^ ' « o S < > -^^ ''x^ .0 V " '"'' ,G^ -^ .^ ,\^ 4 o :^l ^fi^:- •^ .^^ 'V m^^^'^ ""'i? 1 f 1^^ FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER. C. F. GUNTHER, CHICAGO CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. PAINTED BY Sm ANTONIO MORO. C-hristopher Columbus A COMPLETE, COMPENDIOUS NARRATIVE OF HIS VOYAGES, DIS- COVERIES, AND GENERAL CAREER, COLLECTED FROM ALL AUTHENTIC SOURCES, MAKING A DIGEST OF ALL THE FACTS OBTAINABLE FROM EXTANT HISTORI- CAL, CRITICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND . . ^"- OTHER PUBLICATIONS ON 'J L^ THE SUBJECT. ) *i Oo BY Rev. J. H. LANGILLE, M. A., Professor of Natural Sciences and Author of " Our Birds in Their Haunts," etc., etc. PRINTED FOR SUBSCRIBERS. COPYRIGHT, WASHINGTON, D. C, 1903. By J.H.Langille <- V Two OoDles 3wfliv6(3 AUb 27 1904 rtooyrtjrtit Eirrv CLASS ^ XXo. No. 7 J- J" jr z- OOPY 8 THE PORTRAIT. We have had occasion to modify our opinion as expressed in the introduction, page 9, and so adopt the portrait owned by Mr. Gunther, of Chicago, which claims to have been painted by Moro, the original having been made in court dress for the Queen. A stronger argu- ment still is its resemblance to the pen-portrait of Columbus given by la Cosa in the margin of his famous map made in 1500. That celebrated mariner having a deft hand at drawing, and being inti- mate with Columbus, with whom he had sailed in both his first and second voyages, could scarcely fail of real portraiture. PR EFACE. This detailed narrative of the Life of Columbus, fully up to date, is not an epitome of intermediate literature, but the result of a careful collation of the most reliable contemporary authors as well as of the most recent critics. If the work seems to lack references in the form of foot-notes, citations properly acknt)wledged abound throughout, but are so wrought into the body of the text as to challenge the eye of the most careless reader. Then, too, this is not a controversial work. It neither propounds new theories nor claims new findings. During our recent Columbian excitement, many attacks were made on the great hero of discovery: most of them, however, were merely the revival of scandals, originated by jealous enemies during his life, but regarded as dead and buried already when the first historians undertook to record the wonderful achievements of their age, in which said Genoise was the leading and commanding figure. The claim for the Norsemen as discoverers of the New World, may be regarded as having finally settled into its proper niche. For our information thereto we are wholly dependent on the sagas, or legends, in the records of the Norse Kings, known as the Heimskringlas, those referring to Wineland having been reduced to writing more than 300 years after the events. These interesting documents, some of which are on elegant parchment and in admirable chirography, are sometimes much exagerated and glossed with superstition. Accord- ing to these, the brave Greenlanders first saw the North Atlantic Coast of our Continent as sailors lost in a storm, and afterwards made several attempts to find out where they had been; but if they did christen Cape Cod as Wineland and one or more babies were born there, what part of the world was ever the wiser or richer for it? — and where are the monuments of their colonization? The Dighton Rock, the Newport Tower, and the famous stone pile at Norembaga, have all in turn lost their charm as novelties in the Norse controversy, and now appear as mere commonplace affairs in the natural order of home events. All that can properly be denominated as colonial history of the Norsemen has finally taken refuge on the coasts of Greenland, where the ruins of churches, dwellings, and certain sub- stantial out-buildings are eloquent witnesses of an interesting colony long since as wholly of the past as the fossils of the primordial ages of geology. Could we know whence the aborigines came we might compare their arrival with that of the picturesque crews from Green- land, with this difference, however, in favor of the former, namely, that they came to stay and to develop a most interesting prehistoric career, while the latter have left us only a few lines in the "sagas." IV PREFACE. How all this aurora borialis coruscation vanishes when contrasted with Columbus' immortal voyage across the Sea of Darkness and the incalculable results which immediately followed! That voyage still stands out in the foreground as the grand scientific triumph of the age, and after four hundred years the consensus of the nations assigns to the unique Genoise alone, the unveiling to the civilized world of one half the globe. Of this notable career, Washington Irving gave to the English reader the first grand rehearsal, and while later biographers have brought out some fresh shadings of facts, even the search-light penetrations of Harrisse have simply confirmed his narrative. At this date, however, it is susceptible of improvement, (i) The author paraphrases freely in respect to critical points, where a verbatim of the original documents would be preferable. (2) In- cidents pertaining to topography, physical science and natural history — all so necessary to the proper illustration of the narrative — could not be given in his day as they are now known. (3) Documents of importance in that line have since been discovered. (4) The authen- ticity of some of the most important documents on which the career of Columbus is based have recently been ably challenged. To follow up the almost endless captious and frivolous cavilings in respect to our hero would require a critical apparatus about as extensive as the Century Dictionary, and in the end the mountain would have labored to bring forth a mouse; but teachers, students, and general readers need a simple statement of sifted and incontestible facts, without any aim at making out our subject either a saint or a pirate, but leaving the reader to judge his true merit. More than thirty years ago Henry Harrisse challenged the authen- ticity of Fernando Columbus's biography of his father, and as this document is one of the most detailed and spirited narrators of the Admiral, this attack by so eminent an authority was decidedly startling; but its arguments have been so thoroughly refuted by such authors as Henry Stevens, d'Avizac and Peragallo, that it is no longer capable of calling itp any extended controversy. Doubts having been raised, however, the general reader may be tempted to put an interrogation point at the end of any citation from that work, formerly regarded as the corner-stone of American history. It still deserves a passing notice. Probably no critic has read Harrisse's discussion without feeling that his arguments are decidedly strained, captious, and hypercritical — that he has been laboring at a sensa- tional crotchet, and that the discrepencies and inaccuracies which he so minutely portrays, are no greater than may be found in other historical works. One would expect that with the misapprehensions and detrac- tions in respect to Christopher Columbus, such a son as Fernando would naturally and necessarily do something to lift the cloud which PREFACE. V rested so unjustly upon the last days of his "illustrious father." Ac- cordingly, Gonzalo Argote de Molina, who may be said to have been almost contemporary, affirms that "a history of the Indies and of its conquest by his father, with an itinerary of his voyages," existed in manuscript in his day in the library of Fernando Columbus at Seville; and Las Casas, in his history of the Indies, cited it and quoted exten- sively from it, which was said to have then been in the Spanish lan- guage. According to tradition, by means of Luis Columbus, Fer- nando's nephew and the Admiral's grandson, this manuscript was passed into Genoa to Baliano de Fornari, a distinguished citizen of that republic, who, in turn, sent it to Venice for publication. Here Ulloa, a noted editor and publisher, issued it in Italian, in 15 71. No Spanish text is any longer known, and this Italian version is the only early form of that docuinent now extant. That it should not have been published in Spain is not at all remarkable, and Italy was the natural place for it to make its appearance in the public prints. Harrissee's theory, with its final admissions, is itself essentially a cancel of his challenge. If, as he surmises, Oliva, a clever author at that tima, wrote the Hisiorie" under the eyesof Fernando and by means of documents furnished by him," may we not fairly consider the former as merely the emanuensis of the latter? The most potent factor, however, in its support is the use made of it by Las Casas, who, as is well known, was intimately acquainted with the whole Columbus family and with Fernando in particular, and his frequent and full citations are so notably in accord with UUoa's version even, that Peragallo says, that "in collating these two authors there emerges a homogenityso perfect that one might be able with the terms of the Dominican Father, to find or replace throughout two-thirds, the original Spanish text of the historie of Fernando Columbus." The narrative throughout has the detailed finish and the vivid presentment of personal knowledge and point of fact; and if the writer is sometimes in earnest almost to the degree of acrimony in his defence, we must remember that he was the devoted son of a shamefully outraged father, whose notoriety was astonishing all Europe, and who was about to inaugurate the grandest secular era in the world's history. A book entitled "Toscanclli and Columbus," by Henry Vignaud, the secretary of ovir legation in Paris, is so far from accord with re- ceived opinion in respect to the line of facts treated by hiin as to de- mand something more than a passing notice. The letter purporting to be from Toscanilli to Columbus, in 1474, while the latter was in Lisbon, and which is supposed to have had a strong influence in con- firming nautical notions already forming in the mind of the latter, he regards as a fraud, and takes as the point of departure in his narra- tive He denies to Columbus the credit of having formed a plan of VI PREFACE. sailing westward to the Indies as the result of scientific deductions, or any definite cosmographical theory, and attributes his daring enterprise wholly to the old rumor of the worn-out pilot dying in his house at Porto Santo, after having been blown away to the parts afterwards known as the New World. The assvimed fraud of the Tosconilli letter he attributes to Bartholemew Columbus, the Ad- miral's brother, who is supposed to have gotten it up after the dis- covery as a defence of the Admiral against the damaging influence believed to have arisen from the famous pilot story, and he also in- culpates Las Casas as being in complicity with the fraud. The at- tributing of Columbus' famous undertaking to the information im- parted by the dying pilot, was elaborately worked up by Aaron Good- rich in his maliciotis caricature of the famous navigator some time ago, but no one has heretofore thought of challenging the authen- ticity of the Toscanilli letter, inuch less of attributing it as a fraudu- lent production to Bartholemew Columbus, or of suspecting Las Casas as being party to any such fraud. This last part of the scheme, then, is the only one that can lay claim to originality; and on the boldness of the undertaking alone, will the author have to depend for his notoriety. In the propounding of a view so diametrically opposed to received opinion one naturally expects the disclosure of some new document- ary evidence, which should be commensurate with so venturesome an attack tipon the honor and veracity of great men. This, however, is wholly wanting. No new evidence whatever is cited. The author simply claims a new reading of the facts familiar to the historic world for nearly four hundred years. Fernando Columbus cites Toscanelli's letter as a potent factor in the cosmographical theory of his father; and Las Casas, in writing his " Historia" says that he liadit before him in the Spanish, as also the Toscanilli map. Its authenticity, however, is best attested by the copy in the Admiral's own hand- writing on the fly-leaf of one of his most thoroughly used books still extant in Seville. It has been objected that the letter in question is too indifferent in its style of composition to have originated with one of Toscanilli's supposed culture; but Prof. Wilhelm Meyer, whom German scholars have made the critical reference on this subject, reports that there is nothing in the lan- guage of that document "inconsistent with the supposition that it was written by a humanist." As to the negative plea, that it left no trace in the archives of the time, Portuguese writers had every motive for being mum on this subject. That their nation, which led the world in the great enterprises of nautical discovery, should have failed to grasp so magnificent an opportunity as Columbus' proposition proved to be, was their one great source of mortification, the cloud upon their glory; and if it is claimed that there is no trace PREFACE. vii left in Florence of any such cosmographical speculations on the part of Toscanilli as his supposed letter would imply, it may be noted that Hercules D'este, Duke of Ferrera,on hearing the news of Columbus' discovery, at once requested his ambassador at Florence to ascertain from Toscanilli's nephew, who inherited the papers of that savant, whether these contained notes of islands such as were now discovered. As to the much vaunted Py/c'f'5 5 of learned men, had soon passed away, like the wake of his little caravels in the storm, other keels were plowing the unknown seas, and before the men who knew him well had passed away, the vast extent and incalculable resources of the New World began to appear. Then, as Humboldt has fitly noticed, all departments of literature received a new and immense impulse. Historians were ready to record the INTR OD UC TION. 3 wonders of the Indies, the glory of the Spanish sover- eigns who had patronized their discovery, and the voy- ages of the Admiral who had given his life to the de- velopment and realization of the new idea. Peter Martyr, an Italian, who had been attracted to the Spanish court in the service of education and litera- ture, not only referred to Columbus in his numerous letters to distinguished men — eight hundred of which are preserved — but set his facile pen to work to write a regular history of the Indies, in which Columbus was allowed an ample space. His work, now known as " Decades of the Ocean," was translated into English by Richard Eden, in 1555, and may be found in some of our largest libraries. Andres Bernoldez, curate of Palacios, who had en- tertained Columbus for months, as his guest, on his re- turn from his second voyage, has given us the result of their fireside chats in his history of Ferdinand and Isa- bella. This work is one of the best authorities on that second voyage. The part pertaining to Columbus was translated into English by George Ticknor, Esq., and published in the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 8, pp. 5-68. Oviedo, who had been associated with Columbus's sons, as page to Prince Juan, wrote a General History of the Indies, in which he gave the most respectful at- tention to the Admiral. He does not seem to have made the most thorough use of the documentary resources then available, but his conclusions are wxll made. Nor does he seem to have been biased by an undue admira- tion for his hero. The venerable Eas Casas, missionary to the Indies, 4 INTR ODUC TION. and finally made bishop, also wrote a history of that New World, including a biography of Columbus, which is considered indispensable to the critical student of his- tory. His father and uncle both sailed with the Admi- ral on his second voyage, and he himself accompanied him on his last and most trying voyage to Central America, Having received from his father an Indian slave as a servant, while he was a student at the Univer- sity of Salamanca, and having been obliged to give him up when Isabella returned certain of the enslaved In- dians to their native homes, his humane heart was opened to their unparalleled sufferings, and he became the champion of their cause to the end of his long and useful life. His great work on the Indies was too honestl}^ writ- ten, and gave too full an account of the rascalities of the Spaniards in the New World, to admit of its pub- lication in Spain till 1875 ; but in manuscript it had long been a most important work of reference, and as such was made a main reliance by Washington Irving. We are indebted to this production for all we know of Columbus's Journal of his first vo3'age. Las Casas having made a full abstract of it. The Journal itself is now no longer known. An almost equally impor- tant authority is the work of this bishop, on the second and third voyages. He had access to many docu- ments and letters which cannot now be found. Not the least in importance is the biography of Columbus written by his son, Fernando, who professes to have recorded onl}^ what he knew personally of his father's career, and what he derived from his father's writings then before him. The authenticity of this INTRODUCTION. 5 work has recently been challenged by the indefati- gable Harrisse ; but he has not succeeded in shaking the faith of scholars in that vivid and interesting nar- rative, which has much internal evidence in its favor. As this son was but four years of age when the Admiral went on his first voyage, his personal knowledge covered only the latter part of his father's career. The critical student, therefore, will find him rather vague and un- certain as to that period. In admission of this he says : "The Admiral having gained some insight in sciences began to apply himself to the sea, and made some voyages to the east and west, of which and many other things of those his first days I have no perfect knowl- edge, because he died at such time as I, being confined by filial duty, had not the boldness to ask him to give an account of those things ; or, to speak the truth, being but young, I was at that time far from being troubled with such thoughts." Fernando's biography may be read in English in many of our large libraries. An indispensable work to the thorough study of Co- lumbus is that complete collection of of&cial documents of the transactions of the sovereigns of Spain in con- nection with his voyages, called the Codex Diplomat- icus. It also can be read in English, under the title, " Memoirs of Columbus, by the Decurions of Genoa." Man}'- other works might be mentioned, but these are the most important. Recent works, such as the extensive and, on the whole, excellent work of Irving, have derived incal- culable aid from the great documentary collections of Muiioz, and Navarrete, which, we regret to say, are not available to English readers ; though Major in his 6 INTR ODUC TION. Select Letters, and Harrisse in his Notes on Columbus, liave given us not a few of the documents and letters in our own language. In the earlier half of this century a querulous work, entitled "The So-Called Christopher Colum- bus," b}^ Aaron Godrich, appeared as a notable curi- osity in literature. Living men may hate each other very intensely ; but how a man in his grave nearly four hundred years can be so spitefully hated and horribly caricatured by a recent inhabitant of this New World is inexplicable, to say the least. As another extreme, this century has produced a school of writers, led by Count Roselly de Lorgues, of France, who can discern not so much as a fault or foible in this man, chosen of God and upheld by miracles, whom the Pope should recognize by saintly canonization. But the candid inquirer must admit that with all his greatness, and piety according to the religion of that period, the Admiral had his fair share of faults. We' have recently had some very scholarly works on Columbus and his age in this country. That by Justin Winsor is one of the most critical and exhaustive in its ransacking of resources which any country is likely to produce on any character; but it is not probable that unprejudiced readers will recognize such a very great flood of new light in the unfavorable view given by that author as to the moral character of the Admiral. And many parts of the narrative, in respect to the treatment received by the great discoverer from his adopted nation, and the unparalleled difficulties he encountered in his government of a new world, the humane reader will in- INTRODUCTION. 7 terline with sentiments of compassion and charitable judgment. Mr. John Fisk's " Discovery of America " contains an account of Columbus which every critical student should read. It is the result at once of the most thorough re- search and the most candid and generous judgment. What was the personal appearance of Columbus ? How is it that there is so little resemblance in his various portraits ? Mr. William Blory Curtis, an acknowledged authority on this matter, says : " The most reliable au- thorities — and the subject has been under discussion for two centuries — agree that there is no tangible evidence to prove that the face of Columbus was ever painted or sketched or graven during his life. His portrait has been painted, like that of the Madonna and those of the saints, by many famous artists, each dependent upon verbal descriptions of his appearance by contemporane- ous writers, and each conveying to the canvas his own conception of what the great seaman's face must have been ; but it may not be said that any of the portraits are genuine, and it is believed that all of them are more or less fanciful." We have, however, verbal descriptions of his physi- ognomy and personal appearance by five distinguished personages, who knew him intimately. His son, Fer- nando, says : " The Admiral was a well-made man, of a height above the medium, with along face, and cheek- bones somewhat prominent ; neither too fat nor too lean. He had an aquiline nose, light-colored eyes, and a ruddy complexion. In youth he had been fair, and his hair was of a light color, but after he was thirty years old it turned white. In eating and drinking he was an ex- g INTR ODUC TION. ample of sobriety, as well as simple and modest about his person." Oviedo, a distinguished Spanish historian, who had seen Columbus at different times during his youth and early manhood, says : " Columbus was a man of honest parentage and sober life. He had a noble bearing, good looks, and a height above the medium, which was well carried. He had sharp eyes, and the other parts of his visage were well proportioned. His hair was a bright red, his complexion flushed and marked with freckles, His language was easy, prudent, showing a great genius, and he was gracious in manner." Bernaldez, a devout ecclesiastic, curate of Palacios, and biographer of the king and queen, knew Colum- bus well, having entertained him as a guest for quite a time, just after his second voyage. He describes him as " a man of fine stature, strong of limb, with an elon- gated visage, fresh and ruddy of complexion, marked with freckles. He had a noble bearing, was dignified of speech, and bore a kindly manner." Peter Martyr, a distinguished man in learning and literature at the court of Spain during the solicitations and voyages of Columbus, and Las Casas, the great missionary to the Indians and the humane advocate of their cause, both describe the Admiral in language very similar to the statements quoted. The latter tells us that his keen eyes were gray, that his countenance was sad, and that, while he spoke fervently and fluently, he was inclined to be reticent. Naturall}^ of an impulsive temper, his anger rose quickly ; but all his moods and operations of mind were tempered with a high sense of justice. INTR OD UC TION. ^ Of all the portraits claiming to represent Columbus, the Giovian group is best sustained by criticism. It is known that Paolo Giovio, archbishop of Nocera, whose wealth was sufficient to indulge his literar}^ and artistic tastes, and who was a cotemporary of the Admiral, had a portrait of him in the magnificent art collection of his palace on the banks of Lake Como. Five paintings and one engraving,^ all resembling each other quite per- ceptibl}^, lay claim to be the original Giovian portrait, and they all conform sufficiently to the descriptions above quoted. It would seem that either some one of them is the original from which all the rest have been derived, or the prototype from which they have been taken is lost. Many other portraits lay claim to authority, repre- senting the physiognomies of nearly all the nationali- ties of Western Europe. It is pretty certain that any portrait with a mustache, or beard, or a ruff about the neck is of doubtful likeness, and certainly those which conform most closely to the descriptions given by writers who knew him are most entitled to our confidence. The Lotto portrait, just commanding a good deal of attention, is not altogether unlike the Giovian type, and has many points worthy of consideration ; but it does not promise to take the place of that very interesting group. Should Columbus be considered the rightful discov- erer of America ? Is the quadricentennial exhibition about to be held by the Republics of America, and, in fact, by the civilized world, a grand reality^ or is it a ^ See Mr. Curtis's very interesting article in the Cosmopolitan, ^^nwv^ry and February, 1892. I o INTR OD UC TION. magnificent sham ? A good deal has been written and said on this point during the last few years ; but the fact that everything is moving harmoniously toward that Great Western City in which the World's Fair is to take place shows plainly enough that men in general are still holding to the old opinion. Columbus is looked upon to-day as the revealer of this half of the globe. Not to speak of the claims put forth for the Egyp- tians, the Canaanites, and the Chinese as the original discoverers and colonizers of America, we will begin with those of the Norsemen. That these brave sea- men made various voyages to the North Atlantic coast in the last part of the tenth and the first part of the eleventh century is now too clear to admit of a doubt ; but can those voyages, which left no trace of colouixa- tion in the land itself, revealed nothing to the world, and added nothing to the convenience and commerce of the world, — can such voyages be properly called a discovery? The vague accounts found in the Sagas, of the lands discovered by chance by the Norsemen, supposed to refer to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the New England coast, will not soon take the place of the well-authenticated voyages of Columbus, con- ducted by a strictly scientific method, and obviously not originated by intelligence gained from Iceland. Between this period and the date of the first voyage of Columbus, says R. H. Major, "the coast of America is reported to have been visited by the Arabians of the Spanish peninsula, the Welsh, the Venetians, the Por- tuguese, and also by a Pole in the service of Denmark." The vagfaries of these claims we have not time to dis- INTR OD UC TION. 1 1 cuss in a work which is supposed to appeal to the com- mon sense of the people rather than to hair-splitting speculations. In view of all the different parties claiming to have seen, by the chance of overwhelming storms or other- wise, the shores of America before the landing of Colum- bus, perhaps we would better end the debate as to pri- ority of discovery by concluding that the aborigines first found the Western Continent, and rest our claim in favor of Columbus in the fact that he gave Amej-ica to the zuorld ! Just here we are reminded forcibly of the words of Peter Mart3^r, who says : " The reverend and thankful antiquity was accustomed to esteem those men as gods by whose industry and magnanimity such lands and regions were discovered as were unknown to their pre- decessors. But unto us, having only one God, whom we honor in triplicit}^ of person, this resteth, that albeit we do not worship that kind of men with divine honor, yet we do reverence them, and worthily marvel at their noble acts and enterprises." CHAPTER I. THE BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. ENOA, more ancient than Rome, and one of the most charmingly located cities in the world, is the birthplace of Christopher Co- lumbus. Though much disputed formerly, this is now made sure beyond a doubt. Henry Harrisse, who may be called the ultimate authority on such points, in the life of the Admiral, says :^ " Columbus's father, Domenico, who, let it be said, lived long enough to hear of the great discovery accomplished by his son, since he died in 1494, called himself a Genoese in four deeds executed at Savona, February and June, 1473, August, 1484, and November, 1491. So did Columbus's youngest brother, Giacomo, in an instrument in writing, dated September, 1484. These documents, all quoted b}^ Tiraboschi, are in the notarial archives of Genoa. Among his con- temporaries, Giustiniani, Bernaldez, Gallo, Senarega, Cabot, Geraldinus, and the compilers of the PcBsi novame?tti and Itinerareum^ all call him a Genoese." Again, page 70, after discussing at length the claims for other places, he says : " To close this exciting debate we propose to quote Columbus himself, thinking that his opinion on the subject is entitled to some considera- tion. In the will or deed dated February, 1498, con- ferring sundry titles, a majorat^ &c.^ upon his descend- ants, he sa3^s in so many words : ' I was born in Genoa ; ' * Notes on Coliimbue, p. 63. 14 DATE OF COLUMBUS'S BIRTH. and speaking of that city he adds : ' I came from there, and there was I born.'" But to ascertain the date of Columbus's birth has been still more difficult. Bernaldez, the cura de los Palacios, who knew Columbus well, says in his quaint way : " And this same Admiral Christopher Columbus, of a marvellously honored memory, a native of the province of Milan, the discoverer of the Indies, being in Valla- dolid, in the month of May, died in a good old age, being seventy years old or thereabouts. Our Lord pardon him. Amen." Therefore, Irving, Humboldt, and others put his birth at 1435- Others, by an arrangement of inferences from some of Columbus's letters, making a supposed connec- tion which is not very conclusive, have placed the date at 1 45 5-' 5 6. These two dates, about twenty years apart, are both at variance with certain well-authenticated statements in Columbus's letters. An examination of the notarial records by the Mar- quis Stagliano, apart from all historical statements, would place the date of the birth of the great discoverer somewhere from October 29th, 1446, to October 29th, 145 1. Henry Harrisse thinks it can be fixed between March 15th, 1446, and March 20th, 1447. And this date accords precisely with those quite definite state- ments in Columbus's letters which were so notably at variance with the dates above given. In his book of the first voyage (1492) he says : " I was upon the sea twenty- three years without being off it any time worth the speaking of." Again he says " that he took to the sea at fourteen years of age and ever after followed it." We know that he left Lisbon in 1484, and until 1492 was DATE OF COLUMBUS'S BIRTH. 15 soliciting aid for his voyage, and so was not on tlie sea during that time. Subtracting the sum of 23 and 14 from 1484, and allowing some months more or less at each end of the periods covered by these figures, we easily get the date of Harrisse, which includes that of Stagliano — namely, 1446-4'/, or thereabout. But we can make out still another line of confirma- tion of the above date. In 1501 he wrote to the Spanish sovereigns, " I went to sea very young and have continued it to this day." Now this term, very young, is, as we know, 14 years. He then says : " It is now forty years that I have been sailing to all those parts at present frequented." Here the word "sailing" is used more generally, and evidently includes the years he spent in Spain in the interests of his first voyage. Add then 40 and 14, and subtract the sum from 1501, and we are back again to 1447 by exact figures ; and by allowing a few months at both ends of the periods given wx might easily make it 1446.^ Here, then, by three independent lines of calcula- tion, we have the birth of Columbus at i446-'47. And let it be noted that these lines, one by means of the notarial acts, and two from the internal evidence of the Admiral's own letters, are the most trustworthy possible. Also, as the language of Bernaldez, on which the earliest date has been founded, is not very definite, and as Columbus turned gray j^oung, at thirty years of age, and must have been much broken by his life of extreme hardships and great anxiety, his age at sixty might easily have been mis- ^ In the famous Memoirs of Columbus published by the Decurions ot Genoa, the date of Iiis birth is given as eithei' 1446 or 1447. 1 6 PARENTAGE AND HOME. taken for seventy ; but the same sort of mistake could scarcely kave covered the twenty years from fifty to sevent}^^ This date, as given above, accords with that given by Muiioz, whose careful research and noble candor entitle him to special credit.^ Genoa has many statues of distinguished personages and heroes, along the line of her great antiquity; but that which the traveller from every part of the world stops to gaze upon is the imposing figure of Co- lumbus, elevated on its high and elaborate pedestal, in the public promenade. Piazza de Acqua, with the statue of America kneeling at his feet. Scarcely could this distinguished man of modern times have opened his eyes upon a more delightsome landscape or a prouder city. But he does not seem to have cared particularly for the forest-clad slopes and rock}?- peaks of the Apen- nines, curving like an amphitheatre around Genoa, nor for the snowy peaks of the Alps beyond. He looked out upon the sea, whence came the ships from all parts of the known world ; and the varied costumes and the jargon of many languages in the harbor were, to his boyhood curiosity, a revelation of the wide world beyond the walls and moles of his native city. He probabl}^ never saw the inside of one of the 1 On some of the points above given see R. H. Major's Select Letters of Columbus, pp. 33 and 34 of Introduction. After all, it must be admitted that these lines of evidence concerning the date of Columbus's birth, though highly probable, are not absolutely conclu- sive. If, for instance, the 40 years spent on the sea should not include the 7-8 years of sojourn in Spain, the date implied by Bernaldez, and adopted by Irving and Humboldt, would be sufficiently accurate. ® The figure 28, as representing the age of Columbus when he came to Spain, and which is found in one of his letters, is evidently a mistake. PARENTAGE AND HOME. 17 many marble palaces which looked out so proudly on the harbor, nor could he have been very familiar with the great centres of commerce, representing in Genoa the arts and products of the civilized world. He was the son of a wool-carder^ — in fact, belonged to an an- cestry of wool-carders ; and he grew up amidst the incessant industries and careful economies of frugal life. We are not to associate his childhood, how- ever, with a pinching poverty or the squalor of low life. His father, Domeuico Columbo — Columbus is the latiniiicd form of the name — probably began married life in his own house, in the wool-weavers' quarter in Genoa, having also a shop and an independent busi- ness on a moderate scale. Possibly he had a small cloth factory with a journeyman and an apprentice. A careful examination of the notarial acts shows that he moved to Savona in 1470. Here he and his son Christopher were known as weavers ; but the latter dis- appears from the notarial records after 1473. Domen- ico kept a house of entertainment and speculated in small landed properties. But fortune does not seem to have smiled on this combination of enterprises, for in after years he needed Christopher's aid, and at least one of his lots remained unpaid for at his death. Dur- ing the fifteen years spent here he lost his wife, whose maiden name was Susannah Fontanarossa, and whom he married in the country lying east of Genoa, called Bisagno. Such, as nearly as we can judge, was the youthful * In the present state of manufacturing, \soo\-carding and woo\-combing are very different processes. Whether the Columbuses were wool-carders or wool-combers, is very difficult to determine. 1 8 FRENCH FIR A TE S NO T HIS REL A TIONS, home apd sucli were tlie circumstances of young Cliris- toplier, the oldest of four sons, of whom two, Bartholo- mew and James (Diego in Spanish) , were intimately as- sociated with his fortunes in the New World ; the other, John Pelligrino, was of delicate health and died in early manhood. He had also one sister, named Bianchinetta, whose husband, Bavarillo, was a cheesemonger, or some say a butcher. They had one child. Probably a little more light on the humble home of Domenico Columbo would disclose a family of no ordi- nary moral and intellectual status , for such a trio as the Columbus brothers known in the New World could not have sprung from an indifferent household. It has been customary to take a somewhat broad view of the ancestral line, showing a view of intellect and a bold heroism as a more or less common inheritance for sev- eral generations. A supposed relative of the same name, presumably a great-uncle, had distinguished himself, sometimes as master of his own squadron, sometimes as an admiral in the service of the republic of Genoa. Also a nephew of his, Colombo el Mezo, who commanded a squadron under the French king against Naples, is described as " a famous corsair, so terrible for his deeds against the infidels that the Moorish mothers used to frighten their children in the cradle with his name." These mariners, noted among the nations as pirates, were well known under the French flag and were called Casanove or Coulon.^ " To determine the exact rela- tionship between the various French and Italian Colom- bos or Coulons of the fifteenth century would be hazard- ous. It is enough to say that no evidence that stands a ^ Sometimes given Cassaneuve. FERNANDO NOTWITHSTANDING. 19 critical test remains to connect these famous mariners with the line of Christopher Columbus." So concludes Justin Winsor, after the most critical examination of the latest authorities, including the searching works of Harrisse. And surely neither of these authors can be charged wath partiality in favor of Columbus. It is the confusing of the great discoverer with these noted cor- sairs above referred to, and making him responsible for at least sharing in their piratical excursions, which has marked him down as a "//r^/^." It is Columbus's own son, Fernando, who is particu- larly responsible for initiating this noted biographical blunder. Confessing ignorance as to the early part of his father's life, he adopted this tale of his piratical re- lationships on the authority of one Sabillicus, who is likewise the sole voucher for the startling story concern- ing the escape of Columbus from the burning galleys in the Venetian conflict, on an oar. This piratical encoun- ter, well authenticated in the state papers of Spain and Venice, took place in 1485, when Columbus had already left Lisbon, and must have been too much enwrapped in his great scheme to be engaged in any such trifling and predatory affair. Fernando, having grown up amidst courtiers, was evi- deutly sensitive as to any insinuation concerning the humble origin of his father, and would rather associate him with first-class pirates than with an ancestry of wool-carders. " No great acumen, however, is neces- sary," says Harrisse, " to discover that Fernando, as re- gards his ancestors, either in the direct line or other- wise, had very vague and unreliable notions. For in- stance, he includes in his pedigree the procurator Junius 20 COLUMBUS A SELF-MADE MAN. Colonus, who lived under the Emperor Claudius. Now, Colonus was not his name, but Cilo. He then states that his father belonged to the family of a celebrated admiral in the service of the king of France, often called Colon or Colombo ; but the fact is that this Colombo was simply a Frenchman by the name of Caseneuve." Equally useless would it be to try to connect our hero with the more honorable families of the Colombos of Genoa and vicinity, since Harrisse finds trace of at least two hundred persons of that name in Liguria alone, in the time of Columbus, who were in nowise con- nected with him. One is forcibl}^ reminded of a cer- tain saying in the " History " attributed to his son Ferdinand. " I think it better," says he, " that all the honor be derived to us from his person than to go about to inquire whether his father was a merchant or a man of quality, who kept his hawks and hounds." Christopher Columbus must be ranked with self- made men, who find their schools and schoolmasters mainly in the course of events, and acquire rich stores of systematic knowledge solely by dint of personal effort. But his school advantages in boyhood must have been fair, — must at least have laid the founda- tions for the wonderful superstructures of both gen- eral and special knowledge and information reared in after years. " It has of late been ascertained," says Winsor, " that the wool-combers of Genoa established local schools for the education of their children, and the young Christopher may have had his share of their instruction in addition to whatever he picked up at his trade, which continued, as long as he remained in Italy, that of his father." One who read so ex- THE BOr BEFORE THE MAST. 21 tensively as did Columbus must have read easily and with pleasure ; and the samples of his handwriting which have come down to us would indicate a facile and most graceful penmanship. If the various pen- drawings attributed to him are authentic, and they certainly date far back and are unique, he must have had, as Winsor says, " a deft hand, too, in making a spirited sketch with a few strokes." The various ac- counts of his making maps and charts, even as a means of livelihood, necessarily imply skill in draw- ing and probably in coloring. That he had a fair use of Latin, that he was a practical mathematician, es- pecially a nautical astronomer, and not only abreast but beyond the geographical attainments of his time, is obvious. That he deligJiied in geography and all branches of knowledge related to navigation is a necessary inference from the facts and course of his life. How much of all this varied accumulation of knowledge is to be attributed to the taste of university life at Pavia, ascribed by the ''''History^'' to his tender 3^ears of, sa}', from ten to twelve, must, at present, re- main a myster3\ Certain it is, according to his own statement, that he began a seafaring life at the mere boyhood period of fourteen. Imagine him then — "red- haired," " with a ruddy complexion" marked with the distinct freckles which a strong sea-air would depict on such a face, with a trace, perhaps, of that inflamma- tion of the eyes which troubled him so seriously in after years, slender, active and enthusiastic, and we shall no doubt have a fairly correct picture of this boy before the mast, bound for any part of the Mediter- ranean, or even the wide and unknown sea outside the 22 EARL r LIFE A T SEA. straits. Pictures of wild adventures on the sea fed his ardent imagination, and that spirit of discovery which was the characteristic of the age must have made the blood tingle in his veins. Not only the severity of the elements, — the storm and the tempest — did he antici- pate, for had he not listened to many a bloody tale of piracy, then so common as to be almost legalized ? If he were on board the ship of some line of traf&c, he would know that whole fleets of marauders might await her, and that there might be sea-fights as terri- ble as naval conflicts in regular warfare. Indeed the ship would be heavily armed and equipped, and every sailor would need the spirit and skill of the soldier. As there was no very nice distinction in those days between proper naval enterprise and privateering, and piracy, his judgment would not discriminate as to voyages and skirmishes which would be far from rep- utable in the clearer light of these days. But it must be left to the imagination to fill out the biographical details from now on till Columbus appears again as a wool-weaver in company with his father at Savona, from 1470 -'73, for the few striking incidents which have been wont to come into line to fill up the gap here, formerly supposed to be much larger than it now appears in the light of recent findings, are likely to prove doubtful, to say the least, as far as their relation to Columbus is concerned. In a letter of Columbus, quoted by his son, he says : " It happened to me that King Rene, whom God has taken to himself, sent me to Tunis to take the galeasse called Fernaiidina^ and being near to the island of St. Peter, by Sardinia, I was told there were two ships and THE EXPEDITION FOR RENE. 23 a barack with the said galeasse, which discomposed my men, and they resolved to go no further, but to return to Marseilles for another ship and more men ; and I, perceiving there was no going against their wills with- out some contrivance, yielded to their desires, and, chang- ing the point of the needle, set sail when it was late, and next morning at break of day we found ourselves near Cape Carthagena, all aboard thinking we had certainly been sailing for Marseilles." It is difficult for critics to place this event anywhere in the life of Rene without making Columbus too young to command a ship, unless we place the date of his birth earlier than the notarial records or the clearest state- ments in his letters would imply. It must be said, however, that though Rene retired from active life too soon to allow the above incident a convenient date in the early history of Columbus, he lived till 1480. Possibly some incident connected Avith the fortunes of his regal famih^, and in which he may have felt an interest, would account for the above state- ment. In the Admiral's biography, given as an introduction to the famous Codex Diplomaticus, as published by the Decurions of Genoa, this expedition for Rene is supposed to be in 1473. Is it in this period of the life of Columbus we are to place that trip to the Grecian archipelago, when, in the island of Chios, he saw the mastic gathered ? CHAPTER n. COLUMBUS IN PORTUGAL. HE years spent by Columbus in Portugal must have been most important as a preparation for bis momentous undertaking in after years. Here, surely, did be find his school and his school- masters. In order, therefore, to understand this period of his life we must recall what had been going on in Portugal for some time, and what was still in progress, as well as what was yet to be accomplished. Neither can we account for Columbus and his grand concep- tion of a western route to India, unless we shall have first made the acquaintance of the noble Prince Henry of Portugal and his persevering enterprises on the west coast of Africa. This son of the Portuguese king, John I., and the English princess, Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, was born March 4th, 1394. While yet a mere youth he dis- tinguished himself on the Barbary coast, in the wars waged by his father against the Moors, and resulting in the conquest of Ceuta in 14 15. While on this expedi- tion, by means of his conversations with the Moors, he conceived of great discoveries to be made on the west coast of Africa ; and this thought lodged in his youthful mind became the germ of one of the greatest enterprises of all time. Cape Nam, well up on the northwest coast of Africa, was the farthest known point. The name, which meant " W6'/," was forcibly played upon in the old PRINCE HENRT. 