only by a narrow channel eight or ten miles wide. As the vessels had drawn nearer the western cape, the opposite shores had also approached until now they seemed close at hand. Looking to the west and north, Holy Island seemed to trend away in the former direction until it disappeared in the distance, but in the lat- ter quarter a range of mountains was visible, seemingly on a third island distinct from both Holy and Trinidad. To this new discovery the Admiral gave the name of Gracia, or Mercy, Island. Its contour was so much more imposing « THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." 303 than the comparatively low shores of Holy Island that he decided to make for it, but before leaving the security of his anchorage he wished, as a prudent navigator, to learn some- thing of the waters through which he must pass. Several strange circumstances had arrested the sailors' attention. The narrow channel between Point Arenal and the nearest part of Sancta was broken by several islets. The currents raced through it, from south to north, with extraordinary velocity, creating a series of swirls and eddies which hinted of sunken rocks and reefs. The Admiral noticed that this continued both night and day, and likens it to the fury of the Guadalquivir in its times of flood. To retrace his course against such a constant tide, and the prevailing wind as well, seemed to be well-nigh hopeless; to risk his ships in those unknown whirlpools would be madness. As he was turning this situation over in his mind at night, a new anxiety was added in a sinister roar which, originating in the south, drew rapidly nearer and gathered force as it advanced. To his horror the Admiral saw a huge wave, crested with a line of glowing phosphorescence, rushing upon the vessels out of the darkness. To his disturbed vision it seemed to be as lofty as the ships themselves, and he looked for the instant destruction of his crafts and all they contained. The huge breaker bore down upon them, hung above their coun- ters for a moment, and then, passing harmlessly beneath them, went roaring and spuming into the blackness of the channel beyond, where the startled voyagers heard it crash- ing and hissing for some time after. To all on board the three ships the escape seemed pure miracle. One of the caravels was lifted so that her anchors cleared the ground, and borne some distance off by the great wave. " Even to- day," the Admiral states in describing this experience, "I feel a chill of fear because it did not overwhelm the ship when it passed underneath her. By reason of this great peril I have called this channel the Serpent's Mouth." As such it stands on our maps to the present time, a mute wit- ness that the feeling has been shared by other navigators who have essayed the passage since Columbus. Those of our readers who have been overtaken by the g\2X± pororoca 304 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of the Amazon or the Orinoco, particularly at night, will not be inclined to cavil at the sentiment.^ Impatient to leave an anchorage fraught with such dan- gers, the Admiral sent a boat next morning to sound the channel, determined, if a passage were possible, to force his way through its angry waters and steer for the mountains of Gracia. His men found a depth of six or seven fathoms, and accordingly, weighing anchor, the squadron entered the Serpent's Mouth. The transit was made in safety, and once in wider waters, the Admiral found the sea as quiet as a pond. Looking astern at the angry turmoil through which he had come, he fancied that a conflict was perpetually raging between the waters within and those without, and was greatly puzzled thereby. To increase his wonderment, he found the water of the inner body to be sweet, although it extended farther than the eye could see to the north and west. The problems of the South were even more mysterious than he had thought. If our readers will look at the map of South America, and follow the coast of Trinidad from Point Galeota at its south- east extremity, past Point Icacos at its southwest, and through the Serpent's Mouth, they will understand the situation of Columbus. Off his starboard beam was the island itself. Astern, was what he called the Island of Sancta, in reality the delta of the Orinoco. Off his port beam stretched the inland sea, which the Spaniards call the Gulfo Triste and we the Gulf of Paria, so far that the shores of Sancta disap- peared in the western distance, confirming his supposition as to its insular character. In the north rose the highlands toward which he was steering, separated on the east from Trinidad and lost in the western distance, — to all appear- ances another vast island. Unconscious of the countless 1 The critics acharnes of Columbus seem to derive some comfort in attributing this incident to " very liliely an unusual volume of the river water poured out of a sudden." We have ourselves seen an open vessel, not much smaller than the Admiral's two caravels, filled and sunken by \}n.t pororoca so suddenly that some of her sleeping crew were drowned. In this case the boat was riding to a short cable, and her anchor held only too well. ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLDS 305 streams flowing through the Orinoco's mouths to his south and west, and supposing that he was sailing through another group of gigantic islands like Guadalupe, Dominica, and Porto Rico, the Admiral revolved in his mind, as he swept across the landlocked gulf, every hypothesis known to him from ancient lore or the learning of his day, in search of some adequate explanation for the phenomena surrounding him. It is no marvel that he failed to find one. He had not as yet succeeded in having speech with the natives of Trinidad, and so was without even such little help as could be gathered from an exchange of unintelligible sentences and often misleading gestures. " To avoid scandalizing the country," to use his own words, he had made no attempt to seize any of the few inhabitants who had been seen as he coasted along on the previous days. His bewilderment became greater as he found the water increased in freshness and sweetness as he proceeded, and although he could account for it only by supposing the vicinity of some stream or streams, he could not imagine the existence of a river great and powerful enough to drive back the ocean itself. He had studied the geographical works of his day, had been off the delta of the Nile, and had seen the great rivers of Africa ; but nothing he had seen or heard of would account for the present conditions. The problem was one of infinite attractiveness to him, and he chafed at the thought of his waiting colony at Hispaniola, and its probable need of the half-spoiled cargoes he was taking to it. Small time remained for investigating such great matters. With a fair breeze the squadron sped swiftly northward, and before many hours had attained the northern limits of the great gulf. The entrance to the open sea beyond was barred by a strait only half the width of the Serpent's Mouth, still further narrowed by three small islands. The eastern side of this channel was formed by the northwestern Cape of Trinidad, which the Admiral named Boto, or Blunt, from its shape.^ The western side was a prolongation of Gracia Island, and this the Admiral called Cape Lapa.- ^ Now known as Poiht Monos (monkeys). 2 The modern Cape Salinas. 20 306 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Between these headlands and among the interspersed islands boiled and surged the same mad durrents which made the Serpent's Mouth so hazardous a portal to force. To dub this outlet the Dragon's Mouth was not wholly fanciful. From this position, the lofty mountains of the so-called Gracia were invitingly near, and beyond them other lofty peaks were discernible, which the Admiral assumed to be different islands. Before passing out into the sea beyond, he proposed to learn something more of the majestic archipelago through which he appeared to be sailing, and, accordingly, altering his course to the west, began to coast along the southern side of Gracia. The country was extremely mountainous, but broken by frequent valleys, each contributing a stream of crystal water to the waveless gulf. From the numerous cultivated clearings which were visible from the ship's deck, the Admiral saw with satisfaction that a considerable popu- lation existed, and resolved to hold communication with the natives before proceeding further. The vessels were brought to anchor in one of the excellent harbors with which the coast abounded, and on Sunday, the 5 th of August, the boats were sent ashore to try and find some of the people. The Spaniards came upon an abandoned cabin, and saw other indications in plenty, but could find no Indians. They reported, on returning, that the forests were filled with monkeys, and among the fruits which they brought back, the Admiral thought he recognized the mirabolan of the Asiatic Indies. These discoveries — for monkeys had not before been met with in the western islands — revived his thoughts of the Orient, although his men had given him many other fruits which he had neither read of in Marco Polo nor met with in his other voyages. There were great clusters of what seemed to be huge grapes, comely apples of strange shape, smooth-skinned oranges with seeds like figs,^ and similarly odd but appetizing products of the forests. With renewed interest the Admiral weighed anchor and continued alongshore towards the west, where the sierras bent farther inland and the country was more open. The next day he ^ The fruits which the Admiral thus describes were apparently the assai, cajd, and guava, respectively. "THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." 307 reached a river's mouth where he again anchored, and this time saw a crowd of Indians quickly gather on the beach. Four of them manned a canoe and paddled out to the nearest caravel, where they were readily seized by the simple stratagem of inviting them to draw so near that their craft could be upset. When they were brought before the Ad- miral he gave them beads, bells, and sugar, and soon estab- lished a basis of good feeling. In answer to his inquiries, or rather signs, they replied that their country was called Paria, and that towards the west dwelt very many more people. As this was the extent of their information, he directed that they should be returned on shore with fresh presents. When they had reached their companions on the beach and related their reception, the whole throng dragged out their canoes and paddled fearlessly to the ships, where they were received with careful evidences of friendliness. They were all armed with bows, arrows, and shields, and the Admiral observed that the arrows had been dipped in some mixture, — pre- sumably poison. They were much like the men he had seen at Trinidad ; taller and stouter than the natives of Hispaniola, and of a frank and agreeable bearing. They answered freely all his queries, although neither he nor they understood one another. In return for the hospitality shown them, they brought from shore and offered to the Spaniards some of their native bread, together with earthen jars of water, and of various wines made from their fruits. By the next day a great multitude of Indians had collected on the beach, and their canoes plied busily all day between the ves- sels and land, crowded with curious and delighted savages. To all some trifle was given, but they cared for nothing but bells. Of beads, and the other trinkets which the islands of the North prized so highly, they made no account. Every- thing was subjected to the test of smelling, and they seemed to think more highly of brass and its odor than of anything else. They were generous in their off"erings of foods and beverages, and brought their most brilliantly plumaged birds to the strangers. The Admiral found some of these that resembled the great parrots of Guadalupe, but what most attracted his attention were the colored cloths used by the 308 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. natives themselves. These were, he says, m texture and dye exactly like those worn by the tribes of Guinea and of the Sierra Leone Rivers, " without any difference at all," and yet, he adds, there cannot be any communication with those parts, for they are more than 3200 miles distant from where he now is. Tinctured as was his mind with the theory of the world's division into zones, he found it difficult to conceive how countries in the same latitude could differ so radically in people and productions ; hence any pronounced similarity immediately suggested some inter-communication. As, on his first voyage, he had mentally compared every novelty with something described by Marco Polo, so now he compared each new experience with his long-ago obser- vations on the African coasts. Heretofore, he had dealt with regions not unknown to the learned world, new as had been his method of reaching them. Cuba was Asia ; Hayti, Cipango or Japan, and the Carib archipelago the outlying islands of the Orient. But now he was under a new heaven and on a new earth, and his experiences were confirming his conviction that this quarter of the world had been as unknown to the ancients as to those of his own time. Had he found the negroes, with their guanin-tipped weapons, of whom the Haytians had told him, he would have felt assured that i\frica extended around three quarters of the Earth's circumference, as he supposed Asia did. On the next day he pursued his westward way, taking with him six of the natives as guides. Passing near a point which he called the Aguja, or Needle, he found the neigh- boring country more populous and better cultivated than any he had seen on this cruise. The Indians in his com- pany indicated by signs that in this district dwelt people who were fully clothed, or, at least, so the Admiral inter- preted their gestures. Such an intimation was enough to arouse all his early enthusiasm, for where the people were clad could not, in his belief, be far from the great cities of the East. Coming to anchor, the ships were soon sur- rounded by a multitude of canoes, but their passengers differed nowise as to raiment — or the lack of it — from those seen before. In one important respect they did ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." 309 differ; some of them wore golden plates hung from the neck. The Indians on board the ships again exercised their gesticulatory abilities, and led the Admiral to under- stand that gold abounded in that region to such an extent that the natives made looking-glasses of it, like those of glass which the Spaniards used. The conjunction of such plentiful treasure with the reputed race of well-dressed humanity, offered to the Admiral an inducement to make a protracted investigation which proved well-nigh irresistible. What if, after all, Cathay and the gorgeous realms of the Great Khan lay in this direction, rather than west of Cuba? What if Ceylon, Java, and Sumatra were to be found in this southern archipelago, — as he fancied it to be ? It was no passing phantasy which seized upon his mind, as he pon- dered over this tale of clothes and golden mirrors, for it involved the reflections and conclusions of his whole mature lifetime. Nor was it a facile decision which he at length made, to postpone to another occasion all attempt to probe the " secrets " of these lands. He must only view these regions hastily, as he passed them, he determined ; for the supplies he carried for the colony at Hispaniola had only been acquired after long struggle and bitter sacrifice, and they must be needed there. It was the same loyal reason- ing which had led him to turn his prows northward ten days before, when he had failed to come up to his looked- for southern continent within the limits he had set. From Aguja high lands were visible both in the south and in the west, about fifty miles off. As these did not appear connected either with one another or with Paria, he conceived that they were also islands, and named them Isabella and Tramontana, the latter name being one of the few traces of his Italian origin which we find in the nomen- clature of his voyages.-^ Thinking that the western end 1 The Spanish of Columbus is very cumbersome, the defect being in construction rather than in choice of words. It is worth remarking that all his writing is cast in a Portuguese rather than a Castilian mould, and that in the only instance where his spoken words have been literally preserved, he used a patois much more approximating Portu- guese than Spanish, although his hearers were of the latter nation. His fourteen years of residence in Portugal and her colonies aftected 3IO THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. of Paria — or Gracia Island, as it was to him — would be reached now before long, he planned to sail to that extremity, turn northwards through the strait between it and Isabella, and thus make his way into the open sea north of Paria and so to Hispaniola. What he fancied to be other islands were, of course, the more distant mountains of the same mainland along which he was coasting, their bases being so hidden beneath the watery horizon that they seemed to be entirely distant. But to him they were visibly islands, and when, creeping alongshore to a thickly settled savannah, whose fertile charms he thought entitled it to the name of the Gardens, the Admiral dropped anchor, it was to learn from its people something of their western neighbors. The Indians not only were decorated with the same orna- ments of base gold as those of Aguja, but they wore a greater variety, — some in the shape of horseshoes, others of beads, others of collars. One of the men had a lump of gold the size of an apple slung from his neck, and all of them wore their hair bound with brightly colored cloths. The women were even more gaily decorated than the men, and among their strings of beads the Admiral noticed many pearls, of fine quality, not like the few dingy specimens which had been found in the shallow waters north of Hispaniola. These people were taller, of a more intelligent type, and of a fairer complexion than any he had met in the Indies ; the Admiral says that " many of them were as white as ourselves." Their houses were of two stories, and their canoes elaborately built, with covered cabins. In every respect they impressed him more favorably than the other Indians he had met. After their fashion they seemed willing to be frankly communicative. They indicated that in the West this kind of base gold was very plentiful, but that the countries were infested by the cannibals, who devoured men. The dreaded word seemed to have the same terrifying effect upon these people as upon the island- ers farther north, for they seized the arm of one of the Spaniards standing by and mumbled it, in imitation of the indelibly his speech. He usually refers to Sierra Leone as " Serra Leao," which is pure Portuguese. "THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD P 311 horrid banquets of the man-eaters. As to the pearls, they said, they came from a region on the other, or northern, side of Paria and more to the west, where they could be gathered in profusion. They entreated the Admiral, as soon as they recognized in him the chief of the white men, to go ashore with them to visit their King ; but this he could not do on account of his gout.-^ He sent some of his men ashore in the ship's boats, and they were received with much honor by the natives, who escorted them to their houses and treated them with such hospitality that the sailors returned on board ship loud in the praises of their hosts and their method of life. They reported that the men occupied one side of the houses and the women the other, and that their food and beverages were plentiful and palatable. Altogether the experience was a fascinating one, and much as he had admired and enjoyed the charms of Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Caribbees, the Admiral found these new lands to be the more favored. " In the whole world," he writes, " there cannot be more fertile, lovely, and populous lands, and the climate is worthy of them, for since I have been in this island I am cold every morning, so that heavy clothing is needful, and this, although it is so near the Equinoctial Line. The sea, also, still con- tinues to be fresh." Here was the crux of his problem ; the monkeys and odd fruits, the gold and pearls, the traces of clothing and superior advancement in the arts, the light skins and amiable dispositions might all be accounted for out of Marco Polo or the Arabian cosmographers ; but who had ever heard of chilly nights near the Equator, or of an ocean of sweet water ? The torrential rains which deluge the equatorial regions of our hemisphere in that season of the year in which Columbus was groping his way blindly off the Northern Delta of the Orinoco, broke up the agreeable exchange of hospitalities between ship and shore which had been initiated at the Gardens. Weighing anchor, the squadron stood a ^ Both Las Casas and the Admiral mention the latter's landing in person at one point, at least, on the mainland. This has been some- times denied. 312 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. little farther to the west, until the water began to shoal so rapidly that the Admiral feared to venture ahead without greater knowledge of the soundings. Both Isabella and Tramontana were nearer, and both seemed worthy of a visit, especially as the Indian guides insisted that gold was to be found in the former and pearls in the latter. Their intima- tions as to cannibals had no terrors for any one, least of all for the Admiral, who began to believe his guides meant, after all, by their gestures only to designate ferocious wild beasts and not men. " In these islands which I have seen," he wrote, " there must be many productions of value, for they are all great and lofty, with many valleys and plains and abundant waters. They are well peopled and cultivated, with a race of excellent understanding, as their gestures show." But the old consideration for the colony in Hispan- iola withheld him, and he repeats his fear lest the supplies on board his vessels should spoil if he delayed his going. To obtain, if possible, a clearer knowledge of the region ahead, he ordered his smallest vessel, which bore the appro- priate name of the " Correo," or Runner, to continue to the west and reconnoitre the supposed islands in that quarter, especially with a view to seeing whether the ships of greater draft could find a passage around Paria to the open sea in the north. While this was being done, he lay at anchor with his two other ships, pondering over his strange environment. The freshness of the water in the gulf was his chief bewilder- ment. "There is no sign from where it comes," he says, alluding to the abrupt nature of the coast-lands of Paria, " for the country is not such as to give rise to great rivers." Next to this was the superior richness of these " islands " as compared with those farther north. Apart from the notable fertility of the soil and the reputed abundance of gold, his attention was engaged by the evident profusion of pearls. The Indians parted with them readily and made no secret of the place of their origin, and the Admiral knew that the Orient produced nothing more highly valued by the mer- chants of Europe than its pearls. Could he but find the places where they could be had in plenty, the difficulties of revenue-raising would be vastly reduced. All about him. ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLDS 313 in the shallow waters along shore, he noticed great thickets of mangroves growing on their stilted roots, with countless oysters attached to these and to every branch which drooped beneath the surface of the gulf. These oysters, he found upon tasting, were white and palatable as to their flesh, " although they require a httle salt," he thought. Their shells were not of mother-of-pearl ; but he assumed, never- theless, that the pearls must come from them, because the shells were usually open, and he had read in Pliny that the pearls were engendered by dew falling into the open mouths of live oysters. Here were such shell-fish in plenty, and each night the dew fell with a copiousness new to his experi- ence ; ergo, here must be at least one place where the much- prized baubles "were born," and could be had in endless quantity. The prospect was an alluring one and he dwells on it with complacency, for it would go far to disprove the assertions of his enemies as to the poverty of resources in the Indies. "Wherever it may be that they grow," he concludes, " they are of the very finest quality, and the natives bore holes in them as is done in Venice." The whole Gulf of Paria was thereupon christened the Gulf of Pearls, and the Admiral consoled himself for much of his past distresses with the reflection that this new source of wealth would bring equal delight to his sovereigns. The return of the " Correo " changed the current of his speculations. Her pilots reported that they had sailed to the west until they came upon a broad expanse of land, run- ning from Paria clear around to the south and stretching out of sight. There was no channel separating Paria from other islands, they affirmed, and there were no Isabella and Tramontana : it was all one great country enveloping the Gulf of Pearls on all sides. At the western extremity of the gulf they had found four inlets, through each of which poured a river of fresh water. One of these was a very great stream, carrying five fathoms of depth as far up as they had sailed. The Admiral was disposed to contend with the pilots that these " rivers " were in reality only arms of the gulf, separat- ing the several islands one from the other ; but they disputed his opinion. These were rivers, they insisted, and not mere 314 ^'^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. channels. There was no strait dividing Paria from her neigh- bors, but one continuous territory. It was impossible to find a way out of the gulf towards the north, for if the vessels proceeded farther westward they would have either to ascend some of these rivers, or else run ashore. If, on the one hand, the Admiral was disappointed on learning that he could not get to Hispaniola by sailing around Paria, on the other all his enthusiasm as an explorer was aroused by the report of his pilots. Every inclination of mind and heart urged him to make the effort " to pene- trate the secrets of these lands," to add a new array of mar- vels to those he had already exploited. Only that one duty to his colony restrained him, — " because the provisions he carried for the people in Hispaniola, and those he was tak- ing for the use of those who were working in the mines gathering gold, would be lost." The memory of the trials and humiliations which he had been forced to endure by Fonseca and his staff in obtaining these supplies weighed upon his spirit throughout this voyage with a persistency which indicates the mental strain to which he had been sub- jected. " If I had any hope," he writes in his journal in commenting upon the return of the " Correo," " that I should be able to get any more supplies within reasonable time, I would defer all else in order to discover more of these lands and learn their secrets." It was with no little bitterness that he abandoned the idea, for, as he could not and did not fail to reflect, had only a little energy and good will been shown to him in Spain, he could long since have reached these new shores, and had ample time to investigate them before making for Hispaniola. In determining now to sacrifice his own preferences to the needs of his colonists, he registers his firm intention to send Don Bartholomew from Hispaniola, without loss of time, to prosecute the exploration of this inviting but perplexing country. In recording this purpose he takes occasion to call the attention of Ferdinand and Isabella to the vastly enhanced prospects of extended dominion opened up by this latest voyage, and in so doing employs some phrases well worth transcribing. "THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLDS 315 " Here your Majesties have," he writes, " something noble and worthy of such puissant Princes. It is a great error to put faith in those who speak ill of this enterprise ; rather should they be despised, for it shall not be found that any other Prince had received so signal a mercy from Our Lord, or has had an equal success in an affair of such import, or one of such honor to your royal Estate and Kingdoms, wherefrom the Eternal God may receive greater service or the people of Spain more delight and profit. For it is already evident that there are countless objects of value here, and although this that I now say may not be appreciated, the time will come when this undertaking shall be counted as of surpassing excellence, to the confusion of those who have opposed it before your Majesties. And although you may have spent somewhat in it, the outlay has been made in an affair more noble and of greater dignity than anything under- taken by Prince heretofore ; nor should it be now abandoned, but you should continue with it and extend to me your help and countenance. ... I have never learned, either from written or spoken word, that any sovereign of Castile has ever acquired any territory outside of Spain ; but your Majesties have secured these lands, which are another world, wherein Christendom shall so much rejoice and our holy faith, in due time, gain such increase. All this I say with the most upright motive possible, because I wish your Highnesses to be the principal sovereigns in the world, — I should say, the lords of it all, — and that it all may so be to the great service and acceptance of the Holy Trinity, so that at the end of your days you may enjoy the glories of Paradise ; and not for what may affect myself herein, for I believe, before God, that your Highnesses shall soon see the truth of it all, and know what is in reality my ambition." It is not to be supposed that the Admiral, when he penned these words on the nth of August, fully compre- hended the significance of his latest discovery. That only occurred to him some days after. But he saw that this was no mere group of islands as he had at first thought. Some vague idea he had that the vast body of fresh water forming the Gulf of Pearls might be the discharge of an underground river, coming from a long distance, and he did not altogether reject the theory of his pilots that a great body of land was to be found in the West, but for the moment he clung to the belief that Paria was an island, although a huge one. 3l6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Since he could not conclusively determine this, for the reasons he gave, he resolved to turn back, pass through the Dragon's Mouth to the open sea in the north, and coast along that side of Paria to see whether he could there dis- cover the strait separating it from adjoining islands. By doing this he would be making toward Hispaniola, and, without consuming an undue time, might succeed in solving the enigma of the great gulf of sweet water. He began to doubt whether these southern lands were attached even remotely to the Asiatic continent, and to nurse a suspicion that they were absolutely new to European knowledge ; so his allusion to " another world " than that known to his time foreshadowed the conclusion he was soon to reach. In letting his imagination picture the sovereigns of Castile becoming the principal monarchs of the whole world, he was simply multiplying so many degrees of latitude by so many of longitude, and arguing that his discoveries already embraced a vaster territory than that ruled by any monarch in Christendom, — with the promise of infinite extension. It has been the fashion to interpret the references made by Columbus to a " new world," " another world," and the hke, as being figurative, — mere comparisons between the famil- iar regions of Europe and the less known countries described by Marco Polo, Mandeville, and the other early travellers in the East ; but this was not always the case. He made a dis- tinction between Cuba, Hayti, and the Caribbees on the one hand, and the southern lands on the other. Those were known to Polo and the rest, because they were part of Asia ; but these were as new to all men as they were to their discoverer himself. It was night, on Saturday, the nth of August, when the Admiral weighed anchor and hoisted sail for his eastward run back to Trinidad. The moonlight which flooded the quiet gulf afforded all the illumination needful, and the httle squadron sped swifdy past the low shores of Paria with their background of sombre shadows where the sierras hid the northern stars from sight. Only a week had passed since he left Trinidad for Paria, and yet in that short time he had been confronted by more and deeper mysteries than any "THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD r 317 which had hitherto been encountered. Even the cruise along southern Cuba was plain sailing to this, for there he had only to determine whether the land continued on indefi- nitely, or not, and he began his exploration with a well- settled conviction that it did. Here, however, was a series of problems which were taxing his ingenuity to the utmost, and for few of which he could find the solution in either his own earlier observations or the books of the schoolmen. Nothing that he had seen or read of in Africa, Asia, or the Indies was applicable to much that he had met with in the past ten days, and still there was enough of similitude to aggravate immensely his perplexities. His nearness to the Equator, and the belief that inhabited lands lay beyond it, only added to the confusion of his ideas, because of the views held by all of the philosophers as to the character- istics of that mysterious zone. His experiences since leaving the Cape de Verd islands fitted with none of the theories with which he was familiar, and thus, little by little, the strange conception which afterwards possessed him began to take shape in his mind. Since the teachings of the learned availed him nothing, he would be his own guide. One must admit that the events of the last six years justified him in rejecting the theories of the schools and preferring instead the light of his own reason. Only a night and a day were spent in the run to Trinidad, and on Sunday the squadron came to anchor under Cape Lapa at the eastern end of Paria. Here he spent that day and the next, and thought of Pliny's "Catholicon" as he watched the open-mouthed oysters waiting for the dew, that was to turn to pearls, to fall from the mangrove leaves ; and noted the neat construction of some native cabins on shore ; and examined the fruits a boat's crew brought from the neighboring forest ; and speculated on the source of that great body of fresh water and all that it implied. On Mon- day night he got under way and ran out to the entrance of the Dragon's Mouth, where the channel was widest between the islands which lay between Paria and Trinidad. Why he chose the night for making the passage out to the north is not clear. Perhaps he wished to use the ebb-tide ; perhaps 3l8 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the inflammation of the eyes from which he was suffering was the cause, for the moon was near the full and in those latitudes its hght is far more brilliant than with us, while infinitely less trying than that of the vertical sun. He found the same angry turmoil of waters rushing through the strait that he had before observed, and attributed it to the resist- ance of the salt sea beyond to the exit of the fresh waters of the gulf. The wind fell as the vessels embarked in the turbulent current, and once more all hands gave themselves up for lost, as they heard the roar of a great wave approach- ing and saw the dark wall bearing down upon their becalmed hulls. In the vain effort to ride out the danger they let go their anchors ; but the depth was too great, and they were borne like chips on the crest of the combing bore. Rush- ing through the moonlit channels, lurching and pitching amid the dark hollows and glittering foam patches, the ves- sels at length were cast in safety out into the gentler rollers of the open sea which we call the Caribbean. As soon as he had examined his surroundings by daylight the Admiral steered to the west, intending to follow in that direction the northern, or outer coast of Paria at least as far as he had its southern, or inner shore, — a distance, he esti- mated, of nearly 200 miles. To the north he saw a number of lesser islands which he named Assumption, Conception, the Pilgrim, and the Witnesses.^ These offered no induce- ment to vary from his course, for his one motive was to settle the geographical nature of Paria. The depth and violence of the current sweeping through the Dragon's Mouth had already suggested to him the idea that Paria " at some period must have been continuous land with the island of Trinidad," and this increased the interest of tie problem. The quiet hours of Saturday and Sunday had served to clarify his impressions. He would make a final effort to ascertain the source of all that fresh water, whether in fact it came from rivers as his pilots affirmed. This he was not even now prepared to admit, he says, " because I have never heard that either the Ganges, or the Euphrates, 1 The Testigos and their neighboring cays, on modern charts. ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD." 319 or the Nile brought down so much fresh water." The whole contour of the country, as he had seen it, was against any such assumption, " for there are no lands so extensive that such huge rivers could have birth in them, unless" — and the qualification was the outcome of his forty-eight hours of cogitation, — " this is Terra Firma." If, therefore, after ex- ploring the coast for a sufficient distance, he found no strait running to the south, he would know that Paria was not an island, and " would then affirm that the fresh water was a river ; but whether it is or not," he adds, " it is a great mar- vel." He scrutinized anxiously every opening in the shore line as he crept along westward. Monday night he stood off shore, for safety, and as he was compelled by the excessive inflammation of the eyes, caused by protracted loss of sleep, to abandon the watch, his navigator allowed the squadron to reach too far out to sea, so that when morning came they were close to a large island, which the Admiral named Mar- garita, — the Pearl. Returning to the coast of Paria on Tuesday morning, he continued his examination throughout the day, until he estimated that he was at a distance of 150 or 160 miles to the west of Cape Lapa. As far as the eye could reach the coast stretched away, preserving the same general features. The pain from his blood-congested eyes was so great, and his exhaustion from prolonged vigils so complete, that he did not feel disposed to continue the search for a strait in whose existence he no longer had faith. Paria, he now saw, although beginning in a narrow point, ran indefi- nitely to the west and south, widening as it went, as was the case with Cuba. Its northern coast, which fronted towards Hayti and the Caribs' islands, was washed by the same sea as they. Within its borders, somewhere, were cannibals ; he himself had secured by barter a goodly quantity of guanin. The only satisfactory explanation of the great gulf of fresh water was that it was the discharge of some huge river, and his pilots had seen several streams of no ordinary size. To account for a fresh inland sea 200 miles long by at least 100 wide, a mainland must be supposed which equalled in extent those continents which gave rise to the Ganges, the Nile, or the Euphrates ; but there was nothing 320 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. in this opposed to the sound deductions of philosophy, for many of the masters held that six-sevenths of the world's surface was solid land ; and Asia, Africa, and Europe com- bined still left a vast superficies to be accounted for. All these considerations united to produce absolute conviction in his mind, despite his former tendency to doubt. What he had supposed, a fortnight before, to be a new group of great islands, — Trinidad, Gracia, Isabella, Tramontana, — was that very southern Terra Firma which he had set out to discover. Trinidad, in the remote past, had been broken off from the continental mass ; but the rest, called by the natives Paria, was there before his wearied eyes, inviting to an exploration of its hidden " secrets." His work was, for the moment, done, and he would steer now for Hispaniola to attend to the needs of his government while Don Bar- tholomew came south to pursue the investigation of the new continent. For this was a new mainland, separate and dis- tinct from that of Cuba, — " the other Terra Firma which he had discovered." " I am convinced," he wrote in his journal, addressing Ferdi- nand and Isabella, '' that this is Terra Firma, of vast extent, of which until this day nothing has been known. Reason brings me great support in this conclusion by cause of this great river and its sea, which is fresh. Next I am supported by the decla- ration of Esdras who says in his Book IV, Chapter 6, that six parts of the world are dry land and one is of water. This book is approved by St. Ambrosio in his '• Examenon,' and by St. Augustine at the passage Morietiir filius 7neus Christus as Fran- cisco de Mayrones asserts. Besides this I am assured by the statements of many cannibal Indians, when I have taken them on other occasions, all of whom declared that to the south of them was Terra Firma. At the time I was in Guadalupe ; but I also heard the same from others in the Island of Santa Cruz and in San Juan [Porto Rico], and they said there was much gold here. As your Majesties know, it is only a very little while since no other land was known except what Ptolemy described, and there was no one in my day who believed that one could navigate from Spain to the Indies. Concerning this I spent seven years in your Court, and they were not few who consulted me about it, but at length only the lofty spirit of your Majesties caused the trial to be made, in spite of the opposition of all those ''THESE LANDS ARE ANOTHER WORLD:' 32 1 who impugned it. Now the truth appears, and will appear yet more amply before much time ; for if this is Terra Firma it is matter for great wonderment, and that it is such will be con- sidered among all learned men, since from it issues a river so immense that it fills a fresh sea 200 miles long." ^ 1 And yet even the always impartial and sincere Fiske maintains that "when Columbus died, the fact that a New World had been dis- covered by him had not yet begun to dawn upon his mind, or upon the mind of any voyager or any writer." XVI. FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. WHEN Columbus turned to the west, after emerging from the Dragon's Mouth, he was so broken down in health from his prolonged lack of sleep and the uninter- mitted strain upon his faculties of the month which had passed since he left the Cape de Verd Islands, that he had to direct the movements of his squadron from a couch on deck. In especial, his eyes caused him acute suffering ; they were suf- fused with blood to such an extent that they seemed ready to burst. In his whole life, he says, not even on the Cuban voyage when his thirty-three nights of watchfulness nearly cost him his sight, had he been so tormented. When, there- fore, on the 15th of August, his pilots reported the continua- tion of land toward the west, and he reached the conclusion that this was, indeed. Terra Firma, he equally realized that its further prolongation must be confided to other hands. He had reached the utmost limits of his physical powers, and, in simple truth, could do no more. He had attained a point on the coast of the modern Venezuela south of the Island of Margarita, about where the peninsula of Araya encloses the Bay of Cariaco, or Cumana. Here the vessels anchored on the night of the 15th, and on the morning of the i6th he hoisted anchor and left the coast steering northwest, in demand of Hispaniola. As he sailed over the smooth waters of the Caribbean Sea, his mind dwelt insistently upon the problems of the voyage now closing. By the help of some associate, or by a supreme effort on his own part, he man- aged to continue the entries in his journal, although he 322 FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 323 laments their enforced brevity. He recites, as if to excul- pate himself with their Majesties for any apparent lack of zeal in prosecuting his discoveries, the causes which induced him to abandon further exploration, dwelling again on the necessity of getting his supphes to the colony at Hispaniola before they were spoiled, and adding that his people were worn out with the voyage, and he did not dare to keep them at sea any longer. They were not shipped in Spain for a voyage of exploration, he says, " lest they should have made some objection, and so that they would not ask for more money, which I did not have. " He was dissatisfied with the draught of his ships as being too great. His preference was always for vessels of light draught, and the recent experiences in the Gulf of Pearls had demonstrated again their superior conven- ience. But his chief reason for not continuing onwards, even for a few days, was the fear that his sight was about to leave him. " May it please Our Lord to free me of them," he writes of the tormenting organs, " for He well knows that I do not support these trials to accumulate riches or to find wealth for myself. Surely I know that everything done in this life is vain, except what is done for the honor and service of God, and that is not to accumulate treasure or dignities, or many other of the things we enjoy in this world and to which we are more given than to those which can save us." ^ The disastrous termination of the Cuban cruise was before him as a warning of what might result from overtaxing his powers, and he might well dread its repetition. As was always the case in his seasons of extreme physical and mental depression, the Admiral's reflections now began ^ The evidence of Las Casas is so universally, and correctly, quoted against Columbus in the matter of enslaving the Indians, that it may be well to record here the same authority's conception of the Admiral's motives in general. " Verily this man was possessed of an honest and Christian purpose," writes the good Bishop, in reference to the clause above translated, " and was abundantly content with the condition of life to which he had so meritoriously attained, wishing to support himself therein with a modest competency and to rest from so many labors. But what he strove and toiled for resulted only in placing their Majesties under a greater debt, although I do not know what greater one was needful than that he had already placed them under." 324 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. to be tinged with that strange brooding mysticism which is so foreign to the Latin temperament. Pondering over the events of the voyage, especially wherein they differed from the experiences of his previous passages across the Ocean Sea, his mind reviewed all the cosmical theories, sacred and profane, which he had read in the course of his long years of study. None of them accounted for the enig- matical wonders which his own eyes had witnessed. He enumerates the most salient of these before recording the singular conclusion at which he arrived, and in following them it is needful to bear in mind that, virtually, all that was known of the Earth outside of the geography of Pliny, Strabo, Ptolemy, and the other philosophers he cites, he had himself discovered. When to his own personal observations and the adventures of Marco Polo were added the teach- ings of the geographer who died when Pompeii was buried, Columbus, to all intents and purposes, commanded the Science of his day as he looked out over the sapphire waters of the Caribbean, and mused over the most consistent ex- planation of his latest observations. In the order of his reflections, these are the considerations which brought con- viction to his mind: (ist) Contrary to the arguments of the ancients, and to his own experiences in Africa, he had found the equatorial zone in this western world not only habitable, but possessing a climate which was far cooler than that of Cuba and Hayti, farther away from the Line. (2nd) This atmospheric freshness was first noticed about the same meridian, — 400 miles west of the Azores, — where the needles of his compass first showed a tendency to fluctuate in pointing to the Pole, and the farther west one came the fresher was the climate. (3rd) The needle fluctuated more the farther north he was, and on this southern cruise its motion was imperceptible until he left Terra Firma. On the night of the 15 th of August, it suddenly began to vary wildly from the true north, to the great astonishment of all on board. (4th) The stars were differently placed, and particularly the Polar star and its ''guards," — Ursa Major. (5th) He found no banks of sea-weed in the South, and even when the winds blew there was little sea raised. (6th) The FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 325 farther south he came, in the western world, the paler and more intelligent he found the people. This was contrary to all precedent and expectation, for in the Azores the natives were dark; and in the Cape de Verd Islands, farther south, still darker ; and in Sierra Leone, yet nearer the Equator, absolutely black, with curly hair, and ignorant ; whereas, in this new land, although equally far to the south, they were lighter than any others he had seen, had straight hair, were more courageous, and showed more natural capacity. (7th) There was that great body of fresh water, only to be accounted for by supposing the existence of great rivers, and seemingly without any adequate outlet. (8th) Finally, the ocean currents were swifter than any before encountered, and appeared to tend uniformly to the west, that is, away from the great basin of fresh water. Nothing in the pagan philosophies would account for all these discrepancies ; but the Scriptures, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church, would. Paria was the extreme western extension of the Orient, — more so than Cuba, which he had already named " End of the Orient," as we have seen. In the remotest East the theological scientists had, although vaguely, placed the Earthly Paradise, and in that Paradise was a great mountain. Now, to the Admiral, it seemed clear that Paria must be the beginning of that thrice-blessed region ; that somewhere in its interior must be that great mountain ; that from its summit must flow the huge streams of living water which made the inland sea of Pearls ; that either by mouths he had not seen, or by vast passages tunnelling beneath earth and ocean, those waters found their distant way, west or east, to become the four Biblical rivers, — Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Ganges ; that the whole surface of the world in the quarter where Paria was situated swelled gradually toward Heaven, beginning at the point about 400 miles west of the Azores ; and that as one sailed west and south, so did one imperceptibly rise higher and higher. In short, the world, instead of being round like a ball, was round as a pear is round, — with a pro- tuberance on one side. This would account for everything he had observed, the Admiral was disposed to beheve ; for 326 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the farther he sailed on that course, the higher he would get above the level of the rest of the Earth ; the cooler it would be ; the more amiable, capable, and physically attractive the inhabitants, and the more fertile and richer their countries. The farther he ascended, the fresher must be the seas, while the force of the downward flow would create just such currents as he had met. And his loftier elevation would both give to the heavens their changed appearance and cause the needle, in seeking the Pole, to vary from the position it assumed on the lower levels of Ocean. "Rampant hallucinations," "wild imaginings," and "va- garies " are some of the phrases used to describe these conclusions of Columbus. The charge is as old as ignorance and as stale as bigotry. Even in our own day Gordon of Khartoum wove a dreamer's web about the stones of Solomon's Temple ; but the world was none the less the richer by the labors of his life and the lesson of his death, because an officer of the Engineers could not interpret Daniel and the Apocalypse. Columbus, likewise, let his imagination drift to the Temple and the Prophets ; but our debt is not diminished thereby. If the nineteenth-century soldier discarded modern science in his speculations, there is the more excuse for the fifteenth-century sailor disregard- ing the contents of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Of his facts he was sure, because he was their discoverer ; in draw- ing from them what strike us as absurd inferences, he was doing no more than thousands have done since and we are all doing to-day, — interpreting facts in the manner most accept- able to the observer's mental attitude. Columbus was not weaned from a pernicious belief in the Scriptures. He considered the Fathers to be their best interpreters. When he found a theory sanctioned by the Church, which seemed to account for his fact, the influence was greater than he could resist ; it must be the truth. At the same time, he did not lend himself unreservedly to this opinion. It was a revery, a proposition, rather than a finally accepted dogma. As he sailed away from the shores of Paria and found no more islands succeeding Margarita, but only the open sea, he was satisfied that Paria was indeed no island. " Either FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 327 it is a great continent," he writes on August 17th, " or else the place where the Earthly Paradise is." Within a year he learned that it was a continent, and we hear httle more of his Caribbean day-dream. At the same time, as in nothing is he more vociferously ridiculed than in this, it is worth while transcribing his own presentation of his idea to Ferdinand and Isabella. " I have always read," he wrote a few weeks later, " that the world — land and water — was spherical, and the authorities and facts which Ptolemy and all others have written about this earth affirm and testify to the theory, as well by the eclipses of the moon and the other evidences adduced from east to west, as by the elevation of the Polar Star from the north toward the south. Now I have seen a great discrepancy, as I have already said ; and for this reason I have been led to think this of the Earth, that it is not round in the manner they describe, but is in the shape of a pear, which is indeed entirely round, except where the stem is, and there it is higher ; or like a ball which one may have, which on one side has something like a nipple projecting from it ; and I have thought that this part, or nipple, may be the highest and nearest the sky, and may be situated below the Equinoctial Line, in this Ocean Sea, at the extremity of the Orient. For I call that the extremity of the Orient where all the land and the islands end.^ In support of this I advance all the reasons above alleged concerning the line which passes from north to south 100 leagues to the west of the Azores,^ where, in sailing still more westwardly, the ships already begin to rise gradually toward the sky. It is then that the mildest temperature is enjoyed, because of the softness of the prevailing wind, and the compass needle begins to shift. The farther one advances the higher one rises, and the more the needle tends to northwest. This elevation causes that irregularity in the circle which the Pole Star makes with its pointers, and the nearer one comes to the Equinoctial Line the higher the pointers will rise and the greater will be the changes in position of those stars and the circles they describe. " Ptolemy and the other philosophers who have written about the Earth believed that it was spherical, holding that this west- ^ I.e. as one goes from the west toward the east. Compare the reasons given by Columbus on his first voyage for calling Cape Maysi, at the eastern end of Cuba, " Cape Alpha and Omega." 2 The line of no-variation. See p. 324, supra. 328 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ern hemisphere was as round as that one where they were, the centre of which is in the Island of Arin, under the Equator between the Arabian Gulf and the Persian, and that the dividing meridian passes through Cape St. Vincent in Portugal in the West and through Cangara and the Seres Islands ^ in the East. As to that hemisphere, I find no difficulty in supposing it to be other than a round sphere, as they say ; but this other hemi- sphere out here I say is like the half of a very round pear which has a projecting stem, as I said above, or like a nipple on the side of a ball. Consequently Ptolemy and the others who wrote of the Earth had no information about this half, for it was utterly unknown ; they based their theory upon the hemisphere where they dwelt, which was a round sphere, as before said. " Now that your Majesties have ordered this one to be sailed over, explored and examined, all this becomes perfectly evident. For when I was in 20° of north latitude, on this voyage, I was directly off Hargin and those countries.^ There the people are black and the land is scorched by the sun. Afterwards I went to the Cape de Verd Islands. In those regions the people are very much blacker ; and the farther one goes to the south the more pronounced do they become, until, on reaching the latitude where I then was, — which is that of Sierra Leone, — where the Pole Star was only 5° above the horizon at nightfall, the people are excessively black. After I had sailed thence into the West I found those extreme heats, but once the line of which I have spoken was passed I found the mildness of the temperature increase with such rapidity that on reaching the Island of Trini- dad, where the Pole Star likewise was 5° above the horizon at nightfall, both there and in the region of Gracia I found the temperature to be of the softest, and the earth and trees of the greenest, as beautiful as in the gardens of Valencia in April. The people of these countries are of very handsome figure, and whiter than any I have seen in the Indies, with long, smooth hair, and they are the brightest and most intelligent of the people I have seen, and are not cowards. At that time the sun was in Virgo, directly above our heads and theirs, so that all this difference is caused by the extreme mildness of temperature there prevailing, which is due to the fact that there one is higher up in the world and nearer to the sky. "Thus it is that I affirm that the Earth is not a sphere ; but it has this variation I have mentioned, which is in this hemisphere where the Ocean Sea and the Indies are found, the extremity ^ The Seres were the people of Northwest China, according to Pliny. 2 Arguin, near Cape Blanco, on the east coast of Africa. FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 329 of which is below the Equinoctial Line. That this is correct is strongly confirmed by the fact that the sun, when Our Lord created it, was at the first point of the East, or the first light began here in the Orient, where the highest part of the world is. Although Aristotle held that the highest part of the world, and that which is nearest the sky, is the Antarctic Pole, or the land lying beneath it, other philosophers dispute this opinion, saying that the highest land is beneath the North Pole ; whereby it appears that they believed one portion of the Earth must be loftier and more sublimated than the other. It is no wonder that they did not conceive that such part should be underneath the Equator in the manner I have set forth, for they had no certain knowledge of this hemisphere, but only a passing sugges- tion by way of hypothesis, since no one has ever visited it or sought to find it until the present moment when your Majesties have sent to explore the sea and land. " I find that the distance between these two Mouths,^ which are opposite one another, as I have said, from north to south, is 26 leagues, — and there could be no mistake in this, because the measurement was made with the quadrant. From these two Mouths toward the west, to the gulf which I called of Pearls, there are 68 leagues, of 4 miles each, as we are used to calcu- late at sea, and from there the water of this gulf rushes perpetu- ally with great force towards the east, for which reason these Mouths have sucli a conflict with the salt water. In this south- ern Mouth, which I called the Serpent's, I found the Pole Star to be about 5° high at nightfall ; while in the northern one, which I named the Dragon's, it was almost 7° high. I find also that the said Gulf of Pearls is west of the Western Meridian of Ptolemy almost 3900 miles, which are nearly 70 equatorial degrees, count- ing 561 miles to each degree. Now, the Holy Scriptures testify that Our Lord made the Earthly Paradise and placed therein the Tree of Life, and that thence flowed a stream from which ema- nate four chief rivers of the world, to wit : the Ganges in India, the Tigris and Euphrates, — which cleave the mountain range and form Mesopotamia, falling afterward into the Persian Gulf, — and the Nile, which enters the sea at Alexandria. I do not find and never have found a writing either of Romans or of Greeks which definitely declares where is the site of the Earthly Paradise in this world : nor have I seen it placed on any map, save by way of hypothesis. Some place it over yonder where are the sources of the Nile, in Ethiopia ; but others have jour- ^ The Dragon's and the Serpent's. 330 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. neyed through all those countries and have not found such agreement in the temperance of the climate, or the elevation towards the sky, as could lead to the belief that it was there, or that the waters of the Flood had reached there — for they overwhelmed it, and so on. Certain of the pagans wished to establish by arguments that it was in the Fortunate Islands, which are the Canaries, and so on. St. Isidore, Bede and Strabo, the Master of the ' Scholastic History,' St Ambrose and Scotus, as well as all the sound theologians ^ agree that the Earthly Paradise is in the East, and so on. " I have set forth what I believed about this hemisphere and its shape, and I believe that, if I were to pass below the Equi- noctial Line, on arriving where the earth is highest I would find a much greater mildness of climate and a difterence in the stars and the waters ; not because I believe that in the very highest part it would be transitable, or there would be water, or that I could attain thereto, — for I think it is there that the Earthly Paradise is situated, and that none may enter it except by Divine permission. And I also believe that this country which your Majesties have just sent me to discover is very great in size, and that there are many others in the South of which nothing has ever been known. " I do not consider that this Earthly Paradise is shaped like a rugged mountain, as it is depicted to us in the descriptions of it, but that it is on the summit of what I called the stem of the pear, and that little by little, as one advances thither, one ascends towards it from afar off. I