25 proverb of that day : " He who goes to Cape Not will either return or not." That is, if he did not become ter- rified and come back he would surely be lost. Immediately after the African conquest Prince Henry established a sort of nautical school at Sagres, near Cape Vincent, on the southwest coast of Spain ; and from thence sending out ships commanded by the ablest sea- men he could find, he undertook to solve the problem of Cape Not. His college and observatory were a sort of factory or workshop, in which maps, charts, and nauti- cal instruments of all kinds were made and constantly improved. An improved use of the compass was now introduced into Europe, and the astrolabe, the original of the more modern quadrant, became common. In time, notwithstanding the old proverb. Cape Not was passed, and the ships pushed on to Cape Bojador which means the out-stretcher. This now became the point of danger which no one dared to pass. Its desert coast, lashed by a tremendous surf and studded with perilous rocks, stood like a mysterious barrier forbidding further progress. Then, did not philosophers teach that just beyond this cape and underneath the equator the waters boiled under the blazing sun, and that no living thing could pass this line which divided the two hemi- spheres ? After the failure of man}^ a persevering effort, Gil Hannes finallj^ returned in triumph, to the unuttera- ble joy of seamen and cosmographers. With an unpar- alleled heroism he had doubled the storm}^ cape and satisfied the world that the sea was navigable and that men might live under the equator. Ver}^ soon, then, the equatorial line itself would be reached. Now the noble prince was much encouraged and be- 26 PRINCE HENRT. lieved more than ever that the geographical ideas of Ptolemy aud of Hipparchus before him, making the At- lantic a vast inland sea, surrounded by a southern junc- tion of Africa and Asia, were incorrect ; and that Africa was a continent, around which Budoxus might have sailed from the Red Sea, and Hanno, the Carthaginian, from the Straits of Gibraltar, as had been affirmed hy the ancients.^ Thus, in 1434, when Henry was about at life's meridian, he had fairly established the success of his great enterprise, and put to silence the mutterings of the Portuguese nation, who had about concluded that it was but the part of folly to spend so much precious time and money in an undertaking which progressed so slowly and brought such poor returns. Now that such visions of success rose before him on the unknown continent, he applied to the Pope to grant to Portugal all the territory she might discover from Cape Bojador to the Indies. Meanwhile, in passing down the coast, Porto Santo, Madeira, and the Azores had been brought to light. In 1445 one of the Prince's vessels made the immense voyage to Cape Verde. Five years later the Cape Verde Islands were discovered, and when Henry died, in 1460, his fleets had reached Sierra Leone. He was every way a noble man, concentrating a life-work in one great purpose, and establishing a new and most important era in the world's history. Now Portugal was not only renowned for her enter- prise in navigation, but was developing a most lucra- tive business in gold-dust, ivory, and slaves. Men had long since learned to strive for golden gains, but 1 Whether these old-time heroes did perform this feat in navigation or not is still a question. KING JOHN II. 27 the glorious light of human freedom had not yet dawned. Prince Henry had thoroughly aroused the nation ; the new enterprises which he had inaugurated had be- come well established, and so King Alphonso, his nephew, and afterward John II., continued to push their fleets down the coast of the Dark Continent until Vasco de Gama turned the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. Thus in about eighty years the Portuguese had explored this coast of some five thousand miles. Meanwhile Lisbon had become the centre and resort of cosmographers and navigators. Among others to be found here was Bartholomew Columbus, said to have been engaged in making globes, maps, charts, and nau- tical instruments. But how, and when, did Christo- pher Columbus first make his appearance in this his most convenient place in all the wide world? We might easily conceive of his coming here by a mental and moral gravitation, but what says the record ? His son Fernando, in his well-known biography of his father, brings him to these parts by means of a striking incident, as follows : " Whilst the Admiral sailed with the aforesaid Columbus the younger, which was a long time,^ it fell out that, understanding the before-mentioned four great Venetian galleys were coming from Flanders, they went out to seek and found them beyond Lisbon, about Cape St. Vincent, which is in Portugal, wdiere, falling to blows, they fought furiously and grappled, beating one another from vessel to vessel with utmost rage, making use, not only of their weap- ^ We see, here, that the author was fully of the conviction that his father had been largely trained under " Columbus the pirate " in his early adven- tures at sea. 28 A CONFLA GRA TION A T SEA. ons, but artificial fire-works ; so that after they had fought from moruing till evening, and abundance were killed on both sides, the Admiral's ship took fire, as did a great Venetian galley, which being fast grappled together with iron hooks and chains, used to this pur- pose by seafaring men, could neither of them be re- lieved because of the confusion there was among them, and the fright of the fire, which in a short time was so increased that there was no other remedy but for all that could to leap into the water, so to die sooner rather than bear the torture of the fire. But the Admiral being an excellent swimmer, and seeing himself two leagues or a little farther from land, laying hold of an oar which good fortune oifered him, and sometimes resting upon it, sometimes swimming, it pleased God, who had preserved him for greater ends, to give him strength to get to the shore, but so tired and spent with the water that he had much ado to recover him- self. And because it was not far from Lisbon, where he knew there were many Genoese, his countrymen, he went away thither as fast as he could, where, being- known by them, he was so courteously received and entertained that he set up house and married a wife in that city." ^ A noted incident, corresponding in every way to the above account, is known to have occurred in 1485. ^ Concerning this same adventure Fernando Columbus sajs : "Jerome Donate was sent embassador from Venice into Portugal to return thanks in the name of the republic to King John II., because he had clothed and re- lieved all the crew belonging to the aforesaid great galleys, which were coming from Flanders, relieving them in such a manner as they were enabled to re- turn to Venice, they having been overcome by the famous corsair, Columbus the younger, near Lisbon, who had stripped and turned them ashore." COLUMBUS THE PIRATE. 29 Rawdon Brown, in his " Calendar of State Papers in the Archives of Venice," gives the diplomatic corre- spondence between France and Venice, the latter demanding restitntion from the former, under whose auspices the piratical expedition had been made. But as this incident occurred after Columbus had left Por- tugal, there must be some mistake in Fernando's quota- tion, or there must have been another previous incident, so similar as to be almost identical in character. As Justin Winsor says : "It may yet be discovered that it was from some earlier adventure that the buoyancy of an oar took him to the land." Bernaldez says Columbus came to Lisbon in order to avail himself of the new facts concerning the African coast, that he might thereby improve his maps. It is evidently incorrect to associate Christopher Columbus with the noted piratical encounter between the French corsair and the Venetian galle3^s off Cape St. Vincent in 1485. The following letter from Ferdinand and Isabella to the King of England, November 5th, 1485, reads : " Columbus, Vice- Admiral and Commander of the fleet of the King of France, has captured, off the coast of Portugal, four Venetian vessels, laden with a great quantity of merchandise, belonging to Spanish subjects. As the capture is contrary to the treaties with France, Columbus has preferred to go to an English port, in order to divide the booty there. The King is requested to arrest the said Columbus and to restore the goods to their owners." This was about the time when Christopher Columbus appeared before the Spanish monarchs to ask aid in his great undertaking. What would have been his 30 COL UMB US AT LISB ON. chance for a hearing had they been able to associate him with this annoying encounter just taken place off St. Vincent ? By whatever accident, circumstance, or influence Columbus came to Lisbon, certain it is that he could not have found in all the world so fit a place for the conception of his momentous undertaking. Would not the entire Portuguese nation be in sympathy with the achievements of Prince Henry ? Would not Lisbon be the very heart-throbbing centre of the vast thoughts of discovery which now^ moved the thinking world ? Here the future Admiral would come into contact and communion with the greatest minds then engaged in nautical and cosmographical studies. Here he would converse with the heroes of the ocean, who had seen and explored the coasts of the wonderful continent, and had gazed on the new stars of the southern skies. Would not his brother Bartholomew, who had an affec- tion for him, amounting almost to veneration, do what he could to retain him as a companion and partner in his business ? Here were also bankers from Genoa, who were ready to aid their countryman financially in time of need. A good brother, kind friends, a busi- ness ready to hand, money if needed, and a social atmosphere congenial to one's peculiar tastes — what more could the tempest-tossed stranger ask as a reason for anchorage ? And here Christopher Columbus did cast anchor ; joining hands, perhaps, with Bartholomew, not only in cartography and manufacture of nautical instruments, but possibly in cop3dng rare manuscripts not yet in print, and in buying and selling books. And for all such commodities this must have been one of the best markets in the world. DONA FILIPA PERESTRELLO. 31 True to his religious convictions while thus in a strange land, he went every day to worship in the chapel of the Convent of All Saints. Here his usual good fortune awaited him. Among the ladies of rank in some way connected with this institution was Dona Filipa Perestrello, daughter of a late distinguished navigator under Prince Henr}^ She possessed no great fortune, for her father had not found the coloni- zation and governing of Porto Santo a very profitable enterprise. This island, of volcanic origin, black, bar- ren, and treeless, probably was not very amenable to culture ; and the governor in stocking it, having introduced tame rabbits, they multiplied so rapidly as to eat down every green thing, and obliged the good man to spend most of his remaining life in a fruitless effort to subdue them.^ This gentleman hav- ing been an Italian, there must have been a natural bond of sympathy between his daughter and the Genoese stranger. The story is short, — they married, lived happily, and had a son, Diego, who became heir and successor to his father's fortunes. Residing during the early days of his married life with his mother-in-law,^ he must have found her quite congenial, for she entertained him with accounts of the voyages of her husband, deceased, and gave him full ^ Darwin, in his Origin of Species, notes how Perestrello's rabbit, littering on the voyage and being landed at Porto Santo with her young, soon proved the rapid multiplication of species in the; absence of enemies or adverse cir- cumstances; and that the rabbits, fairly swarming all over the island, de- voured every green and succulent thing, almost converting it into a desert. Prince Henry's biographers tell us that his enemies seized upon this calamity as an evidence against the expenses of colonization, since these islands were evidently not created for men, but only for beasts. '' This lady is now supposed to have been the second wife of Perestrello. 32 COL UMB US AT POR TO SANTO. access to tlie charts and records he had left. Pedro Correo, who had married his wife's sister, was one of the noted navigators of his time, and had once been governor of Porto Santo. Intercourse with him must have been stimulating and instructive. It is most interesting to note how all this is pre- cisely in the line of what proved to be the ruling thought and purpose in the after life of Columbus. In course of time the young couple took up their abode on the bride's estate in Porto Santo. Here Diego was born. This point being on the line of Portuguese navigation to Africa, Columbus, somewhere about this time, made an excursion thither — probably more than once.^ Some time during this period of his life the grand conception of a western route to India dawned upon him. We need not resort to the slanderous rumor, circulated after his death and still advocated by some, that he obtained his information of a western country from a certain sea-captain or pilot who, having been blown out of his course and all the way to America by an adverse wind, had returned to die at the house of Columbus at Porto Santo. This rumor, brought for- ward by the defence during the lawsuit between Diego Columbus and the Spanish Crown, gained no credence at the time,^ and certainly should gain none now, after being rejected by all the best authorities on the life of Columbus. ^ Some effort has been made to throw discredit on this residence in Porto Santo and the events connected with it; but it is narrated by Las Casas, who got his information from the Admiral's son, Diego, himself. - Oviedo sajs : "This story is a yarn which found credence only among common people." COLUMBUS AND THE NORSEMEN. 33 Scarcely less worthy of confidence is the later notion, that knowledge of the discovery of America by the Norsemen, first obtained from Rome and afterward confirmed by a voj^age to Iceland, led Columbns to simply rediscover for the south what had long been known in the north. That the sea-kings from Iceland sailed to the North Atlantic coast of North America about the end of the tenth century, and that Colum- bus, according to a letter of his quoted by his son, went probably to Iceland, but possibly not farther than the Faroe Isles, in 1477, not even the X.yro in history doubts. But where is the evidence of any connection between the two events ? In all the voluminous records of facts concerning Columbus and his times, b}^ both friends and foes, there is never a whisper of any Norse influence over his mind or conduct, — not even in the records of a lawsuit of several years, in which the defendants of the Crown, as against the claims of Diego, Columbus's eldest son, said everj^- thing possible against the late Admiral and Viceroy as the rightful discoverer of the New World. How could any such fact, had it existed, have failed to be brought to light during that long and thorough search ? Nor has the most scrutinizing research up to the present hour brought any evidence whatever to support the above hj^pothesis. (See Justin Winsor's late work on Christopher Columbus, pp. 135-148). Then how unaccountable it is that the Pope, if he knew that Columbus had a budget of facts from the north, so important to the interests of the extension of the church, did not so much as help the argument with the touch of his little finger, when our hero was plead- 34 DEDUCTIVE REASONING. ing witli the crowned heads for those few small ships ? The sovereigns to whom the overtures were made were all the most faithful children of the church, as were also their counsellors at Salamanca and elsewhere. The slightest suggestion from the Holy See would have turned the scale at once in favor of the Genoese adven- turer. But, waiving all external evidence, let us look at that which is internaL Let us pursue Columbus from court to court and across the sea as he goes in search of land to the westward, somewhat after the manner of a detec- tive, and see what knowledge and what motives his own movements betray. His grand discovery was no mere happy hit, like that of Cabral, when he ran onto the coast of Brazil on his way to Africa some years later. Columbus worked to a theory, founded upon a wide range of facts and deductions more or less correct ; and that theory would seem to be none other than the one claimed by himself, his son, and his early biographers generally. Given on the one hand that the earth is round, and on the other that India could be reached by sailing around Africa, as the Portuguese believed and finally proved, and did it not follow, as a necessary in- ference, that India might be reached by sailing to the west ? Of course he had no conception of a continent between Europe on the east of the Atlantic and Asia on the west. He had made an estimate of the time required for the sun to pass from east to west over the two thousand miles of the Mediterranean sea, and hence formed some conception of the distance around the earth over which the sun passed in twenty-four hours. In- fluenced by the views of Ptolemy, Marinus of Tyre, and AMERICA AND BEHAIM'S MAP. 35 Alfraganus the Arabian, lie believed the earth to be much smaller than it is. " The world is small,, much smaller than people suppose^'' he wrote to Isabella during his fourth voyage. Then he thought the eastern coast of Asia to be about where the Isthmus of Darien was finally discovered, and Cipango or Japan to be about where he found the larger West India Islands. His HAJA AZORES v^ >^0 ^:^^y ) .J ^-.• THE ACTUAL AMERICA IN RELATION TO BEHAIM'S GEOGRAPHY. brilliant conceptions of India, then called Mangi and Cathay, and of Cipango, were derived either directly or 36 HUMBOLDT'S OPINION. indirectly from the glowing accounts of Marco Polo, whom Humboldt calls " the greatest traveller of any age," and probably also from Sir John Mandeville. These writers had travelled through Eastern Asia, re- spectively, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. A careful stud}^ of their writings and also of the re- ports of other oriental travellers, and not the manu- script accounts of the tours of the Vikings or Norsemen, were the guiding star of Columbus all through his voy- ages of discover3^ Hence he became the ready victim of many a false and absurd notion ; and the reader is frequently amused by the egregious blunders which he was constantly making. " When the natives of Cuba pointed to the interior of their island and said ' Cubani- can,' Columbus interpreted it to mean ' Kublai Khan ;' and the Cuban name of ' Mangon ' became to his ear the Mangi of Sir John Mandeville.^ Indeed, nothing surprised him more than to find only naked savages where he had expected to find the wealthy and luxu- rious nations of the civilized Orient. Humboldt has well said, " If Columbus had desired to seek a conti- nent of which he had obtained information in Iceland, he would assuredl}^ not have directed his course south- ward from the Canary Islands." Had not Aristotle, Seneca, Pliny and Strabo all spoken of land to be found, in all probabilit}^, within moderate sailing distance to the west ? What land could this be biit that of Polo and Mandeville ? There was, besides Columbus, at least one man living who believed in the practicability of finding India in the western ocean. Dr. Paulo Toscanelli, of Florence, a ^Justin Winsor, vol. II, p. 42, Narrative and Critical Hist. Am. PAULO TOSCANELLI. 37 man of great scientific attainments, especially in the sublime field of astronomy, was so moved by this one thought that he might have been regarded as a sort of monomaniac on the subject. And the peculiar senti- ments of this savant must have been more or less known, for Alphonso IV. is said to have consulted him about this time (1474) as to a w^estern passage to " the land where the spices grow." The views of this inter- esting man betray a familiarity with the works of Polo and Mandeville and other travellers, perhaps ; and he also claims to have derived facts of great impor- tance from " an embassador to Pope Eugenius IV., who told him the great friendship there was between these princes, their people and Christians." To him Columbus wrote in about 1474, and received, in reply, a map of the supposed lands in the western ocean, in their relations to the known parts of the world ; and also a copy of a letter recently written to a learned ecclesiastic of Lisbon, for the special benefit of King Alphonso. The letter was as follows : " To Christopher Columbus, Paul the Physician wisheth health. " I perceive your noble and earnest desire to sail to those parts v.diere the spice is produced ; and therefore in answer to a letter of yours, I send you another letter, which some days since I wrote to a friend of mine, and servant to the King of Portugal, before the wars of Castile, in answer to another he writ to me by his Highnesses order, upon this same account, and I send 3^011 another sea chart like that I sent him, which will satisfy 3^our demands. The copj^ of that letter is this : TOSCANELLI'S MAP. u. j; o s H o ft T3 Ui U Cfi ■« m < > rt t j: < o -a X o c iJ 0. ^ 3 bi 1/) ^ ." < u: O in o J3 H TOSCANELLPS LETTER, 39 "To Ferdinand Martinez, canon of Lisbon, Panl the Physician wishes health. " I am very glad to hear of the familiarity you have with your most serene and magnificent King, and though I have very often discoursed concerning the short way there is from hence to the Indies, where the spice is produced, b}^ sea, which I look upon to be shorter than you take by the coast of Guinea, yet you now tell me that his Highness would have me make out and demonstrate it so as it may be understood and put in practice. Therefore, tho' I could better show it him with a globe in ni}- hand, and make him sensible of the figure of the world, j^et I have resolved to render it more easy and intelligible to show this way upon a chart, such as are used in navigation, and therefore I send one to his Majesty, made and drawn with my own hand, wherein is set down the utmost bounds of the west from Iceland, in the north, to the furthest part of Guinea, with all the islands that lie in the way ; oppo- site to which western coast is descried the beginning of the Indies, with the islands and places whither you may go, and how far you may bend from the north pole towards the equinoctial and for how long a time ; that is, how many leagues you may sail before you come to those places most fruitful in all sorts of spice, jewels, and precious stones. Do not wonder if I term that country where the spice grows zvest^ that product being generally ascribed to the east^ because those who shall sail westward will alwaj^s find those places in the west, and the}^ that travel b}^ land eastwards will ever find those places in the east. The straight lines that lie lengthways in the chart show the distance there is from 40 TOSCANELLPS LETTER. west to east, the other cross them show the distance from north to south. I have also marked down in the said chart several places in India where ships might put in upon any storm or contrary winds or any other accident unforeseen. And, moreover, to give you full information of all those places which you are very de- sirous to know, you must understand that none but traders live or reside in all those islands, and that there is there as great a number of ships and seafaring peo- ple with merchandise as in any other part of the world, particularly in a most noble part called Zacton, where there are every year an hundred large ships of pepper loaded and unloaded, besides many other ships that take in other spice. This country is mighty populous, and there are many provinces and kingdoms and innu- merable cities under the dominion of a prince called the Great Cham, which name signifies king of kings, who for the most part resides in the province of Cathay. His predecessors were very desirous to have commerce and be in amity with Christians, and 200 years since sent embassadors to the Pope desiring him to send them many learned men and doctors to teach them our faith ; but by reason of some obstacles the embassadors met with they returned back without coming to Rome. Be- sides, there came an embassador to Pope Eugenius IV., who told him the great friendship there was between those princes, their people, and Christians. I discoursed with him a long while upon the several matters of the grandeur of their ro3^al structures and of the greatness, length, and breadth of their rivers, and he told me many wonderful things of the multitude of towns and cities founded along the banks of the rivers, and that there TOSCANELLI'S LETTER. 41 were 200 cities upon one only river with marble bridges over it of a great length and breadth, and adorned with abundance of pillars. This countr}^ deserves, as well as au}^ other, to be discovered ; and there may not only be great profit made there, and many things of value found, but also gold, silver, all sorts of precious stones, and spices in abundance, which are not brought into our ports. And it is certain that many wise men, phil- osophers, astrologers, and other persons skilled in all arts and very ingenious, govern that mighty province and command their armies. From Lisbon, directly westward, there are in the chart 26 spaces, each of which contains 250 miles, to the most noble and vast city of Quisay, which is 100 miles in compass — that is, 35 leagues ; in it there are 10 marble bridges. The name signifies a heavenly city, of which wonderful things are reported, as to the ingenuity of the people, the buildings, and revenues. This space above men- tioned is almost a third part of the globe. This city is in the province of Mango, bordering on that of Cathay, where the King for the most part resides. From the Island Antilia, which you call the seven cities, and whereof you have some knowledge, to the most noble island of Cipango, are 10 spaces, which make 2,500 miles, or 225 leagues, which island abounds in gold, pearls, and precious stones ; and you must understand they cover their temples and palaces with plates of pure gold. So that, for want of knowing the way, all these things are hidden and concealed, and 3"et may be gone to with safety. Much more might be said, but having told you what is most material, and 3^ou being wise and judicious, I am satisfied there is nothing 42 VISION OF THE ORIENT. of it but what you understand, and therefore I will not be more prolix. Thus much may serve to satisfy your curiosity, it being as much as the shortness of time and my business would permit me to say. So I remain most ready to satisfy and serve his Highness to the utmost in all the commands he shall lay upon me. " Florence, y?^;?^ ^5, 1474^ The above letter was soon followed by another, very similar in character. It is a literary curiosity, without which this biography would scarcely be complete, since it is a most important link in the chain of events and discloses the magnificent vision which allured our hero. And while there is no evidence that Columbus borrowed his first thought of a western route from the Florentine doctor,^ that savant was, without doubt, much in advance of him, in the detailed items and elaborateness of his conception. His imagination had worked much more minutely on this splendid picture of the Orient ; using, in all probability, Marco Polo's high coloring, as well as the exaggerated statements of travellers, who claimed to give their facts and figures from recent observation. At this time, when the new thought dawning on the mind of Columbus would be almost enough to place him among the insane, in the estimation of his fellows, the chart sent by Toscanelli, planning his route in anticipation, and this letter, so positive and explicit in all its particulars, must have afforded an immense impulse. Imagine him poring ^ Humboldt believed that the idea of reaching the east by sailing west awoke simultaneously in the minds of Columbus and Toscanelli. Harrisse, in his Notes on Columbus, p. 85, says, " Navarrete exhibits documents which prove that Columbus iirst thought of his idea in Portugal, in 1470, three years before he ever wrote to Toscanelli." SENE CAS MEDEA . 43 over them in the still hours of the night. Every line in the chart and every sentence of the letter would cause the fibres and tissues of nerve and brain to vibrate in response. Then he may have turned to his famous Imago Mundi by Cardinal D'Ailly, and reviewing those references to the learned ancients, from Aristotle to Roger Bacon, which implied the sphericity of the earth and the eastern shores of Asia not far to the westward of Spain, perhaps wrote one of his Latin notes on the margin. Or he may have revelled in the wonderful words of the Medea by the poet Seneca, — " Veniunt annis foecula feris, Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum Laxit, et ingens pateat tellus, Thetjsque novos legat orbes, Nee sic terris Ultima Thule," — which has been rendered, "Times will come, in distant ages, when the ocean will reveal its mysteries ; an immense land will appear, Thetys will uncover new continents, and the Shetlands will no longer be the extremity of the world." " Which poetical effusion so greatly pleased Colum- bus," sa3^s Harrisse, "that he quoted it twice in full, not to speak of Fernando, who wrote on the margin of his own copy of Seneca : ' This prophecy was accom- plished by my father, Christopher Columbus, in the year 1492.' " " Coming events cast their shadows before." While Columbus was evolving his great scheme of a western voyage, not a few heads were teeming more or less vaguely with notions of land in that direction. Antonio 44 LAND IN THE WEST. Leone, of Madeira, told him that, sailing thither one hundred leagues, he had descried three islands in the distance. Some of the inhabitants of the Canaries were sure that they had seen, at different times, a large island in the western ocean, its magnificent landscape of lofty mountains and deep valleys looming iip dis- tinctly above the wild waste of waters. Indeed they had even applied to the King of Portugal for permis- sion to go out and take possession of it ; but having made several expeditions, failed to find land, which still, however, rose occasionally on their vision. How certain sailors to the far west had picked up from the waves pieces of wood carved with some other implements than those common to civilization ; how reeds of immense size, so that "every joint would hold above four quarts of wine," corresponding to those which Ptolemy said grew in India, had floated to the shores of some of the western islands ; how the people of the Azores had seen among the debris thrown up by the waves huge trunks of pine trees, such as did not grow in their part of the world ; and how there had floated onto the shores of the island, Flores, two drowned men, " very broad faced " and un- like those of any known country — all these rumors have become familiar to the readers of biographies of Columbus. And their chief significance is the gen- eral state of mind which they discover. If the scholars of the closet and the cloister were too far removed from the facts of nature to sympathize with the great con- ception of Columbus, at least a few of the common people were nearer to the truth. Their eyes were out upon the ocean, and there was more or less of a pre- sentiment of land about to be found. THE SOLITAIRE. 45 But Columbus was the representative of this im- portant idea. Imagine him as a solitaire on the lonely island of Porto Santo, seated, perhaps, on some " rock beside the sea." Probably no man living was more familiar with the scanty geography of the world, then known only to the few. Its incomplete chart of the wide and unknown sea could be called up to memory and the imagination at any moment. He seemed to stand on the shores of the infinite ; and before his vis- ion there arose, in the distance, realms of wealth and beauty, peopled with countless numbers. Whether the initial thought was all his own, or whether it was more or less derived from some one else, he was at least able to receive and assimilate great thoughts, to make from them the grandest generaliza- tions, and, what was greater still, had the singular courage to act upon their resultant of truth. The clever recluse sitting in his easy-chair might specu- late upon populous countries more or less distant in the western seas, and the cosmographer might project them upon parchment, and the poet put them into verse. This would require a mere modicum of the geographi- cal learning of the time, and a glint of imagination. But, for one in the humble ranks of poverty and toil, to amass the learning of the age, co-ordinating and utilizing it to the greatest practical end, to enlist kings, to procure ships and crews and venture into the terrors of the dark and unknown seas, and sail into the teeth of mutiny and danger inconceivable, till the land on the other side of the globe appeared, will ever remain a most astounding achievement. CHAPTER III. COLUMBUS AND KING JOHN II. |}0 conceive of a great enterprise as possible is one thing, but to project the best plan for bringing it to pass is quite another. Some years seem to have rolled by before Columbus deter- mined how to undertake his scheme. He was too poor to make an expedition on his own account, as the sea- kings from the north seem to have done ; and, as social orders and governments then existed, the enterprise was too great for any but crowned heads or established nations. He comprehended the situation. Tradition says he first applied to the Republic of Genoa by letter for the patronage needed, thus giving his native place the first preference. However this may have been, we know he applied to King John II., who came to the throne of Portugal in 1 481, in his twenty-fifth year. This monarch was the worthy successor to the discov- eries of Prince Henry, his great-uncle ; and with his accession the grand conception of reaching India by circumnavigating Africa received a new impulse. With a true spirit of enterprise, he built a fort on the coast of Guinea to protect commerce with the natives. Thus far the African enterprise had cost more than it had brought in return ; but the Portuguese, as also Western Europe in general, had the most fabulous notions of the wealth and resources of India. Gold, pearls, precious stones, spices, and the finest of silken fabrics were among its wondrous products. When the channel of this trade, now struggling slowly across the Asiatic con- PRESTER JOHN. , 47 tinent and enriching the marts of Italy, should be made to flow around Africa into Portugal, a rich reward for all the expenses of exploration would be realized. King John was, no doubt, familiar with the astound- ing reports of Polo and Mandeville, as also with those of Rabbi Benjamin, the Spanish Jew, who had visited the scattered tribes of Israel in Tartary, and those of the ecclesiastics whom Pope Innocent had sent out to the Grand Khan, according to his own request, brought home by the elder Polo. He had also been particularly interested in the rumors about Prester John, a Christian king, believed to be ruling somewhere in the remote East, if not in the interior of Africa. He had even sent out embassadors in search of the latter. Impatient of the slow progress along the coast of the dark continent, he had called a select council of the most learned astron- omers and cosmographers in his kingdom, including the learned INIartin Behaim, to ascertain in what par- ticulars the methods of navigation might be improved. The result of this conference was a better use of the astrolabe, an instrument similar to our quadrant, and applied to find the distance of the sailor from the equator by means of the altitude of the sun. If Prince Henry had improved the use of the compass, King John had thus rendered a similar service to the great enterprises of navigation.^ ^ Had it not been for the compass and the astrolabe thus brought into use, the great age of discovery could not have been inaugurated. Irving says truly, " The mariner now, instead of coasting the shores like the ancient nav- igators, and, if driven from the land, groping his way back in doubt and ap- prehension by the uncertain guidance of the stars, might adventure boldly into unknown seas, confident of being able to trace his course by means of the compass and the astrolabe." — Life and Voyages of Christopher Colum- bus, vol. /, p. 66. 48 JOHN II. AND HIS COUNCIL This royal personage, above all others, would seem to be the one whom Columbus might approach in be- half of his magnificent proposal. Being of a liberal mind and in sympathy with the latest scientific views of his time, he saw, at a glance, the immense advantages promised b}^ the new proposition. But it was so novel, so adventuresome, that it would not be well to encour- age it without the advice and approval of his wisest counsellors. A very select group, perhaps not more than three — Rodrigo and Joseph, Jews, and Diego Ortez de Calzadilla, bishop of Ceuta and confessor to the King — were chosen to deliberate and advise upon the matter. These men, all noted for their learning in the sciences pertaining to nautical ajGfairs, gave their judgment against Columbus's proposition, as being altogether too extravagant and impractical. '' To such men," says Irving, "the project of a voyage directly westward into the midst of that boundless waste to seek some visionary land appeared as extravagant as it would be at the present day to launch forth in a balloon into the regions of space in quest of some distant star." It would seem, however, that the principal cause of hesitancy on the part of the King was the fact stated by Ferdinand Columbus, — that the explorations on the west coast of Africa, which occupied nearly half of the working force of Portugal, and in which great numbers had died, and which had not as j^et brought in very flattering returns, would not admit of the ad- ditional expense and risk implied in the plan of Co- lumbus. But the King was not satisfied. He therefore called THE SECOND COUNCIL. ^^ a second council, much larger than the first, to con- sider the feasibility of the undertaking. But its decision was similar to that of the former. The dis- cussion must have been decidedly enthusiastic, — almost a polite and good-natured sparring. The bishop of Ceuta, whom the King regarded as one of his chief advisers, not only discouraged the plan of Columbus, but even spoke against the continuation of the African enterprises, as tending " to distract the at- tention, drain the resources, and divide the power' of the nation, already too much weakened b}^ recent war and pestilence. While their forces were thus scattered abroad on remote and unprofitable expeditions, they exposed themselves to attack from their active enemy, the King of Castile." " The greatness of monarchs did not arise so much from the extent of their domin- ions as from the wisdom and ability with which they governed. In the Portuguese nation, it would be mad- ness to launch into enterprises without first consider- ing them in connection with its means. The King had already enough on his hands in Africa, without taking up this new and wild scheme. If he wished employment for the active valor of the nation, the war in which he was engaged against the Moors of Bar- bar}^ was sufficient." To this conservative advice the Count of Villa Real made a most spirited reply : " Portugal was not in its infancy, nor were its princes so poor as to lack means to engage in discoveries. Even granting that these proposed by Columbus were conjectural, why should the}^ abandon those begun by their late Prince Henry? Portugal was at peace with all Europe. It would be 20 THE SECOND COUNCIL. her greatest glory to search out the secrets of the dark sea of which other nations were afraid. Thus em- ployed, she would escape the idleness incident to a continued peace — idleness, that source of vice, that silent file, which, little by little, wore awaj?