believe that no one can reach the summit, as I have said ; and I believe that this fresh water may come from there, although it is very distant, flowing into the place from which I have just come and forming this lake. Strong evidence is this that these lands are the Earthly Paradise, because this site conforms with the opinion of the holy and orthodox theologians I have cited, and also because the indications likewise conform ; for I have never read nor heard of so vast a body of fresh water being thus within and adjacent to the salt water. The extreme mildness of the climate also confirms this theory. But even if this stream does not issue from the Paradise, it appears to be even a greater marvel, for I do not believe that in the whole world so great and so deep a river is known. " After I left the Dragon's Mouth, which is the northern one 1 It is dear that Columbus had his own views as to what was orthodox as well as some later members of Mother Church. FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 331 of the two outlets and was thus named by me, on the following day, which was that of Our Lady of August [Assumption Day], I found that the current set so strongly to the west that after the hour for Mass, when I entered on that course, until the hour of Vespers, I made 75 leagues of four miles each, the wind not being very strong, but rather light. This further strengthens the theory that one ascends in going southward, while in going northward, as at that time, one is descending. '' I hold it to be well established that the waters of the ocean take their course from east to west, with the heavens, and that when they pass the vicinity of which I speak they gain addi- tional velocity. It is for this reason that they have eaten away so much of the land, whereby so many islands are found here- abouts ; and they themselves bear witness to this, for they are, without exception, long from east to west and from northeast, to southwest, — which is a little more above or below the same direction, — and are narrow from north to south, and from northwest to southeast, which is the direction opposite to those just mentioned. In all these islands precious commodities have their origin, by reason of the favorable temperature which they derive from the sky, because they are near the loftiest portion of the Earth. It is true that, in some places, the currents do not appear to follow this course, but this is only in certain particular localities where some land obstructs them and makes them appear to pursue other ways. " Pliny writes that the earth and sea together make a com- plete sphere, and maintains that this Ocean Sea is the largest body of water existing and that it extends toward the sky, being upheld by the land beneath it ; the one being mingled with the other as the kernel of a nut is enclosed in the thick shell sur- rounding it. The Master of Scholastic History, in discoursing concerning Genesis, affirms that the waters are but little in quantity ; that, although when they were created they covered all the earth, they were vaporous like clouds, and when they afterwards were brought together and solidified they occupied but a very little space. In this view Nicholas de Lira agrees. Aristotle declares that the world is small and the water of but little extent, and that one may easily pass from Spain to the Indies. This is concurred in by Avenruyz ; and Cardinal Pet- rus Aliacus says the same, supporting this theory and that of Seneca (who is of the like opinion), and maintaining that Aris- totle was in a position to know many of the Earth's secrets through Alexander the Great, and that Seneca was equally well situated through Nero, and Pliny through the Romans, all of 332 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. whom spent men and treasures and exerted great diligence in fathoming such problems and publishing them among mankind. This same Cardinal allows great authority to these philosophers, more so than to Ptolemy or other Greeks, or to the Arabs. In support of the contention that the quantity of water is small and that part of the world covered by it of limited extent, as is held by Ptolemy and those who follow him, the Cardinal quotes an opinion from Esdras in his 3rd Book, where he says that six parts of the seven, into which the world is divided, are not covered by water ; which opinion is sustained by the Fathers, who approve the 3rd and 4th Books of Esdras, and which is also affirmed by Francisco de Mayrones. As to this question of the extent of dry land, much experience has shown that it is far greater than is commonly thought ; nor is this to be wondered at, for the farther one travels the more one learns. " Reverting to my problem of the land of Gracia and the river and lake I found there, the latter is so great that it might rather be termed sea than lake ; for '■ lake ' is a piece of water, and when this is great, one calls it 'sea,' — as we say the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. " But I maintain that, if this river does not issue from the Earthly Paradise, it does come and proceed from a land of infinite extent, situated in the South, of which to the present time no knowledge has been had. Yet I am very firmly convinced in my mind that the Earthly Paradise is yonder where I have said, and I rest upon the reasons and authorities above quoted."' Alexander von Humboldt has said truly, that " the char- acter of the world's great men is composed both of their own intense personality, by which they are raised above the level of their contemporaries, and of the general disposition of their time, which they illustrate and upon which they react." ^ If we are content to divest ourselves of our latter- day knowledge and place ourselves, as far as may be, in the closing years of the fifteenth century, we shall see in this letter of Columbus a striking portrayal of the intellectual conditions of his day. It is not possible more graphically to depict the struggle which was waging in every intelligent 1 Examen Critique, Vol. III. p. 13. Unfinished as it stands, this noble work is in itself a monument sufficient even for the merits of its illustrious author. It is a great loss to the students of the historical geography of our hemisphere that it has never been translated into English. FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 333 mind between the authoritative teachings of the schools and the Church concerning the world we live in, and the irre- sistible suggestions of Reason. To his Church Columbus felt was due the tribute of accepting her dogmas, in so far as they were obligatory ; hence he believed that if there were, indeed, an Earthly Paradise he had discovered it, and he honestly marshalled every tittle of evidence which he could summon from the volume of his experience to lend color to the speculations of such " sound theologians " as Saints Augustine and Ambrose. But fealty did not degen- erate into fanaticism. With the extreme candor which marks all of his reflections, he sets the contras against the pros and points out why, if there is no Earthly Paradise, the region he had just left must necessarily be a vast con- tinent, drained by rivers of a size theretofore undreamed of, and extending far below the Equator. We shall have taxed our readers' indulgence in vain if we have failed to bring before them, in the long extract above quoted, the trend of the Admiral's thoughts as he sailed away from the con- tinent he had added to the map of the world. It is a cheap and facile sneer to intimate that his one object, in intro- ducing into his report this argument about Paradise, was to "restore the enthusiasm which his earlier discoveries aroused in the dull spirits of Europe " by " a glimpse of the ecstatic pleasures of Eden." There is Httle testimony to warrant us in taking Columbus for a fool ; still less for sup- posing that he held a like opinion of his King and Queen. Yet on what other hypothesis can we assume he acted, if, in sending this long story to Ferdinand and Isabella, he was merely concocting an intricate and gratuitous imposition? Why should he be always branded as the knave when he shows a less knowledge of geography than we possess, while the similar errors of Cabot and Vespucci and Da Gama and Magellan are deemed trivial — as they should be ? With the words of Columbus, which we have 'copied, before him the leading exponent of this view of the discoverer's life does not hesitate to affirm that " he had no conception of the physical truth," and he lauds the " clearer instincts " of Vespucci. But what was left for Vespucci and the Admiral's 334 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. other disciples to do? The Admiral himself proposed to send back Don Bartholomew immediately, to continue the exploration of the new continent. He prepared a map of Paria and Trinidad by which any mariner could reach them ; he logged the changes in the stars, the variation of the needle, the set of the ocean currents, the height of the tides, the prevalence of the winds. He explicitly rehearsed his reasons for believing the continent to be a great one and to extend far to the south and west, and recorded the evi- dences of population, cultivation, and savage wealth. " I saw the map of what he had discovered, which the Admiral at that time sent to Spain for the King and Queen, our sov- ereigns," testified in later years Hojeda, Vespucci's com- mander, " and I started at once on a voyage of discovery." What difference did it make whether Columbus thought that the Earthly Paradise might be situated in this new continent, or whether he discovered, as one of his pilots mistakenly testi- fied eleven years later, " the Terra Firma which men called Asia " ? The gift of omniscience was as rare in his day as was that of Historical Criticism. All he knew was that he had found a new and vast body of land under the western Equator. It seemed plausible to him that it might be the Paradise of the orthodox geographers. If it was not, it was all the more surprising, for then it was utterly new. Just what it was, he intended that his brother should investigate and determine. Circumstances prevented this. Instead, certain adventurous spirits, who got hold of his maps and reports as soon as they reached Spain, rigged out a number of ships and crossed the Atlantic to follow up his indications. They found that there was no lofty Paradise, but that he was right in his other inferences ; that the continent did run south and west for great distances, and that its chief productions were cannibals, brazil-wood, and parrots. To that extent they learned more than Columbus, and had a better "conception of the physical truth." We know a great deal more than even they about the same continent, for we can recite the names of its turbulent republics, their capital cities, great rivers and mountains, and the lines of railroad running inland from their seaports. Yet neither FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 335 they nor we found the American mainland. Its discovery was the direct fruit of " the wild imaginings of Columbus," coupled with a certain quality which he possessed in un- measured abundance, and which in other men we honor as Pluck.i Whether Paradise or unknown mainland, the Admiral fully appreciated the value to the Spanish Crown of his latest discovery. In his journal he exhorts his sovereigns to hold these new lands at their true worth, and recites the many evidences which he had secured of their productiveness and wealth. In doing so, he mentions certain pink pearls which he had obtained, " which Marco Polo declares to be worth more than the white ones," thus furnishing us, contrary to the generally asserted error, with explicit proof that he had read the travels of the garrulous Venetian. Crippled as he was in sight, he also followed minutely the movements of the stars and the fluctuations of the magnetic needle ; and he records the fact, that in this southern voyage the latter did not show an easterly variation until the night of August 15 th. When Columbus bore away from the coast of Paria, he steered for that part of the southern shores of Hispaniola where he had ordered the new city of San Domingo to be founded. Three days were occupied in making the passage ; but when, on the evening of August 19th, he neared His- paniola, he was surprised to find that the currents had carried his vessel so far to the east that he was off the Island of Beata, 200 miles from his desired haven. On the next morning he sent a crew ashore on the main island to have speech with the Indians, and was not a little disturbed when he saw a cross-bow in the hands of one of the natives who came aboard in answer to his summons. His anxiety was of brief duration, however, for shortly after- ^ On the same page in which Dr. Winsor so unsparingly lashes the crudeness of Columbus's concepts of cosmography, he reproduces a map of the navigator's day, in which " Paradise " is given a prominence in the East equal to that of Sumatra and the Persian Gulf. Some of us moderns do not feel ourselves to be such very Boeotians because we once supposed that the Nile had its source in the Mountains of the Moon. 336 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL, wards a caravel appeared, coming from the direction of San Domingo, wliich proved to be the bearer of Don Bartholomew. The Admiral's squadron had been sighted as it passed San Domingo, and the Adelantado had made haste to join his brother, whom he had long expected. On the 22nd of the month, the four vessels weighed anchor for the new town, and, after ten days of tedious beating up against wind and current, reached San Domingo on the 31st of August, 1498. The Admiral's health was far from restored ; but he at least had possession of his faculties, which was not the case when he reached Isabella from his Cuban cruise in 1494. With this exception, there was a dreary likeness between the two returns, for now, as then, he was called upon to dismiss from his mind all thought of his triumph as explorer, and plunge abruptly into the cares and turmoil of a contest with rebellious colonists and revolted native tribes. The oral report which Don Bartholomew made to his brother of the occurrences in Hispaniola since the sailing of Pedro Alonzo's fleet in 1496 was little more than a catalogue of disaster. True, it began with an account of Don Bartholomew's journey to the southern coast to choose the site of San Domingo, and his subsequent progress through the territories of Behechio and Anacaona, at the western extremity of the island ; an episode which forms one of the most charming chapters in the early history of our continent. But the idyllic experiences in Xaragua were all too brief. During the absence of the Adelantado in the west, Francisco Roldan, whom the Admiral had left as Chief Justice of the Island, raised the standard of revolt at Isabella, gathered about him sixty or seventy of the more de- termined among the disaffected colonists, defied the authority of Don Diego Columbus, emptied the royal arsenal of its weapons and munitions of war, seized the horses and cattle in the royal corral, and marched out into the open country to live as his fancy dictated. The pretext he used to cloak his actions with his own countrymen was, that Juan Aguado had assured him that the Admiral would never be allowed to return to Hispaniola, and that it was not for high-spirited Castilians to support the authority and exactions of the other FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 337 two alien governors, Dons Bartholomew and Diego. To the Indians he offered freedom from the tribute imposed upon them by the Admiral. At the bottom of the whole trouble seems to have lain Roldan's abduction of the wife of Guarionex, the Spaniards' ally, and Don Bartholomew's de- mand for her restoration to her lord ; but there must have existed, besides, a well-grounded hope among the rebels that i they could in fact supplant the Genoese brothers in the con- fidence of the King and Queen, which had its origin in the intrigues and suggestions of Aguado.^ Although the faction which rallied around the recreant Justice was a powerful and unscrupulous one, it was a minority. The fortresses through the settled portion of the island were garrisoned by men who remained faithful to the government ; most of the settlers at Isabella preserved at least a nominal allegiance to Don Diego, and a considerable body of the best soldiers were absent with Don Bartholomew in Xaragua. But what Roldan lacked in numbers he made up in resolution and daring. Gather- ing together several hundred natives, to act as bearers and purveyors, he led his band from place to place, beginning with the forts, and, when refused admittance in them, striking into the open Vega, and repeating the excesses of Margarite and his banditti. Don Diego, hampered by the dread of offending his Spanish sovereigns if he, a foreigner, employed violent means to subdue the rebellion, contented himself with securing such authority as remained to him and sending couriers to Don Bartholomew. The latter hastened towards Isabella, and engaged in parleys with Roldan, which proved fruitless. Threatening him with an assured vengeance in the near future, the Adelantado turned to executing the Admiral's instructions for the removal of the colony to San Domingo, and to the construction of several new caravels for traffic along the coast. The arrival of Pedro Coronel, with his two ships and their provisions, in February, 1498, facihtated the building of the new town, and the extension of mining and ^ Las Casas, with the original documents before him, asserts that Roldan began to accumulate a store of arms, trappings, and horseshoes as soon as Columbus had sailed from Isabella in March, '95. 22 338 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. brazil-cutting, while it confirmed the authority of the Ad- miral's brothers in the minds of those who had not joined Roldan. Coronel, whose influence was of weight with all the earlier settlers, attempted to bring Roldan to reason ; but the latter ridiculed his efforts and boasted that, if Coronel's arrival had been delayed a week, an end would have been put to the government of the Admiral's brothers, if not to their lives as well. To add to the anarchy Guarionex, not unnaturally, revolted at the outrages put upon himself and his people by Roldan, and failed to discriminate between rebellious and loyal Spaniards in his revenge. For the safety of the colonists Don Bartholomew had to repress this native insurrection, the unlucky^ cacique fled to his neighbor Mayobanex, who succored him at his own peril, and the whole central region of the island was again thrown into a desolating war. At this juncture, the three vessels which, under the com- mand of Carvajal, Arana and Juan Antonio Columbus, had sailed direct for Hispaniola from the Canaries, arrived off the coast of the island. By an error in calculation they had sailed some 300 miles beyond San Domingo, and came to anchor in that part of the country where Roldan and his band happened to be. The rebel chief, simulating contin- ued loyalty to the Admiral, sent to the squadron to learn what its presence betokened. It was no difficult matter for him, in view of his known rank as Chief Justice, to deceive the newcomers into landing a large portion of their forces to march overland to San Domingo, since the difficulty of sail- ing back in the face of wind and currents was obvious to all. Once the party was landed, it was still easier to gain over the fresh arrivals with promises of unlimited plunder and license, and the three captains found themselves deserted by a great part of the emigrants they had brought from Spain. Juan Columbus and Araiia thereupon set sail for San Domingo to deliver at least their cargoes to Don Bar- tholomew, while Carvajal remained to use his powers of persuasion and diplomacy in convincing Roldan of the perilous folly of his treason. Such was the posture of affairs when the Admiral arrived. FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO. 339 The new town of San Domingo was founded and well advanced ; the Adelantado had visited the western districts and discovered them to be fertile and productive ; many new mines had been found and brazil-forests located in flattering number; of promises of future success there was no lack. But insurrection was rife among the natives ; anarchy reigned among the colonists ; Roldan's revolt was absolutely unchecked ; no tribute was arriving from the native tribes; and Columbus was quick to realize that the disordered condition of this one island threatened to exert a far more potent influence on the minds of Ferdinand and Isabella than all the glory of his new discoveries. Not even the enthusiastic warmth of Ms reception by the loyal settlers of San Domingo could lighten the despondency which Don Bartholomew's recital had inspired. Only a few days ago he had, perhaps, been on the very outskirts of Paradise. That he was now at the portals of a veritable Inferno he could not permit himself to doubt. XVII. PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. COLUMBUS ujiderstood the characters of Ferdinand and Isabella far more accurately than