- the strength and valor of a nation. Great souls were formed for great enterprises. Why should one so religious as the bishop of Ceuta oppose this undertaking ? Was not its final object to spread the Catholic faith from pole to pole ?" The African explorations were thus sustained, but the cause of Columbus was too uncertain to be included in this appeal by the Count, smacking so perceptibly of generous enterprise. Evidently these advisers saw that the King was not even yet satisfied, for the bishop of Ceuta suggested as a quicUis that there should be a clandestine expedi- tion sent to the west under the instructions furnished by Columbus, to see if there were any such lands as he supposed. When Columbus was now called upon to exhibit his charts again, and to give the most complete and explicit account of his anticipated voyage, he no doubt regarded it as much in his favor. Surely the King and his counsellors were now being converted to his poposi- tion ! But, alas ! contrary to his usual high sense of justice, the King was yielding to the false allurement of Calzadilla. A ship was being fitted up, ostensibly to carry provisions to the Cape Verde Islands, but really to make a trial voyage to the far west.^ But ^Fernando Columbus says: "The King, by the advice of one Doctor Calzadilla, of whom he made great account, resolved to send a caravel pri- THE SECOND COUNCIL. ^i this enterprise, so ill-founded, lacked the conviction, the courage, and the determination necessary to so great an undertaking ; and the ship soon returned, with no results except that the sailors were thoroughly frightened by the huge waves and wild waste of waters, which stretched out like an infinite expanse in all direc- tions. One might as well expect to find land in the sky, they said. Most heartily did they laugh at such a foolhardy enterprise. This, of course, would cover their failure. When Columbus discovered the mean advantage which had been taken of him he shook off the dust from his feet against Portugal. On the strength of Fernando's History it has generally been supposed that his wife was now dead, and that his only child, his little son Diego, was his solitar}^ companion, as empty- handed he looked out into the world for some other aid to bring to pass his grand scheme. But an autograph letter of his now in the possession of the Duke of Veraguas, his descendant by the female line, and quoted by Navarrete, tome ii, doc. cxxxvii, says that when leaving Portugal he left wife and chil- dren and saw them no more. Thus his entire family, except Diego, must have died soon after he left. There would seem to be much probability in the conjecture of Mr. Fisk, who says : "As Las Casas, who knew Diego so well, also supposed his mother to have died before his father left Portugal, it is most likely that she died soon afterwards. Ferdinand Columbus says that Diego Tately to attempt that which the Admiral had proposed to him; because, in case those countries were so discovered, he thought himself not obliged to bestow any great reward which might be demanded on account of the dis- covery." 52 THE SECOND COUNCIL. was left in charge of some friars at the convent of La Rabida, near Palos ; Las Casas is not quite so sure ; he thinks that Diego was left with some friend of his father at Palos, or perhaps at La Rabida. These mis- takes were easy to make, for both La Rabida and Huelva were close by Palos, and we know that Diego's aunt, Muliar, was living at Huelva. It is pretty clear that Columbus never visited La Rabida before the au- tumn of 1 49 1. My own notion is that Columbus may have left his wife with an infant, and perhaps an older child, relieving her of the care of Diego by taking him to his aunt, and intending, as soon as practicable, to re- unite the family. He clearly did not know at the out- set whether he should stay in Spain or not." It would seem that he left Portugal secretly, and a letter from King John, years afterwards, asking him to return, and promising to protect him from any civil or criminal process pending against him, may justify the statement made by some that he was trammelled by debt. Having been so deeply immersed in his studies and speculations about land in the west, he may have suffered his financial affairs to go to ruin. His son Fernando says that " about the end of the year 1484 the Admiral stole away privatel}^ out of Por- tugal, with his son James, for fear of being stopped by the King ; for he, being sensible how faulty they were whom he had sent vvdth the caravel, had a mind to re- store the Admiral to his favor, and desired he should renew the discourse of his enterprise ; but, not being so diligent to put this in execution as the Admiral was in getting away, he lost that good opportunity." CHAPTER IV. COLUMBUS IN SPAIN. |T is the opinion of critics general!}^ tliatitwas not later than 1484 when Colnmbns left Por- tugal, and that some time during 1485 or i486 he first appeared before the court of Spain. Where was he during the intervening time ? Surely he could not have been idle, for the one and all-absorb- ing thought of his life pressed heavily upon him, and he must now have been at least from thirtj^-eight to forty years old. He would realize the importance of economizinor J^ig time. It is generally believed that he went to Genoa on leaving Portugal, and that he now applied in person to the republic for aid to carry out his plan. The nation was in a state of depression at the time, and there seems to have been a disposition on the part of the senate to make light of their obscure countryman. " Who is this Christopher Columbus ? " some one asks. " A sailor of this city," another replies; "the son of Domenico Columbo, a wool-comber. His brothers and sister are here in humble circumstances." With the depression of the little republic, the obscurity of the applicant, and the v/ildness of the proposal, what after- ward proved to be the discover}^ of a new world re- ceived but little attention. Some say he now went to Venice and presented his 54 HIS FIllST APPEARANCE. plan, but to no purpose.^ Of this, however, there is no official record. At this same time he is said to have made provision out of his slender purse for his aged father and for the education of his younger brother, the family now hav- ing returned to Genoa, after having spent some years at Savona. Some ill-fortune would seem to have befal- len them, to have made them thus dependent. Possi- bly Christopher again set up for a time his little estab- lishment for making maps and globes and for copying and selling books. It has ever been the custom to follow the order of Fernando Columbus's biography of his father, and thus introduce the future Admiral into Spain by means of the touching incident at the door of the monastery. La Rabida ; but ever since the publication of Navarrete's famous collection of documents there has been a doubt as to the priority of that event, in relation to his seven years of solicitation. Finally, Mr. Fisk, in his '' Dis- covery of America," has, as it seems to us, arrived at a proper co-ordination. He says : " The error of Ferdi- nand Columbus, a very easy one to commit, and not in the least damaging to his general character as biog- rapher, lay in confusing his father's two real visits (in 1484 and 1 491) to Huelva with two visits (one imagi- nary in 1484 and one real in 1491) to La Rabida, which was close by, between Huelva and Palos. The visits were all the more likely to get mixed up in recollection, because in each case their object was little Diego, and ^ It is but just to say that these traditions of an application to Genoa and Venice are now regarded as of vei-j doubtful authority, and yet it is difficult to account for the whereabouts of Columbus at this time, except on this sup- position. HIS FIRST A PPEA RANGE. ^ ^ in each case he was left in charge of somebody in that neighborhood. The confnsion has been helped b}^ an- other for which Ferdinand is not responsible, viz : the friar Juan Perez has been confounded with another friar, Antonio de Marchena, who, Columbus says, was the only person who from the time of his first arrival in Spain had always befriended him and never mocked at him. These worthy friars twain have been made into one ( were not of this world. Then the superior intelligence and grace of culture, which some at least of these strangers manifested, could but confirm their notion that these wonderful people had come down from heaven. "They cried with loud voices: 'Come and see the men who have come from heaven. Bring them victuals and drink.' "^ Would that they might never ' have had occasion to change their opinion ! At first the natives fled aw^ay in fear, as the boats approached the shore ; but, after gazing on the stran- gers cautiously at a distance, they somehow gained confidence, and gradually approached them. They were harmless, gentle creatures. The few that carried bows and arrows, or wooden lances with the points hardened in the fire or tipped with a bit of flint or the ^ " The idea that the white men came down from heaven was universally entertained by the inhabitants of the New World. When, in the course of subsequent voyages, the Spaniards conversed with the Cacique Nicaragua, he inquired how they came down from the skies, whether flying, or whether they descended on the clouds." — Irving from Herrera. 102 PRESENTS TO THE NATIVES. tooth or bones of a fish, were not disposed to use these weapons. They had no iron implements of any kind, and evidently were not practised in warfare. Columbus was impressed with their simplicity when, on handing them a sword, they grasped it by the edge and cut themselves. How excited they were when Columbus opened up his treasures — gay caps, bright colored glass beads, little tinkling bells, such as those devoted to falconry put on their hawks. He had learned the importance of such trifles from the experiences of the Portuguese on the coasts of Africa. Nothing takes the eye of a savage like bright colors, and those tiny bells were perhaps the nearest approach to a musical instrument they had ever heard. How their eyes sparkled with delight as they put the beads around their necks, and how gleefully they skipped about when they jingled the bells ! The news soon spread. At the early dawn of the next morning the natives came in crowds, and were so eager to get to the ships that some of them, plunging into the water, swam out to the Spaniards ; but most of them came in their canoes, hollowed out from a single tree in the form of a tray, some of which held fifty persons. " They rowed with an oar like a baker's peel, and wonderfully swift." In the great rush of the crowd some of these canoes were upset; but the owners swam like fishes, and in a few minutes had righted them, bailed them out with their calabashes, and were paddling along again, without the incon- venience of wet clothes. True to the nature of the savage, they all wanted gew-gaws and ornaments. They had not come to beg, BARTERING WITH THE NATIVES. 103 however, but to buy. If their articles of exchange were few in number, the}^ were all the more liberal with them as to quantity. They brought tamed par- rots in great numbers, immense balls of cotton yarn, and bread called cassava,^ made from a root which they cultivated. As they had no conception of comparative values, they gave great quantities of their commodities for a few trifles. What kind of ornaments are those which some of these savages wear in their noses? Ah, that is gold ! Nothing could more inflame the breasts of these Span- iards than gold ! So the hawk's bells and other trinkets were freely exchanged for this precious metal, on which the natives seemed to set but little value. All this bartering was carried on at a great incon- venience, for the parties could communicate only by signs. As gold was the one thing above all others wanted in Spain, Columbus pressed the natives to make known where they obtained it. They pointed to the southwest. They also gave him the impression that there was land in the northwest, whence the peo- ple came to the southwest for gold. These vague com- munications could readily be misconstrued by the Ad- miral's vivid imagination. He felt assured that he must be in the rich countrj^ which Marco Polo had de- scribed ; and a certain king which the Indians repre- sented as living in a house, the roof of which was covered with plates of gold, he believed to be the Grand Khan of Tartary. Having explored the island and become satisfied ^ A bread very ingeniously made from the yucca root, from which is also derived our tapioca. I04 CHARMING SCENERY. that it was not in all respects suitable for a colony, he left on the evening of the 14th, taking seven natives as guides. As they thread their way through this lab3'rinth of tropical islands, everything is strikingly novel and strongly characterized. The immense trees are enshrouded in the densest foliage ; exuberant vines drape and festoon them in various directions ; flowers of every form and hue decorate the landscape ; the abundance of fruit is of almost endless diversity and flavor ; there is an astonishing variet}^ of birds of the most brilliant plumage, and some of them are charming in song; the crystal waters teem with fishes, the sparkling scales of which vie with the birds in almost ever}^ tint of the rainbow ; and the air is laden with such an aromatic fragrance as cannot fail to con- vince Columbus that he is in that oriental country " where the spices grow." As the ships glide along over the smooth waters, the natives name the islands till they mount up into the hundreds, and " Columbus now had no longer a doubt that he was among the islands described by Marco Polo as studding the vast sea of Chin, or China, and lying at a great distance from the mainland. These, according to the Venetian, amounted to be- tween seven and eight thousand, and abounded with drugs and spices and odoriferous trees, together with gold and silver and many other precious objects of commerce.^ On Monday, October 15th, the ships are under sail towards an island some six or seven leagues distant, " that part of it toward San Salvador extending from ^ Irving's Columbus, vol. i, p. 173. CHASING THE NATIVES. 105 N. to S. five leagues." The other side ran from K. to W. more than ten leagues. Now they sail for a still larger island to the W., which the Admiral names Santa Maria de la Conccpcion. " About sunset we an- chored near the cape which terminates the island to- wards the W. to inquire for gold, for the natives we had taken from San Salvador told me that the people here wore golden bracelets upon their arms and legs. I believe pretty confidently that they had invented this stor}^ in order to find means to escape from us." ^ Here the ships remained till the next day, the Ad- miral examining the island and taking possession of it. "A large canoe being near the caravel Nina., one of the San Salvador natives leaped overboard and swam to her (another had made his escape the night before) ; the canoe being reached by the fugitive, the natives rowed for the land too swiftly to be overtaken ; having landed, some of ni}^ men went ashore in pursuit of them, when they abandoned the canoe and fled with precipitation ; the canoe which they had left was brought on board the Nina, where from another quarter had arrived a small canoe with a single man, who came to barter some cotton ; some of the sailors, finding him unwilling to go on board the vessel, jumped into the sea and took him. I was upon the quarter-deck of my ship, and, seeing the whole, sent for him and gave him a red cap, put some glass beads upon his arms, and two hawk's bells upon his ears. I then ordered his canoe to be returned to him, and dis- patched him back to land." ^ The quotations occurring along this part of the narrative are from the Journal of Columbus. To6 CRONAiPS MAP. Tuesday, October i6th, about noon, the squadron set sail for an island whicli loomed up very large in 5 a ^u the west. But their sails were so poorly filled that they had not yet reached harbor when night overtook THE NEWS CARRIER. 107 them. Alidwa}^ they had met a man in a canoe. His outfit for a vo3^age among these islands was exceed- ingly small — a bit of cassava bread " as big as one's fist, a calabash of water, a quantit}^ of reddish earth," used as body-paint, and a few dried leaves which these natives seemed to value. He had also a little basket in which were some glass beads and two Spanish copper coins, thus betraying the fact that he was from San Salvador, probably going from island to island to carry the news of the arrival of the strangers from heaven, and to show the presents they gave. The Admiral ordered the bold seaman, with his canoe and goods, to be taken on board, where he served him with "bread, honey, and drink." As the ships approached the large island for which they were making, the Indian, with his effects, was launched in his canoe. This kind treatment, Columbus thought, would con- ciliate the natives. They approached the island just at night, and, as the coast was dangerous, beat up and down till morning, when they anchored at a village. The Indian messenger, having landed here, had given the inhabitants so good an impression that all night long they were coming out in great numbers in their canoes to the approaching ships, bringing water and other things. Bach one received some present, " as strings of ten or a dozen glass beads, plates of brass, such as cost in Castile a maravedi apiece, and thongs of leather. Those who came on board were fed with molasses." In the gray dawn of the morning a delegation went ashore for water. The kindl}^ natives not only di- rected them to the springs, but " carried the little tubs lo8 BRILLIANT FISHES. to fill the pipes." ^ These natives attracted the atten- tion of the Spaniards as being shrewder in traffic than those they had met before. How the Spaniards ache to get the gold ornament, half as big as a castellano and with letters on it, from the nose of that native. Surely that must be a coin ! But the fellow will not part with it. These natives are also more modest in coverino- their nakedness than has been the custom in o these parts. The ships spend some time coasting this island and Columbus lands, and is delighted with its great fertility and the novel and striking beauty of every object about him. He is especially delighted with the fishes, " of the finest hues in the world, blue, yellow, red, and every other color, some variegated with a thousand different tints, so beautiful that no one on beholding them could fail to express the highest wonder and admiration." This island was named Fernandina, in honor of the King. On the morning of the 19th the Admiral sailed to the soiitheast for the island Saomote, which he named Isabella. Columbus says, " It lies westerly from the island of Fernandina, and the coast extends from the islet twelve leagues west to a cape which I called Cabo Hef-moso — Cape Beautiful — it being a beautiful round headland, with a bold shore free from shoals. Part of the shore is rocky, but the rest of it, like most of the coast here, a sandy beach. Here we an- chored till morning. This island is the most beau- tiful that I have yet seen ; the trees in great number, floiirishing and lofty ; the land is higher than the other islands, and exhibits an eminence which, though 1 Herrera's History of America, vol. i, chap. 13. ENCHANTING LANDSCAPES. 109 it cannot be called a monntain, yet adds beauty to its appearance, and gives an indication of streams of water in the interior." He adds further, "This is so beautiful a place, as well as the neighboring regions, that I know not in which course to proceed first ; my e3^es are never tired with viewing such delightful verdure, and of a species so new and dissimilar to that of our country, and I have no doubt there are trees and herbs here which would be of o-reat value in Spain, as dyeing materials, medicines, spices, etc., but I am mor- tified that I have no acquaintance with them. Upon our arrival here we experienced the most sweet and delightful odor from the flowers or trees of the island." And again, concerning the same island, he says, " Groves of loft}^ and flourishing trees are abundant, as also large lakes, surrounded and overhung by the foliage in a most enchanting manner. Everything looked as green as in April in Andalusia. The melody of the birds was so exquisite that one was never willing to part from the spot, and the flocks of parrots obscured the heavens. The diversity in the appearance of the feathered tribe from those of our country is extremely curious." In giving these citations from the Admiral's journal as preserved by Las Casas we are tempted to quote him a little further. '' While we were in search of some good water," he sa3\s of his sojourn in Isabella, " we came upon a village of the natives about half a league from the place where the ships lay ; the inhabitants, on discovering us, abandoned their houses and took to flight, carrying off their goods to the mountain. I ordered that nothing which they had left should be no SEARCHING FOR THE KING. taken, not even the value of a pin. Presently we saw- several of the natives advancing toward our party, and one of them came up to us, to whom we gave some hawk's bells and glass beads, with which he was de- lighted. We asked him, in return, for v/ater, and after I had gone on board the ship the natives came down to the shore with their calabashes full, and showed great pleasure in presenting us with it. I ordered more glass beads to be given them, and they promised to return the next day. It is my wish to fill all the water-casks of the ships at this place, which being executed I shall depart immediately, if the weather serve, and sail round the island, till I succeed in meeting with the king, in order to see if I can ac- quire any of the gold which I hear he possesses. Afterwards I shall set sail to another very large island which I believe to be Cipango, according to the indica- tion I receive from the Indians on board." There is a strange lack of quadrupeds in these islands. What can be the origin of that dog which guards the pavilion of the native, but cannot bark? If he is a hunter, that little animal which the natives call ?^//^, and which the Spaniards are at a loss to name, not knowing whether to call it a large rat, a rabbit, or a coney, must be its only game. But lizards abound, and a kind of reptile which the natives eat with great relish, but which the Spaniards look upon with disgust, as being allied to serpents. The natives still pointed southwest, as the direction in which to find the rich king and the mines of gold. So on the ships went in that direction, through sun- shine and frequent showers, till they came in sight of Cuba, on the 28th. APPROACHING CUBA. m All travellers testify to the magnificence of this island as seen in the distance, especially when approached from the north. Everything beautiful and grand in nature seems to combine here. Lofty mountains lift their blue peaks into the clouds ; their spurs, like great buttresses, are clad in the most luxuriant forests, and run out in grand promontories to the sea ; the wide plains which border the beautiful rivers are elysian in their mild scenery and great fertility ; the large shells, strewn along the coast, the birds, the flowers, the insects sparkling like jewels, and even the fishes — all vie with each other to give brilliancy and the most entrancing effect to this immense stretch of land, which almost claims to be a continent. As the ships bore down upon the land, the grand scene filled the heart of Columbus with unutterable delight\ Surely this must be the far-famed island, Cipango ! In those mountains yonder would be the ^" Fancy, without whose aid no truly great work can succeed in the hands of man, lent a peculiar charm to the delineations of nature sketched by Co- lumbus and Vespucci." — Humboldfs Cosmos. The same author, speaking of the expansion of knowledge and the growth of poetic feeling which became so obvious in literature after the discovery of the New World, notes how Columbus " described the earth and the new heaven opened to his eyes with a beauty and simplicity of expression Which can only be adequately appreciated by those who are conversant with the ancient vigor of the language in the period in which he wrote. The physi- ognomy and forms of vegetation; the impenetrable thickets of the forests, in which one can scarcely distinguish the stems to which the several blos- soms and leaves belong; the wild luxuriance of the flowering soil along the humid shores, and the rose-colored flamingoes which, fishing at early dawn at the mouth of the rivers, impart animation to the scenery — all in turn arrested the attention of the old mariner as he sailed along the shores of Cuba, between the small Lucayan islands and the Jardinillos, which I too have visited. Each newly-discovered land seems to him more beautiful than the one last described, and he deplores his inability to find words in which to express the sweet impressions awakened in his mind." 112 ON THE L O OKO UT FOR TAR TAR T. mines of gold ; that tropical vegetation would afford spices, and along the shores would be the pearls of the Orient. As they landed and examined an Indian village, the pavilion-like houses, made of palm branches and located here and there on pretty emi- nences, under large trees, seemed more architectural than any they had seen. And how clean they were ! Those wooden statues and masks, so ingeniously wrought, did they not indicate some fair degree of civilization ? Those fishing implements made of bone must show some enterprise in fishing, to supply the cities in the interior. And was there not the skull of a cow ? — now supposed to have been that of a sea-calf or manatee. " The natives on board my vessel point to the interior, to Cubanican, and say there is an abundance of gold there," said Martin Alonzo Pinzon. " Moreover, they say that this is not an island, but the mainland. Cubanican must be Cublai Khan, the great sovereign of Tartary, described by Marco Polo." "Aye, truly," replies Columbus, "Then we are not in Cipango, but on the mainland of India, in the vicinity of Mangi and Cathay." As heretofore, the natives pressed upon the Span- iards with their huge balls of coarse cotton yarn, parrots, and cassava bread ; but Columbus forbade all traffic except for gold, hoping thus to develop the facts concerning that metal in the country. Nowhere, how- ever, in the crowds who called on him could he detect any of the precious metals, except one silver ring in the nose of a native. He was questioned, and gave the impression that the king lived about four days' journey inland. DELE GA TION TO KUBLAI KHAN. 1 1 -> There was no time to lose. At once two Spaniards were chosen as delegates to the court of the mon- arch — probably Kublai Kahn. One of them was a convert from among the lately banished Jews, who could use the Hebrew and Chaldaic languages, and even the Arabic. Might not this oriental potentate be able to communicate through one or the other of these ? Two Indians acted as guides. This embassy was in- structed to present the letter of salutation^ which the Spanish sovereigns had sent, and to inform the mon- arch that they had sent the Admiral to establish friendl}^ relations between their distant kingdoms. In order to be as thorough as possible in this dis- patch, Columbus made out a list of names of Asiatic provinces, harbors, and rivers, as given by Marco Polo and others, concerning which they were to make in- quiries as to distance, situation, etc. They were also supplied with samples of certain oriental spices and drugs, in order to ascertain whether they grew in that country. To all these important inquiries the Admiral ex- pected answers in full in six days. O Marco Polo ! what an impression thou hast made ! Meanwhile all the crews were active ; part were ^ This letter read as follows : "Ferdinand and Isabella to King : " The sovereigns have heard that he and his subjects entertain great love for them and for Spain. They are, moreover, informed that he and his sub- jects very much wish to hear news from Spain ; and send, therefore, their Admiral, Ch. Columbus, who will tell them that they are in good health and perfect prosperity. " Granada, April 30th, 1492." — Helps., Col., p. 79. The same author says: "This crediting the unknown ruler with an anxiety for the welfare of the Spanish sovereigns is really a delicious piece of diplomatic affectation." 114 THE ODOR OF MASTIC. careening and repairing the vessels, and part went in search of cinnamon, nutmegs, and rhubarb. As Co- lumbus continued to examine the natives, a great vari- ety of information was elicited. When he showed them gold ornaments and pearls, they knew of a country where these were worn on the necks, arms, and ankles. They also told of nations who had but one eye, of oth- ers who had heads like dogs, and of others who cut the throats of their prisoners and drank their blood ; all of which was no doubt equally authentic. What strong, sweet odor is that arising in the smoke, as the calkers on the vessels heat their tar over the fire ? Surely that is the precious mastic, such as is found in the Grecian Archipelago ; and, as the trees which are being burnt grow abundantly everywhere around, Columbus conjectures that "a thousand quin- tals of this precious gum might be gathered every year." Well, mastic or no mastic, here is something impor- tant. That group of natives yonder also have a fire and, irrespective of any odor, are turning it to practical account. What are those longish tubers which they are baking in the embers, and which they eat with such relish while they are yet steaming hot ? Ah ! that will prove to be something of more value to the world than all the wealth of the Indies ; it is the potato ! — no mere ornament or luxur^^, but food — bread which the poor man can produce from his little patch of ground in less than a hundred days, and make ready for his table without the aid of a mill. Here come the embassadors ! In less than six days they have accomplished their mission. All crowd THE NA TI VE TO WN. i j ^ around to hear what thej^ have to tell about Kublai Khan. Alas ! after travelling some twelve leagues, they have found, as usual, only a community of naked savages. It was unusually large, indeed, containing some fifty houses, more capacious than those near the sea, and having a population of about a thousand ; but there was neither gold nor pearls ; and when they showed their cinnamon and pepper, the inhabitants said these did not grow with them, but pointed, as usual, to the southwest. Fernando Columbus says that when the embassy reached this Indian community " the principal men of the place came out to meet them, and led them by the arms to their town, giving them one of those great houses to lodge in, where the^^ made them sit down upon seats made of one piece, in strange shapes, and almost like some creature that had short legs, and the tail lifted up to lean against, which is as broad as the seat for the convenience of leaning, with a head before, and the eyes and ears of gold. These seats they call d2ichi\ where, the Christians being seated, all the Indians sat in a circle around them on the ground, and then came one by one to examine and kiss their hands and feet, believing they came from heaven ; and they gave them some boiled roots to eat, not unlike chestnuts in taste, earnestly entreating them to stay there among them, or at least to rest themselves five or six days, because the two Indians the}^ took with them gave those people an excellent character of the Christians. Soon after, many women coming in to see them, the men went out, and these, with no less respect, kissed their feet and hands, offering them what the}^ brought." He also Ii6 COTTON AND CORN says, concerning the same tour, "they saw vast quan- tities of cotton well spun, in balls, in so much that in one house only they saw above 12,500 pounds of it. The plants it comes from are not set, b ut grow naturally about the fields, like roses, and open of themselves when they are ripe, but not all at the same time, for upon one and the same plant they had seen a little young bud, another open, and a third coming ripe." The Spaniards " might have been attended back by more than five hundred men and women, who were eager to bear them company, thinking they were returning to heaven. They took none along with them but one of the principal inhabitants, with his son." {^Colu77ibus' s jour7taL) The embassy had seen a number of cozy little villages with gardens in which was cultivated a kind of sweet pepper, a sort of bean, yucca for cassava bread, potatoes, and that wonderful product which has so ex- tensively fed both man and beast ever since — maize, or Indian corn. With whatever curiosity and interest they may have examined this beautiful product — this gigan- tic species of gi^ass — they could have formed no concep- tion of the immense want it was to supply throughout the world. They also found another product, which was to tell heavily on the habits of the world. They had seen the natives roll up the large, dried leaves of a certain weed, and putting one end of the compacted cylindrical- shaped mass in the mouth and holding a firebrand to the other, draw the smoke into their mouths and puff it out again ! This use of the " tobacco^^ as the Indian called his huge cigar, was looked upon by the Spaniards DESER TION B T PINZ ON. j 1 7 as tJie most naziseous habit they had yet seeii among the savages. Disappointed in not finding the oriental monarch, nor yet gold mines, nor pearls, nor palaces roofed with gold, in these parts, Columbus resolved to go in search of the island Babeque, to which the natives had now transferred all their royal and golden mysteries/ The vessels sailed southeast along the coast. After several days, in which he saw no populous towns, nor anything else corresponding to his oriental notions, he sailed eastward toward an island in sight, which he thought might be the one referred to ; but strong head- winds obliged him to put back to the shores of Cuba. Again he put out, and, after several days of useless effort, was under ne- cessity of returning. But as he gave signal for the other vessels to follow him, the Pnita^ some distance in advance, gave no attention. As night came on, he put the lights at the mast-head ; but, though the wind was so favorable to the Admiral's course, no regard was paid to these. The morning dawned and no sail was in sight. For a while at least, Martin Alonzo Pinzon had de- termined to part company with Columbus. At this the latter was greatly disturbed. Pinzon had been one of his best friends, and had done more than any one else in securing the vessels and the crews. Others had given him sympathy and counsel, but he had given him his purse. His company, as an experienced and bold navigator, was of incalculable importance. But it was not an easy matter for one so prominent in ^Las Casas thinks two days farthei' sail to the northwest would have brought him in sight of Florida. 1 1 8 DESER TION B T PINZ ON. the enterprise and so accustomed to command to sub- mit to another who was a comparative stranger to him- self and to his nation. Perhaps, in the few variances which had occurred between him and the Admiral, he had blamed him too severely. Very possibly the latter was not always as amiable and considerate towards his colleague as he might have been. We do not know and cannot judge. Whatever the extenuations might be, Pinzon should have been subordinate and faithful to the Admiral, according to his voluntar};- agreement under his sovereigns.^ Nor does it seem probable that Columbus could have been guilty of any great misde- meanor towards his associate, for in the lawsuit with the Crown, introduced by Diego Columbus after his father's death, and in which the Pinzons took ample occasion to show their unfriendliness toward the Co- lumbus family, there is no mention of anything of the kind. Barring his desertion by Pinzon and his failure to find Kublai Khan, the Admiral's voyage along this north side of Cuba had been one continued delectation. Broad, deep rivers studded with magnificent islands, fertile plains shaded by the strangest and most delight- some trees of astonishing size, lofty mountains bearing gigantic pines and suggestive of the most picturesque and artistic landscapes, fragrant flowers and luscious fruits, and an endless variety of birds in plumage and song the most charming — all entranced him both day and night ; so that, in describing these new scenes to 1 In connection with this painful incident, Las Casas quotes from Colum- bus's journal concerning Pinzon: "He has, by language and actions, occasioned me manv other troubles." GRAND SCENER T OF HA TTI. i ig the sovereigns, the symbolism of language utterly fails to mirror his perceptions. Only the experience of see- ing could sufficiently magnify one's conceptions of such marvellous parts of our earth. Babeque, that mysterious land of golden dreams, is now the one point of interest in the wide ocean. The Admiral therefore sails eastward, according to the direction of the natives. Presently, in the south, there arises out of the sea a most enchanting landscape. Quite a distance along the horizon the rocky crest of majestic mountains is strongly outlined against the sky. Anon long slopes and wide plateaus of the most exuberant tropical forest emerge. As they approach still closer, there are broad savannahs, and fertile valle3^s bordering rivers clear as crystal. The vegetable and animal life is the same brilliant display of birds and flowers and elysian fruits as they have found else- where in these delightsome regions of perpetual sum- mer. This island, some four hundred miles in length and about one hundred and fifty miles in greatest breadth, is Hayti, than which there is not a more beautiful nor more unfortunate spot on earth. Evi- dently it was once the home of an immense com- munity of happy human beings, who, in the midst of nature's greatest plenty, without care and almost with- out effort, lived a life of simplicity and fair morality ; who were conscious of the plainest joys and truest affections, without the burdens and ambitions of civili- zation. But the story of those lives is prehistoric. When civiliiced man planted his foot on fair Hayti's shores, misery and bloodshed began ; and from that day to this it has scarcely known permanent peace or prosperity. 1 20 FISHES IN AB UN DANCE. On December 6tli tlie vessels entered a harbor on the western end of the island, which Columbus called St. Nicholas. The shores of the smooth waters of this broad harbor were overshadowed by the most magnifi- cent and fruitful trees. Here the royal palm spread its immense fronds, and the banana displayed at once its elegant tubular blossoms and its great clusters of fruit. A wide plain stretched away into the mountains, and on the river running through it a number of the canoes of the natives Avere seen. Columns of smoke arose here and there, and at night iires gleamed thickly in the forests. Evidently the island was well peopled. The Spaniards continued their course along the north side of the island. Here and there among the hills or mountain spurs were charming valleys, some of which appeared to be highly cultivated. In the clear waters there was a great variety and abundance of fishes, some of which leaped into the boats. When they drew their nets, which were burdened with vast numbers of them, they found some which resembled certain species in Spain. Throughout the day and even at night the birds were singing, some of them almost repeating the bird-songs of their own country. One of them re- minded them strikingly of the nightingale. In fact, in many respects there was something in this island strongly suggestive of the more beautiful parts of Southern Spain, hence Columbus named it Hispaniola. But where were the natives ? On landing and making excursions inland they could find their houses, their gardens, traces of their roads, and the ashes and embers of their recent fires ; but the people had evidently fled at the sight of the ships. While Columbus, after his CAPTURE OF AN INDIAN FEMALE. 121 usual custom, was erecting a huge cross and taking possession of the country for Spain with proper formal- ities, some of his men, rambling about the neighbor- hood, caught sight of a vast throng of natives, who im- mediately fled in terror. The sailors gave chase, but found their sea-legs too clumsy to overtake the fleet- footed Indians. One young woman or girl, however, who either could not keep up with the rest, or loitered behind out of womanly curiosity, was captured and borne away to the ships. As they arrived with this naked beaut}^ on their shoulders, Columbus was not very well assured as to the civilized wealth of the island, but that ring of gold in her nose was suggestive. The precious metal must be somewhere in those mountains or in the sands of the rivers, as the natives had said. If the girl was at all terrified b}^ these new scenes, she was soon soothed by the kindness of the Admiral. He had her dressed,^ and decked out with beads, brass rings, and little bells, and when he was about to send her to her native forest, accompanied by some of his men and several native guides, she was not at all anxious to go, but would have preferred to share the fortunes of the few Indian women whom Columbus already had on board his ships. The men who escorted this female into the forest would gladly have shown the utmost gallantry by taking her all the way to her home, but it was night, and they could not conjecture how they might be received by the savages ; so she was obliged to go part way alone, while the escort returned. ' Herrera sajs : " The Admiral gave her hawk's bells, strings of glass beads, and caused a shirt to be put upon her." 122 A^ INDIA N C OMMUNITT. What a curiosity this young female, so grandly apparelled, must have been to her people. One may almost imagine that no one slept in the town that night, but that all stayed up to hear her wonderful accounts of the strange sights she had seen. A visi- tation of angels from heaven could scarcely surprise us more than these white men did the Indians. Co- lumbus knew how to take proper advantage of this incident. The next morning he sent a delegation of nine of his best men, well armed, to find the community to which this young woman belonged. About thirteen miles inland, in a fertile valley and on the banks of a beautiful river, they found a large town of the natives, comprising about one thousand houses ; but every one had fled at their approach. A Cuban interpreter hurried after and overtook them. How highly he extolled these white men ! They were good men, he said, who came from heaven and went about the world making fine presents. By this means the vast crowd of some two thousand was conciliated, and approached the strangers. See them come with slow, hesitating steps, every now and then standing still and putting their hands on their heads as an act of profound rev- erence ! Presently there comes another large company, the young female, shirted, ringed, and beaded, borne on the shoulders of two men in front. She is the object of admiration to all, and her husband gesticulates en- thusiastically, and in every possible way expresses his gratitude for the presents she has received. The Spaniards are impressed with the appearance of these natives as being more finely formed, of fairer HOSPITALiry OF THE NATIVES. 123 complexion, and more pleasing in countenance than any they have yet seen. The kind-hearted beings seem now completely won, and invite their heavenly visitants to their houses, where they set before them the usual cassava-bread, also fish, roots, and the finest varieties of their luscious fruits. It was a gala-day. The air was mild and balm}^ as on a spring day in Southern Spain ; the birds seemed in full song — surely there could be no winter in this part of the world ! The unbounded hospitality which the white men enjoyed everywhere among the Indians was character- istic of this people. Whatever any one had seemed free to all without the asking. Any one might enter the simple dwelling of another and take what he wished as freelj^ as if it had been his own. This uni- versal liberalitj^vas, no doubt, in part the result of the spontaneous abundance of that tropical country in which they lived, and in part the advantage of a simple mode of living. They realized to the fullest extent Goldsmith's famous adage : " Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long." We can scarcely afford to pass by the illustrious par- agraph so often quoted from Peter Martyr, an Italian scholar and author at the court of Spain in those days. "It is certain," he sa3'S, " that the land among these people is as common as the sun and water ; and that * mine and thine,' the seeds of all mischief, have no place with them. They are content with so little, that, in so large a countr}^, they have rather superfluity than scarceness ; so that the}'' seem to live in the 124 BE A UTIFUL SIMPLICITY OF LIFE. golden world without toil, living in open gardens, not intrenched with dykes, divided with hedges, or defended with walls. They deal truly one with another, without laws, without books, and without judges. They take him for an evil and mischievous man who taketh pleasure in doing hurt to another ; and albeit they delight* not in superfluities, yet they make pro- vision for the increase of such roots whereof they make their bread, contented wdth such simple diet, whereby health is preserved and disease avoided." This surel}^ is a pretty picture of human life. The material for it was, no doubt, derived by Martyr from Columbus himself, with whom he seems to have been intimate ; and we hope it is true to the once free and happy existence of a most unfortunate people. " All concur," says Irving, " in representing the life of these islanders as approaching to the golden state of poetical felicity ; living under the absolute but patriarchal and easy rule of their caciques, free from pride, with few wants, an abundant country, a happil}^ tempered cli- mate, and a natural disposition to careless and indolent enjo^anent." CHAPTER VII. THE SHIPWRECK AND THE FORT. HE Admiral was loth to give up his fancied island, Babeque ; so he made another detour in the vicinity of Hayti, and to a certain island abounding in turtles he gave the name Tortu- gas. Here he saw a valley so beautiful that he called it the Vale of Paradise, and named a broad and tran- quil stream the Guadalquiver. Putting back to Hayti, he found a solitary Indian in a canoe on a rough sea near midnight. The hero, along with his frail bark, was taken on board ship ; and, having been feasted and set out in European finery, was put ashore in a good harbor when they reached the island. The constant repetition of such conciliatory acts on the part of Columbus called forth a most cordial response from the hearts of these savages, so that he wrote to Santangel as follows : " True it is, that after they felt confidence, and lost their fear of us, they were so liberal with what the}^ possessed that it would not be believed b}?- those who had not seen it. If any- thing was asked of them, they never said no, but rather gave it cheerfully, and showed as much amity as if they gave their very hearts ; and, whether the thing were of value or of little price, they were con- tent with whatever was given in return. * ''' '=' In all these islands it appears to me that the men are all content with one wife, but they give twentj^ to their chieftain or king. The women seem to work more 126 THE YOUNG CACIQUE. than the men, and I have not been able to understand whether they possess individual property ; but rather think that whatever one has all the rest share, especi- ally in all articles of provision." The presents made to the hero-Indian put ashore had the desired effect. Very soon the coast was lined with natives ; and their king, a young man of twenty- one perhaps, was with them. One of the Admiral's captive interpreters undertook to explain to him who these strangers were. They had come from heaven, he said, and were going to Babeque to find gold ! At the same time, he handed the cacique a present. Not. at all struck with the incongruity of these heavenly beings so intent on a gold hunt, but more under the gratifying influence of his present, the chieftain pointed his finger in a certain direction, saying that two days' sail that way would take him where there was plenty. He then produced a thin plate of the precious metal, about as big as his hand, and, cut- ting it in pieces, bartered it for trinkets. Some of his subjects, who had rude ornaments of gold in their noses and ears, readily traded these in like manner. Of what value were these bits of plain yellow to them, compared with bits of sparkling glass and fragments of painted dishes ! The young potentate now took leave, promising to come the next day with more gold; he assured them, however, that there was more of this metal in Tortugas than in his island. The next day, the i8th, there was no wind, so the Spaniards occupied themselves in deck- ing out their ships and fi.ring their guns in memory of the annunciation of the blessed Virgin ; and also UNCIVILIZED ROYALTY. 127 awaited the return of the young cacique with the promised gold. In due time the latter arrived, borne on a litter or sort of palanquin on the shoulders of his men, in true oriental style, two hundred of his subjects accompany- ing him. With an air of perfect ease, he took his seat by the side of the Admiral, who was just in the midst of his dinner. His two venerable counsellors, who almost worshipped him, sat at his feet ; the rest of his followers stood without. The food offered to him he merely tasted, then passed it on to his subjects. Mean- while he uttered but few words, and was very dig- nified. After dinner the Admiral and the young chief ex- changed presents. The latter gave a belt finely orna- mented and two pieces of gold ; and, as he looked very admiringly on a piece of rich cloth constituting the bed-hangings of the former, that was taken down and presented to him, along with some amber beads, a pair of red shoes, and a bottle of perfume. Columbus, dis- playing a piece of Spanish money with the heads of the monarchs stamped on it, some royal banners, and the standard of the cross, endeavored to convey some idea of his country and his religion, but the young chieftain referred all these things to some other world. He could not conceive of them as belonging to earth. At night he left in great state, his presents borne before him, a son of his being carried after him, on the shoulders of one of the most honorable men ; a brother went a-foot, " led by the arms by two honorable men, the large concourse following, and the Spanish guns firing a salute in honor of this display of uncivil- ized royalty. 128 THRONGS OF NATIVES. " This day," writes the Admiral, " little gold was ob- tained, but an old man indicated that at a distance of a hundred leagues or more were some islands where much gold could be found, and in some it was so plentiful that it was collected and bolted with sieves, then melted and beaten into divers forms. One of the islands was said to be all gold." No biography of Columbus gives any adequate repre- sentation of the vast numbers of natives which thronged him all along this northwest cost of Hayti on his first voy- age. The shores and harbors teemed with canoes ; many hundreds who had no canoes swam out for miles to the ships. Men, women, and little children vied with each other in bringing all the kinds of food and other objects of value which they could command ; and, making every kind of sign and demonstration of cordiality to these beings whom they hailed as from heaven, begged them to abide with them. The men, the ships, the European wares and trinkets, even to the merest sliver of a painted dish or a bit of leather strap, was worth, in their eyes, all the cotton or gold they could command.^ Fearing that this great generosity might be imposed upon by his greedy crews when they went ashore to communi- cate with the natives, Columbus sometimes sent a party along to oversee the bartering, and prevent any robbery of the natives. Whence comes that large, stately canoe, highly ornamented, and loaded down with such fine-appear- ing natives ? That is an embassy from Guacanagari, the grand cacique of these parts. An of&cer from his court presents another belt — a broad one, profusely ^ See the Journal of Columbus as preserved bj Las Casas. AN EMBASSY TO G UA CANA GAR I. 139 ornamented with colored beads and bones ; also a sort of figure-head, with eyes, nose, and tongue of gold. The embassadors are not very readily understood by the interpreters, this being the first new dialect thejr have met, but the message from the grand cacique evidently is exceedingly cordial. He wishes the ships to keep on to the eastward till they come in front of his residence ; then Columbus must call on him. But the wind is unfavorable, so the Admiral sends a delegation to convey his compliments to the chief, and to say that he will call as soon as possible. His residence is in a large town, well built for that country, and located on a river. The embassy is received with great honor on the public square, swept and made ready for the oc- casion. After each has been presented with a sort of dress made of cotton, the refreshments are brought on after the usual manner. If the natives see that the Spaniards covet anything, they readily give it to them, not being willing to receive anything in return. When they can be prevailed on to accept an article, it is looked upon as a most sacred memento. As the chief cannot prevail on the strangers to stay over night, he gives them parrots and some bits of gold for the Admiral, and sends men to escort them to their boats and carry their presents. Thus ended the 22d of December. Meanwhile Columbus continued to be called on by great numbers, all of whom extolled the wealth of the island. Cibao, in the interior, they said, abounded in gold, so that the chief of that mountainous region had banners worked out of the precious metal. Now, as usual, the Admiral's oriental fancies were at work. I30 WRECK OF THE SANTA MARIA. Cibao must be Cipaiigo ; and the cacique with gold banners must be its great prince, described by Marco Polo. These rumors, however, were at least founded on fact ; for here was the best region of gold-mines found in those parts. Before sunrise on the 24th the vessels weighed anchor and steered to the eastward, according to the invitation of Guacanagari. The wind from oif the land was but slight, so that the vessels made slow prog- ress, the sails often flapping in the uncertain puffs of air, now from one point and then from another. " Eternal A^igilauce " and the most self-sacrificing personal attention was one of the marked char- acteristics of Columbus as a successful mariner. But as he had been on the keenest alert for two days and had not slept the night before, and the sea was now "calm as water in a dish," to use his own words, and his delegation, just returned, had reported an entire absence of rocks or shoals along the coast, he lay down to sleep, leaving the helm to an experienced and, as he no doubt thought, trustworthy seaman. He, too, soon retired, leaving his charge to a boy. This was " contrary to the express orders of the Admiral, who had, throughout the voyage, forbidden, in calm or storm, the helm to be intrusted to a boy." Indeed, all hands seem to have gone soundly to sleep ; and the ship, being left to the currents, which run like imper- ceptible rivers past these islands, was carried onto a sandbar, or shoal. The keel grates on the bottom, and the inexperienced boy at the helm is aroused from his dreams, and cries out with alarm. Columbus is the first on deck ; then comes the master of the ship, RELIEF OF THE SANTA MARIA. 131 then others, till all hands, many of them scarcely half awake, are alarmed at the situation, the breakers roaring loudl}' enough to be heard several miles awa3^ The Admiral orders the master of the ship to lower the boat and warp the vessel off; but he in his cow- ardly fright rows awa}^ to the caravel, a distance of a mile or more. The commander of the caravel reproves him for his reprehensible conduct, mans his own boat, and hastens to the relief of the Santa Maria. But the ship is lost. In vain her masts had been cut away and part of the lading thrown overboard to lighten her. The currents had forced her keel firmly into the sand, and as she was old and almost rotten she soon sprang a leak, and was forced over on her side by the break- ers. The crew was taken on board of the Nina, and a delegation sent to the chief to report the disaster. As there might be other shoals in the vicinity, the caravel lay to until the morning. Now there occurred a demonstration of humane sentiment on the part of this savage chieftain and his people vvliich would do credit to au}^ civilized com- munit}^ of modern times. When Guacanagari heard of the calamity which had befallen the strangers, he wept, and immediately ordered all his people out, with their canoes, to render every possible aid. He himself came also, and, organizing a sort of police force, of which he was the head, all the goods were removed from the shipwreck and guarded in safety till he could vacate several of his largest houses to shelter them. Though there was so much that was valuable and curious which these savages might have coveted, noth- ing was stolen ; and such was the care in handling 132 SYMPATHY OF THE SAVAGES. that scarcely anything to the "value of a pin" was injured. Sir Arthur Helps quaintly says, " The wreckers' trade might flourish in Cornwall, but, like other crimes of civilization, it was unknovv^n in St. Domingo." In the midst of the hurry and bustle to and fro, the chief would every now and then send some member of his family to comfort the Admiral, assuring him that everything he had was at his command. '' The people, as well as the king," says Columbus, " shed tears in abundance." All that day the removal of the ship's goods went on, and all the next night the friendly savages stood guard. No wonder Columbus wrote in his journal, " So loving, so tractable, so peaceable are these people, that I swear to your majesties there is not in the world a better nation, nor a better land. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile ; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy." After the shipwreck, Columbus and his men were crowded on board the Nina. Guacanagari called on him and, seeing how depressed he was, shed tears of sympathy, and assured him, as he had often done be- fore, that he would do all in his power to aid him. " While the Admiral was conversing with him, a canoe arrived from another place, with Indians bringing pieces of gold which they wanted to exchange for hawk's bells, these being held in special value among them ; before the canoe reached the vessel, the Indians called out, showing the gold, and crying chug., cJuig^ iTake, Take. A ROTAL INDIAN DINNER. 133 for the hawk's bells, and seemed ready to go mad after them ; the other canoes setting off, they requested the Admiral to preserve a hawk's bell for them, and they would bring him in return four pieces of gold as big as his head/ When the chieftain saw the countenance of the Admiral light, up at these tidings, he assured him that there was a place in the mountains where this metal was abundant, and he could get him all he wanted. Thus we see that the gold-bearing rocks of Cibao, and those mountain streams in which gold was to be found mingled with the sand, sometimes in great nuggets, was well known. After the cacique had dined with the Admiral, he urged him to come and eat with him. The meal pre- pared was as sumptuous as could be procured. The coney-like animal called the iitia was served, various kinds of savory fishes, roots, and the most luscious fruits. This primitive banquet in the wilderness, among savages, was a study to the Spaniards. How sympathizing and cheerful Guacanagari was, doing everything possible to please his guest and divert his mind from his misfortune. How delicately and ab- stemiously he ate, washing his hands when done, and rubbing them with odoriferous herbs. How gentle and dignified was his bearing. How kindly he treated his subjects, who almost worshipped him. When the feast was over, the cacique, dressed up in his shirt and gloves which the Admiral had just given him, conducted the Spaniards out into his beautiful groves, where they met about a thousand of his naked subjects, all ready to divert the strangers with their ^ Columbus's journal bv Las Casas. 134 ENTERTAINMENT WITH FIRE-ARMS. amusing games. These wood-nymphs performed their Avild dances, accompanied by their wierd songs and the beating of a kind of rude drum made from the trunk of a hollow tree. Some of them had the little hawk's bells, brought by the Spaniards, strung about them, and as these tinkled and jingled to their en- thusiastic movements they were almost frantic with delight. It must have been a truly novel and an- imated scene ! When the Indians had done their best to drive melancholy from the mind of Columbus, he thought it was his turn to do something to divert them. Now was the time to impress them with the military power of the white men ; so he first brought out his Moorish bows and quivers of arrows, which some of his men had learned to use in the wars of Granada. When the chief saw how exactly these huge arrows would hit the mark as they went whizzing through the air, he was astonished at their force. His enemies, the Caribs, who made raids on his island and stole his people, also had bows and arrows, he said. Aye, but Columbus told him he had other kinds of weapons much more terrible than these, with which he would drive the Caribs away. So he ordered out an arquebus, a large gun supported by a rest, and also a heavy cannon. At the stunning report of these, the natives fell to the ground as if they themselves had been shot. When they recovered from the shock and rose up, they were terrified at the sight of the trees, all shivered and splintered. This was the thunder and the lightning which these strangers from heaven could command ! Surely they could protect them from their dreaded enemies, the Caribs ! EXCHANGE OF PRESENTS. 13^ Again the order of things was changed. The feast and the entertainment being over, the time was come to make presents. The caciqne gave the Admiral a wooden mask ingeniously carved, the eyes, ears, and other parts being heavily ornamented with gold. He also hung plates of gold about his neck, and put a rude crown of gold tipon his head. He then made presents to others of the Spaniards in the most munifi- cent manner. Various presents were made by Columbus and his men in return. We hope they were in some way equal to the valuable items they received. However trifling some of their gifts may have been, the Indians were perfectly fascinated with the merest trinkets, smelling of them — they seemed to have tested every- thing, even to gold, b}^ the sense of smell — and calling them hirey — that is, from heaven. K bit of rust}^ iron or a fragment of leather was invested with a charm. Las Casas, the friend and apostle of the Indians, re- lates an amusing incident of one of them who brought a half handful of gold-dust for a hawk's bell, that most favorite to}^, and was so impressed with the idea that he had the best of the bargain, that he ran like a deer into the woods, every now and then looking be- hind him, lest the white men, repenting of their side of the trade, should pursue him. All in all, there had been so much gold brought in, and so much had been said by the natives about the gold to be found in the mountains of Cibao, in the in- terior, that Columbus concluded this to be the place to found a colony. Then his men were so elated with the easy life in so voluptuous a climate that they dreaded 136 BUILDING THE FORT. the discipline on board ship and the crowded condition in which they would have to be, returning to Spain in one small vessel. Columbus, therefore, conceived the plan of building a fort out of the timbers of the wrecked ship, and arming it with her guns. All were enthusi- astic over this scheme, even the Indians, who thought it would be an admirable defence against their enemies, the Caribs. Between the Spaniards and the natives, the work went on so energetically that the fort, called La Navidad, or the Nativity, from the time of year in which the wreck occurred, was completed in ten days. During this time of anxiety on the part of Colum- bus concerning the desertion of the Pinta and the dan- ger of taking so many back to Spain in one small, crazy vessel, he must have been greatly diverted and comforted by Guacanagari, who appropriated to his use the largest house in the place, carpeted with palm- leaves and furnished with stools made of some dark wood like ebony. Scarcely ever did the Admiral come on shore without receiving some valuable present. The cacique told him he wished he could cover him all over with gold before he went away, or rather that he would not go at all. Once his benefactor called on him with five subordinate caciques, each bringing a crown of gold. They escorted him to the house above referred to, and seated him on one of the stools. Then Guacanagari took the crown of gold from his own head and put it on the head of Columbus. How natural that the latter, moved by such affectionate liberality, should take an elegant collar made of beads from his own neck and put it around the neck of the chief, clothe him in his own mantle of beautiful scarlet cloth, put colored boots WEALTH OF THE ISLAND. 137 on his feet and a large silver ring on his hand. This last present was of more value than gold to the Indians, for they had no silver in Hayti. While this feast was in progress an Indian called to say that he had seen the Piiita in a harbor to the eastward two days pre- vious. A canoe was dispatched, but it did not succeed in finding the absconding vessel. Columbus now had fabulous conceptions of the wealth of this island, and began to look upon all the circum- stances which brought about his shipwreck as a special providence ; otherwise he would not have been detained long enough to discover its immense resources, which he believed would be sufficient to enable the sov- ereigns of Spain to undertake the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre in three years. By the time he returned from Spain those whom he would leave in the fort would be able to collect a ton of gold, besides the spices and other precious articles they might accumulate. How sanguine and visionary was our hero ! The fort, a huge wooden tower, built over a vault surrounded by a ditch, mounted with the guns from the wTecked ship and well supplied with ammunition, would overawe the natives and keep his men under discipline. These latter were so well pleased with the life thus anticipated that he came near having to return alone to Spain. Precisely how many he left in the fortress was for some time uncertain, as the early accounts differ ; but Navarrete found a pay-list due the relatives, in which the forty names constituting the garrison were given. One of these was an Irishman and another an Knglish- man. Diago de Arana, a cousin of Beatrix and a per- son of distinction in the armament, was made com- 138 PARTING ADVICE. mander. The long boat of the Santa Maria was left for their convenience ; also articles for traffic, bread and wine for more than a year, and seeds for a plantation. Such artisans as might be needed were also carefully appointed to remain. If these men had taken heed to the excellent address the Admiral gave them before his departure, no doubt all would have been well with them ; but his charge — that they should obey the of&cers, keep closely together, remember the kindness of Guacanagari and his people ; be wise, just, and peaceable in their intercourse with the natives, and, above all, to be chaste in their conduct with the native females — was wholly ignored as soon as Columbus had departed. Hence the terrible disasters which followed. The 2d of January, the day before the appointment for departure, arrived, and Columbus went on shore to take formal leave of the Indians. Some order or ceremony, so to speak, was desirable. In the house set apart for him he spread a feast in true European magnificence, during which he cordially commended the men he was about to leave behind to the kindly of&ces of the cacique. He would soon be back again from Spain, he said ; then he would bring an abundance of such articles and jewels as they had not yet seen. What could be more appropriate at such a time than a mock-fight by his men ? So he ordered out the lances, cross-bows, swords, arquebuses, and cannon, the men appearing in quite a military array. The skilful manoeuvres with gleaming swords and bucklers, as the men rushed forward in attack and then fell back in reg- ular order, with the clang of swords and lances on ASTONISHMENT OF THE NATIVES. 139 helmet and buckler, gave great animation to the scene. The natives were astonished at the execution of these implements of war ; and when the cannon sent a shot through the hull of the wreck lying in the harbor, and also shattered the forests, the}^ looked with trembling fear on the clouds of smoke which rolled up over the waters and beyond the tree-tops. But if this suggested any cloud to the mind it was one with a silver edge. If the power of these white men was as grand as the mightiest forces of nature, all the better ; they could the more readily defend them against the cruel Caribs. When Guacanagari saw the Admiral making ready to depart, he was much distressed. One of the Indians told the latter that the former had ordered his statue to be made of gold, " as large as life." CHAPTER VIII. THE RETURN TO SPAIN. OIvUMBUS had taken most affectionate leave of Guacanagari, who shed tears at the part- ing. Those who were to return home and those who were to remain in this strange land had tenderly embraced each other. The ship had been detained one day in waiting for the Indians who were to go to Spain ; but on the morning of January 4th the signal-gun was fired, and the Nina having been towed out, her sails swelled to a light breeze and she stood away to the hori- zon. The cheers from those departing, heartily responded to by those on the shore, died away, and the latter were gazing wistfully on the white specks against the sky, which soon disappeared. The island scenery along which the caravels passed was very varied. Here was a mountain-point shaped like a cone, treeless and covered with bright green grass, the land being so low toward the main as to make the point look like a little island. There were lofty mountain ranges in the distance, the blue, rocky crests surmounting the long slopes of rich and varied verdure, sharply outlined against the sky ; and the fruit- ful level along the coast, reaching inward here and there, formed valleys through which flowed copious streams. Kvery hour, as the caravel moved along, the point of view was changing. To Columbus, so singularly alive to the charms of nature, this must have been like the disclosure of a beautiful vision. PINZON'S EXCUSE. l^l Much of the time, however, they were baffled by head- winds. On the 6th, as they were beating against a stiff breeze from the east, the man watching at the mast- head cried out — " The Pinta ! " That swift-sailing craft was sweeping on toward them, with all her canvas spread before the wind. The sight brought both joy and pain to the Admiral. Putting about to find a harbor for anchorage, he sig- nalled the Pinta to follow. Pinzon obeyed orders, and made the best excuse lie could for leaving the fleet. An unfavorable wind had carried him away from the Ad- miral, he said, and he had ever since been tr3ang to find him. This was a weak apology, but it would not be wise for Columbus to break with his ablest colleague, who had so many relatives and friends among the crews, so he made the most of it. He had, however, one friend on the Pinta.^ who secretly gave him the explana- tion. An Indian on that vessel had been pointing to the east to designate a place abounding in the " yellow metal " — gold ! Pinzon, knowing the speed of his craft, spread all his sail to the wind, in order to monopolize the treasure. After being much perplexed in a lab}^- rinth of islands, none of which showed any signs of gold, he was piloted by the Indians to Hayti. Entering a river and opening up trade with the natives, he had obtained quite a quantity of the precious metal,^ half of which he kept for himself, and distributed the rest among his crew as hush-money. While this trading was going on, the natives had ^ Las Casas says: "The Admiral states that in this time he obtained much gold by trading, buying for a thong of leather pieces as big as the two fingers, and at times as big as the hand." 142 THE RIVER OF GOLD. told Columbus, during his erection of the fort, that another '' big canoe " like his was in a harbor to the eastward ; and he had sent out some Spaniards in a canoe, with natives to manage it, hoping to find his absconding captain ; but they had not been able to verify the report, which now, however, was made prob- able. This disclosure of bad faith on the part of Pinzon determined Columbus to go back to Spain as speedily as possible, without taking further chances for mu- tiny. Otherwise he vv'ould have tried to explore the coast somewhat, in hope of finding enough of some kind of treasure to at least ballast his caravels for the homeward voyage. On the 8th the Admiral entered the mouth of a river in a boat with his men to get fresh water. The river was wide and deep at the mouth, and the sand at the bottom gleamed with gold-dust. Many grains were as large as lentils, and the finer grains were very abun- dant. On returning to their ships, they found "bits of gold between the hoops " of their casks. So the Admiral named this the River of Gold. As night came on, the 9th, the vessels were again in company on the way to Spain. The next day, when they came into the harbor where Pinzon had been trading for gold, the natives complained to Columbus that the former had kidnapped four of their men and two young girls. On making search, they were found on the Pinta. As Pinzon intended carrying them away as slaves, Columbus released them, fairly bur- dening them with presents, partly in compensation for the wrong they had suffered, and partly for the concili- BATTLE ARRAY. 143 ating effect which might thus be produced on the natives of the localit3^ ^vX this onl}^ made the breach wider between the Admiral and his lieutenant, who became very angry and reproached him with bitter words. Again the caravels are under way with a favorable wind, and turning a point now called Cape Cabron they come upon a race of savages quite different from those the}^ have hitherto met. Are they Caribs ? Is this apparent inlet a channel isolating this peculiar people from the mainland? They are hideously painted, their long hair is tied behind and ornamented with the feathers of brilliant birds ; they are armed with ^var-clubs and bows of immense size and strength, from which they shoot great arrows made of hollow reeds and pointed with the hardest wood, bone, or the tooth of a fish. Evidentl}^ they are fierce warriors, made so, no doubt, by the near vicinity of the Caribs. They can shoot their arrows almost with the force of a rifle-ball, and their swords, made of a wood almost as tough and heavy as iron, are '' not sharp," says Las Casas, " but broad, of nearly the thickness of two fingers, and capable, with one blow, of cleaving through a helmet to the very brains." Savage and horrid as they appeared, they made no attack, but one of them came on board ship with bows and arrows to sell. IMaking signs and gestures in the most enthusiastic manner, he succeeded in impressing some ver}^ strange notions on Columbus, who somehow understood that there was an island not far off in- habited entirel}^ by women, and that these were occasionally visited by the Caribs. Of the children 144 MERMAIDS AND AMAZONS. born of these Amazons, the males were carried away by the fathers, but the females were left to keep up the feminine stock. To what extent the savage was responsible for imparting such a notion is not for us to say, but the Admiral at once recalled Marco Polo's account of two islands near the coast of Asia, the one inhabited by men and the other by women, between which precisely the same kind of intercourse existed. From the same source Columbus learned that there were mermaids — that is, sea-maids — in these parts. In fact he saw them himself, he claims, swimming with their human faces high above the waves, and he had previously seen the same on the coast of iVfrica. But as they rose out of the sea they did not possess the Venus beauty with which poetic fancy had invested them. They are supposed to have been manatees, or sea-cows, in the distance. But we must not laugh too heartily at these absurd- ities. There is no telling what we might have believed had we lived before the era in which natural history has reduced all things to the consistency of Is^v and order as implied in the great systems of nature. Had Cuvier not been a naturalist, he, too, might have be- lieved in winged horses and fire-breathing bulls. All in all, Columbus was perplexed as to the charac- ter and intent of his savage guest. Did he come on board ship out of mere natural curiosity, or was he a spy ? His fierce, warrior-like aspect might imply the latter. On the other hand, his frank, communicative manner might simply indicate an attempt to cultivate acquaintance and perhaps a little trade with these remarkable strangers. Anyhow, the Admiral would THE BATTLE WITH THE NATIVES. 145 first try to conciliate him by kindness. Having feasted Him and made him quite liberal presents of "beads and pieces of red and green cloth," he sent him on shore, hoping at least to get some of the weapons used by these people, in order to take them to Spain as curiosities. Or perhaps they might open a trade for gold. hs> the boat neared the shore, some fifty or more, all armed with their rude weapons, appeared, peering out here and there among the trees. At first they laid down their arms and came to the boat ; but, after sell- ing two of their large bows, they seemed to take alarm, ran back and got their weapons, and also a supply of cords, as if they would capture and bind the Spaniards. The latter, attacking them in true warlike spirit, wounded several in the " breast with their cross-bows, and one in the posterior with a sword." All the rest fled, " leaving their w^eapons scattered here and there." Columbus was pained at the necessity for this first shedding of blood in the New World. How would it affect the little garrison at La Navidad ? It might at least mar that peace and good-will which he had hoped to maintain with these people. The next morning his fears were removed. The natives appeared on the beach in large numbers, in the most peaceful and friendly manner. The Admiral sent on shore a large boat-load of men well armed, and they were most cordiall}^ received. Indeed, here was the cacique himself, holding in his hand the string of shells, the " wampum belt," at once the symbol and pledge of peace. He wished this to be carried to the Ad- miral. Presently he came to the boat himself, with only 146 FEASTING THE NATIVES. three attendants, and embarked for the caravels as free and friendly as if nothing had happened. The Admiral appreciated this noble frankness, and made the interview as pleasant as possible. Indeed, he was strongly impressed with the generous magnanimity of this chieftain. He took him all through the caravel, showed him everything which he thought might gratify his curiosity, and feasted him with that peculiar delicacy to the Indians — biscuits and honey. Presenting him with " a red cap, some beads, and red cloth,'' he sent him ashore in a manner becoming his dignity and character. As the chief returned to his home, some distance in the interior, he sent to Columbus his own crown of gold. What became of all these coronets of gold presented to Columbus by the caciques ? Did they gild the royal saloons of Spain, or go to the mint ? How invaluable they v/ould now be in our museums ! During the few more days spent by the Spaniards in the Gulf the most friendly relations continued, the natives bringing cotton, fruits, and vegetables, but always carrying their weapons, as if not quite assured of their safety. As four of the young men were very commu- nicative concerning certain islands to the eastward, and were very friendly, Columbus prevailed on them to go with them as guides.'^ Associating incident with place, Columbus called this the " Gulf of Arrows." It is now called the Gulf of Sam an a. Who were these fierce, warrior-like people ? They were indeed quite different from the rest of the inhabi- tants of Hayti. They were the Ciguaj'ans, mountain- 1 Columbus acknowledged in his journal that " it was impossible for them to learn much of the country while thej were ignorant of the language, and were several days in making the people understand a single thing." STRAIGHT FOR SPAIN. 147 eers, and their chieftain was Mayonabex, who after- ward distinguished himself in respect to some of the most noble traits of character. When they got out to sea, on the i6th, the young Indians did not seem to be so certain as to the island of Amazons or that of the Caribs. First they pointed to the northeast, then to the southeast, Columbus steering in one direction and then in the other. In the latter course he would have found Porto Rico, which, indeed, the natives called Carib ; and here he was told he would find lumps of gold as big as beans. How suggestive is a fresh breeze in the right direc- tion at sea ! The wind began to blow just right for a straight course to Spain. Columbus saw the brows of his men lower whenever he took any indirec- tion. He therefore pointed directly for home. This resolution did not come any too soon. The caravels were old and leaky, Pinzon was alienated and might influence his brother and many others, especially since the men were all homesick. The vessels were still facing the trade-winds, and therefore made slow progress. Fortunately these head-winds were light all through the remaining half of Januar}^ The sea was smooth, and the crews had some very amusing diversions. The four young Indians would jump overboard and swim around the ships almost as adroitly as the numerous tunny fishes which played about the sea in various directions. These were probably the bonita, a sprightly fish of the mackerel family, growing to several feet in length. Some of these were captured for food, and also a large shark. These afforded an agreeable supplement to 148 THE PILOTS TAKE RECKONING. their spare diet of bread and wine and West India peppers. Whether they graced their tables with the pelicans which they every now and then got sight of does not appear. Columbus noticed that he now sailed through sea- weeds very similar to those he had encountered on his way out from the Canaries, and therefore conjectured that these West India islands extended eastward, well towards those islands on the west coast of Africa. It is worthy of notice that maps were made according to this idea for more than a century afterwards. Bearing somewhat north of east, they had passed out of the belt of the trade-winds, and were now wafted on direct for Spain. The foremast of the Pbita had become seriously weakened, and the Nina was obliged, not infrequently, to slacken sail in order to keep her company. On the loth of February they took reckoning. But the coterie of captains and pilots, poring over their chart and tables, could not agree, and they differed more widely with Columbus than with each other. He believed they were in the latitude of Flores, the westernmost island of the Azores, while the rest thought they were in line with Madeira and one hun- dred and fifty leagues nearer Spain than his reckoning showed. As was generally the case in differences of the kind, Columbus was right. On the 12th the wind rose and the sea ran high. During the next day the gale still increased, and the crazy, creaking vessels labored hard. As the gloom of night settled down on the heaving billows, sharp flashes of lightning in the inky sky to the north- THE BLINDING STORM. 