can his modem biographers ; he knew that, to the King, the Indies, — now that the first glamour of their discovery was gone, — were valuable chiefly as a possible source of revenue for the prosecution of his French and Italian schemes ; he knew that, to the Queen, their chief interest lay in the vast exten- sion which their acquisition brought to the prestige of her own especial Kingdom of Castile. To her they were a pet, a fad ; to be administered in accordance with her own per- sonal theories and convictions : to her consort they were a magazine of gold and precious commodities unexpectedly placed at his disposal, and unspeakably helpful in the furtherance of his ambitious designs in Europe. Knowing this, Columbus realized the treacherous tenure by which he held the royal favor. He did not deceive himself by imag- ining that gratitude played a permanent part in his sov- ereigns' calculations ; the visit of Aguado had clarified his perceptions in that particular. He did not have any great confidence that the glory of his latest achievements would count for much at home, although he exhausted his powers in proving their value to King and Queen. He knew that one argument only — treasure — would satisfy Ferdinand and close his ears to the intrigues of the Admiral's enemies ; and that one charge was always easy of acceptance by Isa- bella, — that of injustice to her subjects. He found him- self confronted by a situation which involved an absolute 340 PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 341 cessation of all immediate financial returns, as surely as it implied a renewed and vociferous appeal to the Crown against his own and his brothers' administration of the colony. He could picture to himself the eagerness with which Fonseca and the old cabal would assail the monarchs with this new tale of disaster, and the weight their asser- tions against " the Genoese " would have in the absence of any golden counterbalance from him. He knew that to them he was a parvenu, an adventurer no longer fortunate, a speculator whose plans had failed egregiously. In his own conscience he was none of these, but he was not to be tried before himself. Whatever he might do, it would be misrepresented, and how could he avoid the use of violence if Roldan's defiant outbreak was to be suppressed? The dilemma was of the gravest ; but he met it squarely. The rebelhon must be ended and quiet restored in the island. If this could be done without bloodshed, he was prepared to compromise temporarily his own dignity. The true state of affairs would be laid before the King and Queen, and the future left with them. A revenue must be secured pending the reestablishment of order, and to assist in this Don Bartholomew must hasten back to Paria and obtain the largest possible quantity of pearls. Finally, the Admiral, once and for all, must be relieved of this harassing office of judging the Spaniards. So long as he, a foreigner, was obliged to do this, just so long would his authority be treated with contempt. His first step was to study the records of the formal inquiry which Don Bartholomew had instituted as to the circumstances of Roldan's rebellion. His next was to re- open this legal process, hear anew the evidence of all competent witnesses and review all pertinent correspond- ence. To him the result was so conclusive that he felt con- fident the sovereigns would be satisfied, even in spite of the intrigues he anticipated. Roldan had sent to San Domingo, in expectation of the Admiral's return, a specious letter endeavoring to excuse his disloyalty ; but this Columbus treated as waste paper. The facts spoke for themselves and admitted of no palliation. We have the emphatic testimony of Las Casas in support of this position : — 342 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. " I have seen all these documents and known many of the witnesses, and all testified that they had never heard nor seen that the Adelantado [Don Bartholomew] had done or offered any injury to Roldan, but always showed him much honor and consideration, and they testified the same concerning the others who had rebelled with him." While this inquiry was in progress, Arana and Juan Antonio Columbus arrived with their vessels and the report of Roldan's treachery towards them, and a few days later Carvajal sailed into port and gave an account of his unsuc- cessful attempt to dissuade the rebels from their course. Notwithstanding these unfavorable reports, the Admiral determined to try persuasion before proceeding to extremes, and he derived some encouragement from the fact that Rol- dan had broken camp and followed Carvajal as far as Bonao, only eighty miles from San Domingo, where he had settled, as if to place himself within easy communication with his old master. With his own reunited fleet of six vessels, the two brought out by Coronel earlier in the year, and those built by Don Bartholomew, there were now ten or a dozen ships in the harbor. Those of the Admiral were under a heavy expense, being merely chartered from Juanoto Berardi, and he was desirous of sending them back to Spain without delay. As a first measure of diplomacy, he therefore announced that all of the old settlers who wished to return home might do so by these vessels, without regard to the terms of their enlistment with the Crown. This at once knocked away one of Roldan's strongest props, for he had made much capital out of the assertion that the Admiral would never return, and his brothers would keep the Spaniards in sub- jection for an indefinite period, until they themselves accum- ulated a vast treasure, when they, too, would abandon the colony and leave their victims to shift for themselves. As the news spread through the settled portion of the island, the colonists started towards San Domingo with an alacrity which showed that they, at least, had had enough of the Indies, and even the followers of Roldan were tempted to join the homeward exodus. To add a further incentive for PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 343 these men to throw down their arms, the Admiral directed Ballester, his trusty commandant at Fort Conception, near Roldan's camp, to confer with the rebels, offering amnesty to all, and inviting their chief to come to the city for a free discussion of all differences. To this overture Roldan replied with contempt, saying that he held the Admiral in his closed fist, and that before any negotiation could take place the latter must deliver to him all the Indian captives now held at San Domingo, for he, Roldan, had guaranteed all the natives their liberty and immunity from tribute. He also informed Ballester that in future he would carry on no negotiations with any emissary from the Admiral other than Carvajal ; and with this defiant response, Ballester had to be content. Roldan's own treatment of the Indians saves us the neces- sity of proving that his concern for their welfare was merely assumed ; but that he even thought it worth while using as a pretext indicates that opinion in the colony was divided as to the method of treating them. No such doubt dis- turbed the Admiral's plans, however, for as soon as the ships had discharged their cargoes and been refitted, he sent on board 800 of the natives captured in the insurrec- tion of Guarionex. Of these, 200 were "paid" to the owners of the vessels as compensation for the carriage of the remainder to Spain. With them was shipped such quantity of brazil-wood as had been cut, and a not imposing manifest of other colonial produce. The chartered vessels were allowed but thirty lay-days by their agreements, and the Admiral was anxious to get them away before the ist of October, when demurrage would begin to run ; but he held them some time longer in the hope of accomplishing some results with Roldan. Meanwhile two other caravels had been fitted out for Don Bartholomew's voyage of exploration to Paria, and these also were held in port, awaiting develop- ments. An impression had been made upon the rebels, despite their air of contumacy ; for a few days after Ballester's return, on October 17th, Roldan and his chief lieutenants, — Adrian de Moxica, Pedro de Gomez, and Diego de Escobar, — united 344 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. in a second letter to the Admiral, laying the whole blame for their defection upon Don Bartholomew ; claiming that their original purpose in deserting him was only to await the return of the Admiral, when they would submit the whole issue to him for decision ; but affirming that, in view of what they learned as to the Admiral's fierce anger towards them, they were afraid to place themselves in his power; and so they begged to be relieved of their several offices and salaries so that they might " with due regard to their good names " live as they pleased and be no longer considered servants of the Crown. The Admiral was quick to read between the lines of this precious production, and to see that his quondam servant had no stomach for fighting. Although somewhat sus- picious of Carvajal's loyalty, on account of Roldan's expressed preference for that officer, he decided to send both him and Ballester back to Bonao with a response so conciliatory that, in rejecting it, Roldan must put himself in open rebellion against the royal authority as delegated to the Admiral. The terms of this letter, which was written on the 20th of October, are suavity itself Addressing his " Dear friend," the Admiral refers to " certain differences " which had been reported to him on arriving, and declares that although he " should see it with his own eyes he would not believe that you [Roldan] would work for your own destruction, unless it be in something which was for my service." Greater differences than any which could now exist, he adds, can be easily settled " when you come to me to give me, with a willing heart, an account of your office as all have done whom I left in official posi- tions." There is absolutely no ground for fear of his dis- pleasure, or need for any safe conduct, for as soon as the writer had arrived in Hispaniola he had declared openly that all the insurgents might come to him with impunity, and this he affirms afresh. As to Roldan and his people going to Spain, the ships destined for the voyage had already been held eighteen days beyond their saihng time for this very purpose, and they would be held still longer but for the Indians on board, who were dying off. The writer then makes a friendly appeal to Roldan to weigh well the harm he is doing himself, particularly in the estimation of the King and Queen, to PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 345 whom the Admiral had so especially recommended the abili- ties and fidelity of the Chief Justice 'when recently at the royal Court, " for I gave them your name before any other when they asked me about the persons out here in whom the Adelantado could have confidence and trust, and so exalted your services that I am grieved now to think that they must hear so different an account by these very ships. See promptly," the Admiral urges, "what can be done or what the situation calls for, and let me know, for the ships have already sailed." This missive was duly delivered to Roldan by Ballester and Carvajal, and the latter reinforced it by so many and such convincing arguments that Roldan and his lieutenants were disposed to accept the Admiral's offer, and go to him for the purpose of reaching a composition of their dispute. But the rank and file opposed this, especially the deserters from the three caravels, declaring that if one went all must go, and that a general safe-conduct in writ- ing must be sent them by the Admiral before they would place themselves in his power. To this Roldan, Moxica, and their colleagues were forced to assent, assuring the Admiral's commissioners that as soon as the warranty was received they would all proceed at once to San Domingo, and giving them a letter to their principal stating the con- ditions upon which the rebels would surrender. Carvajal returned with this to the city, leaving Ballester in his fort at Conception. The latter wrote to his commander warmly eulogizing Carvajal's course as being " so devoted to the service of God, their Majesties and your Worship that neither Solomon nor any other Doctor could find any im- provement to make in it." . He also urged the Admiral to accept the proposals made by Roldan, distasteful though they were, for he had observed many of the commoner sort of colonists passing by Conception on their way to join the rebels, and feared that in time the Admiral would be de- serted by all but the comparatively small number of men of rank and personal retainers who surrounded him. Colum- bus did not relish this counsel, or the report made by Carvajal, and when he read Roldan's letter his anger rose to a white heat. These were the conditions on which alone 346 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. the rebels would agree to a conference : they were afraid Don Bartholomew would violate the Admiral's verbal safe- guard and do them harm, and therefore " since there is no cure for anything after it is done," — to quote Roldan's words, — they demanded that the Admiral sign the passport for Roldan and his adjutants which they enclosed ; that Don Bartholomew should solemnly swear to Carvajal and certain other cavaliers to respect the same as long as the rebels were in San Domingo and during the journey there and back, and that this oath should be signed by Carvajal and his companions. On these terms and these only would these gentry trust the Admiral and his brother. When Columbus read them, he vowed to bring the traitors to their senses by other methods than those of negotiation, and he took measures looking to an offensive campaign. But when he caused a private count to be made of the force upon which he could depend in the event of marching against the outlaws, he found that not more than seventy men were to be surely relied on under all circumstances. Putting the best face upon the matter he, accordingly, on the 26th of October, published two proclamations ; one guaranteeing to Roldan free and safe passage to and from San Domingo, and the other offering amnesty to all of the rebels and passage to Spain for such as deserved it, provided they reported at San Domingo within thirty days. Having done this, he could do no more than wait for the result. When Ballester returned from his first fruitless mission, the Admiral, disappointed in his hopes of being able to announce the subjugation of the rebellion, gave orders for the home- ward-bound caravels, five in number, to get under way and make all possible speed for Spain. They sailed on the i8th of October, carrying, besides the human and other cargo before mentioned, a large number of returning colonists. Many of these were at heart friendly to Roldan ; some of them, no doubt, were the bearers of letters from him and his symptithizers to influential personages at Court, if not to the Crown direct. To counteract these representations Colum- bus addressed two long communications to Ferdinand and Isabella, one relating to the voyage lately ended, and the PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 347 Other to the condition of the island as he found it upon his arrival. The first letter we have already quoted from exten- sively, as well as from the journal which accompanied it. The Admiral also forwarded with it the map he had made of Trinidad and Paria, showing their relation to the islands of the earlier discoveries and the course to be sailed to reach the new lands. He sent also the trophies of his cruise along the Parian coasts, — golden ornaments, a parcel of 160 or 1 70 pearls (" although the quantity of pearls and gold be small," he wrote, '' I send them by reason of their quality, since until this time no one has seen pearls come out of the West "), and some of the colored cloths which the natives of Paria wore in lieu of more elaborate toilettes. In the same letter he reported that he had three caravels all ready for Don Bar- tholomew to continue the exploration of Paria, and that it was his intention to have them sail on the same day as the five ships bound for Spain, and spend six months in ascer- taining the extent of the new continent ; but that for the moment he was keeping his brother at his side until this aifair of Roldan's was settled. The Adelantado was a man of resources and an accomplished soldier, and in the event of hostilities his presence would be essential. In the second letter he dwelt upon Roldan's rebellion and the irreparable damage it had caused the royal interests in the Indies. This fellow, he stated, had set at naught the author- ity of Crown and Viceroy, and thrown the whole western part of the island into confusion. Moving from place to place, he robbed the Indians, violated their houses, kidnapped their wives and daughters, impressed into his service as many natives as he wanted, and treated with brutal cruelty those who hesitated to follow him. Other iniquities were perpe- trated which affronted the Admiral more than they shall our- selves ; these outlaws never confessed, ate meat on Saturdays, and totally neglected the offices of the Church. The country, he complains, is the best in the world for vagabonds, and such most of the colonists were becoming under the example set by Roldan. He does not look for much improvement until some worthy priests shall come out " rather to reform the faith of the Christians than to implant it in the Indians," 348 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. and until he has been reinforced by new settlers, " of which 50 or 60 should come out with every fleet, while I send back as many of the vicious and idle, as I am now doing." He declares frankly that he hardly dares to enforce the needful discipline, because " as a poor foreigner I am hated, charged with mistakes in settling the country, in my treatment of the people, and in numberless other things." He entreats his sovereigns, and repeats the entreaty several times, to send out " some learned man, a person experienced in administering justice," so that he might have the warrant of a Castilian court in proceeding against Castilian subjects. Relating his abortive negotiations with Roldan, he says the latter flatly rejected the proffered pardon, claiming he had done nothing requiring forgiveness, and that in any event the Admiral was a partial judge, since the quarrel was between his own brother and Roldan. The Admiral therefore intended to propose to the rebel leader that each side should present its case directly to the Crown ; the Admiral through Ballester and Carvajal, and Roldan through such envoys as he might elect ; that, while these commissioners were in Spain arguing the question, the rebels should return to their allegiance and all continue as originally ; but if they did not feel safe in doing this, that they should pass over to Porto Rico and there await the royal decision. By doing this he hoped to free Hispaniola from the curse of their misdeeds. In closing this recital, he uses the phrase which in the estimation of Las Casas cost him the government of the New World. " If these Justices," he writes, referring to Roldan and recreant colleagues, " do not come to an agreement with me, I am going to do ray utmost to destroy them." Admiral and Viceroy though he was, he was a foreigner ; rebels and bandits though they had become, they were Castilians, free subjects of the jealous King and Queen whom he was addressing. Turning to the burning question of revenue, the Admiral inveighs bitterly against those who had impeded for so long his departure from Spain : — "May God pardon those at the Court and in Seville," he writes, "who were the cause of delaying so long my despatch, because if I had come here in time, — as I could easily have PR ODIGAL MA GNANIMITY. 