149 northeast signalled the coming tempest, which soon bnrst npon them. Imagine these small sea-worn vessels without decks, in the mid-Atlantic, while the utmost violence of wind and waves rocks the elements about them. All night long the sails are furled, and the frail barks scud before the wind. For three days they bear up against the raging storm, barel}^ carrying sail enough to keep them from going down in the violent cross-waves. Then the sails are taken in again at night. Faint and yet fainter gleam the lights of the Pinta through the blinding mists till she is blown so far to the north with her weak mast that they disappear entirely. Frightful, indeed, was the outlook on the following morning. Far as the eye could reach, the clouds were driven like immeasurable angry forces, and the sea was lashed into fury ; and the sailors on the Nina looked out in vain into the tempest to catch a glimpse of the Pinta. All feared that she had gone down during the night. As the gale continued in all its violence, the crews resorted to vows. Using beans for casting lots — a bean for each man — the Admiral, putting his hand into the cap first, drew the bean marked with a cross, and so was designated to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Mary of Guadalupe, carrying " a wax taper of five pounds weight." The next lot was for a pilgrimage to St. Mary of Loretto, " in the marc of Ancona, terri- tory of the Pope." This fell to one of the sailors, but Columbus volunteered to bear the expense. The next lot, to watch all night at St. Clara de Mogues, fell to the Admiral. To make the matter complete, they all vowed to go in their shirts to the nearest church of I^o THE DISTRESS OF THE ADMIRAL. " Our Lady," and there humble themselves, if ever they should reach land. Other vows were also made simply as private offerings of individuals. By this time the ship's store of provisions and water had been so lightened as to affect seriously the sailing for want of ballast. The remedy, supposed to have been original with Columbus, but since become com- mon among sailors, was to fill the empty casks with sea-water. Columbus and the crew on the Nina were well con- vinced that the Piiita was lost. The whole result of this momentous enterprise depended, therefore, on the safe return of the former vessel. But for this, with the frail and sea-worn condition of the Nina and the unremit- ting violence of the tempest, there was scarcely the shadow of a hope. The distress of the Admiral at this hour is best mirrored in his own words to the sov- ereigns : "I could have supported this evil fortune with less grief," said he, " had my person alone been in jeopardy, since I am debtor for my life to the supreme Creator, and have at other times been within a step of death. But it was a cause of infinite sorrow and trouble to think that, after having been illumi- nated from on high with faith and certainty to under- take this enterprise, after having victoriously achieved it, and when on the point of convincing my opponents and securing to your highnesses great glory and vast increase of dominions, it should please the divine Majesty to defeat all by my death. It would have been more supportable, also, had I not been accom- panied by others who had been drawn on by my per- suasions, and who, in their distress, cursed not only BETWEEN FEAR AND FAITH. i-i the hour of their coming-, but the fear inspired by my words, which prevented their turning back, as they had at various times determined. Above all, m}^ g^ef was doubled when I thought of my two sons, whom I had left in school at Cordova, destitute, in a strange land, without any testimony of the services rendered by their father, which, if known, might have inclined your highnesses to befriend them. And although, on the one hand, I was comforted by faith that the Deity would not permit a work of such great exaltation to his church, wrought through so many troubles and con- tradictions, to remain imperfect, j^et, on the other hand, I reflected on my sins, as a punishment for which he might intend that I should be deprived of the glory which might redound to me in this world." In the abstract of Columbus's journal given by Las Casas we have a still closer insight into the reflections of a great and devout mind in the midst of this inde- scribable scene of danger. That the world might know that he had accomplished his purpose was the grand point of anxiety for which he strove and for which he prayed. But his mind trembled in the balance between hope and fear. When he contem- plated his frail bark in such a tempest, it seemed as if the most trifling casualty, " even the weight of a mosquito," might send him and his intelligence of a new world to the bottom of mid-ocean. But had not the infinite Father enabled him to overcome all the difficulties of his overtures in Spain, and to make his discovery ? Had not the service of God been the aim and business of his undertaking ? And, more especially, had not God " delivered him when he had much greater 1^2 AN INGENIOUS CONTRIVANCE. reason for fear, upon the outward voyage, at which time the crew rose up against him and, with a unani- mous and threatening voice, resolved to turn back, but the eternal God gave him spirit and valor against them all ? Would not divine providence carry to completion a vast work so notably sustained thus far ? Here is an intelligence which, with a truly just and benevolent feeling, comprehends the fearful situation, and yet hopes for the grandest possibility beyond. The words are more than eloquent — they breathe a genuine simplicity, a true humility, a sublime faith. Out of his wonted resource of contrivance Colum- bus drew a possible chance of preserving an account of the discovery. Writing on parchment a brief statement of the whole enterprise since putting to sea — no doubt one of his best samples of miniature chirography — he enclosed the same in a waxed cloth, and, putting it securely in a cask, committed it to the chances of the sea. Some one might take it up, and, finding the sealed letter to the sovereigns, covet the reward of a thousand ducats promised, at a venture, to him who should become courier to the King and Queen. In order that this chance might be doubled, another cask, similarly prepared, was placed on the poop of his vessel, to float away if he and his crew were lost. No doubt his men looked on this strange performance with curious eyes, but they were not let into the secret lest they should take alarm at the Admiral's sense of danger. With what joy must the tempest-tossed crew have beheld the streak of clear sky in the west at sunset on LAND! LAND! 1^3 the 15th ! iVnd, though the sea ran high all night, the wind was favorable, and " the bonnet was set upon the mainsail." "Land! land!" was the cry of the sailor at the mast-head at break of day the next morning. Imagine the transports of delight in the crew at the sight of land once more, and that, too, near home ! But what land is this to the north-northeast, just over the prow of the caravel? To your charts, ye pilots! "The island of Madeira," cries one. " The rock Cintra, near Lisbon," cries another. " Some point of Spain," argue a number. Meanwhile all wait for the decision of the Admiral, who pronounces the land, now rounded out into an island, " One of the Azores." But while all hearts are beating with joy at the thought of landing, the wind changes, the sea rolls against them, and they cannot reach their goal. After two days of most tantalizing wind and waves, they come near enough to land to cast anchor, when lo ! the cable parts and they must put to sea again, where they beat about until morning. At last they effect a land- ing. They have reached St. Mar3'-'s, of the Ai^ores. This is a triumph for the Admiral in navigation ! Columbus was sh}^ of the Portuguese, and, as the three men he had sent on shore in the morning did not return, he feared he might be the victim of some jealous stratagem. After sunset, three men on the shore hailed the caravel. A boat was sent for them, and the}^ proved to be messengers from Castaneda, the governor of the island, bringing refreshments and the most cordial felicitations. The three missing men he was detaining to gratif}^ his curiosity by a full in- 1^4 ^^^ PENITENTIAL PROCESSION. terview in respect to the wondrous tales they could tell of their perilous vo3'age and the new world. But noth- ing surprised him and the islanders more than that the frail caravel should have outrid the unparalleled tempest which had raged for so mau}^ daj^s. The next morning Columbus reminded his men of their vow to " Our Lad3^" Learning that there was a chapel dedicated to St. Mary in the neighborhood, he engaged the three men from the shore, who had remained on shipboard over night, to secure a priest to perform mass, and dividing the crew equally he sent one-half to redeem their vow first, he and the remaining half intending to go when these returned. It must have been a novel scene even in those days, this half-naked procession on their wa}^ to the church ! But why did they not return? Columbus waited until near midday in suspense. As he could not see the chapel from his position, he weighed anchor and stood out till he could command a view, when lo! there was descried a crowd of horse and foot around the little hermitage. Presently some of them, being armed, entered a boat and came towards him. He ordered his men to be ready for either defence or attack, but to keep out of sight. Those in the boat came peaceably, however, but they did not seem to think it safe to come too near. The governor, being in the boat, stood up and asked for a guarantee of personal safety if he came on board the caravel. This the Admiral granted, but wished to know why none of the Spaniards were in the boat. Still his honor did not venture to come very near. The Admiral now urged the Portuguese governor to come on board, intending to make him a THE ADMIRAL INDIGNANT. 155 prisoner and so recover his crew. The governor was too wary to come into the trap. Why were his men detained? demanded the Admiral. In what respect had he offended the King of Portugal ? Were not the Portuguese as free and safe in Castile as in Lisbon ? The Admiral held up his commission with the insignia of the sovereigns of Spain, his whole manner waxing decidedly indignant. " The King and Queen had instructed him to treat all subjects of Portugal with respect," he said, " for the two nations were at peace. The Portuguese should beware how they transgressed the proprieties of peace, lest they incur the ro3^al displeasure." If his men were detained on the island, he still had sailors enough left to take his caravel to Seville, where he would report this outrage against the kingdom of Castile. The governor then ordered the Admiral to proceed to the harbor with his caravel, saying he had done all " by the order of the King, his master." " The Admiral ordered all on board his vessel to bear witness to these trans- actions, and called out to the governor and those with him, vowing that he would not leave the caravel till he had carried a hundred of the Portuguese to Castile and depopulated the island. He then returned to his anchorage in the harbor, as the wind and weather did not admit of taking any other course." What could be the meaning of these strange move- ments ? Had war arisen between the two nations dur- ing his absence ? The next day brought another tempest, and, as the caravel was in danger of being driven onto a lee shore, the Admiral put to sea for the island St. Michael's, 156 THE PRISONERS LIBERA TED. but he now discovered that the half of his crew remaining to him contained only three experienced seamen. For some two days the bark, thus helplessly manned, drifted about in the utmost peril. The weather then moderating, they returned to St. Mary's. Now there came from the shore two priests and a notary. They were very patronizing. The governor was ready to do the Admiral any service, they said, if he could but be assured that he was under the patron- age of Spain. Would he not be so kind as to show his commission ? This being done to their satisfaction, they returned to the shore, and the next day the pris- oners were liberated. This last move of the governor was, no doubt, a studied way of getting out of a close place. When the prisoners returned, the mystery was solved. They had ascertained that the King of Portugal had instructed Castaiiedo, as well as others in like author- ity, to detain Columbus whenever he might appear, fearing lest his enterprise might in some way infringe on the rights of Portugal. The governor, failing to surprise him in the chapel, had resorted to stratagem, but he had failed alike in both. Now it behooved him to let himself down as easily as possible. Columbus, having had enough of St. Mary's and the Portuguese governor, sailed away on Sunday, the 24th. For several days the weather was pleasant, but on Wednesday, the 27th, another contrary gale arose and a tempestuous sea. Having had no opportunity to recover from the exhaustive efforts necessary to him during the previous storm, so continuous and so severe, what \yonder that he now became impatient at being THE SAILS ARE RENT. j^y thus driven back from the very door of home ? And how natural that he should contrast the balmy days he had just spent in the land of perpetual summer with these terrific gales and threatening seas ! " Must it not be," he thought, that the earthly paradise spoken of in Genesis is somewhere in the remote east, as theologians have said ? It. almost seemed as if he had been near its borderland. The storm continued to rage, and at midnight on Sunday, March 3d, a squall so terrific struck the cara- vel that all her sails were "split" and she was obliged to scud under bare poles. They passed the next day in the tempest, and the following night was even more fearful than the former. The waves ran mountain high, the rain seemed to literally pour out of the heavens, while the lightning's glare and the loud peals of thunder in various parts of the firmament were enough to remind them of the final da}^ of doom. Lots were again cast, and there were pledges of solemn fasting. In the night, w^hile they labored with a terrible storm and were near meeting with destruction from the cross-sea, the fury of the wind, which seemed to carry them up to the skies, and the violent showers and lightning from many parts, there was the cry of " land !" but only to exchange one terror for another ; for, not knowing precisel}^ where they were, there was the most imminent danger of being dashed in pieces on rocks and shoals. The ragged sails were taken in^ and they kept aloof from shore till morning. The dawn revealed the well-known rock of Cintra, at the mouth of the Tagus. 1^8 THE NINA ENTERS THE TAG US. Should he again put himself into the hands of the Portuguese ? Notwithstanding his distrust of this nation and their king, the violence of the storm left him no choice. In a letter written years afterwards to Dona Juana de la Torres he says : " I was driven by a tempest into the port of Lisbon, having lost ni}^ sails." Sailing up the mouth of the river the 4th of March, he cast anchor in front of Rastelo, about three o'clock in the afternoon. Can we imagine the sense of relief which came to these tempest-tossed mariners as they furled their sails in the calm and dropped anchor in the quiet river ! All along the shore the inhabitants had been watch- ing with prayerful anxiety as the caravel made way against the storm. Gray-haired mariners had never seen such a tempestuous winter. Many ships were lying in the harbors weather-bound, and many had been wrecked along the coast. One may imagine that the hand of the Admiral could scarcely have been steady as he penned the tidings of his return, to be borne by the swiftest messenger to the sovereigns of Spain, and he would have been more than human if he had not felt a little self-com- placent as he delivered for the King of Portugal his dispatch of a new world found in the west. Surely he might take the liberty of saying to him that in a case of necessity he had sought a Portuguese port, and that in order to be more safe than he might be at Rostelo he would like to be permitted to anchor at Lisbon. His misgiving was not altogether unwarranted, for, while the courier to the King was making his nine leagues to Valparaiso and back, a certain ofi&cer of the Z ISB ON IS MO VED. 159 Portuguese navy, lying at Rastelo, demanded him to give an account of himself and his vessel, Columbus " stood on his dignity," af&rming his claim to respect as an admiral of Spain, and so refused to grant the request. This, after due explanation, v/as satisfactory, and now that the naval officer had learned the nature of the voj'age just made by this little caravel, he was ready to "lionize" her. Approaching with fifes, drums, and trumpets, he showed every possible defer- ence, and offered his services to the fullest extent. Lisbon was the one place in all the world to be most deeply moved by this wonderful discovery. Had not Portugal led the world for many decades in navigation, at once the most perilous and the most successful in opening up unknown parts ? But here was an achieve- ment, by one little boat, which quite eclipsed anything they could boast. For two days the Tagus teemed with crafts of ever}^ kind, from the stately barge to the small boat, bearing all classes of the curious and the inquir- ing, who gazed with increasing wonder on the plants, the birds, the animals, and, above all, the people, so unlike au}^ other they had ever seen. Surely God had bestowed the favor of this great discovery on the King and Queen of Spain, they said, on account of their devotion to the Christian faith. On Frida}^, the 8th of March, a cavalier from King John II. arrived, inviting the Admiral to court, and not only were his personal accommodations on the way to be free, but the King had ordered- that anything required for his vessel or his crews should be furnished in like manner. On that same evening of the arrival of the invitation 1 6o COL UMB US BEFORE JOHN II. Columbus set out, and on the following evening reached the court. He was accompanied by the King's steward, and as he approached Valparaiso a companj^ of cavaliers came out to escort him into the royal presence. Here he is ordered to be seated, after the manner of royalty. The King congratulates him on his great achievement, and assures him that all things in his kingdom are at the service of him and his sovereigns. But mortification is mingled with the keenest interest in the Admiral's account — no doubt eloquently given — of the eventful voyage and the wonderful discoveries. Had all this been stupidly thrown away by the king- dom of Portugal ? The wish being father to the thought, he suggested that these wonderful parts just discovered might, after all, possibly be included in the capitulations to himself by Spain in 1479 ' These capitulations Columbus had never seen, but he knew well that he had sailed far enough from the coast of Africa. Be that as it might, said the King, he and the sovereigns of Spain could easily adjust the matter. How little did these two personages know what part of the world they were talking about ! The Admiral was most royally entertained for the night by the prior of Crato, the principal personage of the place, and was requested to meet the King again the next day in order to complete the charming inter- view. The latter asked all sorts of questions about the soil of this new country, its productions, its people, the route thence, etc., etc. All these inquiries Colum- bus answered most minutely in order to convince his Royal Highness that he had not been in Guinae. A JEALOUS COURT. i5i Unfriendly critics have found an important point against Columbus in the account of this interview, as given by certain Portuguese historians and biogra- phers, Barros, Souza, and Vasconcilos, who say that he deported himself loftily, and spoke in a very vaunting and provoking manner to the King, as if to pique and worrjr him over his lost opportunit}^ — so much so that it is said some of the indignant courtiers present sug- gested his assassination. The}^ had seen the Indians in Columbus's ship, thc}^ said, and they looked like the people within the route of the discoveries of Portu- gal. The most remote lands discovered by their own nation were very near to those found by Columbus. He, therefore, had not discovered any new country, and deserved to die for having tried to embroil the two nations. Thej^ would provoke him, and, having gotten him into a quarrel, slay him as if b}^ accident or in honorable combat. But the King was too far above such dastard plotting to accept the advice. No doubt Portugal was bitterly chagrined at the loss of this magnificent enterprise. How grand it would have been to have added India in the west of the Atlantic to Africa in the east ! How easil}^ within their reach it had once been ! And who could tell what relation these new-found lands might bear to those the}^ were exploring ? For, be the world round or fiat, the vast relations of sea and land, both to the east and to the west, were as yet a mystery. Indeed, up to this hour the great ocean seas were but little known outside the Mediterranean. In every word and look of Columbus these jealous courtiers would see and hear much more than he meant 1 62 COLUMBUS BEFORE THE ^UEEN. to convey. And in view of all the circumstances of the case, if the Admiral felt just a little self-conscious, and a slight inward sense of triumph over those who had doubted him and openly set him at naught, and could not altogether conceal these feelings, what wonder ? — what blame ? On Monda}^, March nth, after dinner, Columbus took leave of the King, having received every mark of affection, and was escorted on his way for some distance by all the knights of the court. As the womanly curiosity of the Queen, now at Villa Franca, had requested an interview with the newly-made Ad- miral bearing such remarkable tidings, he stopped there on the way, and was received in the most cordial manner by her and her ladies in attendance. Again the wonderful story was told to a most appreciative group of listeners. Columbus boarded his caravel on the 13th of March, and reached Palos at noon on Friday, the 15th, after an absence of a little less than seven months and a half. CHAPTERpX. THE TRIUMPHANT ARRIVAL. OW the little town of Palos was wild witli joy as they beheld the familiar image of the 1. Nina floating inside the bar of Salt has long been known to the Avorld and can easily be imagined. Here were at least a part of those who had long since been given up as lost in the " Sea of Dark- ness," and they could tell something about the missing ones. There are faces wet with the tears of delight, because those most cherished in their affections are returned to them — almost like those raised up from the dead ! But there are other tearful faces revealing a joy far less complete, because those whom they cherish most are simply heard from in the distance, and the uneasy imagination is left to fill up their more recent fate, which, after all, may be too sad to be conjectured. Yet joy everywhere prevails. The crowds throng the docks ; and the shops along the double street which monopolizes the little town, cradled in a depression between high hills, are closed ; the church bell rings, and old and young follow the Admiral up the hill to St. George's church, just outside the village. Here they kneel devoutly, scarcely noticing the image of St. George and the dragon just over the altar, for all are returning thanks for the great discovery and for the safe return of so many. On this same afternoon, while the air is yet vibrating 1 64 THE PI NT A ARRIVES. to these shouts and peals of universal joy, yonder conies the Pijita^ passing the bar of Salt, and standing up the harbor. The storm having blown her away into the Bay of Biscay, she had made the port of Bayonne ; whence Pinzon, supposing Columbus to have been lost, had written to the Spanish sovereigns, asking permission to report the great discovery in person at court. He had expected to surprise Palos ; but, seeing how he had been anticipated by the Ad- miral, his enthusiasm was cooled at the recollection of his desertion and at the thought of what might fol- low in consequence. He therefore disembarked quietly. His health was shattered, his high reputation as one of the chief aids to this great enterprise damaged, and, as he soon received an admonitory letter from the court, which gave him to understand that his presence there would not be welcome — at least not without that of Columbus — he sank under the weight of mortifica- tion and disappointment, and died in a very short time. Poor Pinzon ! He had been guilty of a serious mis- demeanor, and sad was the expiation he had to make, but let his incalculable services in revealing one-half the globe be most gratefully remembered. What could Columbus have done without him ? Engrave his virtues " on the rock," but write his errors " in the sand." The sovereigns were now in Barcelona, an important seaport town in Catalonia. Tidings truly welcome, almost transporting, was this message from the courier as to the New World ! For once, Ferdinand's cautious reserve must have been shaken, and Isabella's san- guine, generous nature must have been moved to its COLUMBUS GOES TO BARCELONA. i6s utmost depth. Let Mercury, messenger of the gods, with winged feet, fly ! Tell the Admiral to come at once, straight across the kingdom of Spain, and in his own moving words relate this astounding event to the King and Queen ! Meanwhile, Columbus has gone to Seville to await the royal orders. B}^ the 30th of March the anwer is at hand. How shall he proceed to this distant point ? In his caravel along the Mediterranean ? This was his first impulse ; but no, he has had salt water enough for awhile. April is about to unfold her vernal charms in this delightful climate, so he will go by land, obliquely, almost across the kingdom. But he must first set in motion preparations for an immediate second voyage. So the sovereigns have requested in their short but en- thusiastic letter, just arrived. News always had swift wings, even before railroads and telegraphs. Ere long all Spain was on the move to learn as much as possible about this new thing under the sun, which was to eclipse alike the Portu- guese discoveries in Africa and the subjugation of the Moors at home. By the time Columbus was on the way the whole country was thronging him en route. Every cit}'- and town through which he passed was an ovation. The six Indians with him — one had died on the way across the ocean and three were sick at Palos — took the lead, so ornamented as to represent the golden wealth of the Indies. Then followed the brilliant birds; brilliant, indeed, they must have been, especially the forty parrots mentioned as in the procession. There were the most striking specimens of plants and fruits, wholly new to the beholders ; especiall}^ noticeable were 1 66 THE PEOPLE THRONG HIM. the spices and the royal palms, which might indicate the outskirts of India. Do not fail to note the brightly ornamented belts, the figure-heads or masks pieced out and trimmed with gold, and the rudely fashioned coronets of the precious metal — all presented by the chieftains, and disclosing alike the wealth and the novel style of life in the newly-discovered country. But all this merely prepares the eye to behold Co- lumbus himself following on horseback and sur- rounded, ere he reached Barcelona, with a splendid cavalcade of courtiers and hidalgoes who had come, in their eagerness, to escort him into the city. It is but rational, and requires no stretch of the imagination, to accept the account of the people thronging and crowd- ing from every direction to get a glimpse of this unpre- cedented sight. The windows, the balconies, the sides of the narrow streets, and even the housetops, would be crowded with curious spectators of every age and character. Those bending under the weight of years, those in the full strength of manhood and womanhood, the beauty and buoyancy of youth, and the innocent, gaping curiosity of childhood — all would be there, elbowing their way to the front. The poet or the artist who should depict the scene otherwise would surely be delinquent to human nature. The bruit of the dis- cover3^ had caused a great sensation in the court and among the people ; and, great and momentous as it was in itself, it was supposed to be even more wonderful in some respects than it really was. Nothing, in those days at least, could turn people's heads and set every- body wild like the news of boundless wealth ready to hand — gold! pearls! precious jewels ! Was not such COLUMBUS BEFORE THE MONARCHS. 167 tlie wealth of farthest India, of which they now beheld the trophies ? What would have been their feelings had they known that they were only beholding the symbols of the great American wilderness, swarm- ing with savages ? But the King and Queen ? Behold them, in the most regal state of expectancy, seated on a dais under a canopy of brocade of gold, in the Alcazar or Arabian castle, once the seat of the Moorish kings, now occupied by the bishop of Urgil. On their right is Prince Juan^ the heir-apparent. The tall and stately figure of the Admiral enters, white-haired and venerable as a Roman senator, and surrounded by a crowd of ga}^ cavaliers. As he approaches, the monarchs rise. He kneels to kiss their hands, which thej^ give with deferential hesi- tation, and graciously lift him up and signal him to sit in their presence, after the manner of royalty. Let him now tell where he has been and what he has seen, for every ear is listening with the utmost tension of curious interest. Speak, O Admiral and Viceroy of the Indies, for this is the grandest and proudest hour of your life. Drain the cup of joy — it is your supreme moment, and the tide of your glory will soon ebb, never to rise again in your day. Columbus may have discovered a foreign accent, but he was without doubt an able speaker ; and here were the representative subjects of his discourse, to be pointed out in passing — here was such an audience as few men of his rank ever addressed. And the story ! — it was well worthy of the audience, listening in almost breathless astonishment. Truly this is news ! — news from the antipodes, and here are the evidences — tangi- l68 A NEW ERA. ble — visible ; no old musty parchment of Marco Polo or John Mandeville, but the direct living word and liv- ing things from beyond the " Sea of Darkness " ! It is an hour of intense feeling ; but the thought does not seem to be of wealth or dominion — a tide of religious emotion carries everything before it. Mines of gold and seas of pearl there may be, but here is a pagan world, naked and destitute, given to the care and tutelage of the church, which has just conquered the heathen within its borders. The things contemplated are not only mysterious, but truly immense. They are at least conscious, it would seem, of the fact — these great minds — that an incalculable change is about to come to the world. A new era is dawning. They are overshadowed by the hifinite. The discourse ended, the sovereigns are kneeling with clasped hands and tearful eyes lifted heavenward, uttering thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God for this great and strange prov- idence. The entire audience follow the example. No shouts of joy, no loud acclaim of triumph, but solemn silence, tearful devotion, thought unutterable ! From the royal chapel choir, accompanied by instruments, swells forth the inimitable Te Denm Laudamus.^ bear- ing all hearts heavenward, " so that it seemed as if, in that hour, they communicated with celestial delights," says the venerable Las Casas, who, then some eighteen years of age, was probably a student at Salamanca, and who was afterwards intimately acquainted with Co- lumbus, as also with others who witnessed the above. What an event, what an impression was this ! — at once the grandest reality and the greatest delusion ; the former to be proven by the nations in the centuries COL UMB US IN HONOR. 1 69 to come, but, alas ! the latter only to be experienced by Columbus. But let us not anticipate the shadows and the darkness — they will come soon enough. Let the great discoverer enjoy to the full these days of popular applause and courtly esteem. Let the dignitaries of church and state crowd around him, and feel honored by a few words of conversation with him about the new world. Let him appear amidst the crowds, " his face wreathed with smiles of content." Let him ride out on his horse, King Ferdinand on one side and Prince Juan on the other. And is he not entitled to dictate measures to the sovereigns, as to the manage- ment of the great enterprises of the Indies ? The high honors of the hour have cost him many anxious, strug- gling years, and they will be followed b}^ days dark and tempestuous enough. Surely the reward allotted Co- lumbus for his stupendous achievement was but slen- der — a few years of bitter trial, disappointment, and suffering both of body and of mind. Well, we must not forget that story about the ^%% ! Cardinal Mendoza, always friendly to Columbus, even in the dark days of the antechamber, is said to have now made a banquet in his special honor. During the repast, a jealous courtier asked : If he — Columbus — had not discovered the Indies, were there not other men in Spain who might have done so ? On the principle that actions sometimes speak louder than words, the Admiral took an ^^^ and invited any one of the com- pany to make it stand on end. After the vain attempt, various!}^ and amusingly' made, no doubt, had gone the round, he touched it to the table firmh^ enough to depress the end, and so made it stand. lyo APPRECIATION OF COLUMBUS. Like many other striking incidents in the lives of great men, this lacks the earliest and best authority, being first given by Benzoni in 1865. But if the illus- tration were " a hackneyed one even in those days, and we find it ascribed, among others, to Brunelleschi, the architect who constructed the marvellous cupola of the Cathedral of Florence seventy years before the first voyage of Columbus," still it may have been original at Mendoza's table — at least in the manner of its ap- plication. At all events, it bids fair to live as long as the name of Columbus ; and, as Irving has said, " the universal popularity of the anecdote is a proof of its merit." As a signal of honor to himself and family, the sov- ereigns gave him a coat-of-arms. May 20th ; the field of which contained, above, a lion to the right and a castle to the left ; and below, five golden anchors on a blue ground to the right, and a sort of archipelago of golden islands on a sea of waves to the left. Tlie}^ also prefixed to his name, with much preamble and formality of statement, the title " Don," which implied a high honor in those days. Now it scarcely means more than Mr. does in English. As to the inscription, — " To Castile and to Leon Columbus gave a new world," it does not appear in the earliest representations of the escutcheon, and in the biography ascribed to Ferdinand Columbus the motto is said to have been placed on his father's tomb by the King some time after his death. Ferdinand's • appreciation of the greatest man in his realm seems to have overtaken him somewhat late — after that man was cold and silent in death. CHAPTER X. THE BOUNDARY LINE AND THE SECOND VOYAGE. PAIN and Portugal were rival nations, so closely and compactl}^ located as to be able to watch eacli other with the most narrow- eyed vigilance. The Pope, regarded as ruler of Chris- tendom, and so, in a spiritual sense at least, ruler over all nations, was supposed to be able to give awa}^ a heathen territory to any Christian nation who might discover or conquer it with intent of evangelization. For more than half a century these incumbents'of the papal chair had given Portugal permission to sail south, and to Spain the same privilege to the westward. And in 1479 the two nations had agreed to abide by this decision as to their naval enterprises. For many years Portugal seemed to have the field of promise ; and no limit appeared, as yet, to the rich territories of Africa. Spain, meanwhile, might content herself with her colony on the Canaries, or speculate on the " Sea of Darkness." Now the scene of action was changed. Columbus, sailing to the west, had found the most mag- nificent islands and v/hat seemed to be a mainland. ■ Spain w^as *sure her caravels had not trespassed on the undiscovered territories assigned to her neighbor, but the latter was not so sure. So, in order to prevent all cbntroversy, Spain applied to Alexander VI. to draw a line of demarcation. On May 3d, 1493, ^^ imaginary limit was announced, one hundred leagues west of the 172 LINE OF NO VARIATION. Azores and Cape Verde Islands. Beyond this Spain miglit have the field to the west, if she would plant the Catholic faith in the new territories. No one thought of the trouble which such a line might cause on the other side of the globe. This line of demarcation corresponds with Colum- bus's line of no variation of the compass, and was no doubt suggested by him. That this line made a great impression upon him is clear from his own words : " Each time that I sail from Spain to India, as soon as I have proceeded about a hundred nautical miles to the west of the Azores, I perceive an extraordinary variation in the movements of the heavenly bodies, in the temperature of the air, and in the character of the sea. I have observed these alterations with especial care, and I notice that the mariner's compass, whose declination had hitherto been northeast, was now changed to northwest ; and when I had crossed this line, as if in passing the brow of a hill, I found the ocean covered by such a mass of sea-weed, similar to small branches of pine covered with pistachi nuts, that we were apprehensive that, for want of a suffi- ciency of w^ater, our ships would run upon a shoal. Before we reached the line of which I speak there was no trace of any such sea-weed. On the boundary line, one hundred m.iles w^est of the Azores, the ocean becomes at once still and calm, being scarcely even moved by a breeze. On my passage from the Canary Islands to the parallel of Sierra Leone we had to endure a fright- ful degree of heat, but as soon as we had crossed the above-mentioned line the climate changed, the air became temperate, and the freshness increased the farther we advanced." PORTUGUESE STRATEGIC. 173 How natural, if not necessary, therefore, it is to believe, with Humboldt and others, that Columbus sought to fix the political line by the physical. But other lines of no variation have since been found ; so that this was, after all, no natural limit of territory. Portugal was exceedingly anxious to get a foothold in the newly-discovered country, and went so far as to fit out vessels for that purpose, thinking, no doubt, \h.2X possession was " nine points out of ten in the law." She was as tricky now as she had been with Columbus some years before. Ferdinand either knew or sus- pected what was in progress, and sent an embassador with two letters, one friendly and the other threaten- ing. He might use the one or the other, as the case, might demand on his arrival. But King John had bribed Ferdinand's counsellors, who kept him con- stantly advised of this monarch's plans, and thus he was made ready for the double message. Having escaped the trap, he sent to his royal brother, saying that during sixt}^ days, while they might be discuss- ing matters, no vessel should sail on any vo3^age of discovery. This might prove a quietus to the excite- ment ; then, too, he must be conciliatory, for he wanted the dividing line to run due west from the Canaries, instead of north and south. This sort of parleying just suited Ferdinand. He would now have time to get Columbus read}' for his second voyage, while King John's hands were thus fastened b}' his own tying. He sent another embassj^, which was instructed to travel slowl}^, to procrastinate in ever}^ possible wa}', and, if they could not gain time enough otherwise, to call an arbitration. King John saw 1 74 BISHOP FONSICA . through the scheme, and, helplessly chagrined, said, " These embassadors have neither feet to travel nor head to propose." He was beaten and gave np the contest. Behold these kings playing their sharp game for islands and continents ! Everything was on the move now, in order to be ready as soon as possible for Columbus's second voyage. Free lodgings were granted him and his servitors wherever he went. The titles and privileges before granted were confirmed, and he was given the royal seal, to be used as occasion might require. May 28th, after having received every possible demonstration of favor from the sovereigns and from the whole court, he left Barcelona, and reached Seville earh^ in June. Here he was joined by Juan Rodrigues de P'on- sica, archdeacon of Seville, appointed b}'' the Crown to direct preparations. This church dignitary is painted in very dark colors by most writers.^ He began to take issue at once with Columbus in his plans of prep- aration, particularly in respect to the number of foot- men he was to have as Admiral and Viceroy. Foiled in this demur by the sovereigns, he seems to have contracted an implacable enmity toward his victim, whom he never ceased to persecute till the day of his death, and then he seems to have transferred his spirit of unyielding bitterness to the Admiral's descendants. He held the control of the affairs of the -"A shrewd man of business, a hard task-master, an implacable enemy, he displayed, during his long administration of Indian affairs, all the quali- ties of an unscrupulous tyrant, and was instrumental in inflicting on the islanders keener miseries than ever have been brought by conqueror upon a subject race." — Helps' Life of Christopher Columbus. FITTING OUT THE FIEET 175 Indies some thirty years. A thoroughly worldly and unforgiving spirit seems to have marked his career. " Money ! mone}^ !" is often the cry of kings as well as of common people. The new fleet would require funds. There was a royal order which put all the ships and seamen in the ports pf Andalusia at the service of Columbus and Fonsica at reasonable pay. This would ensure convenience and econom3\ Then two-thirds of the tithes of the church were appropriated ; also certain sequestered propert}^ of the Jews, so cruelly banished. Other resources were husbanded. Finally, a loan of 5,000,000 maravedis was secured from the Duke of Medina-Sidonia. Artillery and weapons of warfare of all kinds were gathered from the various ships of the nation. Mili- tary stores left over from the Moorish wars and stored in the Alhambra, now degraded into an arsenal, were laid under requisition. Everything was hurr}^ and bustle, for Portugal was watching and might take advan- tage of delay. How remarkably Ital}^ is destined to contribute to these enterprises in discovery ! Did Perestrello and Cadamosto aid Prince Henry ? Here is not only Co- lumbus in this important service of Spain, but the man who presides over all this din of preparation in the harbor of Seville, Juonato Beradi, is a Florentine mer- chant now settled here ; and, more interesting still, that man assisting him so energetically is Americiis Vespuccius^ hereafter to give name, unwittingly albeit, to one-half of the globe. He is an active and well-culti- vated man of some forty-two years. As for Isabella, she is now a sort of missionary. 1 76 EMBARK A TION A T CADIZ. The Indians brought to Barcelona by Columbus are baptised, the King, the heir-apparent, and the Queen herself standing as sponsors ; the whole affair being conducted according to the ecclesiastical magnificence of the times. She is instructing the Admiral to deal kindly with the natives of the new country, and punish all such as impose on them or put stumbling- blocks in the way of their conversion to the faith. To Bernardo Buil, the Benedictine monk selected by the Pope as his apostolical vicar, she gives the sacred vestments and vessels of her own chapel. He and his twelve consecrated assistants must do all they can to establish a church in the new world. The scene of active preparation is now transferred to the harbor of Cadiz, from which the fleet is to sail. Seventeen vessels in all are here — three stately carracks, several yacht-like crafts of light draft for coasting and exploring ; the rest are caravels, rounded up at prow and stern after the picturesque style of that time. An extensive fleet, this, compared with the three small vessels which sailed from Palos less than a year ago ! From every direction the stores of out- fit and provisions and the tide of living things flow in. Here comes a stock of cows ; also horses, asses, and other beasts ; here are farm implements and seeds of all the grains, vines, and fruit trees of all kinds — every- thing of the kind needed in stocking a new country. It is a sort of entry of Noah's Ark on a large scale. But'the people ! — see them crowd and throng ! No opening of prisons now ; no persuasion whatever necessary. " Men were ready to leap into the sea to swim, if it had been possible, into those new-found THE PEOPLE WHO EMBARK. 1-7 parts," sa3'S one who lived near that time. At first the number permitted to go had been limited to 1,000; but, under the pressure, it soon rose to 1,200, and finally is supposed to have reached in all nearl}^ 1,500. In addition to all the crews, artisans, laborers, and officers, here was the adventurer, ready for good luck or bad, as the case might be, expecting, somehow, to get an immense amount of gold. Here was the pleasure-seeker, dreaming of some elysium of easy delectation and unparalleled scenes of beauty. Here was the soldier, looking for unheard-of feats in arms. Finall}', here were those who merely wanted to go, they could scarcely tell why, but managed to move along with the crowd, unchallenged, and stow them- selves away unseen. All, all expecting, somehow, to pick up an immense fortune. But there are some here who must not be lost in the crowd — Alonzo de Ojeda, a dashing, daring young soldier from the Moorish wars, and favorite of the Duke of Medina-Celi ; Diego, youngest brother of Columbus ; Las Casas, father of the famous bishop and apostle to the Indians, and also an uncle; Juan Ponce de Leon, of Florida fame afterwards ; Juan de la Cosa, who made the first map of the new world, and Dr. Chanca, of Seville, one of the chief chroniclers of the voyage. Strikingly impressive must have been that last day in port. The twelve ecclesiastics, under their leader, would see to it that the accustomed religious rites were performed by all the crews. Friends embraced each other. Not only from the masts did gay banners float, but brilliant colored fabrics decorated many of 178 THE FLEET LEAVES THE HARBOR. the ships. The royal standard was on the stern of every vessel. Pipers, harpers, clarions, and trnmpets vied with each other, and " held in mnte astonishment the neriads and even the sirens with their sweet modu- lations." Cheers rent the air, and cannon thundered across the waters. The morning of the 25th of September dawned auspiciously. Before sunrise the voices of the sailors were heard, as thej^ weighed anchors and hoisted their sails. The vessels fall into line, and are escorted out onto the deep by Venetian galleys. Surely this is a sud- den rise of glory for the Admiral, one of which his excitable nature must be intensely conscious. A week of uneventful sailing passes, and on the ist of October the fleet reaches the Gran Canaria. Here they stop to repair a leaky ship. On the 5th they reach Gomera, where they remain two days to com- plete their outfit. Finding here all the thriving indus- tries of civilized life, they take in, not merely wood and water, but also increase their stock of domestic animals — calves, goats, sheep, and the swine from which descended the abundant supply of these animals for which the new world is afterwards noted, some of them even reverting to the original wild state. Domes- tic fowls also are taken in, and seeds and plants for the orange, the lemon, melons, &c. On the 7th they are under way again, but for six days they are becalmed among these islands. On the 13th, however, a fresh breeze swells their sails, and they bear to the south of the course of the former voyage, for the Admiral is desirous of seeing those islands inhabited by " man-eaters," said to lie south- east of Hayti. STORM AT SEA. 179 As they are now out on the wide sea, Columbus gives sealed directions to the several captains, to be opened only if the vessels become scattered, in order that none may fail to make their port at La Navidad. Las Casas says these instructions were under seal in order that even the captains might be dependent on Columbus for their course to the new world, and no one be able to divulge the secret. As they now swept on charmingly in the track of the trade-winds their only hindrance was the tard}^, heav}'- sailing of the Ad- miral's ship. Dr. Chanca thought they had lost one- fourth of their time on the voyage on account of her. Ten days passed and still they were sailing grandly. But where are those great tracts of sea-weeds which were encountered on the former voyage ? They are away to the north, and are not needed this time to remind the timid sailors of land. Now the ships are outward bound for a definite port, every eye antici- pating the most magnificent landfall at the end of the voyage. As the end of the month approached they were sur- prised by drenching rains, sharp lightnings, and crash- ing thunder. For hours the fleet was tempest-tossed, and danger, dark and threatening, prevailed. In the language of Syllacius, a contemporary writer, " Their yards were broken, their sails torn, their ropes snapped asunder, the timbers creaked, the decks were floating with brine, some ships hung suspended on the sum- mits of the waves, while to others the yawning floods disclosed the bottom between the billows." But, lo ! the clear glow of lights at the tips of the masts and yards of the ships, especially the Admiral's ship, as- l8o ST. ELMO'S LIGHTS. sures one and all that the good St. Elmo is present with his candles and will secure the stilling of the tempest. According to the custom of sailors, under the spell of this time-honored superstition, the crews, with tears of joy, salute the saint by chanting their " sacred hjnnns " and " offering prayers." " Forth- with the tempest began to abate, the sea to remit its fury, the waves their violence, and the surface of the waves became as smooth as polished marble." So says Coma, a writer of that time. Herrera, a Spanish historian, referring to the same nautical superstition occurring in the famous vo3'age of Magellan, says : " During these great storms, they said that St. Elmo appeared at the topmast with a lighted candle, and sometimes with two, upon which the people shed tears of joy, receiving great consolation, and saluted him according to the custom of mariners. He remained visible for a quarter of an hour, and then disappeared with a great flash of lightning which blinded the peo- ple," Both Pliny and Seneca mention a similar super- stition as prevailing among Roman mariners, who attributed the lights to Castor and Pollux, tutelary divinities of sailors in ancient times. Hence the sign which St. Paul saw on the Alexandrian ship, referred to in Acts viii, ii. These lights of St. Elmo are now known to be simply a natural phenomenon. When storm-clouds, heavily charged with electricity, float low over the earth, an electrical communication takes place between them and such projecting points as church-spires and masts of ships, causing them to glow with a blue-white light, which may continue for a number of seconds or even minutes. LAND IN SIGHT. iSi Saturday evening, November ad, finds the crews weary with the vo3^age, which must have been ini- mensel}^ greater than most of them had ever expe- rienced. The sailors, too, are tired with bailing out the water from leaky ships. It would seem, also, that the suppl}^ of fresh water was becoming scant, and that some were suffering from thirst. The pilots cast up their reckonings, some concluding- that the}- were 780 leagues from the Canaries, and others making the distance 800 leagues. The Admiral is looking sharpl}- at the sky and sea, and is watching the shifting puffs of wind. He is sure, from the color of the water, the motion of the waves, the changing Avinds, and the fit- ful showers, that land is near. With his wonted caution, he therefore gives orders to take in sail, and watch careful 1}^ throughout the night. The first light of Sundaj^ morning gilds the top of a high mountain directly ahead. All are cheered with the cry of " land " from the mast-head of the Admiral's ship. Shouts of joy ring out upon the waves from the whole fleet. Dominica shall be the name of the majestic island heaving in full view, says Columbus, for is it not Sunda}^ ? As the ships move on, other islands, clad in elysian beaut}-, rise above the horizon like beatific visions. Flights of brightl}^ colored, noisy parrots and other brilliant tropical birds are winging their way from one island to another, and the w^ind from off the land is laden with sweet odors. Every vessel now becomes a sanctuary-. The decks bustle wdth the crews and passengers, and the united fleet gives thanks for the prosperous voyage, and chants the impressive service of the church, including the l82 GUADALOUPE. Salva Regina. Surely this is a fitting manner of saluting the Nezv World on the Lord'^s day. Bvery one is eager to set foot on the land, but Co- lumbus can find no good anchorage for the fleet along this island, so they sail to the next one of large size, which he names Mariagalante, after his ship. Here they land and set up the royal banner, taking pos- session, by means of the usual ceremony, of this, along with the other five islands they have just passed. But are there no inhabitants in this luxuriant forest redolent with spices ? Is there no ej-e to behold these brilliant flowers ? — no hand to pluck this luscious fruit? They search in vain. The island is a solitude. As nothing could be so interesting here as some specimen of humanity, they make sail for the next large island. Another night is spent on the water, and the dawn reveals a most romantic landscape. A vol- canic peak rises to an immense height, and cataracts, pouring down its sides, appear like water falling out of heaven. Columbus, recalling a promise made to the monks of " Our Lady of Guadaloupe," in Estremadura, names this large and wonderful island Gimdaloupe. The next day they land and pass a week of sight- seeing. Here is the first village in the New World ! — desolate and forsaken, however, excepting the infants and little ones, whom the terrified mothers have left be- hind in their flight. But their frightened, innocent staring is soon diverted by gentle caresses and by those tinkling hawk's bells and other bright trinkets which the strangers bind upon their naked arms. Let us look around upon this strange village ! — upon this scene in human life forever passed away ! The A VILLAGE OF THE NATLVES. 183 houses — about thirty, built of logs or poles, iuterwoveu with branches and huge reeds and thatched with the immense, tough leaves of the palm — are not constructed after the circiila?', zvigiva7n siyle^ so common on most other islands, but are square and cottage-like^ with porticoes, the posts of which are sometimes carved to rep- resent objects — serpents in one instance. And the}^ are built around a square, in truly social style. Let us enter and examine the furniture. Ah ! here is the hammock, the Indian bed, which is to add a novelt}^ to civilized luxury and a new word to our language. It is made of a loose, rope-like twisting of cotton, tied in a net-like form, and hung by cords. For dishes, here is the cala- bash, rude earthen bowls, and, O horrors ! human skulls for drinking vessels ! Here are fabrics of cot- ton — " many cotton sheets,'' saj^s Dr. Chanca, " so well woven as to be in no way inferior to those of our country " — and also cotton j^arn and the crude wool. Here are huge bows and arrows tipped with bone — bones of human shins, the best judges think. Dr. Chanca mentions arrows pointed " with tortoise-shell " and " fish spines," '' barbed like coarse saws." The same author — and he was an eye-w4tness of the very scenes we are now describing — says of these islanders, the Caribs : " In their attacks upon the neighboring islands, these people capture as many of the women as they can, especiall}^ those who are 3'oung and beautiful, and keep them as concubines ; and so great a number do they carry off that in fifty houses no men were to be seen, and out of the number of the captives more than twenty were young girls. These women also say that the Caribbees use them with such i84 CAR IB CRUELTY TO CAPTIVES. cruelty as would scarcely be believed, and that they eat the children which they bear to them, and only bring up those which they have by their native wives. Such of their male enemies as they can take alive they bring to their houses to make a feast of them, and those who are killed they devour at once. They say that man's flesh is so good that there is nothing like it in the world ; and this is pretty evident, for of the bones which we found in their houses they had gnawed everything that could be gnawed, so that nothing remained of them but what was too tough to be eaten ; in one of the houses we found the neck of a man undergoing the process of cooking in a pot. When they take any boys prisoners they dismember them and make use of them until they grow up to manhood, and then when they wish to make a feast they kill and eat them, for they say that the flesh of boys and women is not good to eat. Three of these boys came fleeing to us thus mutilated."^ Now let us see what there is arotuid the houses of this strange village. Here are domesticated geese, possibly ducks, not unlike those of Europe ; and par- rots as large as the common fowl and of the most striking contrasts of brilliant plumage — the blue, green, and scarlet being illuminated with the lightest shades, even to white. Here may also be some of those dogs more or less common to the islands throughout, "of various colors," some of them ''like large house dogs," some of them like " beagles," but none of them 1 Syllacius says, " It is their custom to dismember the male children and young slaves whom they capture, and fatten them like capons. They feed with greater care those that are thin of flesh and emaciated, as we do wethers." KITCHEN MIDDENS. 185 able to bark. But here is something — probably in the rude cottage garden — at once fragrant, curious to the eye, and delicious to the taste — the pineapple. Syllacius says, '' Hares, serpents, and lizards of monstrous size are produced in this island. There are also dogs which do not bark, and are not subject to canine madness. They divide these at the spine, and, after roasting them slightl}^, satisfy their hunger with them when human flesh cannot be obtained. They have birds of various kinds, among these a pro- digious number of parrots." In one house they find what seems to be an iron pot, since thought to have been made of a peculiar stone, as iron was not found in that region. But here is a curiosity among savages — the stern-post of a vessel ! This must have drifted across the ocean from some civilized country. Perhaps it is a part of the wreck of the Santa Maria. Now all stand aghast at the sight of a pile of human bones — probably the remains of mau}^ an unnatural repast. The fleet now moved on some six miles, and anchored in another harbor. The island, some seventy miles long, consisted of magnificent mountains and fertile plains. Small towns were found here and there along the coast, but the inhabitants had fled in terror at the sight of the sails. Those who landed succeeded, how- ever, in taking a number of women and several small boys, all captives, who were glad of an opportunit}' to escape, and were not only greatly relieved but delighted when they were given to understand that these remark- able strangers w^ere opposed to eating human beings. " During the seven days that the Spaniards remained l86 STORY OF THE CAPTIVES. in this island," says Syllacins, " many fugitives and female captives from the Caribs sought refuge in the ships. These being received with humanity and lib- erally supplied with food concluded that the gods had come for their deliverance. When they were advised by the Spaniards to return to the Caribs, they threw themselves at their feet as suppliants, and some clasped their arms round the masts, entreating, with floods of tears, that the}^ should not be driven awa}?- to fall again into the hands of the Caribs, to be butchered like sheep." From these captives, through their inter- preters, the Spaniards succeeded in drawing out quite a little information about the islands. It soon became apparent that several of the more important of them were in league, and that they made war upon the remaining islands in their vicinity. They would even venture out on the sea in their canoes, made of hollowed-out trunks of trees, to the distance of a hun- dred and fifty leagues. They were very expert with the bow and arrow, the latter being not only tipped with bone or some other hard substance, but also charged with the juice of poisonous herbs. Many, indeed, were the startling facts which their much-relieved captives had succeeded in communicat- ing. And now great was their alarm, at night, to find that one of the captains and eight men were missing. Straying away without permission, they had become bewildered and lost in the dense tangled woods. Early the next morning the Admiral sent out parties in various directions to blow their trumpets and scour the woods, while guns and arquebuses v/ere fired from the ships along the shore ; but those sent out returned CAR IB WOMEN. 187 at night without sight or sound of the lost. And what shocking spectacles they had witnessed ! — limbs of human bodies hung up in the houses, as if curing for provision ; the head of a youth, so recently severed from the body that the blood Avas yet dripping from it, and parts of his body were roasting before the iire, along with the savor}' flesh of geese and parrots. During the da}^ several natives had been gazing on the boats in the distance, but the}' fled w^hen they were approached. x\lso some captive women appealed to them for protection. These they decked, out with hawk's bells and beads, and sent them back to the shore, hoping to entice the men. But they soon returned, stripped of their ornaments, and begged to be taken on board. Interviewing these they learned that the chief was now away in search of victims, hav- ing with him ten canoes and some three hundred men. Meanwhile, the women, who could handle the bow nearly as well as the men, were left in defence of the islands. Dr. Chanca wrote, "We were enabled to distinguish which of the women were natives and which were captives by the Caribbees wearing on each leg two bands of woven cotton, the one fastened round the knee and the other round the ankle; by this means they make the calves of their legs large and the above-mentioned parts very small, which I imagine that they regard as a matter of prettiuess." But what was to be done for the missing? Alonzo de Ojeda, always ready for some daring adventure, offered his services. With forty men, he undertook to search the island. They went a long distance into the interior, blew trumpets in the valleys and on the 1 88 A CHARMING COUNTRY. mountains, waded many streams, tore their way through almost impenetrable tangles of briers and bushes, but could find no trace of the lost. But the countr\' ! — its fertility, the aromatic trees and shrubs ; the bright flowers, of every form and hue ; the fruits, at once beautiful, fragrant, and luscious ; and the birds, the brilliant plumage of which had the lustre of gems in the sun. Even the butterflies and beetles, so large and so resplendent, must have charmed them. And what quantities of honey they had found, both in hollow trees and in clefts of rocks ! As the crews had now taken in water, washed their clothes, and recreated themselves along the shore, the fleet was ordered to sail. At the last moment, the missing men arrived, in the most pitiable state of exhaustion. In their bewildered wanderings, the}^ had scaled rocks, waded streams, torn their way through briers and tangled vines, climbed trees in fruitless effort to see the stars and so find their posi- tion as they were accustomed to do at sea, and traversed forests so dense that they were almost dark at midda}- . Finall}^ reaching the shore, they had happened to go in the direction of the ships. Native women and bo3'S the}' had brought, but had seen no men. The Indians kept telling Columbus that the mainland was to the south, but he, having La Navidadimmediatel}^ in view, sailed to the northwest. Through a continuous archipelago of the most enchanting islands the fleet passed, the Admiral giving a name to each as they went along. On the 14th, as the weather became threatening, he made harbor in an island called Ayay by the natives. A FIGHT WITH THE CARIBS. 189 but which he named Santa Cruz. They were still among the ferocious Caribs. The boat which landed found, as usual, a village without men, and most of the \vomen and boj^s which they took to the ships w^ere captives, taken by these warriors in their usual way. Meanwhile, a canoe has come round a point, and, ap- proaching the ships, the men and two women gaze in astonishment at the fleet — a group of huge figures which must have been novel indeed to them. A boat steals hard upon them before they are aware of it. They attempt to escape, plying their paddles like witches, but the boat cuts off their retreat. The natives seize their bows, and the arrows come whizzing so closely that the Spaniards shield themselves with their bucklers. The women are as fierce and take as close aim as the men, one of them sending an arrow clear through a buckler and wounding a Spaniard. Seeing that several of their men are wounded, the Spaniards run their boat into the broadside of the canoe and upset it. But these Caribs can fight about as well in water as in their canoe ; and one Spaniard feels the deadly wound of a poisoned arrow, sent by one of the women, and afterwards dies in consequence. " At last,'' says Syllacius, " they were captured and taken to the Admiral. One of them was pierced through in seven places, and his intestines protruded from his wounds. Since it was believed that he could not be healed, he was thrown into the sea ; but emerging to the surface, with one foot upraised and with his left hand holding his intestines in their place, he swam courageously toward the shore. This caused great alarm to the Indians who were brought along as inter- jgo ^ SAVAGE HERO. preters, for they dreaded that the cunning Caribs, taking to flight, would contrive some more savage schemes of vengeance. They accordingly persisted obstinately in maintaining the opinion that those who were caught should be put out of the way. The Carib was therefore recaptured near the shore, bound hand and foot more tightly, and again thrown headlong into the sea. This resolute barbarian swam still more eagerly towards the shore, till, pierced with many arrows, he at length expired. Scarcely had this been done, when the Caribs came running to the shores in great numbers — a horrible sight. They were of a dark color, fierce aspect, stained with red interspersed with various colors, for the purpose of increasing the ferocity of their looks. One side of their heads was shorn, the other side covered with straight black hair hanging down at full length. From these also many captives fled to the ships, as it were to the altars of safety, com- plaining loudly of the cruelty and ferocity of the Caribs." Peter Martyr can scarcely deliver himself of the sen- sations of horror at the sight of these Caribs when brought to Spain. Tall of stature, frowning and defiant in countenance ; their long, coarse hair ; circles of paint around the eyes ; bands of cotton above and below the muscles of the arms and legs, causing them to swell — all rendered them most hideous and terrifying. They were, however, a brave race, the mothers teaching their children to use the bow and arrow while scarcely more than infants. Their hardy, roaming life developed their intelligence ; and while the neighboring tribes could measure time only by the days and nights and CONVERTED INDIANS. i^i the sun and moon, tliey could make a fair attempt at calculating times and seasons by the stars. But enough of the Caribs. The fleet moved on past Santa Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins till it reached Porto Rico, which was the home of most of the captives taking refuge with the Spaniards. On the west end the}^ found a fine harbor, abounding in fish. Here was a native village, with a public square, a main road, a terrace — all in all, quite an artistic, home-like place. But every soul had fled — everything was silent as death. Columbus is nearing Hayti and is anxious for his garrison at the fort. As the fleet passes along the north side of the island, they barely touch in a few places. Once a boat is sent ashore with two caravels to guard it, v/hile the sailor is buried who died from the poisoned arrow of the Caribs. On reaching the Gulf of Samana, where the affray with the arrows occurred on the previous voyage, Columbus sent ashore one of the young men taken from thence to Spain. This and one other were the only natives left of the seven who had left Spain with the fleet, five having died on the way. He was finely dressed and highly ornamented. The Admiral expected much from this attractively attired convert to the Christian faith, and the youth had made many fair promises, but he never returned. The Lucayan, named Diego Colon at his baptism, after the Admiral's brother, became a very efficient interpreter of the natives, and remained faithful to the Spaniards till death. In the harbor of Monte Christi, at the mouth of the River of Gold — so named because gold had been found ig2 J^^ NAVIDAD. in its sands on tlie previous voyage — the fleet anchors again, the Admiral having some thought of a settle- ment here. As the crews stroll along the shore and into the woods, the}^ find several decaying bodies, " one with a rope round his neck, and the other with one round his foot." " On the following day they found two other corpses farther on, and one of these was observed to have a great quantity of beard" (Chanca). Here are indications which awaken fears for the gar- rison at La Navidad. But why do these natives come on board the ships for traf&c with so much confidence ? Surely they can- not be guilty of murdering the white men. The night has settled down and left a mere outline of the moun- tains against the sky when the fleet reaches the harbor of La Navidad, so the anchors are dropped about a league from land. Two cannon are fired. Every ear listens for a response from the guns on the fortress, but hears only the echo as it rolls along the shore. They strain their eyes for some signal-light, but all is darkness and silence. Where are the fires of the na- tives which gleamed through the forest in every direction when Columbus was here before ? The hours drag on slowly, for ever}^ one is in sus- pense. At midnight they hear the paddles of a canoe approaching. Listen ! the paddles cease and a voice is calling — calling for the Admiral. The natives are directed to the flag-ship, but will not come on board till they are assiired by the person of the Admiral, made clear in a strong light. One of them is a cousin of the good cacique Guacanagari, and, coming on board, he presents to the Admiral two masks, " gilt- edged " as usual. DESOLATION OF THE HARBOR. 193 But to the story of the fort. Columbus must know what is become of his men. They depend on the La- cayan interpreter, and he cannot understand these Haytians very well, the dialect being somewhat differ- ent. If these latter are rather reticent at first, a liberal supply of wine at the repast given them makes them quite communicative, and by and by a fairly connected story is elicited. Some of the men at the fort had sickened and died. Others had quarrelled among themselves. Others had gone away into the island and taken wives. Caonabo, the mountain cacique, had attacked Guacanagari, had wounded him and burnt his village. Hence it was that the friendly chief was not present to welcome him. This narration of facts was sad enough, but it re- lieved the Admiral of suspense and left him the hope of still finding some of his men in the island. At any rate, Guacanagari had been faithful, and his people were still friendly. When the next morning dawned Columbus was impressed with the changed aspect of the place. The year before, every part of the island teemed with life. Here and there the smoke of the hamlet ascended. The natives swarmed along the shore. Canoes were coming and going about the harbor. Now there was simply desolation and silence. A boat was sent ashore to examine the fort, and the explorers found that the evidences confirmed their fears. Everything was in ruins. Here and there were fragments of chests, spoiled provisions, and weather-worn garments. Yon- der lurked several Indians behind the trees, closely eyeing every movement. The Admiral, distressed at 194 SB A RCH ABOUT THE FOR T. tHs report, came ashore himself the following morn- ing. He made the closest search among the ruins and around for some distance, finding broken utensils and shreds of garments among the grass and weeds. Ar- quebuses and cannon, fired from the fleet, thundered along the shore, in order to arouse any of the garrison who might be hiding away in the neighborhood, but there was no response. They now explored the site of Guacanagari's village, and found only charred ruins. As Columbus had ordered the officers of La Navidad to bury what treasure they might have, or throw it into the well in case of sudden danger, they excavated at various points and cleaned out the ditch and the well, but nothing could be found. While all this was in progress the Admiral took the boats along the shore, partly to extend the search and partly to find a better site for his settlement. About three leagues distant was a hamlet which evidently had been abandoned in haste. The houses^ — almost overgrown with grass and weeds — and the grass and weeds for a long distance around were thoroughly searched. Here were stockings, pieces of cloth, the anchor of the Santa Maria, and a beautiful Moorish robe carefully folded as when brought from Spain. Meanwhile, not far from the fortress, some of the men dug out here and there, from under the grass, eleven bodies, evidently in European clothing. These they gave a formal Christian burial. 1 Dr. Chanca says, concerning this village : " These people are so degraded that they have not even sense to select a fitting place to live; those who dwell on the shore build for themselves the most miserable hovels that can be imagined, and all the houses are so covered with grass and dampness that I wonder how they can continue to exist." — R. H. Major's " Select Letters" p. J2. DESTRUCTION OF THE GARRISON. 195 By and by they succeeded in gaining the confidence of a few natives, and the Lacayan interpreter drew enough out of them so that a pretty clean thread of narrative of the events sought after was traced. At the departure of Columbus, all his good instructions had been disregarded b}^ the men under Arana. They coveted the gold ornaments and other items of value among the natives, and resorted to violence in order to obtain them. The}' quarrelled with one another, and the under officers had rebelled against Arana. Not- withstanding Guacanagari's indulgence of two or more wives to a man, they had outraged the wives and daughters of the Indians. They had roamed at will about the island, as if in perfect safety. The tv/o lieutenants, Gutierrez and Kscobado, not being able to rule over Arana, had seceded with nine adherents and gone away into Cibao after gold. Here, Caonabo, the Carib adventurer who had become cacique of the mountain regions, and was called " Lord of the Golden House," soon put them to death. He had watched the intruders with a jealous ej^e from his mountain fastness, and now improved his opportunity. Form- ing an alliance with a neighboring chief, he stole the march upon Guacanagari and La Navidad while the latter contained but ten men and they fast asleep. He completely sacked the fortress and the entire neigh- borhood, wounding the cacique with his own hand. Not only those of the garrison who were within the stockade, but all the Spaniards quartered among the Indians in the vicinit}^, were sought out and put to death. A few who tried to escape by taking to the sea were drowned. 196 CHARACTER OF THE GARRISON. Such is the first chapter in the history of civilized life in the New World. Herrera says that the men left at La Navidad by Columbus were mostly of the baser sort, crude in mind and low in morals. If so — and their conduct sustains this view — was not the new colony at Hayti about as well off without them ? CHAPTER XI. THE NEW ENTERPRISES. AVING become clearly informed as to the sad fate of La Navidad, the location of the new colony claimed immediate attention. The site of the fortress was abandoned not only because of its painful associations, but on account of the un- healthfulness of the low, damp countrj^ around it and because there was no stone or lime for building. A caravel was sent out in one direction, therefore, while the Admiral, with a small party, went out in another, in order to reconnoitre. When both parties returned, at night, the former related a very interesting diversion. While they were sailing along the shore a canoe with two natives came out to meet them. One of them was a brother of Guacanagari. So said a pilot on board, who had been on the former voyage. The chieftain was residing scarceh^ three leagues away, with fifty families around him ; and, as he was suffering from his wound, he wished the Admiral to come and see him. Dr. Chanca says, " The chief men of the party then went on shore in the boat, and, proceeding to the place where Guacanagari was, found him stretched on his bed, complaining of a severe wound. They conferred with him and inquired respecting the Spaniards ; his reply was in accordance w^th the account already given b}^ the other, viz., that the}^ had been killed by 198 MILITAR r D IS PL A T. Caonabo and Mayreni, who also liad wounded liim in tlie thi^h. In confirmation of his assertion he showed them the limb, bound up, on seeing which they con- cluded that his statement was correct. At their departure he gave to each of them a jewel of gold, according to his estimate of their respective merits. The Indians beat the gold into very thin plates, in order to make masks of it, and set it in a cement which they make for that purpose. Other ornaments they make of it to wear on the head and to hang in the ears and nostrils, and for these also they require it to be thin. It is not the costliness of the gold that they value in their ornaments, but its showy appearance." The next day Columbus prepared to visit the cacique, whose brother called on him and again urged him to come before he could get under way. It would be well to make as great an impression as possible of the power and magnificence of the Spaniards. The Ad- miral and his train of a hundred of his best men were arrayed in the most imposing style, their glittering armor and rich attire producing a most unwonted effect in this new world of simple ways. " With pipers and drummers arranged in order, and line of battle formed, they march to the residence of the cacique." The chief was still reclining in his cotton hammock, sur- rounded by his wives and his faithful subjects. Again he related the tragedy of the garrison, shedding tears most freely and assuring his listeners of the perilous part he had taken in their defence. Here, too, were the proofs as he pointed them out — scars on the bodies of his people, evidently made by Indian weapons. But this generous cacique would not be himself EXCHANGE OF PRESENTS. 199 without presents ; so he gives six hundred or upwards of precious stones and jewels of various colors, a cap MANNER OF NURSING THE SICK. elaborately ornamented with jewels and containing one of special fine effect and value, a hundred gold beads, a gold coronet, and two calabashes filled with the precious dust — the gold, in all, being equal to eight marks and a half. What in return ? Glass beads and hawk's bells, of course ; also knives, needles, pins, small mirrors and various gew-gaws of copper — the latter far more valuable than gold in the ej^es of the natives. Some say that Columbus also decorated the chief with his own inner vest or doublet, magnificently embroid- ered and variegated with the most brilliant colors, in Moorish style. But the Admiral wished to see Guacanagari's wound, his surgeon and Dr. Chanca — both present — being skilful in the treatment of such cases. The 200 G UIL TT OR NOT G UIL TT ? chief consented. As tlie crowd of people darkened the wigwam, the doctor proposed to go out into the light, which was accorded by the chieftain, leaning on the arm of the Admiral. When the former was seated and the surgeon began to untie the bandage, the cacique said the wound was made by a stone. "It is certain," says the doctor " that there was no more wound on that leg than on the other ;" but it seemed sore to the touch. As nearly two months had elapsed since the disaster, the bruise may have disappeared exter- nally, while the deeper effect of the rough missile at least partially remained. Some of those present could see nothing but a hoax in the whole matter. The cacique was feigning all this in order to conceal the guilty part he had taken in the massacre. Father Buil, the Benedictine monk, especially, could afford no charit}^ whatever. The Admiral should make an example of the perfidious wretch at once. But Columbus had seen too much of the kindness of this great-hearted man to doubt him now, unless there was clear and unmistakable evidence against him. He would therefore suspend judgment until further dis- closures. It would be soon enough to claim indemni- fication when a guilty complicity in the massacre was certain. No ; the Admiral will be cordial. Calling his interpreter, he explains the object of his voyage. He visits these distant parts in order to improve the inhabitants, making them kind to each other by teach- ing them what is good. He will lead them to give up all bad practices, that they may be under the protec- tion of the Spanish monarchs, the best and most pow- erful rulers in the world. And to Guacanagari, his inti- G CTA CANA GARPS ASTONISHMENT. 201 mate friend and ally, he will grant special protection. These words brought the chieftain to his feet. Stamp- ing on the ground and raising his eyes to heaven, he gave a loud shout, to which the six hundred Indians around him responded in a " tremendous acclamation." At this the one hundred Spaniards in light armor were so startled that they involuntarily grasped the hilts of their swords, thinking that a battle with these savages might be just at hand. Columbus invited Guacanagari to his ship that same night, and, though he still seemed to be suffering from his wound, he ventured to gratify his curiosity. If the two small caravels of the previous year's visit had surprised him, what must have been his astonishment on beholding this fleet of seventeen sail riding at anchor in the harbor. As he approached he was startled b}^ the roll of drums, the striking of cymbals, and the lightning and thunder of cannon. On board- ing the Admiral's ship he saw the Carib prisoners, who belonged to the cannibals of Buriquen. Peter Martyr thinks he shuddered at the sight of them even in chains. It must have been no small pleasure to the Admiral to escort his savage friend, so full of curiosity, through the different ships, and witness his amazement on see- ing the different parts of their structure, also the plants and fruits of the Old World, but more especially the animals — cattle sheep, swine — and the horses ! — what magnitude, grace, and strength, and yet what submissive docility, they showed. Whether the fleet horse for the race-course or the strong one for armor, their fine con- dition, highly polished harnesses, and gay trappings 202 GODS OR DEVILS? gave tliem a grand aspect. Then did not the Indians suspect that these strange animals lived on human flesh ? With this wonderful variety of useful creatures, our domestic animals, the cacique had nothing to compare but the small coney-like 2itia and a limited variety of dumb dogs. Over against the domestic fowls the chief might place the tame parrots, and possibh' some kind of geese or ducks ; but it is doubtful if he had ever seen the hen which lays the golden egg. Imagine the ele- vation of mind which this chieftain must now have ex- perienced, believing, as he did, that all these wonderful things — ships, animals, and men — had just come from heaven ! " The Europeans had no sooner entered on this vast continent and the islands about it," says Las Casas, "but the natives showed them all imaginable kindness and respect, and were ready to worship them as gods; but these soon took care to convince them of their error, and to deliver them from the danger of fall- ing into this sort of idolatry, by treating them with all manner of cruelties and tormenting them like so many devils ; so that these barbarous people received as great a turn in their thoughts concerning the Spaniards as the barbarians of the island of Mileta did in respect of St. Paul ; for as these believed him to be a god whom the}^ had just before taken for a murderer, so the other really found them to be murderers whom they had a little before esteemed as so many gods.'' But more light on this by and by. The cacique now descends from heavenly things to those which are more earthly. The ten captive women taken from the Caribs appeal to his amorous tempera- ALIENATION. 