349 done within a year and even sooner, — the Indians would not have revoked and refused to pay the tributes they used to pay. I always said that it would be necessary to follow them up for three or four years, until they should be well accustomed to this, for we ought to suppose that they would otherwise learn their own strength." He avers that he will devote himself to reestablishing the former order of things, and that meantime real progress had been made by the colony as a whole ; for the Span- iards had learned to live on the native foods ; their cattle, sheep, swine, and fowls were increasing rapidly in number ; their life was far less burdensome than at first ; and, when labor should be more plentiful, great results were assured from cultivating the soil. He points out that Roldan's fol- lowing, which with his native servants numbered sometimes looo men, had no difficulty in sustaining themselves ; whence he argues in favor of allotting to each colonist the laborers necessary to till his portion of land. " I beg your Majesties," he adds farther on, " to allow these people to be utilized for a year or two now, until the colony is firmly established, for it is already well under way. You may see that all the seafaring folk and most of the landsmen are satisfied, and only lately two or three of the ship-masters who sailed announced that they would take to Seville as many slaves as any one desired who would pay 1500 maravedies for the pas- sage of each, to be deducted from the product of the sale. I accepted the offer for all and undertook to give them a cargo, for thus the vessels will return and bring supplies and other things which are necessary here, and so the business of the colony will advance. At present it is in a very bad way, for the colonists will not work, nor the Indians pay any tribute, by reason of what has occurred, and of my absence. The Adelantado has not been able to accomplish more than he has done, for he had no one near him in whom he could trust ; all complained and cursed the enterprise, saying that they had been out here five years and had not enough even to buy a shirt. But now I have revived their energies, and what I say to them seems to be reasonalile : that they shall all be soon paid and receive their pay regularly in the future." In making this suggestion, the Admiral was adopting a measure which Don Bartholomew had initiated to offset the 350 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. attractions held out to the colonists by the rebels. The idle life of easy license led by the latter was contrasted by the loyal settlers with their own hard lot, and to pacify these the Adelantado had granted to them as many Indians, from among the captives or from those who refused tribute, as each Spaniard required to cultivate his land, or do his work. In asking the King and Queen to sanction this arrangement for a season, Columbus intended no more than to continue an arrangement the abrupt cessation of which would revive discontent ; but in his allusion to the offer of the ship- master he was referring to a slave-trade pure and simple. The pay due the colonists by the Crown was sadly in arrears ; the colonists were aware that the island produced no reve- nue, while the Admiral knew that there were no other means available either in Spain or Hispaniola for the payment. To retain the majority of Spaniards in their allegiance without compensation, when Roldan was offering them their share of Xaragua for nothing, was out of the question. The only solution of the financial difficulty was the one so common among the Portuguese in Africa, — to send slaves back and obtain funds from their sale with which to maintain the colony for the nonce. The proposal was naturally accepta- ble to the colonists, for they all knew that slaves on board ship were as good as money in hand ; hence the readiness with which they accepted the plan. The Admiral had his own reasons for believing it would not be rejected by the King and Queen. The comparative ease with which this financial problem was solved was probably the cause of the ampler scheme he proceeded to unfold to his sovereigns. Perhaps, after all, a revenue might be found immediately, without waiting for the restoration of the tribute or the gathering of gold and pearls. If so, he knew that Ferdi- nand at least would turn a deaf ear to the calumnies of those who sought the Admiral's overthrow. If 600 slaves had been so readily sent to Spain, why not more, gathered from the insurgent tribes, the cannibals and the districts which were contumacious in the matter of revenue? The idea was as old as Commerce itself; it was pecuharly famiHar to Spanish minds, and that it possessed no horror either to PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 35 1 Columbus or his royal patrons is evidenced by the excessive bluntness with which he advocated it. " From here may be sent," he wrote, " with the sanction of the Holy Trinity, ^ as many slaves and as much brazil-wood as can be sold. Of these slaves, if what I have heard is correct, they tell me 4000 can be disposed of, which at a low valuation will amount to 20,000,000 maravedies ; and 4000 hundredweight of brazil will amount to as much more, the cost of which here will be 6,000,000 maravedies. Thus, at first sight, 40,000,000 maravedies would be secured, if this should issue as stated. The argument which they use in support of it certainly seems sound, because in Castile, Portugal, Aragon, Italy, Sicily, the Portuguese and Aragonese Islands and the Canaries many slaves are employed, and I believe that already from Guinea not so many are coming as formerly. Even if they should come, one Indian is worth three negroes, as any one may see. When I was lately at the Cape de Verd Islands, where the people have a large traffic in slaves and are constantly sending ships to procure them, — for they are at the very door, — I observed that 8000 maravedies was asked for the poorest specimens. For the brazil- wood, they say that in Castile, Aragon, Venice, Genoa, France, Flanders, and England there is a great demand ; so that from these two sources, according to my informants, these 40,000,000 maravedies can be obtained, unless vessels should be lacking for the trade, and these will not fail I am sure, under Our Lord's blessing, once they find the voyage to be profitable." To make the proposition unmistakably business-like, the Admiral adds, " Even if some of the slaves die at first it will not be always thus, for so used the negroes and the Canary Islanders at the beginning ; and these Indians offer still a greater advantage over them, since one who survives will not be sold by his owner for the first price that is offered." Who the " informants " were who advocated this cold- blooded- traffic with the Admiral it is idle to inquire. He never shrank from the consequences of his convictions. In making this proposal to Ferdinand and Isabella he was reasonably sure of its reception, knowing that to them, as to him and the rest of Europe, the slaves would be dealt with ^ The seeming blasphemy is a conventional phrase. To this day one Portuguese thief will say to another, " I'll join you in that job to- night, if God pleases." 352 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. as merchandise, as much as brazil-wood, — precisely as he coupled them in his letter. We have already remarked that the little flicker of much belauded " humanity " shown by Isabella anent the enslaved Indians was due to her anger at a presumed invasion of her jealously guarded prerogatives as sovereign of Castile. It was satisfied with the return of just nineteen natives to Hispaniola, out of a total of several thousands scattered through the fields and galleys of Spain and Portugal. We have quoted the Admiral's own words in our desire to show our readers the man as he was. Those who care to objurgate him as a " slave driver" will find it a safer and more agreeable — if less logical and consistent — task than would be a like criticism of those of their own neighbors who have bought and sold their darker brethren in other times and seasons. Columbus was far more concerned in the effect his failure to make a sufficient remittance to the royal treasury would have, than in any possibility of disagreement between his sovereigns and himself as to the form thereof. With the memory of his late experience with Fonseca and Bribiesca fresh in his mind, he sought to forestall the embarrassments which he felt sure they would continue to create. " I entreat your Majesties," was his closing adjuration, " to order that the persons who have charge of this undertaking in Seville be not hostile to it and do not obstruct it ; because it would have been yet more prosperous if my fortune had pro- cured that some one who was well disposed toward it had been in charge ; or at least that the person in authority had not been opposed to it and sought to ruin and defame it, encouraging those who were inimical and setting himself against those who were favorable, for, as we constantly see, a good reputation, next to God, is what makes things successful." Fonseca, to whom all the Admiral's correspondence sooner or later found its way, must have smiled significantly in his chair at Seville as he read this appeal from the far-off Indies. The departure of the five ships bearing, as he knew, the Admiral's version of his rebellion, brought Roldan to a real- izing sense of the risk he was running. Upon receiving the safe-conducts brought by Ballester and Carvajal, he set out PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 353 with some of his companions, sometime in November, for San Domingo and presented himself before the Admiral. There is no record of the circumstances of the interview, beyond the notice that it took place in the presence of many witnesses. Roldan formulated his demands, the Admiral stated what he could and what he could not concede, and Roldan returned to Bonao to lay the result before his companions, accompanied by the Admiral's majordomo, Diego de Salamanca. The latter returned in a few days with the rebels' ultimatum, couched in such arrogant terms that its acceptance was impossible. Carvajal was again called in as negotiator and sent to Bonao with a new sched- ule of conditions, which the Admiral declared he would sign if Roldan would abide by them. Carvajal found the rebels actually besieging the worthy Ballester in Fort Conception and on the point of compelling its surrender. At his approach they suspended operations and withdrew to dis- cuss his propositions. The outcome of it all was, that Rol- dan agreed to the Admiral's main condition, which was that they should leave Hispaniola and return to Spain, but added certain demands ; that two vessels, fully equipped and sup- plied, should be sent around to Xaragua for their voyage ; that each man should be allowed to carry with him the women of his harem and one male slave ; and that to Roldan and each of his fellows should be given a certificate of good service, full arrears of back-pay, and all the property they claimed to be theirs. When this was brought to the Admiral, for the sake of seeing himself free of this incubus, and devot- ing himself to the improvement of the colony, he accepted it subject to a proviso : that the embarkation should take place within fifty days ; that Roldan should permit no more Spaniards to join his band ; that no kidnapped Indian should be taken to Spain against his will ; and that all the property belonging to the Crown should be dehvered over to the Admiral's representative on the arrival of the two caravels at Xaragua. For some reason of his own it suited Roldan to accept the revised agreement, and he signed it on the 1 7th of November ; sending back to the Admiral the insolent message, that if the latter did not sign it so that Roldan had 23 354 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. it back within ten days, he would add as many men to his band as sought liim. In less than the time mentioned the agreement was in Roldan's hands, duly signed and sealed, and the rebels took up their march for Xaragua, saying they were going to prepare for their voyage. Such was the x\dmirars haste to get rid of these turbulent outlaws, that he took two of the vessels destined for Don Bartholomew's exploration of Paria and ordered them to be made ready for the passage to Spain. They were not com- pleted until early in January, 1499 ; but the moment they could sail with safety the Admiral despatched them for Xaragua, sending Carvajal to arrange for the prompt depart- ure of the rebels. To provide for a possible contingency, Carvajal carried a special proclamation in which the Admiral agreed that such of Roldan's men as preferred to remain in Hispaniola would be allowed the same holdings of land and emoluments as other colonists. But ill fortune pursued every step of this wearisome affair. One of the caravels was so damaged in a storm encountered soon after leaving San Domingo that she had to be beached in the nearest harbor, where she and her consort were delayed until the end of March. When they finally reached Xaragua, Roldan coolly declared that as they were not ready for him within the fifty stipulated days the whole agreement was annulled, as it was obvious that the Admiral had intentionally held them back with the purpose of finding an excuse for revenging himself on the rebels. In despair Carvajal called upon Francisco de Garay, who had accompanied him as notary, to make a formal acta of his demand upon Roldan for a compliance with the agreement, and his refusal, and this he sent back to the Admiral with a report of all that had occurred. Columbus had left San Domingo, as soon as the caravels had sailed out of the port, and gone to Isabella, intending to make a visit to all the Spanish settlements and to confer with the native caciques on his way, hoping to reestablish order among the colonists and confidence among the In- dians. He had met with such measure of success as to satisfy him that, in the absence of any fresh disturbing inci- dents, the island would speedily become what he so ardently PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 355 desired, — a source of permanent and progressive revenue. The news of Roldan's last outbreak shattered these flattering expectations, and the Admiral hastened back to San Domingo. From there he addressed a letter to Roldan and his chief lieutenant, Adrian de Moxica, couched in amicable terms, pointing out the danger of their course, its utter futility, and the benefits which would accrue to them by abandoning it. To this, in due course, Roldan replied ironically, thanking the Admiral for his good counsel, but averring that he had no use for it. Carvajal, however, succeeded in persuading him to so far moderate his arrogance as to return to the first understanding, — to remit the whole matter to the Crown for settlement, each side sending commissioners to Spain to argue its case. Carvajal promised that a single caravel should be furnished for this purpose, but Roldan refused to accept anything but the Admiral's official pledge ; whereupon Carvajal set out for San Domingo, followed by Roldan, who sought a private interview with him on the way and insisted that he desired to meet the Admiral and arrange the whole matter, but was prevented by his colleagues. The two ves- sels were ordered back from Xaragua to San Domingo by Carvajal. Six months had been worse than squandered in these frivolous disputes. It is entirely probable that Roldan was constrained by his associates to continue a quarrel of which he was personally heartily weary. They dared not trust him, though he was willing to trust the Admiral. The latter was bent on shedding no Castilian blood except in the very last extremity. He knew it would never be forgiven him by Ferdinand or Isabella, whatever the justification. It was nothing new for him to be patient, but never was his patience more grievously tried. When Carvajal returned, the Ad- miral approved his latest offer, wrote out a new safe-conduct for Roldan and his associates, and even accepted the indig- nity of permitting Carvajal, Coronel, and other of his cap- tains to endorse it with their personal guarantee, as the rebels demanded. A meeting was arranged for on board a caravel anchored in the Bay of Azua, some 80 or 100 miles west of San Domingo. Thither the Admiral repaired, accompanied 356 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. by many of his stanchest friends, and, on August 22nd, Roldan and his fellow-conspirators came on board for the conference. It is not necessary to rehearse the charges and counter-charges, the proposals and amendments which were debated. The upshot was, that it was agreed that the two caravels should sail for Spain with not more than fifteen of the rebels ; that all should be done for the band that the former arrangement provided ; that those who remained should be allotted lands and laborers ; and that the Admiral should publicly restore Roldan as Chief Justice, and proclaim that he was a faithful officer who had been misled by design- ing persons. When Roldan went ashore and reported this adjustment to his followers, they flatly refused to sanction it. After a couple of days' deliberation they sent on board their conditions, which included all that the Admiral had agreed to and certain other extravagant concessions, of which the last was the worst : that the Admiral must consent that, in the event of his failing to carry out the terms of the agree- ment to their entire satisfaction, they were to have the legal right to band together and compel him by force, by any means in their power and discretion, to fulfil the bargain as they interpreted it ! The Admiral accepted the whole shameful demand, stipu- lating only that if the rebels ever again failed in their alle- giance his compact with them was to be void, and they were to be liable for all their past offences as well as any more recent ones. Las Casas infers that at some stage of the long con- test, — which had been dragged on now for a year, — a ves- sel had arrived from Spain bringing replies to the letters sent by the five vessels which sailed in October, '98, and that among these was a communication from Fonseca urg- ing the Admiral to take no extreme measures until the King and Queen could determine what was best to be done. The Admiral himself, in the report he made to the sovereigns, does not refer to this. He recites instead the vast harm already done to the interests of the Crown in the Indies by the prevalent anarchy ; the general demoralization of the colonists ; the formation of at least two other bands of free- booters who purposed imitating in the eastern districts of PRODIGAL MAGNANIMITY. 357 the island the excesses committed by Roldan in the west ; the indefinite cessation of all revenue ; and the utter destruc- tion of all prospects of a further extension of the Crown's authority in other islands, and on the lately found Terra Firma. These were the motives which led him, forced as he was to forego the infliction of a righteous and sufficient punishment, to prefer his own humiliation to a continuance of a situation so disastrous to the interests committed to him. "Thus," he wrote, "in order to avoid this evil, hoping that their Majesties would provide a remedy for all that was done and that whoever should read that agreement would clearly see that neither its spirit nor its contents were reasonable, but that it is against all the dictates of justice and utterly beyond that quality, and that it was signed and promulgated under compul- sion, I had to execute both it and the other one making the appointment of Chief Justice. Concerning the latter, after the first settlement was agreed to and signed, Roldan and all his people broke out afresh because he was not willing that any one superior to him should be recognized in the contract ; all of them shouting loudly that they would hang all my followers who were on shore if they did not go on board at once ; wherefore I was obliged to sign the other undertaking as they required, for the time and reasons already given." Apart from the indignity placed upon and borne by him, the Admiral had reason to be content with the result of his abnegation, viewing it, as he did, as a merely temporary sacrifice. Roldan and his party came into San Domingo and busied themselves with vaunting their exploits and swaggering to their hearts' content. The colonists in general were inclined to look upon them as heroes and the Admiral's authority suffered in consequence ; but Roldan himself saw that his interest lay in gaining as far as he might the Admiral's forgiveness, and seems to have exerted his influ- ence in the direction of peace and harmony. The adjust- ment of all disputes, and the various concessions granted the ex-rebels, were publicly proclaimed on September 28th, and the two caravels were duly despatched to Spain with the respective versions of the negotiations and settlement. 358 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. This done, the Admiral was about to turn again to the restoration of order in the concerns of his long distracted government, preparatory to returning himself to Spain to confer with their Majesties, when he was confronted with an emergency in the last direction from which one could have been expected. Word was brought to San Domingo that Alonzo de Hojeda, with three caravels, was at anchor in the port of Yaquimo, 300 miles west of the city, busily occupied in cutting and loading a cargo of brazil-wood. XVIII. THE FAITH OF PRINCES. THE five vessels despatched from San Domingo on Oc- tober i8th, 1498, arrived at Seville about Christmas. The voyage had been a difficult and disastrous one, and many of the Indian slaves had died on the passage and been thrown to the sharks. Those who survived seem to have been sold in regular course, and their product covered into the royal treasury. Neither Ferdinand nor Isabella thought it neces- sary to interfere in their fate, arguing, no doubt, that if the victims did but know, they were better off in Christian bond- age than in heathen Hberty. But there was one matter which riveted their attention, even to the exclusion of any adequate consideration of the Admiral's new discoveries, and that was the rebellion of Roldan. Little as they appear to have heeded the Admiral's speculations concerning Paradise, the King and Queen paid jealous heed to his report of the insur- rection, as they doubtless did to the excuses offered by the rebels. Whether they really acknowledged the force of the complaint made by Columbus, — that his hands were tied as to an efficient administration of justice, — or whether they merely used his appeal for a coadjutor as a cloak, is left in doubt by succeeding events. The evidence is in favor of their sincerity, at least at the outset. Whatever their motive, they acted with unusual promptness, for on the 21st of March, 1499, they issued a commission to Francisco de Bobadilla directing him to proceed at once to Hispaniola, investigate the outbreak, and chastise the guilty. Both the choice of their delegate and the tenor of his original instructions indicate a 359 360 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. disposition to render aid to the Admiral. Bobadilla was a Court official of some distinction, with nothing in his past record to justify doubt as to the wisdom of his appointment. The commission itself was couched in terms significant of an emphatic determination to uphold Columbus in his authority. " Know ye," the document ran, " that Don Christopher Colum- bus, our Admiral of the Ocean Sea and of the islands and con- tinent in the Indies, has sent to us a report saying that while he was absent from the said islands and at our Court certain per- sons in them, including a Justice, rose in rebellion in the said islands against the said Admiral and the other Justices he had appointed there in our name ; and that although such persons and the said Justice were warned not to enter into the said rebel- lion and uproar, they were not willing to abandon it, but rather persisted and still continue in the said rebellion, roaming through that island, committing robberies and doing other iniquities, damages, and violences in contempt of their duty to God and to ourselves. . . . Wherefore we command you that you set out immediately for the said islands and continent in the Indies and hold your inquiry, seeking to learn by whatever methods and in whatever quarters may seem best the truth of all the above, informing yourself who and what persons they were who rebelled against the said Admiral, and for what cause or pretext, and what robberies, outrages, or damages they have perpetrated, and all else which may seem to you necessary to fully acquaint you with the matter. Having obtained this information and being possessed of the tnith, you shall seize the persons and sequester the property of those whom you may find guilty, and shall proceed against those you have secured, as well as against such as are at large, with the extreme penalties, both civil and criminal, which you find permissible by law." Had Bobadilla been sent out promptly with these powers, and discharged his office with common discretion, the revolt in the island would have been stamped out, and the colony spared many years of confusion and strife. Before he was ready to leave Spain, a radical change took place in the attitude of Ferdinand and Isabella towards Columbus, the consequences of which overwhelmed the latter with ruin and degradation. Las Casas attributes this withdrawal of the royal favor primarily to the enmity of Fonseca for the Admiral " which," THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 36 1 he remarks, "was almost notorious, and the evidences of which I saw with my eyes, heard with my ears, and under- stood with my mind." Certainly the record supports the assertion. As soon as the Admiral's report and map reached his hands, Fonseca laid them before Hojeda, who had left Hispaniola for Spain some time before and bore a grudge against the Admiral, the cause of which is not known. What were the especial ties between these two men is also matter for conjecture, but there is no question as to their common hostility to Columbus. With the latter's charts and letters before him, illustrated by his own experiences among the islands, Hojeda saw the opportunity of his life. In flagrant disregard of the exclusive and repeatedly con- firmed concessions made to the Admiral, Fonseca issued a license to Hojeda to make a voyage of discovery and trade to the Indies, excepting from its provisions only the coun- tries claimed by Portugal in the remote East and the lands discovered by Columbus prior to J4gS- The employment of this date shows conclusively that the deliberate purpose of the license was to allow Hojeda to reap the advantages of the Admiral's discoveries of Paria and the pearl region. Hojeda had no difficulty in obtaining four caravels and the necessary companions, among whom were Juan de la Cosa, the former pilot of Columbus, and Americus Vespucci. He made his preparations with such activity that he was able to sail from Cadiz on the 20th of May, steering the course laid down in the Admiral's charts. Striking the coast of South America, 300 miles below the mouth of the Orinoco, he followed it to the north and west, passed through the Mouths of the Serpent and Dragon, touched at Margarita and continued along Terra Firma as far as the Gulf of Mara- caibo. Thence he bore away for Hispaniola, where he arrived, as Columbus was informed, on the 5th of Septem- ber. As though to emphasize his determination to trample on all the solemn engagements made by the Crown with the Admiral, Fonseca issued several other licenses for voyages similar to that undertaken by Hojeda. W^e have the record of at least five of these. A wealthy merchant of Seville, Guerra by name, secured one of the permits and sent out a 362 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. vessel commanded by his brother and navigated by Pedro Alonzo Niiio, that other pilot of the Admiral's who had accompanied him at the time of the discovery of Paria and had returned with the five ships. Armed with copies of his charts these worthies set sail in June ; pursued the course laid down but bearing more to the south ; struck the new continent still nearer the Equator than Hojeda ; con- tinued on past Paria and Margarita, and finally reached a point on the coast of the modern Venezuela at or near La Guayra. Thence they returned to Spain " loaded with pearls as though they had been straw," according to Peter Martyr. In December, yet another of the Admiral's former companions, and one of the most notable, Vincente Yaiiez Pinzon, taking with him three of the skilled mariners who had sailed with Columbus when he discovered Paria, set out on a similar voyage. Following closely the Admiral's track, but adopting his hint as to crossing the Equator well to the east, Pinzon made the coast of the modern Brazil in the neighborhood of Cape St. Augustine, pursued his way north- ward, discovering the Amazon River in passing, touched at Paria, kept on to the west along Terra Firma for several hundred miles, and, finally, returned to Spain by way of Hispaniola. It does not consist with the scope of our narrative to carry this record further. Diego de Lepe, with the Admiral's ex-pilot, Bartholomew Roldan, and Rodrigo de Bastidas, with Juan de la Cosa again, undertook, the fol- lowing year, to emulate the exploits of their predecessors, and, following the now well-worn path, pushed on past the farthest cape theretofore reached, and attained the vicinity of Darien before putting about for Spain. All these expeditions, without exception, were based on the Admiral's charts interpreted by pilots or seamen who had sailed with him. All of them paid him that homage of flattery which is alleged to lie in a servile imitation. All of them were legitimate, in so far that they were authorized by Ferdinand and Isabella, or by their agent Fonseca ; and all of them were directed solely and purely to commercial ends. Gold, pearls, brazil-wood, and slaves, slaves, slaves ; these were the openly avowed objects of each of the voyages THE FAITH OF PRINCES. J^j recited, including that in which Americus Vespucci so easily gained, with some, a reputation for intrepid enterprise and philosophical absorption in the mysteries of Nature. The King and Queen found no difficulty in accepting their share of each class of the proceeds brought from the coasts their Admiral had found. Although the slaves were, in these cases, the product of rank kidnapping, they were sold for the benefit of whom it might concern without let or hin- drance. When their Catholic Majesties had cause to suppose that anything was withheld from entry, they proceeded against the returned adventurer with a viciousness w.orthy of Shylock. By some occult process of reasoning, they satisfied their consciences that there was a difference between the natives of Paria and those of Hispaniola, and that the former might be legitimately abducted by Hojeda, Pinzon, and Vespucci, while a great to-do must be made about the latter. Having broken faith with Columbus like Turks, Ferdinand and Isabella pocketed their share of the plunder which resulted with as little scruple as Buccaneers. Such were the immediate consequences of the Admiral's announcement of his finding of the "great land" under the Equator, and such the recompense prepared for him during the weary months in which he was submitting to one indignity after another, each more galling than that preceding it, in his devotion to what he believed to be the wishes of his sovereigns. Far more ingenious pens than ours have exerted their skill in endeavoring to explain away the apparent faith- lessness of Ferdinand and Isabella, or, at least, to exculpate the Queen. That they have failed is due to no want of earnestness, but to the inherent hopelessness of the effort. No possible sophistry can be found to cloak the naked injustice, and where neither King nor Queen attempted a defence it is superfluous for us to concoct one. Greed and jealousy were the genuine motives, ugly though the terms look when applied to characters otherwise great. The grants made to Columbus, and so solemnly ratified to his descend- ants, were perpetual, and subject to no conditions save the finding of land beyond the mysterious Ocean Sea. His reports of his latest discoveries, supported by the arguments 364 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. he employed to establish their far-reaching importance, opened the eyes of the most skeptical as to the probable range of his achievements. In his entanglement with his colonists, and the hue and cry raised against him, the sov- ereigns found the opportunity for ignoring his rights without any great danger of having to face a reckoning, and they acted as their interests dictated. They were neither better nor worse than the spirit of their times, and were they not the inheritors of Divine Right? It was not the first time, or the last, that in a partnership with the Crown the subject was left with its autograph and seals as his share of the profits. The privilege of petition and expostulation was always his — and much good might it do him. The nullification of their engagements with Columbus con- cerning the navigation and commerce of the western seas was not the only blow aimed at him by Ferdinand and Isabella in the spring of 1499. Two months after their appointment of Bobadilla as special commissioner to assist the Admiral in the restoration of order, they issued, on the 2ist of May, two new decrees which deprived the latter of every vestige of authority and prerogative. The first, ad- dressed to all the officers and subjects of the Crown in the Indies, directed them to receive Bobadilla as Governor and Supreme Judge of the Islands and Terra Firma, and con- ferred upon him the exclusive government of those regions. The second, addressed to the Admiral, his brothers, and his lieutenants in charge of the forts, vessels, and other royal property, ordered them to deliver the same over to Bobadilla as Governor, dispensed with the formalities usually attendant upon a change of administration, and established the penalty for treason in the event of any hesitation or delay being shown. The only explanation vouchsafed by the sovereigns to the man who held their beautifully engrossed parchments, constituting him and his heirs Perpetual Governors of the Indies and Admirals of the Ocean Sea, was embraced in these lines : — " The King and Queen to Don Christopher Columbus. Our Admiral of the Ocean Sea : We have commanded Don Fran- cisco de Bobadilla, the bearer of this, to say to you on our THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 365 behalf certain things which he will communicate. We ask you to give him faith and credence and to put the same into execu- tion. At Madrid, the 26th of May, 1499. I, the King. I, the Queen." The powers conferred upon Bobadilla were specifically "for as long as it shall be our wish and pleasure," and this may be interpreted as intimating that they were only pro- visional. At the same time, the tenor and suminary nature of his installation point to some sudden and deeply rooted distrust of Columbus. In default of any sufficient elucida- tion by the records of the period, various causes have been suggested for this abrupt accession of royal displeasure. By some historians it is attributed to the charges made (or supposed to have been made) by Roldan's partisans, that Columbus was plotting the betrayal of the Indies to a rival power. Others have held that the charge was that he and his brothers were conspiring to seize the government of the New World for their own advantage. Yet others, following the lead of Las Casas, ascribe the Admiral's downfall to the irresistible vehemence of Ferdinand and Isabella's righteous indignation when they read the propositions made by Colum- bus for the shipment of slaves to Europe. None of these hypotheses are supported by a jot of evidence, and the last one is disproved by the conduct of the King and Queen before, at, and long after the time of Bobadilla's nomination as governor.^ What took place between March and May, to convert their intention of aiding Columbus into a purpose to supplant him, must remain matter for conjecture until ^ Take, for example, this extract from the contract between Bastidas and the Crown, signed June 5, 1500 : "Also, that of all the gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, quicksilver, or other metal, and all the mother-of- pearl, pearls, precious stones and jewels, and all the slaves, — both black and bright-skinned, — who in our kingdoms are held and reputed to be slaves, and all the monsters, serpents, and other wild beasts, and all the fish, birds, spices, drugs, and everything else, whatever be its name, nature, or value, ive shall have the one-fourth part of all that remains after deducting the cost of equipping, chartering, and maintaining the squadron and the other expenses of the voyage." And yet Columbus is the " slave driver," and Ferdinand and Isabella are applauded for their repugnance to his proposals. 366 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. additional light is obtained ; but we are disposed to find the explanation in the persistent assaults made upon Columbus by Roldan's sympathizers at Court, abetted by Fonseca's influence and that of the old Boil-Margarite cabal, and coin- ciding with the sovereigns' determination to repudiate their compact with the Admiral as soon as they ascertained the enormous import of his latest discovery. Having originally commissioned Bobadilla in response to the Admiral's own appeal for a judicial colleague, they found in the charges made against him a pretext for depriving him of all authority when they decided to violate his other privileges. As vice- roy and governor of the new-found lands he might possibly be capable of some resistance ; as a cashiered officer of the Crown he was harmless. Whatever explanation we may adopt, we must not lose sight of one fact ; both the license granted to Hojeda and his successors, and the appointment of Bobadilla to displace Columbus, were acts of arrogant bad faith. By each a solemnly ratified covenant was broken, after the stipulated consideration had been far more than fulfilled by Columbus. These two acts were coincident in time and in scope, and where the perfidy was so cynically overt it seems to be a waste of time to look for concealed motives which may be forced into consistency with justice. Ferdinand and Isabella concluded they could now dispense with Columbus, and they made no scruple about violating their pledges to do so. There is no notice of any vessel arriving in Spain from San Domingo between the five which reached Cadiz at Christ- mas, 1498, and the two which arrived also about Christ- mas, in 1499, bearing the representatives sent by the Admiral and the rebels to plead their respective causes before the throne. The delay in Bobadilla' s departure for his new government does not seem, therefore, to be due to any doubt as to the propriety of their action on the part of the King and Queen. The conjecture advanced by Las Casas, that the sovereigns were preoccupied with the threat- ening condition of affairs among the recently conquered Moors of Granada, will scarcely account for the detention of Bobadilla, for the famous rising in the Alpuxarras did THE FAITH OF PRINCES. "36/ not occur until the following year. It seems to us more probable that the Crown, having provided for the Admiral's removal, waited to hear the result of Roldan's insurrection before sending out Bobadilla. In other words, it was possible that Roldan might save the Crown the necessity of deposing Columbus. The theory that Ferdinand and Isa- bella suspended all active proceedings in the matter, hoping to receive satisfactory explanations from the Admiral, is disproved by the fact that their final action in the premises was taken after they had such a justification in their hands. The real solution in the enigma probably lies in the exag- gerated importance we attach to the part which the affairs of Hispaniola played in Spanish politics at that juncture. Ferdinand was deeply absorbed in the intricate tangle of European statecraft, and his consort was no less busily occu- pied with the establishment of the Inquisition. The larger interests of the Crown in the Indies were provided for by the virtual cancellation of the Admiral's privileges: the less important affairs of the colony in Hispaniola could be safely left for the time being. Of revenue there was little prospect for the moment, whether Viceroy or outlaw were victorious, and, apart from this, the disturbances among a few hundred subjects in a remote island did not call for instant attention to the exclusion of more important ques- tions lying nearer home. Whatever the reason, from the date of his commission in May to the arrival of the two ships in December, Bobadilla remained quietly in Spain, Governor of the Indies in name alone. Once these vessels were in port, there could be no pre- tence that the situation in Hispaniola was not fully compre- hended at Court. The Admiral was represented by Balles- ter, Barrantes, and Carvajal, — than whom no one was more familiar with all that had passed, — while Roldan had his appointed emissaries besides the detachment of his followers who were returned to Spain under the terms of the capitula- tion. The case alleged by the latter against the Admiral was, naturally, the most vehemently expressed and generally accepted. He and his brothers, they charged, were guilty of countless cruel and tyrannical acts against their Castil- 368 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. ian colonists; for any light offence they would hang the Spaniards, behead them, flog them, cut off their hands, shedding Spanish blood as though they were mortal enemies to Castile. Moreover they were traitors to the King and Queen, who contemplated seizing the government of the Indies and erecting there an empire of their own, for which purpose they had forbidden the extraction of any gold except under their own licenses, so that they might accumulate all the treasure for their own nefarious ends. If anything, the accusations brought against Don Bartholomew and Don Diego were more intemperate than those against the Admiral; the first named, especially, being described as a monster in human shape whose one delight was to perse- cute and torment the loyal subjects of Castile. To these personal accusations were added pessimistic accounts of the climate and natural resources of the islands, and heart- breaking recitals of the sufferings endured by the colonists through the cold-blooded avarice and studied maladminis- tration of Columbus and his brothers. The new arrivals joined those who had returned home on the five ships of the year before in clamoring for the pay they had never earned, whenever they could get within earshot of King or Queen, and in reviling noisily the name of Columbus when his sons passed by. Like any other foul-mouthed and ill- conditioned rabble in seasons of discontent, they hung around Palace and Government buildings, alternately plead- ing and cursing in their efforts to be heard. How much of all this was theatrical display we cannot know; that it was fostered, if not incited, by the Admiral's enemies there is no doubt. That Ferdinand's otherwise not unduly tender sensibilities should have been profoundly affected by the exhibition of his faithful vassals' distress, and his quick sense of justice impressed by their obvious sufferings in his cause, is a very pretty story which lacks only the element of truth to make it interesting. As a matter of fact, his sensibilities