203 ment. Though his dialect is somewhat different from theirs, they can readily understand each other. How tenderly he communes with that tall, stately beauty, whom the Spaniards, in admiration, have named Cat- alina. For, though escaped from the dreaded Caribs, is she not still a captive? Now the Admiral and the chieftain dine together. Surely in this cordial act of hospitalit}', if in any way, old confidence and friendships may be revived. The Admiral talks of coming to live with the cacique, of building houses in the neighborhood, etc., etc. The cacique is pleased with the plan, but is not the place very low and damp and decidedly unhealthy ? Alas ! no demonstration of cordiality can restore the ease and delightful charm of the former intercourse. Were these indeed heavenly visitors ? What about that covetous, quarrelling, licentious garrison just laid among the dead ? Loss of confidence — alienation — how destruc- tive, how demoniacal the influence ! Even the symbols of the Christian faith, to which these natives seemed readily inclined, have become objects of suspicion. The chief is not at all pleased to have that image of the Virgin hung about his neck by the Admiral ! Meanwhile, not a few of these gallant men and high dignitaries among the Spaniards were regarding Guacanagari with an evil eye. Father Buil especiall}^ was not particularly under the influence of that charity which " hopeth all things " and which " thinketh no evil." Speaking to the Admiral a little aside, he sug- gested the propriety of detaining the cacique as a prisoner now that he was on board ship. But such treacherous- ness and bad faith found no response from Columbus. 204 SEA-NYMPHS. The face mirrors the soul even to the eye of a savage. Guacanagari felt ill afhome amidst such obvious feel- ings of mistrust and suspicion, and soon begged leave to depart. The next day there occurred that obscure and double line of movement which generally follows the loss of good faith even among those who are civilized. A messenger came from the cacique to inquire when the Admiral would leave. The next day, was the reply. Then came a brother of the chieftain, along with others, ostensibly to barter gold ; but he seemed quite as much interested in conversing with the captive women as in trade. Catalina especially attracted his attention. By and by he left. About midnight a light appeared on the shore. All were now sleeping soundly except a single watch, and so stealthily did the Indian women let themselves down the side of the ship that they were able to get away before the alarm could be given. Like so many sea-nymphs, they struck out for the shore ; and, though the sea was rough, they made the full three miles to land before they could be overtaken. Pursuing in the direction of the beacon-light, the men captured four of the fugitives ; the rest, including the stately Catalina, made good their escape. The next morning the iVdmiral sent to Guacanagari, asking him to cause search to be made for the fugi- tives, and, in case they could be found, to send them back to the ships. But lo ! when the}^ arrived, " not a soul " could be found. There had been a complete removal of the village. The chieftain and his island beauty were probably their taking " honeymoon " in the mountains. This was only one more item to feed the A WOUNDED NATIVE. 205 suspicion of Father Buil and his colleagues. Scarcely anything was now too bad to be believed of the kind- hearted chief. But Columbus still held to his good opinion of him. '' On the next morning," says Dr. Chanca, " the Ad- miral resolved that, as the wind was adverse, it would be well to go with the boats to inspect a harbor on the coast at two leagues distance farther up,^ to see if the formation of the land was favorable for a settlement, and we went thither with all the ships' boats, leaving the ships in the harbor. As we moved along the coast the people manifested a sense of insecurity, and when w^e reached the spot to which we were bound all the natives had fled. While we were walking about this place we found an Indian stretched on the hill-side, close by the houses, with a gaping wound in his shoulder, caused by a dart, so that he had been disabled from fleeing any further. The natives of this island fight with sharp darts, which they discharge from cross-bows in the same manner as boys in Spain shoot their small arrows, and which they send with con- siderable skill to a great distance ; and certainly upon an unarmed people these weapons are calculated to do serious injury. The man told us that Caonabo and his people had wounded him and burnt the houses of Gua- canagari." It is strange that the Spaniards should have con- tinued in uncertainty as to the course and manner of the death of the garrison when so many different par- ties testified essentially to the same thing. Melchor Maldonado had been in the opposite direc- ^ Port Dauphin. 2o6 LANDING THE COLONT. tion, to the eastward, and, coming into the dominions of another caciqtie, who at first threatened him, at the head of his warriors, bnt was soon conciliated, learned that Guacanagari had indeed gone to the mountains. All this exploring had simply convinced Columbus that the low, damp country along the coast would be too unhealthy for his colony, and that the absence of stone would be a serious hindrance to building. But there was pressing need of an immediate landing. The people were weary of the ships, and the long con- finement was telling heavily on the domestic animals. Columbus determined, therefore, to go some distance to the eastward, especially since he "had tidings of gold in that direction." On the 7th of December the fleet weighed anchor. " But the weather was so ad- verse," says Dr. Chanca, " that it cost more labor to sail thirty leagues in a backward direction than the whole voyage from Spain, so that, what with the con- trary wind and the length of the passage, three months had elapsed before we set foot on land. It pleased God, however, that through the check upon our progress caused by contrary winds we succeeded in finding the best and most suitable spot that we could have selected for a settlement, where there was an excellent harbor^ and abundance of fish, an article of which we stood in great need from scarcity of meat. "The land is very rich for all purposes. Near the harbor there are two rivers ; one large, and another, of moderate breadth, somewhat near it. The water is of a very remarkable quality. On the bank of it is being built a city, called Marta (Isabella), one side of 1 Port Isabella, ten miles east of Monte Christi. THE NATIVES BRING FOOD. 207 which is bounded by the water, with a ravine of cleft rock, so that at that part there is no need of fortifica- tion ; the other half is girt with a plantation of trees, so thick that a rabbit could scarcely pass through it, and so green that fire will never be able to burn it. A channel has been commenced for a branch of the river, which the managers say they will lead through the middle of the settlement, and will place on it mills of all kinds requiring to be worked by water. Great quantities of vegetables have been planted, which cer- tainly attain a more luxuriant growth here in eight da^^s than they would in Spain in twenty. We were frequently visited by numbers of Indians, among whom were some of their caciques, or chiefs, and many women. They all came loaded with agis^ a sort of turnip, very excellent for food, which we dressed in various ways. This food was so nutritious as to prove a great support to all of us, after the privations we en- dured when at sea, which in truth were more severe than ever were suffered by man, and as we could not tell what weather it would please God to send us on our voyage, we were obliged to limit ourselves most rigorously with regard to food, in order that, at all events, we might at least have the means of supplying life. " The Indians barter gold, provisions, and every- thing they bring with them for tags of lace, beads and pins, and pieces of porringers and dishes. They all, as I have said, go naked as they were born, except the women of this island, who, some of them, wear a cover- ing of cotton, which they bind around their hips, while 2o8 THE LANDING. others use grass and leaves of trees. When they wish to appear full dressed, both men and women paint themselves, some black, others white and various colors, in so many devices that the effect is very laughable ; they shave some parts of their heads, and in others wear long tufts of matted hair, which have an indescribably ridiculous appearance ; in short, whatever would be looked upon in our country as characteristic of a madman is here regarded by the highest of the Indians as a mark of distinction." The site of the first Christian cit}^ in the New World being thus determined, the disembarkation began. Imagine the busy, bustling scene, as some 1,500 people, pent upon shipboard for about three months, crowd the gangways out onto this delightsome spot of green earth. The common laborer, the skilled artisan, the cavalier, the priest — all classes of the active kingdom of Spain in that day were here rejoicing in the free- dom and the charming novelty of the hour. Not less interesting must it have been to witness the happy liberation of the domestic animals, which had suffered so severely from the long and unwonted confinement. We imagine they must have looked somewhat lean and gaunt. The dark holes in ships for so long a time could not have furnished the conditions for a very thrifty appearance. But what a houseless, homeless state of things ! Ah ! it is not all romance for such numbers of men and beasts to be dumped out into a wilderness, without proper enclosures for the latter or convenient shelter for the former. Let not these gay cavaliers be too much allured by the exuberance of tropical verdure around THE NE W TO WN. 209 them, by the mingling of fruit and flowers and the nesting and singing of birds in mid-winter. The bright stars above this torrid zone will look down upon a land reeking with miasmas and fevers. For some time to come this glassy sheet of water constituting the broad harbor will mirror an active scene. Long confinement has made every one alert for the greatest activity. Engineers project the pub- lic square and the streets, and masons and carpenters make the atmosphere resound to their enterprises. Farmers and gardeners begin to break the soil for orchards and all kinds of husbandry, and a general enthusiasm prevails. The walls of the church, the public storehouse, and the Admiral's residence are ris- ing — all of stone, and a whole town of cheap, tempo- rary residences of wood, plaster, coarse reeds, etc., come up almost as quickh^ as Jonah's gourd. Mere extemporized tenements will do for the present ; more solid structures can replace them by and by. But if those more solid stru.ctures were ever reared, they have long since disappeared, for the ruins of the church, storehouse, and Admiral's residence are all that remains of the long-since abandoned city of Isa- bella. The stern realities of pioneer life in an untried climate soon became apparent. Long confinement, sea-sickness, spoilt meat, and mould}^ bread were a poor preparation for the exposures of a life, without houses, amidst the moisture and exhalations of dense forests, lowlands, and slow-moving rivers, in a tropical climate. Exhaustive labor on the part of those unac- customed to it and used only to recreations in an old 2IO THE DISAPPOINTMENT. and highly cultivated country soon produced the most depressing effects. *' The maladies of the mind mingled with those of the body." The severest disappointment — than which nothing is more depressing — was the inevitable conse- quence of that delusion which possessed every mind in respect to this newly discovered country. The gallant soldier fresh from the Moorish wars, and antici- pating rich conquests in the incomparably wealthy territories of the Grand Khan, found himself in a " forest primeval," swarming with naked savages of the most timid character. Nowhere was there a foe " worthy of his steel. "^ The speculator, who had laid in his stock for trade in the land of gold and spices, experienced a dull and unprofitable routine in dicker- ing with destitute savages, giving beads, hawk's bells, and gew-gaws generally for crude cotton yarn, par- rots, and occasional bits of gold. The idle and indefi- nite adventurer found himself absolutely without an aim. All classes of laborers an.d artisans were obliged to take things in the rough and to " rough it " in the most literal sense. " One-third of our people have fallen sick within the last four or five days," sa3^s Dr. Chanca. This statement discloses something of the kind of hospital which this new city of Isabella must have been turned into in a short time. The Admiral himself, overcome by the exertion, anxiety, and immense sense of responsibility incident to his situa- i"The weapons they used," says Las Casas, " were neither capable of defending them, nor of offending their enemies to any purpose, and were more like those that children use to play with than such as are fit for soldiers to use in war." THE DISAPPOINTMENT. 211 tioii, became prostrate, and could only give occasional attention to the arduous and critical enterprises of the hour. The problems now confronting Columbus were the most difficult possible. The first and most pressing necessity was the relief of his colony. From the out- set the store of provisions laid in had been inadequate to the number of people ; and as the wines were put into poor casks, much of it was lost ; the beef and pork were not siich as they should have been, and the horses accepted for the use of the colony seem after- wards to have been exchanged on the sly by the venders for others which were inferior. The great extent of sickness incident to the long voyage and the change of climate had well-nigh exhausted the medicines. Here w^ere over a thousand people in the wilderness without even " manna " to quell their mur- murings. Neither could they supplement their scanty fare by means of " snakes and liicards and spiders and worms " picked out of rotten wood, after the manner of the natives. If these people had possessed the genuine moral principles and noble purposes which bore up the pil- grims of the Mayflower during the snow and ice, sickness and death of their first New England winter, the case had, no doubt, been different ; but here was a heterogeneous community, wdth but mixed and grovel- ing motives at best, and, not even knowing in what part of the globe they were, they had no manner of conception of the nature of the enterprise before them. Now place a foreigner over such a community and under such circumstances, himself without experience 212 PROSPECTS OF GOLD. in governing and not even knowing the circumstances, and say if it would not need an extraordinary miracle to secure order and prosperit3\ To govern and develop this first colony in the New World would have been quite enough for any one man, even if he had been well trained and experienced in the work before him and was possessed of high pres- tige in his nation, but this was only a fraction of what was expected of Columbus. He was to bring forth- with into Spain the fabulous wealth of the Indies, such quantities of spices and gold^ as would load ships of immense tonnage. As to spices, they had indeed found even on " the sea-shore " " some spots showing so many indications of various spices as naturally to suggest the hope of the best results for the future," but it would require experts, capital, and time even to test the matter. Gold he had expected to find read}'- to hand in large quantities, amassed by his garrison against his return ; and, over against his disappoint- ment, he had set on foot an exploring expedition, of two different parties — the dashing, daring Ojeda in one direction and Gorbolan in another. These had brought back very promising samples and the most glowing re- ports — " things that appeared incredible," " and boasted so much of the abundance of gold" that Columbus felt " a hesitation in speaking and writing of it to their Highnesses." On this point Dr. Chanca was about as enthusiastic as Columbus. He says, " The party that ^About this time it was reported " that a rock adjacent to a mountain being struck with a club, a large quantity of gold burst out, and particles of gold of indescribable brightness glittered all around like sparks." What must have been expected from such a country ! HINDRANCES TO MINING. 313 went to Cibao saw gold in so many places that one scarcely dares state the fact, for in truth they found it in more than fifty streamlets and rivers, as well as upon their banks.'' One nugget found by Ojeda weighed nine ounces. This was sent to Spain to be admired by such men as Peter Martyr. If the rivers rolled down their golden sands, and lumps of the precious metal lay on the surface, what might be found by thorough and sj^stematic mining to a proper depth? But serious difficulties were to be overcome before the Spanish ships could be loaded with the precious metal. They needed passable roads, beasts of burden, and shelter and protection — a fortress, for instance — in the mining regions. But the greatest embarrassment was the ill-health of the people. Those sent out in good health would probably fall sick on the way. " It would be also extremely inconvenient to leave the sick men here in the open air," writes the Admiral to the sovereigns, " or in huts, with such food and defences as they have on shore, although these Indians appear every day to be more simple and harmless to those who land for the purpose of making investigations. In short, although they come every day to visit us, it would nevertheless be imprudent to risk the loss of our men and our provisions, which might very easily happen, if an Indian were only, with a lighted coal, to set fire to the huts, for they ramble about both night and day ; for this reason we keep sentinels constantly on the watch while the dwellings are exposed and unde- fended." Twelve ships out of the seventeen which had come from Spain were waiting in the harbor at a great 214 THE » memorial:' expense ; and the return back of some of them at least with supplies for the colony, not later than May, was most imperative. They must therefore sail at once, even though they contained nothing — beyond the tale of disaster concerning La Navidad — but golden promises. The condition of the new enterprise at this hour is best illustrated by the so-called " memorial," drawn up by Columbus at Isabella, January 30, 1494. It is designed for the sovereigns, but is addressed to Antonio de Torres, who was about to command the returning fleet. He was, no doubt, to make such running com- ments in the presence of the sovereigns as the occa- sion might require. This very interesting document is in the famous Navarrete collection. In the margin of each chapter or item is the reply of the sovereigns, the documents thus annotated being returned to Columbus. It is given in English in R. H. Major's famous " Select Letters," published by the Hakluyt Society. After the opening formalities, he assures them that, while nothing has " occurred to diminish the impor- tance" of what he had " formerly written or said to their Highnesses," he would soon be able to prove it all " by facts." He then refers to the spices found along the coast and to the wonderful reports brought in by Ojeda and Gorbolan concerning the gold in the interior. This being a divine sanction of the great enterprise undertaken by their Highnesses, they ought to give thanks to God for the same. In the margin the sovereigns write, " Their Highnesses return thanks to God for all that is recorded^'' etc., etc. FORTIFYING THE TOWN. 215 In the next item Columbus states the reasons for not detaining the ships till he might collect a greater amount of gold. The people are sick. The ships are lying in the harbor at a large expense. The weather is favorable to their return. He will need new sup- plies by the month of May, and there is no time to lose, etc. " He has done well^^'' is the marginal note. Again, the gold mines could not be worked without greater conveniences^ There must be shelter, pro- vision against sickness, defence from Caonabo and his merciless savages who luid sacked La Navidad. "i7^ has done zuell,'''' is repeated in the margin. But the people are improving in health and will soon be acclimated. " The small number of those who continue well are employed every day in barricading our dwelling so as to put it in a state of defence, and in taking necessary measures for the safety of our am- munition, which will be finished now in a few days, for all our fortifications will consist simply of stone walls {albarrada — meaning walls without mortar). With a little vigilance, small fortifications will do against the Indians. This done, he will examine the gold-bearing sands of the rivers in the interior, and build a town of defence. " This is ivell and exactly as he should do^^ is the marginal response. The sickness of the colony is in consequence of change of climate. Hence they must have the same food as formerly at home, fresh supplies of which should at once be sent and continued until the same could be produced in the new world. The sickness of the people and the lean and weak condition of the domestic animals had not admitted of a very extensive 2i6 THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE. plantation as yet, but such crops as had been tested were exceedingly promising, and the country was very beautiful. The monarchs reply : " Since the land is so fertile^ it is desirable to sow of all kinds as much as possible^ and Don Juan de Fonsica is instructed to send over immedi- ately everything requisite for that purpose.'''' The people are in need of wine on account of the leakage from bad casks, of biscuits, corn, and par- ticularly of raisins, sugar, almonds, honey, and rice. There should be a larger stock of domestic animals of nearly all kinds. For the freighting of two caravels with those things, the gold now sent home should be discreetly appropriated, and everything must be expe- dited so as to get returns by May. Their Highnesses will give instructio7is to Don Juan de Fonsica to make immediate inquiry respecting the impo- sition in the ^natter of the casks ^ etc.^ the dispatch of the business in general.^ etc. As the next two items in this " memorial " are those concerning which Columbus has been most highly censured in more recent times, we will quote them in full. " Item. You will tell their Highnesses that as we have no interpreter through whom we can make these people acquainted with our holy faith, as their High- nesses and we ourselves desire, and as we will do so soon as we are able, we send by these two vessels some of these cannibal men and women, as well as some children, both male and female, whom their High- nesses might order to be placed under the care of the most competent persons to teach them the language. COL UMB US AND SLA VER T. 217 At the same time they might be employed in useful occupations, and by degrees, through somewhat more care being bestowed upon them than upon other slaves, they would learn one from the other. B}^ not seeing or speaking to each other for a long time they will learn much sooner in Spain than they will here, and become much better interpreters. We will, however, not fail to do what we can ; it is true that, as there is but little communication between one of these islands and another, there is some diflference in their mode of expressing themselves, which mainly depends on the distance between them. But as, amongst all these islands, those inhabited by the cannibals are the largest and most populous, it must be evident that nothing but good can come from sending to Spain men and women who may thus one day be led to abandon their barbarous custom of eating their fellow- creatures. By learning the Spanish language in Spain they will much earlier receive baptism, and advance the welfare of their souls ; moreover, we shall gain credit with the Indians who do not practice the above-mentioned cruel custom, when they see that we have seized and led captive those who injure them, and whose very name alone fills them with horror. You will assure their Highnesses that our arrival in this country and the sight of so fine a fleet have pro- duced the most imposing effect for the present, and promise great security hereafter ; for all the inhabi- tants of this great island, and of others, when they see the good treatment that we shall show to those who do well, and the punishment that we shall inflict on those who do wrong, will hasten to submit, so that we shall 2 1 8 COL UMB US AND SL A VER T. be able to lay our commands on them as vassals of their Highnesses. And as even now they not only readily comply with every wish that we express, but also of their own accord endeavor to do what they think will please us, I think that their Highnesses may feel as- sured that, on the other side also, the arrival of this fleet has in many respects secured for them, both for the present and the future, a wide renown amongst all Christian princes, but they themselves will be able to form a much better judgment on this subject than it is in my power to give expression to." "Z.. -A THE CUSTODIA. 455 " A small door of gilded bronze, in the centre, opens to still another door of simi- lar material, behind which, in their golden receptacle, are preserved the sacred relics. The closet is secured by two keys, which are kept respec- tively as appurtenances of of- fice by the Senator and by the Cardinal Legate of Ge- noa, during their terms of of- fice. To see the relics, both ke3'S must be obtained on written application to these dignitaries. ''The documents contained in this monument to Colum- bus consist of forty-four sepa- rate charters, warrants, or- ders, and grants of privileges, beautifully engrossed on vel- lum by the art of the copj-ist and illuminator of that age, and the (3) autograph letters of Columbus. " The documents are en- closed in a bag of richly gilt and embossed scarlet Spanish leather, with a silver lock, being the ' book of copies of his letters and privileges,' \ 456 TRANSLATION OF LETTER. wHcli in 1502, when lie set off upon his fourth and last voyage, he entrusted to the care and guardianship of Signer Francesco de Rivarolo, to forward to his intimate friend at Genoa, ' the most learned doctor,' as he styles him, and ' the embassador ' Signor Nicolo Oderigo, for his safe-keeping and preservation."^ Of the autograph letters contained in the custodia^ two are addressed to Oderigo, the first dated March 21, 1502, just before the Admiral sailed on his fourth voy- age ; the second^ December 27, 1504, soon after his return. The third letter is addressed to the Bank of St. George in Genoa, and is given \vl facsimile on the fol- lowing page. The following is the translation : High Noble Lords : Although the body walks about here, the heart is constantly over there. Our Lord has conferred on me the greatest favors to any one since David. The results of my undertaking already appear, and would shine greatly were they not concealed by the blindness of the government. I am going again to the Indies under the auspices of the Holy Trinity, soon to return ; and since I am mortal, I leave it with my son Diego that you may receive every year, forever, one-tenth of the entire revenue, such as it may be, for the purpose of reduc- ing the tax upon corn, wine, and other provisions. If that tenth amounts to something, collect it. If not, take at least the will for the deed. I beg of you to entertain regard for the son I have recommended to you. Nicolo de Oderigo knows more about my ov/n affairs than I do myself, and I have sent him tran- scripts of my privileges and letters for safe-keeping. ^ See Robert Dodge's Memorials of Columbus. LETTER TO BANK OF ST GEORGE. 457 I ^ih fjo ^ W JOmI J»«rV<»$^^ (jh-^%^ va,>vO^ z' J'wiy' •jr i i- 458 TRANSLATION OF LETTER. I should be glad if you could see them. My Lords the King and Queen endeavor to honor me more than ever. May the Holy Trinity preserve your noble persons, and increase the most magnificent house (of St. George). Done in Seville on the 2d day of April, 1502. Chief Admiral of the ocean, Viceroy and Governor-general of the islands and continents of Asia and the Indies of my Lords the King and Queen, their captain-general of the sea, and of their council. s. S. A. S. X M Y X/^-o ferens. CHAPTER XX. COLUMBUS'S FOURTH VOYAGE. I HE Strong current to the westward, between South America and the larger West India I Islands, was not seeking an outlet in some western channel, as Columbus supposed. It was that equatorial current which, setting across from the African coast, passes around at the west end of Cuba and by the south shore of Florida, and then, bearing away to the northeast just outside the Atlantic coast, is known as the Gulf Stream. But the conjecture of Columbus was about as correct as could have been made at the time, and gave direction to this his last voyage, which may be considered at once the most trying and least important of them all. As anticipated in his imagination, however, it was a grand scheme. Locating his supposed /r/^'>? about where that narrow tongue of land, the Isthmus of Darien, separates two immense oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, he intended to reach the Indies, from which Vasco de Gama^ had recently brought so much treasure ; and thus joining the country he had discovered with the gorgeous orient of antiquity, pass over the Indian ocean and around Africa, and return to Europe by sailing around the globe. Had the world but been ^ It would seem clear that the grand commercial and financial success of de Gama's voyage to Calicut, 1497-1498, and the consequent jealousy in Spain, was the mainspring to mo\''e Columbus in search of a pass direct to the heart of India. 460 THE VOYAGE IN FAVOR AT COURT. true to liis conception, this would certainly have been one of the grandest voyages ever mapped out, and it would be simply carrying out his scheme, already in mind, when he was on the south of Cuba during his second voyage. Then his men were exhausted by the hardships of a long and tedious expedition, his stores were wellnigh consumed, and his ships honeycombed by the teredo. Now he would start out fresh, with his aim directly before him. The King and Queen were profoundly interested in the sketch of his plan, but some in the royal council hesitated. Was not the treasury low ? Did they not need their scant resources for more pressing claims ? Besides, they had not yet received return letters from Ovando. This of&cial might disclose such turpitude on the part of the Admiral in Hispaniola as would prevent his freedom on the ocean ! But Ferdinand was eager for the results of so promising an under- taking, and Isabella would listen to no suggestion which might deny the Admiral his small squadron. How shamefully would such ingratitude contrast with the grand fleet and princely retinue of Ovando, but now sailing away to govern the vast territories discovered by this same Admiral, who had just been sent home from his country in chains ! We know that the brave Bartholomew Columbus, who was wanted as the companion of the great discoverer, did not take very readily to the enterprise. If his peril- ous efforts in the past had met with so poor an appre- ciation, what had he to hope for in the future ? Indeed, it would seem that there was finaljy some hesitancy on the part of the Admiral himself. Why did the sovereigns send COL UMB US HESITA TES. 461 him the following significant lines ? — " Be assured that your imprisonment was very displeasing to us, which you were sensible of, and all men plainly saw, because as soon we heard of it we applied the proper remedies. And you know with how much honor and respect we have always ordered you to be treated, which w^e now direct should be done, and that you receive all worthy and noble usage, promising that the privileges and preroga- tives by us granted you shall be preserved in ample manner, according to the tenor of our letters-patents, which 3^ou and your children shall enjoy without any contradiction, as is due in reason ; and if it be requisite to ratify them anew we will do it, and will order that your son be put into possession of all, for we desire to honor and favor you in greater matters than these. And be satisfied we will take the due care of your sons and brothers, which shall be done when you are departed ; for the emploj-ment shall be given to your son, as has been said. We therefore pray you not to delay your de- parture." " This their Majesties wrote," says Fernando Columbus, " because the Admiral had resolved not to trouble himself any more with the affairs of the Indies." He adds : " The Admiral, having been well dispatched by their Catholic Majesties, set out from Granada for Seville in the year 1501, and being there, so earnestly solicited the fitting out of his squadron that in a small time he had rigged and provided four ships, the big- gest of seventy, the least of fifty tons burden, and one hundred and forty men and boys, of which number I was one." With these few frail vessels and this small number of men, the Admiral, burdened with years and the in- 462 THE FLEET SAILS. firmities aud diseases wliicli his many anxieties and great hardsHps had brought on, was about to sail round the world. But his mind was still buoyant with hope and enthusiasm. His expressive gray eye could still kindle with delight at the thought of disclosing some new part of this great world to mankind. Fernando, then scarcely fourteen years of age, must have been susceptible of the most vivid impressions as one event after another made up the history of the voy- age. " We set sail from Cadiz,'' he says, " on the 9th of May, 1502, and sailed to St. Catherine's, whence we parted on Wednesday, the nth of the same month, and went to Arzilla to relieve the Portuguese, who were re- ported to be in great distress, but when we came thither the Moors had raised the siege. The Admiral, there- fore, sent his brother, D. Bartholomew Colon, and me, with the captains of the ships, ashore, to visit the gov- ernor of Ar/jilla, who had been wounded by the Moors in an assault. He returned the Admiral thanks for the visit and his offers, and to this purpose sent some gen- tlemen to him, among whom were some relatives to Dona Philippa Moniz, the Admiral's wife in Portugal. The same day we set sail, and arriving at Gran Canaria on the 20th of May, cast anchor among the little islands, aud on the 24th went over to Mospalomas, in the same island, there to take in wood and water for our voyage. The next night we set out for the Indies, and it pleased God the wind was so fair that, without hand- ling the sails, on Wednesday, the 15th of June, we arrived at the island Matinino with a rough sea and wind. There, according to the custom of those that sail from Spain to the Indies, the Admiral took in fresh A BAD SAILING SHIP. 463 wood aud water, and made the men wash their linen, staying till Saturday, when we stood to the westward, and came to Dominica, ten leagues from the other. So, running along the Caribbee Islands, we came to Santa Cruz, and on the 24th of the same month ran along the south side of the island of St. John. Thence we took the way for San Domingo, the iVdmiral having a mind to exchange one of his ships for another, because it was a bad sailer, and besides could carry no sail, but the side would lie almost under water, which was a hindrance to his vo37age, because his design was to have gone directly upon the coast of Paria and keep along that shore till he came upon the strait, which he certainly con- cluded was about Veragua and Nombre de Dios. But, seeing the fault of the ship, he was forced to repair to San Domingo to change it for a better." But what was now the condition of this little com- munity? Ovaudo had arrived on the 15th of April. His official pomp and splendid retinue and appoint- ments threw Bobadilla completely into the shade. The late governor-general's quasi popularity, founded only in a catering to greed for gain and an indulgence of sin and rebellion, now forsook him utterly. He was not sufficiently noticed to be the subject of an accusation, or even a harsh word. He was simply nonentity. Roldan and his accomplices did not escape so easil3^ They were the subjects of a searching investigation, and most of them were ordered to Spain to answer for their doings. But none of them seemed uneasy as to the result. Had they not influential friends at the court? Was not Fonseca on their side — on the side of any one who might be hostile to Columbus ? At any 464 THE ROAST PIG. rate, the great quantity of gold they were about to take home would cover " a multitude of sins." The returniug ships of Ovaudo's fleet were also to take back the idle, dissolute, and good-for-nothing fel- lows who, strolling over the island, were the occasion of nearly all the disturbances. The flag-ship was to carry Bobadilla and his vast quantity of gold, amassed by cruelly oppressing the natives. This he confidently hoped would be an ample makeweight against all charges which might be brought against him. Roldan would make him company ; and somewhere in the same ship was stored awa}^ the kind-hearted and patient Guarionex, who had been a prisoner in Fort Conception ever since the Higuayan war. He was now to appear in Spain a captive, in chains. In this same ship was placed that famous nugget of gold which had been acci- dentally raked out of a brook by an Indian girl. It was estimated at 1,350,000 niaravedis, or about two thou- sand dollars. This remarkable find had been celebrated by a grand dinner of roast pig, served on the enormous mass of precious metal as a platter. What king had dined off a plate like this ! But where was the poor Indian girl at this time ? Las Casas thinks she was lucky if she got a taste of the pig \ In the poorest ship of the fleet sailed Carvajal, in charge of four thousand pieces of gold belonging to Columbus. Some of it was revenue recently collected, and some was that which Bobadilla had been com- pelled to restore. The splendid fleet was all ready to sail on the 29th of June, when the little squadron of Columbus ap- peared. Pedro de Jerreros, one of his captains, was THE COMING TEMPEST. 465 sent at once to ask for the vessel needed in the place of the one so extremely faulty, and to entreat permis- sion to shelter the ships in the harbor during a com- ing storm, of which the Admiral was exceedingly apprehensive. Both these requests were denied. If Columbus was refused shelter from the approach- ing hurricane, he would do what he could to prevent the destruction of the fleet about to sail. Immediately, therefore, he sent back the ofiicer to the governor, to entreat him not to leave the harbor under eight days, as there were unmistakable signs of a tempest just at hand. , The sky was so clear, the air so calm, and the water so smooth that the whole face of nature seemed to contradict this prognostication. The pilots in the harbor made a loud jest of the Admiral. Surely he was a false prophet ! But the practised eye of the old seaman was not to be hoodwinked. Whether from " the porpoises and other such like fishes playing upon the surface of the water," or any " other such observa- tions," ^ he could afford to act on his own prophesies. His crews murmured at being under a man so out of favor that they could not be allowed that privilege of shelter which any stranger might claim. What would tlie}^ do in these far-off and dangerous waters if any calamity should befall them in this coming tempest ? " And though the Admiral was concerned on the same account," says Fernando Columbus, " yet it more vexed him to behold the baseness and ingratitude used towards him in that country he had given to the honor and benefit of Spain, being refused 1 Herrera, Dec. i, book v, chap. i. 466 THE ADMIRAL'S SHIPS. to shelter his life in it. Yet his prudence and j udg- ment secured his ships till the next day ; the tempest increasing, and the night coming on very dark, three ships broke from him, every one its own way ; the men aboard each of them, though all of them in great danger, concluded the others were lost ; but they that suffered most were those aboard the ship called Santo^ who, to save their boat which had been ashore with the captain, Jerreros, dragged it astern, where it overset, and were at last forced to let it go to save themselves. But the caravel Bermuda was in much more danger, which, running out to sea, was almost covered with it, by which it appeared the Admiral had reason to endeavor to change it ; and all men con- cluded that, under God, the Admiral's brother was the saving of her by his wisdom and resolution, for, as has been said above, there was not at that time a more expert sailor than he. So that after they had all suffered very much, except the Admiral, it pleased God they met again upon Sunday following in the port of Azua, on the south side of Hispaniola, where, every one giving an account of his misfortunes, it appeared that Bartholomew Colon had weathered so great a storm by flying from land like an able sailor, and that the Admiral was out of danger b}^ lying close to the shore like a cunning astrologer, who knew whence the danger must come. Well might his enemies blame him, therefore, saying he had raised that storm by art 7nagtc, to be revenged on Bobadilla and the rest of his enemies that were with him, seeing that none of his four ships perished, and that of eighteen ^ which set out with Bobadilla, only one, called 1 The number is given as twentj-eight bj other writers. THE HURRICANE. 467 La Aguja^ or the Needle^ the worst of them all, held on its course for Spain, where it arrived safe, having on board four thousand pesos in gold, worth eight shillings a peso, belonging to the Admiral, the other three that escaped returning to San Domingo, shat- tered and in a distressed condition." With flying colors, with songs and music, the grand fleet of Bobadilla swelled its sails for the home- ward voyage, but they had scarcely reached the eastern end of the island when the fury of the hurri- cane burst upon them. The midnight darkness, the howling tempest, the electric blaze and thunder crash, with an ocean lashed into wild fury — an inconceivable, indescribable catastrophe, almost as sudden as an earthquake, engulphed twenty-six ships. Bobadilla, R.oldan and his accomplices, and poor Guarionex anticipated the tribunals of Spain. The fabulous quantities of gold wrung from the suffering toils of the oppressed natives, including the two-thousand- dollar nugget, went down into the ocean's abyss with them. Las Casas, who was in Hispaniola at the time, says : " We will not inquire now into this remarkable divine judgment, for at the last day of the world it will be made quite clear to us." To affirm divine judgment is at any time a great assumption. Who may draw the line between mere fortuity in the forces of nature and a special exercise of the divine will ? But it is safe to say that the noted catastrophe referred to appears as much like a divine visitation as anything we could conceive ; and whoever believes in prov- idence — and who does not ? — will be likely to regard it as such. 468 ^ BREATHING SPELL. " The Admiral, in the port of Azua, gave his men a breathing time after the storm," says Fernando Columbus, who was in the fleet, " and it being one of the diversions used at sea to fish when there is nothing else to do, I will mention two sorts of fish among the rest which I remember were taken there ; the one of them was pleasant, the other wonderful. The first was a fish called saavina, as big as half an ordinary bell, which, lying asleep above the water, was struck with a harping iron from the boat of the ship Bisceina^ and held so fast that it could not break loose ; but being tied with a long rope to the boat, drew it after it as swift as an arrow, so that those aboard the ship, seeing the boat scud about, and not knowing the occa- sion, were astonished it should do so without the help of the oars, till at last the fish sunk, and being drawn to the ship's side, was then hauled up with the tackle. The other fish was taken after another manner ; the Indians call it manatee, and there are none of the sort in Europe ; it is as big as a calf, nothing differing from it in the color and taste of the flesh, but that perhaps it is better and fatter ; wherefore those that affirm there are all sorts of creatures in the sea will have it that these fishes are real calves, since within they have nothing like a fish, and feed only on the grass they find along the banks. "^ After encountering another storm, they put out again on the 14th of July, but the wind was so light that they were carried away by the currents, first to some islands near Jamaica, and to the Queen's Gardens, then on the south of Cuba. On the 27th, the wind ^ The MAnatus amertcaitus, closely related to the Cetaceans. UNDER SAIL AGAIN. 