were as adjustable to the circumstance of the moment as was his justice, and if he allowed the opinion to get abroad that he was moved, it was because it suited his purpose. The cause of Columbus was prejudged, and THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 369 the needy adventurers who posed as his "victims" might have spared themselves the labor of vituperation for all the effect it had upon Ferdinand's decision. The Admiral, on his side, submitted his report of the rebellion and its causes, substantiating his assertions by the oral statements of the loyal and reputable officers whom he sent to represent him. He begged their Majesties to exam- ine carefully the records of the official investigations which he forwarded, and to inquire themselves into their truth from the many witnesses who had gone to Spain. After describing the constraint under which he acted in signing the capitulation with Roldan, he sets forth nine reasons why he should be held by their Majesties to be absolved from its obligations, and entreats them to declare the agreement to be without effect on account of the circumstances by which it was extorted. Some of the reasons alleged are forcible and well taken; others are frivolous and savor strongly of chicane. Taken together and read with refer- ence to the time of their production, they illustrate graphi- cally the mental attitude of Columbus towards the difficult questions which surrounded him. The capitulation should be annulled, he claims, (ist) because he was compelled by force to sign what the rebels dictated, not what he deemed proper; (2nd) because he signed as Viceroy, whereas, being on a caravel and at sea, he only had jurisdiction as Admiral; (3rd) because, under the trial held by Don Bar- tholomew, Roldan and his followers were convicted traitors, and neither as Admiral nor Viceroy could Columbus relieve a sentence of treason; (4th) because the capitulation re- lated, inter alia, to interest of the Royal Treasury, and in the absence of the proper Crown officials no engagement affecting it was binding; (5th) because passage to Spain was granted to all, and those of the rebels who were serv- ing out in Hispaniola sentences for crimes committed in Spain should have been excepted; (6th) because payment was promised to all for the whole period of their residence, including the time they were in insurrection; whereas the same contract obliged them to make good all losses and damages caused by the rebellion, and this the Admiral had 24 370 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. no right to remit; (7tli) because they were equally liable for the losses occasioned to the Crown through the deser- tion of the forty men seduced from the ships of Arafia and his colleagues; (8th) because Roldan failed to furnish the list of those who had inaugurated the rebellion with him and the reasons they alleged, as he was bound to do, in order to secure their pardon; (9th) because although Roldan and all the other rebels who had come out in the armada of '93 had sworn by crucifix and Mass before the Admiral and the Bishop of Badajoz (Fonseca) to be true and loyal vassals of the King and Queen, and to guard their royal estate and dignity, all of which oaths were recorded in the books of the Comptroller, they had rebelled against the authority of the Crown and committed enormous depredations upon its property. The first and the last reasons were good and sufficient for the King and Queen to disavow the act of their Viceroy and order the rebels to be chastised as they merited. The other seven are cast too much in the mould of the fif- teenth century to be openly admitted as valid by the nine- teenth, — although our Equity calendars would not be so long if we lived up to our professions in this respect. But whether forcible or feeble, Columbus might have spared his arguments. It was already written that nothing he could say or do would turn his sovereigns from their elected course. As if foreseeing the futility of his appeals, he took advan- tage of the occasion to lay before the King and Queen a memorial, in which he recounted the history of his enter- prise from the time he first laid it before them down to the hour of his writing. It is needless to transcribe the greater part of it, for its contents are a repetition of what he had written elsewhere: but he is entitled to be heard in his own defence when he answers the allegations of Roldan' s par- tisans. It has so recently been charged, in the interests of Historical Criticism, that he studiously concealed from his sovereigns all the difficulties he had encountered, with the one exception of his failure to secure a revenue, that our readers may be willing to know what he really did say. THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 371 They never will learn it from some whose words will carry far more weight than our own. After reviewing the events following the foundation of Isabella, the revolt of Boil, and Margarite, and the more recent rebellion of Roldan, he refers to the benefits he had showered upon that "obscure ingrate," and the wealth which both Roldan and his partisans had accumulated. The loyal and industrious among the colonists, he affirms, now that they were acclimated, were beginning to reap the rewards of their labors through the abounding fertility of the soil. The idle and dissolute, — " when they saw that their expectations would not be realized, as they had imagined, were ever afterwards possessed of the desire to return to Spain. I so arranged that some should go with every squadron and, to my sorrow, although they had received from me all consideration and proper treatment, as soon as they arrived there they said worse things of me than of a Moor, without giving any facts but raising against me a thou- sand false witnesses, and this has continued until the present day. . . . " They have alleged over there," he continues, " that I have located the settlement at the worst site on the island, whereas it is the very best and so proclaimed by all the Indians of His- paniola. Many of those who make the charge have never gone a gun-shot beyond the palisades of the town, and I know not what trust can be placed in them. They said they used to die of thirst, when a river flows by the town not so far as from Santa Martha in Seville to the river there. They said that the place is the most unhealthy of all, when it is the healthiest ; although the whole country is the most wholesome under heaven and possesses the best water and climate, — as it should, — lying in the same latitude as the Canaries, . . . which have always been extolled by philosophers for the mildness of their climate. . . . They said there were no provisions, and there is such a plenty of meat, bread, and fish that on arriving here the very peasants who have been brought out as laborers prefer not to take the Crown wages but to support themselves and the Indians who work for them. This is proved also by this Roldan himself who, more than a year ago, started off into the interior with 120 men, who took with them over 500 Indians to serve them, all of whom have been sustained with great abundance. They said that I appropriated the live-stock of people who had 372 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. brought it here, and I took nothing but 8 pigs from among a great many. This I did because they belonged to men who were returning to Spain and intended killing them all, which I prevented in order that they might increase, but I did not deny that they belonged to their owners. Now any one may see that the pigs are beyond counting in the island, and all of them came from the same breed, which I brought out in the ships and cared for at my own expense, — except the first cost which was 70 maravedies apiece at the Island of Gomera. They say that the country around Isabella, where the town is built, was very sterile and would not yield wheat, whereas I have harvested it and eaten the bread therefrom, . . . although nobody cares any longer for wheat-bread, because the native bread is very plenti- ful, much better for this climate and is made with less trouble. " Of all this they accused me, in defiance of truth, as I have said, and all in order that your Majesties should detest both me and my enterprise. It would not have been so had its author and discoverer been a proselyte, for proselytes are enemies to the prosperity of your Majesties and of all Christians ; ^ but they spread abroad these reports and endeavored so to manage that the whole affair should be a failure ; and I am told that most of those who are with Roldan, who is now in arms against me, are such proselytes. They blame me because of my administration of justice, which I always meted out with so much fear of God and of your Majesties, — far more than had the culprits in their brutal and loathsome crimes, for which our Lord has imposed such burdensome punishments upon the world and of which the Justices here possess the records. Countless other falsehoods they have repeated concerning me and this country, which, nevertheless, it is evident Our Lord bestowed miraculously upon us and which is the most fertile and beautiful beneath the sun, having gold and copper, all kinds of spices and great quantities of brazil-wood, and from which, in slaves alone, the traders tell me more than 40 millions of maravedies may be secured each year. They give good reasons for this, as the shipments to Europe amount to three times as much every year. In this country the people who come here can live in all peace, as shall soon be apparent, and I believe that, in view of the necessity 1 In allusion to Bribiesca, Fonseca's lieutenant, who was a converted Moor, or Jew. Columbus apparently wishes to imply that had the New World been found by Bribiesca, there would have been no occasion for all this trouble, for the simple reason that the Indies would never have belonged to Spain. THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 373 prevalent in Spain and the great plenty of Hispaniola, a great population will soon come here and that its seat will be at Isa- bella, where was the beginning of the colony, for it is the most appropriate and best place in the whole region. This we ought readily to believe, as Our Lord led me there by a miracle ; for such it was, since I could go neither forward nor back with the ships, but only land there and unlade them. This has been the cause of my writing this letter, for although some shall say that it was unnecessary to relate matters which are past and shall consider prolix what is in fact so brief, I have thought it was all necessary both for your Majesties and for other persons who heard the evil reports which have been spread abroad with such malice and untruth concerning each of the things I have written herein. And these were said not only by those who went from here, but even more cruelly by certain individuals who never left Spain at all, but who had the means of reaching your Majes- ties' ear with their malicious and artful tales, all to do harm to me whom they envied, as being but a poor foreigner. Through all this, nevertheless, I have been sustained by Him who is Eter- nal, who has ever shown mercy to me, great sinner though I be." Before closing his letter he makes a final appeal for a judicial coadjutor. The colonists knew that he did not dare to raise his hand against them to punish them, he writes, and that the charges which had been brought against him in Spain were believed there. His hands were there- fore tied; but he would himself pay the salaries of a judge and two counsellors if their Majesties would appoint them. Only, he adds, let due heed be given to his prerogatives in making the appointments. "I may be in error," he says, "but my judgment is that princes should show much coun- tenance to their governors as long as they maintain them in office, because when they fall into disrepute all is lost." In this, at least, Ferdinand and Isabella coincided with him. They proposed to remove the governor they were no longer disposed to support. Whether the King and Queen ever read these last letters of Columbus, or heard the declarations of his representa- tives, is problematical. The situation of their kingdoms was somewhat critical, and Fonseca seems to have had un- disputed control of the affairs of the Indies from the time 374 ^^^ LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Columbus sailed from San Lucar in '98, and to have managed them according to his own views. No hint can be found that anything the Admiral wrote or his commissioners said influenced their Majesties by so much as a hair's-breadth. Had he not existed, he could have been no more com- pletely ignored than he was during the last half of 1499 and the early months of 1500. Contract after contract was signed with privateers bound for the Indies, in open disre- gard of his rights. Lawsuits were instituted to collect the Crown's share of a commerce originated in flagrant violation of his exclusive privileges. One after another the solemn guarantees of 1493 and 1497 were vacated and cancelled. Navarrete publishes a Memorial existing among the Ar- chives of the Indies and written in 1500 "amending" the concessions which were granted to Columbus as inviolable. Some of these elaborately besworn instruments were un- ceremoniously rasgados, i.e. torn up; others "altered." Suggestively enough the first entry is the "tearing up" of the concession to the Admiral of exclusive navigation in the Ocean Sea, while the last greatly reduces the share granted to him in the profits derived from the lands he should dis- cover. Not less suggestive is the fact that these sweeping confiscations of his vested rights were the arbitrary acts of royal prepotencia ; the seizure by the heavy hand of irre- sponsible Might of the property of an unresisting and unin- formed absentee. If any consideration could augment the atrocious iniquity of the whole transaction, it is that the man who was thus boldly robbed by Ferdinand and Isabella was their partner and legal ward. Elizabeth's treatment of Raleigh was scrupulously honorable by comparison. During all this period, from the settlement with Roldan in SepteiTiber, '99, to the spring of the succeeding year, Columbus was energetically striving to bring order out of chaos. Dismissing, regretfully, his plans for the imme- diate exploration of the southern continent, he kept Don Bartholomew at his side to aid in the work of reorganizing the colony. Roldan claimed for himself and his partisans the allotment of the fertile lands of Xaragua and the ser- vices of King Behechio's subjects. The Admiral, unwilling THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 375 to concentrate the malcontents in a region so remote from his authority, gave them instead allotments in various dis- tricts within easier reach of San Domingo and the fortresses. To each settler, or group of two or three, he granted the services of a cacique and so many Indians, and in many instances the grants amounted to little less than the installa- tion of one or more of Roldan's ruffians as the proprietor of a native village and its plantations of yams and mandioca. It has been justly said that this was the beginning of that system of organized bondage which, under the names of repartimiento and inita, brought such incalculable misery upon the native population of Spanish x^merica. But it must not be forgotten that the exaction of compulsory service from the inhabitants of a newly discovered or conquered country, was an essential element in all the pro- grammes of territorial extension in that age. There was no cruelty intended or anticipated in the mere establishment of the system. It was originally intended, in all cases, to take the place of tribute. That many of the foulest outrages known to history flowed from its application to the native races of the New World, was due to the reckless inhu- manity of those who first settled it, not to the callousness or brutality of those who first incorporated the measure into their schemes of administration. Of all the late rebels, Roldan, as was natural, fared the best. Upon him were bestowed rich and populous lands in the neighborhood of Isabella, others in the famous Vega Real,^ and others yet in the coveted Xaragua. To him were given some of the small herd of cattle imported by the Admiral for breeding pur- poses, and, in short, the ex-rebel had only to make a request to have it allowed. It was of vital importance for the peace of the island that the arch mischief-maker should be bound to keep it, even if the chain was of ponderous gold. Hav- ing yielded so much to gain his policy, the Admiral was not likely to haggle over mere details of material advan- tage. He was bent on attaching Roldan to him until final instructions should come from Spain, and he succeeded. ^ Among his serfs, if so we may call them, was that cacique whose ears were cut off by Hojeda in '93, as related in Chapter VIII. 3/6 THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE ADMIRAL. Making deduction for a certain air of swagger and bluster which the reinstated Chief Justice could not resist the pleasure of exhibiting, the Admiral had no more useful lieutenant for the next year than his late antagonist. If he sometimes exceeded his powers, and assumed somewhat arrogantly to make appointments which were the preroga- tive of his chief, the latter winked at them and smothered the choler natural to his proud spirit. He was biding his time, as he had so often done before, and the bread of humiliation had lost something of its bitterness by frequent use. The news of Hojeda's arrival on the coast suggested more to the Admiral than a mere infraction of his rights as Viceroy of Hispaniola and the Indies. It was imperative that he should know the motive and plans of his late fol- lower. To ascertain these he promptly sent a couple of caravels along the southern coast, towards the west, and chose Roldan to conduct the expedition. The latter found Hojeda's squadron at anchor in the port of Yaquimo,^ its commander with a party of men being ashore cutting brazil- wood. As soon as he was notified by Roldan' s presence, Hojeda repaired to the anchorage and held an interview. To him the visitor was Chief Justice of the island, and when he demanded by what authority the strangers were on that coast, Hojeda unhesitatingly replied that he would exhibit his license as soon as it could be brought from on board his ship. He also yielded readily to Roldan' s de- mand that the four caravels should report without delay at San Domingo, and volunteered the statement that it had been his intention, in any case to go and place himself at the Admiral's orders, as in duty bound. If Roldan was possessed of even a modicum of humor, he must have been impressed with this declaration. As it was, he hastened 1 This is usually referred to by Columbus in his letters as " the Port of Brazil," from the quantity of that dye-wood found in the adjacent forests. The use of this word as a geographical designation several years before the discovery, by Vincent Yanez, of the country afterwards called by the same name, is not devoid of interest for the student of historical geography. THE FAITH OF PRINCES. 377 on board Hojeda's vessels and set himself to learn all he could. What he heard from his old associates — for there were many with Hojeda who, like him, had come out with the Admiral in '93 and returned since to Spain — was that it was common report at the Court and in Seville, that the Admiral was to be deprived of his rank as Viceroy, and that the Indies were thrown open to general commerce. Juan de la Cosa showed Roldan the license granted Hojeda by Bishop Fonseca, and gave him an account of the whole voyage, which makes a disagreeably "deadly parallel " with Vespucci's later account of his own alleged earlier expedi- tion. Possessed of this information Roldan wrote to the Admiral, by a native courier, that he had learned much more than he dared commit to paper, but would soon be with him to relate all. His own two caravels he ordered to load with brazil-wood and then return to San Domingo, and started himself for Xaragua, supposing that Hojeda would in due time sail up the coast to report to the Admiral as he had promised. Without following the f 01 tunes of these two worthies in detail, we may say that Hojeda, in- stead, sailed around to Xaragua and openly proclaimed to the few Spanish settlers in that region, that, if they would join him, he would lead them against the Admiral and extort from him all and more than Roldan had ever pro- posed to obtain. This soon reaching the latter' s ears, he joined together a body of forty or fifty of his companions and other settlers and set out to settle matters with Hojeda. For three or four months they negotiated, skirmished, mur- dered each other's followers, and marched and counter- marched, with alternating success, until Roldan by a simple stratagem got Hojeda within his power and exacted terms with which his prisoner was forced to comply. Under these he left Hispaniola with his four caravels, fairly well laden with brazil-wood and slaves, in February or March of 1500, and made his way back to Spain. ^ 1 In his account of his alleged 5f