469 favoring, tliey sailed to the southwest, and on the 30th reached the island Guanaja, now Bonacca, some 30 miles from the coast of Honduras. The second in size of the Ba}?- Islands, it is some 12 miles long and from one to three miles wide, and rises i ,200 feet. The crews were impressed with its fertility and verdure, especially its lofty pines. The inhabitants were similar to those found elsewhere in these parts, excepting their low foreheads. Notice that stately canoe, coming as if from a dis- tance, probably from Yucatan ! Long as a galley and eight feet wide, it has an elegant awning of palm leaves over the centre, not unlike the cabin of a Vene- tian gondola. Under this cozily sits a cacique with his wives and children, protected alike from sun and rain. Twenty-five Indians drive their strong paddles. Strangely enough, they have no fear of the Spaniards, but push right up to the side of the Admiral's caravel. This canoe must be on a journey, for it is fairly filled up with a great variety of manufactured articles and with the various products of the locality — a sort of voluntary exhibition of the things to be found here. And are not some of these weapons superior to any seen in these parts heretofore ? Those hatchets are not of stone, but of copper ! Here are wooden swords with double edges firmly set with sharp flints tied into grooves with the dried intestines of fishes ; such swords were afterwards found in Mexico. Here are bells, and also other articles, made of copper, with the rude crucible in which that metal was melted, and vessels of clay and of marble, and utensils made of hard wood. The provisions, too, are worth noticing — the 470 ^ NE W STYLE OF NA TIVES. cacao, used both as food and as money ; a sort of beer made from maize ; also bread made from the same arti- cle, and spme made from roots. The women wear fine cotton mantles, richly worked in gay colors, and the men have cotton cloths abont the loins. Both sexes have a particular sense of modesty for Indians, which is especiall}^ noticed by the boy Fernando when they are hauled over the side of the ship as captured per- sons. "I must add," he says, " that we ought to admire their modesty ; for it falling out that, in getting them aboard, some were taken b}^ the clouts they had before their privities, they would immediately clap their hands to cover them ; and the women would hide their faces, and wrap themselves up, as we said the Moorish women do at Granada. This moved the Admiral to use them well, to restore their canoe, and give them some things in exchange for those that had been taken from them. Nor did he keep any one of them but an old man, whose name was Giumba, who seemed to be the wisest and chief of them, to learn something of him concerning the country, and that he might draw others to converse with the Christians, which he did very readil}^ and faithfully all the while we sailed where his language was understood. There- fore, as a reward for his services, when we came where he was not understood, the Admiral gave him some things, and sent him home very well pleased." Those Indians in the canoe at the island had endeavored, by signs, to tell something of the richness, industry, and cultivation of their country to the west- ward, and urged Columbus to steer in that direction. As soon as they perceived that he was in search of WESTWARD OR EASTWARD? 471 gold, they gave him to understand that in their coun- try the people wore heavy crowns made of it, and great rings on their arms and legs ; that their chairs, tables, and chests were covered with it, and even their cloths were woven with it. When coral was shown them they intimated that their women wore it profusely as ornaments, hanging from the head down the back. They also claimed to have plenty of pepper, and to have ships, cannon, bows and arrows, swords, and all kinds of armor. This was true Indian style, and there may have been little or nothing in it ; but if Columbus had gone westward and discovered Yucatan and Mexico, who may conjecture how it might have improved his fortunes ! " Upon the information given b}^ that old Indian,"^ says Herrera, " the Admiral forbore proceeding to the westward, which would have carried him to Yucatan and New Spain, and, steering to the eastward,^ the first land he saw was a point, which he called de Casinas, because there were mau}^ trees on it, the fruit whereof is a sort of little apples, good to eat, in his language called casinas, as the Admiral said. The natives that ^ This old Indian could draw a rude chart of the coast, and probably con- founding the isthmus with the Admiral's notion of a pass — for they could communicate only by signs — completely gained his confidence as a guide to the riches of the interior of India. - That Columbus came eastward against the westward current, which sug- gested his pass to India, has always been a mystery. But if Vespuccius's first voyage, 1497-149S— which must have been known to the Admiral — was westward along the Honduras coast, and around Yucatan, the Gulf of Mexico, and Florida, as Varnhagen has clearly shown, it is but in accordance with Columbus's usual good sense that he should have tried a new route in search of his desired pass, especially since his experienced Indian guide assured him that such pass was in this direction. He must have learned by this time that Cuba was an island, and that all along and around to the west and north was a continuous continent. 472 CHICKENS AND BEANS. lived nearest to that point wore jackets of fine colors, like the short shirts above spoken of, and small clouts to cover their nakedness. On Sunday, the 14th of August, the adelantado went ashore with many of the men to hear mass, as they generally used to do when they had an opportunit}" ; and the Wednesday follow- ing he went again to take possession for their Catholic Majesties, at which time he found above one hundred of the natives on the shore, loaded with provisions, as maize, fowl,'^ venison, fish, and fruit. When they came up to the adelantado, the Indians fell back without speaking one word, and he ordered they should give them looking-glasses, hawk's bells, pins, and the like ; and the next day above two hundred men appeared in the same place, loaded with such victuals, and several sorts of lupines,^ like beans, and other fruit, for the country is very fertile, green, and beautiful, w^here there was an infinite multitude of pine trees, oaks, six or seven sorts of palms, and many mirabolan-trees, bear- ing a pleasant and odoriferous fruit. They understood that there were leopards, and might have been informed that there were many tigers. Those people had not great foreheads, like the islanders, spoke several lan- guages ; some of them were quite naked, others only covered their privities, and others wore jackets without sleeves, that reached not below their navels. Their bodies were wrought with fire, like the Moors, some having lions, others stags, or such like creatures drawn on them ; instead of caps, they wore on their heads cotton clouts, white and red, and some of them had tufts of hair on their foreheads like fringes. ^ Fernando Columbus says the fowls were large white hens and geese. * jLike red and white kidney-beans, Fernando says. COAST OF THE BAR. 473 " When tliej^ were fiue for their festivals, some colored their faces black, others red, others streaked with several colors, others painted tlieir chins and noses, and others made their eyes very black, all which were looked upon as great ornaments/ And because there were others along that coast who made such great holes in their ears that an o^gg might pass through them, he called that part la Costa de la Oreja^ or the Coast of the Ear." , We must now follow the little fleet to the eastward, along the Honduras coast, stemming the current which here runs westward like a mighty river, and beating against contrar}^ winds. To quote the Admiral's own language to the sovereigns : " Hence, as opportunity afforded, I pushed on for terra firma in spite of the wind and a fearful contrar}- current, against which I con- tended for sixty days, and during that time only made seventy leagues. All this time I was unable to get into harbor, nor was there an}" cessation of the tempest, which was one continuation of rain, thunder and light- ning; indeed, it seemed as if it were the end of the world. I at length reached the Cape of Gracios a Dios, and after that the Lord granted me fair wind and tide ; this was on the twelfth of September. Eighty-eight days did this fearful tempest continue, during which I was at sea, and saw neither sun nor stars ; my ships lay ex- posed, with sails torn, and anchors, rigging, cables, boats, and a great quantit}- of provisions lost ; my people were very weak and humbled in spirit, many of them prom- ising to lead a religious life, and all making vows and promising to perform pilgrimages, while some of them ^ To the boy Fernando Columbus they looked like devils. 474 ^^^ TEMPEST. would frequently go to their messmates to make con- fession. Other tempests have been experienced, but never of so long a duration or so fearful as this ; many whom we looked upon as brave men on several occasions showed considerable trepidation ; but the distress of my son who was with me grieved me to the soul, and the more when I considered his tender age, for he was but thirteen years old, and he enduring so much toil for so long a time. Our Lord, however, gave him strength even to enable him to encourage the rest, and he worked as if he had been eighty years at sea, and all this was a consolation to me. I mj^self had fallen sick, and was many times at the point of death, but from a little cabin that I had caused to be constructed on deck I directed our course. My brother was in the ship that was in the worst condition and the most exposed to danger ; and my grief on this account was the greater that I brought him with me against his will." ^ An inexpressible relief it must have been to Colum- bus and his crews when the ships rounded the cape to go south along what is now known as the Mosquito Coast. The eastern wind, against which thej^ had sailed with so much toil and hardship for nearly two months, was now on the beam^ and wafted them on delightfully. In pious recognition of the relief, Columbus named the cape Gracios a Dios — Thanks to God. The coast land- scape along which they sailed was greatly varied. Here a bold promontory, rugged and craggy, stretched out into the sea ; there a fertile vale, with verdant banks laved by charming rivers, delighted the eye. At the mouth of this river grew immense reeds, large as a man's leg ; ^ Major's Select Letters. LA HUERTA—THE GARDEN. 475 the outlet of another swarmed with fishes, tortoises, and alligators. That cluster of twelve small islands near the coast bore a fruit resembling the lemon. Having sailed some sixty-two leagues in this direc- tion, and being much in need of wood and water, on the 1 6th of September the boats were sent up a deep river, but as they returned a strong wind from off the sea brought the waves with such force against the current of the river that one of the boats was engulfed, and all on board were lost. This calamity cast a gloom over the weary crews, and the Admiral himself was so im- pressed with melancholy that he named this river El Rio del Disastre. On the 25th of September they reached an inviting place of anchorage, in the mouth of a river, opposite which was a most enchanting island, covered with luxuriant groves of palms. Here was also the graceful banana, with its curious blossoms and fruit at the same time ; the cocoanut tree, and a most fragrant and luscious fruit which the Admiral mistook for the mirabolane of the Hast Indies. So odoriferous and strikingl}^ beautiful were the flowers and shrubs on this island that he called it La Huerta — The Garden. Scarcely a league away was an Indian town named Cariari, finely located on a river. The country in every direction was charmingly diversified with hill and dale, and most luxuriant forests of such height that, as Las Casas says, they seemed to reach the sk}-. The natives, alarmed at the unwonted appearance of the ships, rushed to the shores, some armed " with bows and arrows, others with staves of palm-tree, as black as a coal and hard as horn, pointed wdth the 476 WEAPONS OF WAR. bones of fishes, others with clubs."^ The men, with hair braided and wrapped around their heads, and the women, with hair trimmed short, were all alike intent on the defence of their country. The Spaniards, however, made no attempt to land, but for two days remained on their ships, quietly resting or looking after their damaged provisions and their ships, already the worse for the voyage. The natives, seeing no signs of war on the part of the strangers, were inclined to be friendly. Being partially clothed, they take off their mantles and wave them like banners, thus inviting the Spaniards to land. They even swim to the ships, bringing their rude arms, " cotton jerkins and large pieces like sheets, and gumiinies^ which is pale gold they wear about their necks." But the Admiral will not trade. He will only make presents, for he wants the savages to know how generous these white men are ! The natives grow more earnest when they discover the strangers are not disposed to laud, and beckon to them still more emphatically. " At last," says Fer- nando Columbus, '' perceiving nobody went ashore, they took all the things that had been given them, without reserving any, and tying them together, left them in the same place where the boats first went ashore, and where our men found them on the Wed- nesday following, when they landed. The Indians about this place, believing that the Christians did not confide in them, they sent an ancient man of an awful presence with a flag upon a staff, and two girls, the one about eight, the other about fourteen years of age, ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter xci. TIVO INDIAN GIRLS. 477 who, putting them into the boat, made signs that the Christians might safely land. Upon their request they went ashore to take in water, the Indians taking great care not to do anything that might fright the Chris- tians, and when they saw them return to their ships they* made signs to them to take along with them the young girls with their giianinies about their necks, and at the request of the old man that conducted them they complied and carried them aboard." These young hostages manifested no fear whatever, but deported themselves in the most amiable and modest manner. This won upon the Admiral, who treated them most generously — feasting them, clothing them, and afterwards sending them ashore, where they were received with marked satisfaction. In the evening the Spaniards, going ashore again, met the girls, sur- rounded by a multitude of their friends. All the presents were returned. If the gifts of these savages could not be accepted, they were too proud to be put under obligations by receiving those of the strangers. This surely was a remarkable trait of independence which one cannot fail to respect. Everything was done by the Indians to win the Spaniards. The adelantado going ashore the next day, two of the principal persons, wading out into the water to meet him, lifted him out of his boat in their arms, carried him to land, and in the most reverential man- ner seated him on a grass plot. Thinking this was the time to draw out information from them as to the country, he began to ask them questions, and ordered a notary to take down their statements. The Indians looked with surprise on the pen, ink, and paper, and 478 "I^HE INDIANS TAKE FRIGHT. mistaking the act of writing for the exercise of some necromatic art, fled in terror. Returning by and by, tliey scattered a sweet-smelling powder in tlie air, and burnt some of it in such a way as to cause the smoke to go towards the Christians, as if they were trying to counteract some evil spell. Before the ships left, the Admiral ordered his brother to go ashore, along with a number of others, and learn what he could of the nature of the country and the habits of the people. Though he did not find pure gold, he saw some quite extraordinary sights. In a great wooden palace covered with canes were " several tombs, in one of which there was a dead body dried up and embalmed ; in another, two bodies wrapped up in cotton sheets, without any ill scent ; and over each tomb was a board with the figures of beasts carved on it, and on some of them the effigies of the person buried there, adorned with guaninies^ beads, and other things they most value. These being the most civilized Indians in those parts, the Admiral ordered one to be taken and learn of him the secrets of the country ; and of seven that were taken, two of the chiefest were picked out and the rest sent away with some gifts and civil enter- tainment, that the country might not be left in an up- roar, telling them they were to serve as guides upon that coast, and then be set at liberty. But the^^ believ- ing they were taken out of covetousness, that they might ransom themselves with their goods and things of value, the next day abundance of them came down to the shore and sent four aboard the Admiral as their embassadors, to treat about the ransom, offering some things, and freely giving two hogs of the country, which. A BEAUTIFUL BAT. 47^ though small, are very wild. The Admiral, therefore, observing the policy of the people, was more desirous to be acquainted with them, and would not depart till he had learned something of them, but would not give ear to their offers. He therefore ordered some trifles to be given to the messengers, that they might not go away dissatisfied, and that they should be paid for their hogs."^ On the 5th of October the Admiral was again under way. Passing along what is now called Costa Rica, or Rich Coast, after sailing some twentj'-two leagues, he entered a magnificent ba^^, six leagues in length and three in breadth. There were three or four en- trances, and it was full of the most enchanting islands, laden with fruits and flowers, and the channels be- tween them being so deep and clear that they seemed like the canal streets of a city. As the vessels passed along, " the boughs of the trees touched the shrouds and rigging." Having cast anchor, the boats landed on one of these charming islands. Here were twenty canoes, the people being near b^^, among the trees. Their timidit}^, if they had any, was soon removed by the encouraging words of the Indian guides from Cariari, and they approached the Spaniards for barter. Here was the first pure gold found along these coasts. The natives had large plates of this precious metal hung to their necks by cotton cords. Some of the guanin or poor gold, also, in the shape of eagles, they had. So unconscious were these natives of the value of pure gold that one of them exchanged a large plate of it, v>'eighing ten ducats, for three hawk's bells. ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter xci. 480 INDIAN ORNAMENTS. Not far away, on tlie continent, there was plenty of it, they said. The next day the boats went to the mainland at the lower end of the bay. The shores were abrupt and hilly, the houses being grouped in villages about the highest points of the landscape. Behold the Indians in those ten canoes, their heads adorned with flowers and rude coronets made of beasts' claws and birds' quills ! Nearly all of them have plates of gold about their necks, but they will not part with them. How the Spaniards covet one of those plates, worth fourteen ducats, and that eagle worth twenty-two ducats ! But plenty of this metal can be obtained along the coast — particularly at Veragua, some twenty-five leagues distant. So say the natives. But the Admiral will not be delayed by barter, for he is in haste to find that strait mapped out in his head for so long a time. But the Spaniards cannot leave till they have caught some of those fishes of which there are abun- dant shoals in this bay. They also hunt the wild animals along the shore, and examine the roots used as food, and the grain and flowers. " The men, who are painted all over, face and body, of several colors, as red, black, and white, go naked, only covering their privities with a narrow cotton cloth. "^ From this bay, called Caravaro, they put out on the 17th, and enter the river Guaig, some twelve leagues farther on. On attempting to land, they encounter two hundred Indians, armed with clubs and wooden swords and lances. Tkey rush into the water up to ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter xcii. INDIAN THREATS. 481 their middle, brandisli their weapons, blow their concli- shells, beat their wooden drnms, throw salt-water at the strangers, and squirt at them the juice of the herbs they are chewing — tobacco, perhaps. But the Spaniards beckoned to them in a cordial manner, and the native interpreters spoke goodly words for them, and these savages were soon showing themselves friendly by trading away for a few trinkets seventeen plates of gold ^ wortJi one hundred and fifty ducats. The next day, the Spaniards came ashore again to renew their trade. The}^ found the Indians sitting along the shore, in a sort of booths they had extempo- rized during the night, and were afraid to land. They called to them, but none would come. Presently the Indians blew their conchs, beat their drums, gave their war-whoop as they ran into the water almost up to the boats, and threatened to hurl their darts if the strangers did not go awa3^ This was a little too much for the Spaniards. They shot a cross-bow and wounded one in the arm, then fired a cannon ; and the Indians, " thinking that the sky was falling upon them, took to their heels, striving who should be foremost." Now they were in a mood for trade. Four of the Spaniards landed, " and calling them back, they came very peaceably, leaving their arms behind them, and exchanged three plates of gold, saying they had no more, because they did not come prepared to trade, but to fight." Fully in the conviction that the supremely desired/'^«?5 is in this direction, the Admiral continues along the coast, and they soon anchor in the mouth of a river called Cotiba, Here, also, the Indians are up in 482 BARTERING WITH THE INDIANS. arms. The forests eclio to tlie sound of conchs and drums — the people are being called out in defence against the strangers. Now a canoe with two Indians comes oflf from the shore, and inquires who these strange beings are and what they want. Exchanging a few words with the interpreters from Cariari, they are conciliated, and come on board the Admiral's ship in the most cordial manner, trading the gold plates suspended from their necks for trinkets. Satisfied as to the peaceable intention of the strangers, they go ashore to report the same to their cacique. Now there comes another canoe with three Indians. They also barter the gold plates from their necks. " Amity thus settled, our men went ashore, where they found abundance of people, with their king, who differed in nothing from the rest but that he was covered with one leaf of a tree, because at that time it rained hard ; and to give his subjects a good example he exchanged a plate of the precious metal and bade them barter for theirs, which in all were nineteen ducats of pure gold."^ The signs of civilization were surely encouraging, for here was a solid structure of stone and mortar. But it would not do to tarry. Before a fresh breeze, they ran past some five towns, where, the interpreters said, there was plenty of gold. Here, indeed, in Vera- gua, which name afterwards spread over the whole region, the plates of gold were made which they had seen along the coast. The next da}^, as they came to a town called Cubiga, the natives affirmed that they had reached the end of the gold coast. But this gold 1 Fernando Columbus. THE STRAIT! 483 region they were thus leaving behind could be explored at any time. The grand desideratum now was the strait — alias Malacca. All unwittingly, the Indians were helping to form a great delusion in the mind of the Admiral. The narrow place they spoke of — just at hand — between the two seas was not ''''narrow zuater^'''' as he understood them, but " narrow landy But the mere language of gestures on the part of these savages was too awkward to be discriminating to the prejudiced mind of Columbus, so on they went for the '''' strait ^ Somewhere just the other side of this promising terra firma he would find all the wealth of India.^ Alas ! the rich country the natives were describing to him was as delusive as the strait ; for they, in all probability^, simply had vague conceptions ^ The vision which now allured Columbus can best be given in his own words to the sovereigns concerning this voyage, written from Jamaica : " As I had found everything true that had been told me in the different places which I had visited, I felt satisfied it would be the same with respect to Ciguare, which, according to their account, is nine days' journey across the country westward; they tell me there is a great quantity of gold there, and that the inhabitants wear coral ornaments on their heads, and very large coral bracelets and anklets, with which article also they adorn and inlay their seats, boxes, and tables. They also said that the women there wore necklaces hanging down to their shoulders. All the people agree in the report I now repeat, and their account is so favorable that I should be content with the tithe of the advantages that their description holds out. They are all likewise acquainted with the pepper-plant. According to the account of these people, the inhabitants of Cignare are accustomed to hold fairs and markets for carrying on their commerce, and they showed me also the mode and form iu which they transact their various exchanges ; others assert that their ships carry guns, and that the men go clothed and use bows and arrows, swords, and cuirasses, and that on shore they have horses, which they use in battle, and that they wear rich clothes and have most excellent houses. They also say that the sea surrounds Ciguare, and that at ten days' journey from thence is the river Ganges; these lands appear to hold the same relation to Veragua as Tortosa to Fontarabia, or Pisa to Venice." 484 PUERTO BELLO. of the wealthy and semi-civilized nations of Central or South America. On the 2d of November the squadron entered a large and charming harbor. In every direction, the elevated landscape had the aspect of high cultivation. The houses, about a stone's throw or bow-shot from each other, were in the midst of fruit-trees, graceful groves of palm, corn-fields, and gardens abounding in vegetables and pineapples. This delightsome spot Columbus named Puerto Bello — Port Beautiful. A whole week of storm shut them in here. But the scene was enlivened by the native canoes going and coming constantly, with fruits, vegetables, and balls of cotton finely spun, " which they gave for some trifles, such as points and pins." Gold there was none, except the small plates hanging from the noses of the cacique and his seven principal men. The naked bodies of these people were painted red, and by way of contrast the cacique was black. On the 9th of November the fleet went to a point since called Nombre de Dios, eight leagues farther on ; but the next day they were forced back one-half that distance by stress of weather, and took refuge behind a group of islands. In every direction, on the islands and on the mainland, fields of Indian corn and fruit and vegetable gardens greeted the eye ; so the Ad- miral called this place Puerto de Bastimentos — Port of Provisions. Here they remained about two weeks, repairing their leaky vessels, which the teredos of these tropical seas had thoroughly riddled. During this stay they had at least one amusing incident. A boat well manned EL RE7RETE. 485 went in pursuit of a canoe, and the Indians, taking fright as they came within a stone's throw, plunged into the water to try their chances of escape by swim- ming. The Spaniards pulled the oars with all their might for a mile and a half, but could not overtake one of them ; for as they approached an Indian he would " dive like a duck, and come up a bow-shot or two from the place." The boy Fernando enjoyed this chase exceedingly, and seemed pleased to see the boat return without so much as an Indian, after such strenuous and exhaustive exertions. November 23d they sailed farther on, and stopped at a place called Guiga, where they found some three hundred natives ready to trade away provisions and small gold ornaments in their noses and ears for the usual trinkets. Again they hoisted sail. On the 24th boisterous weather drove the squadron into a small harbor, which the Admiral named El Retrete, " that is. Retired Place, because it could not contain above five or six ships together, and the mouth of it was not above fifteen or twenty paces over, and on both sides of it rocks appearing above the water as sharp as diamonds, and the channel between them was so deep that they found no bottom, though if the ships inclined never so little to either side the men might leap ashore."^ Both Las Casas and Fernando Columbus think that the Admiral was duped into this retreat by the desire on the part of his men sent to examine the place to communicate slyly with the natives. As the water was so deep that the vessels could not anchor, except near the bank, the sailors * Life of Columbus by his son, chapter xciii. 486 'Jf^E INDIANS DEFT THE SPANIARDS. used to get away among the natives at night without permission. At first they were entertained with the usual hospitality, but their conduct was so outrageously covetous and licentious that their hosts soon sought revenge. Kvery night there were brawls, and before long there was bloodshed on both sides. Now the nearness of the ships to the shore was as convenient for an attack from the enraged Indians as it had been for the nightly escapes of the sailors. The Admiral was obliged to resort to his guns. But the mere noisy discharges of powder failed to terrify them. The sav- age throngs had become skeptical of the divine nature of these beings, worse than human, and they responded to the noise and smoke with shrieks and yells, and threshing the trees with their clubs and lances. This would never do. The ships were too near the shore to risk being boarded in an instant by this infuriated mob of savages. The guns were loaded with balls, and aimed at a hillock on which the natives were clus- tered. Now the general havoc " made them sensible there was a thunderbolt as well as thunder," and they fled in terror once and for all. We must not leave this close retreat without look- ing about on the shore. All around the land is low and level, the grass being thin, and the trees scattered here and there — the whole having the effect of a sort of open park. See those alligators which crawl out here in vast numbers to sun themselves on the beach ! The air is impregnated with their odor, "as if all the musk in the world were together." The Indians say that they will drag a sleeping man into the water ; but they seem quite timorous, and hustle into the sea like frightened seals when attacked. THE CRE US ARE IMP A TIENT. 487 There was yet another phase to this weather-bound life of two weeks in El Retrete, among savages and alligators. The crews were becoming exceeding im- patient to turn back. " That strait''^ — what was the use of running after that strait ? What would they carry back from it? Better return to the gold coast they had been passing. Who could tell how much wealth they might take home from thence ? Many of the more ignorant and superstitious believed that the strong east and northeast winds shutting them in were the result of sorcery on the part of the Indians. And what defence could there be against such witchcraft ? The officers cried out against the crazy, worm-eaten ships. In the tempests which threatened them these would be crushed like mere shells. Even the Admiral himself might well be wondering why he did not reach the much-desired strait, and would surely become con- vinced of the folly of increasing the distance from home with such mutinous crews and unsafe crafts. He would go back to Veragua and lay in a store of gold, which might more than compensate for his failure in finding the " strait," and thus silence the cavillings of his enemies.^ " Here, then," sa3^s Irving, '^ ended the lofty anticipa- tions which had elevated Columbus above all mercenary interests, which had made him regardless of hardships ^ Bastidas, in his recent voyage, had reached this point. Whether this was known to Cohiinbiis is not certain. On his way out, as he touched at San Domingo, where that navigator then was, he may have gained such in- telligence, or the natives around Veragua may have advised him. At any rate it must now have been pretty clear to the Admiral that the coast was " practically discovered from Trinidad to Guanaja, and that between these two islands is a shore-line of continent unbroken by any strait." — H. H. Bancroffs History oj Central America, vol. i, p. 217. 488 HEAD WINDS. and perils and had given an heroic character to the early part of this voyage. It is true, he had been in pursuit of a mere chimera, but it was the chimera of a splendid imagination and a penetrating judgment. If he was disappointed in his expectation of finding a strait through the Isthmus of Darien, it was because nature herself had been disappointed, for she appears to have attempted to make one, but to have attempted it in vain." On the 5th of December the squadron put out from El Retrete. and sailing ten leagues westward anchored at night in Puerto Bello. They had barely passed into the open sea the next day when the wind shifted to the west. For three months he had hoped in vain for a wind in this direction. It seemed as if the wind was bound to be against him. Should he turn back and re- new his search for the strait f A west wind never lasted long in that region, at least at that time of year. Probably it would soon change. The wind increased and shifted about so from point to point that the sailors were completely baffled. Again they headed for Puerto Bello, but when, after great effort in getting back, they awaited a favorable wind to enter, it suddenly blew furiously off shore, driving the vessels out to sea. The sky was darkened, the clouds were heavily charged with electricity, and a most unparalleled tempest arose. " Never," says Columbus, " was the sea so high, so terrific, and so covered with foam ; not only did the wind oppose our proceeding onward, but it also rendered it highly dangerous to run in for any head- land, and kept me in that sea, which seemed to me as a sea of blood, seething like a cauldron on a mighty fire. A TEMPEST. 489 Never did the sky look more fearful ; during one day and one night it burned like a furnace, and every in- stant I looked to see if my masts and my sails were not destroyed, for the lightnings flashed with such alarm- ing fury that we all thought the ships must have been consumed. All this time the waters from heaven never ceased descending, not to say that it rained, for it was like a repetition of the deluge. The men were at this time so crushed in spirit that the}' longed for death as a deliverance from so many mart3'rdoms. Twice already had the ships suffered loss in boats, anchors, and rig- gings, and were now lying bare without sails." Fer- nando says, " When we were most in hopes to get into port we were quite beat off again, and sometimes with such thunder and lightning that the men durst not open their e3^es. The ships seemed to be just sinking, and the sky to come down. Sometimes the thunder was so continued that it was concluded some ship fired its can- non to desire assistance. Another time there would fall such storms of rain that it would last violently for two or three days, insomuch that it looked like another universal deluge. This perplexed all the men and made them almost despair, seeing they could not get half an hour's rest, being continually wet, turning some- times one way and sometimes another, struggling against all the elements, and dreading them all ; for in such dreadful storms they dread the fire in flashes of lightning, the air for its fury, the water for the terrific waves, and the earth for the hidden rocks and sands." But the storm reached its climax on Tuesday, the i3tli, when a great whirling cone rose out of the waves, and mounting towards the heavens met a like cone, which 490 A WATER-SPOUT. whirled downwards from tlie inky clouds, and tlie two, joining in an angry column connecting sea and sky, moved furiously toward the ships. Every face was ghastly white and shrieks of despair arose. The Ad- miral was stretched on liis couch on deck, helpless with a raging fever. Alarmed by the cries of the sailors, he sprang up to behold the writhing column almost upon him. Did ever man face a more stupendous peril ? In the helplessness of the moment he began to recite the gospel of St. John, describing a cross in the air with his sword. The whirling, dancing column, uniting the ocean beneath and the clouds above, passed between the ships and on cut of sight, causing no harm beyond making the water to boil and toss in every direction. " The ships being now almost shattered to pieces with the tempest," says Fernando Columbus, "and the men quite spent with labor, a day or two's calm gave them some respite, and brought such multitudes of sharks about the ships that they were dreadful to behold, especially for such as are superstitious, because, as it is reported that ravens at a great distance smell out dead bodies, so some think these sharks do, which if they lay hold of a man's arm or leg cut it off like a razor, for they have two rows of teeth in the nature of a saw. Such a multitude of these were killed with the hook and chain that, being able to destroy no more, they lay swimming about the water, and they are so greedy that they do not only bite at carrion, but may be taken with a red rag upon the hook. I have seen a tortoise taken out of the belly of one of these sharks, and it afterwards lived aboard the ship ; but out of an- other was taken the whole head of one of his own kind, SHARKS. 4QI we having cut it off and thrown it into the w^ater, as not good to eat, no more than they are themselves, and that shark had swallowed it, and to ns it seemed con- trary to reason that one creature should swallow the head of another of its own bigness, which is not to be admired,^ because their mouth reaches almost to their belly, and the head is shaped like an olive. Though some looked upon them to forbode mischief^ and others thought them bad fish, yet we all made much of them by reason of the want we were in, having been now above eight months at sea, so that we had consumed all the fish and flesh brought from Spain ; and that, with the heat and moisture of the sea, the biscuit was so full of maggots that, as God shall help me, I saw many that staid till night to eat the pottage or brewis made of it, that they might not see the mag- gots ; and others were so used to eat them that they did not mind to throw them away when the}^ saw them, because they might lose their supper if they were so ver}^ curious. "Upon Saturday, the 17th, the Admiral put into a port three leagues east of Pennon, which the Indians called Huiva. It was like a great bay, where we rested three days, and going ashore saw the inhabi- tants dwell upon the tops of trees, like birds, laying sticks across from bough to bough, and building huts upon them rather than houses. Though we knew not the reason of this strange custom, yet we guessed it was done for fear of the griffons there are in that country, or of enemies ; for all along that coast the * Or wondered at. 492 THE COAST OF CONTRASTS. people at every league's distance are great enemies to one another."^ Storms and shifting winds continue. Now they put out to sea, but again the wind changes to their disadvantage, or becomes so boisterous that they are obliged to run into the nearest harbor. Well, indeed, may the Admiral name this the " Coast of Contrasts." Having spent nearly a month in beating his way from Puerto Bello to Veragua, some thirty leagues, he sounded the river Yebra, which he named Belen or Bethlehem, and the Veragua. As the former was the deeper, notwithstanding its bar at the mouth, they entered it by means of the boats and found a village on its banks. Here they were confronted by a well- developed and brave people, who were disposed to con- test their landing, but were soon conciliated. Being questioned as to the gold-mines, they were at first inclined to be reticent or equivocal. Finally they gave the impression that they were to be found about the Veragua. To that river, therefore, the boats are sent the next day. These people must be of Carib origin. How else do they come to be so brave ? A whole fleet of canoes comes out to meet the Spaniards, and the shores are lined with men on defence. But the interpreter intercedes, saying that these peculiar strangers have come only to barter, and this soothes them and induces them to trade twent}^ plates of gold, several tubes filled with the precious dust, as well as masses of the crude ore, for trinkets and gewgaws as usual. They said the precious metal was obtained in the neighboring mountains. When they went in ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter xciv. THE ^UJBIAN. 493 searcli of it they fasted for twenty days aud left their women at home. These reports are so flattering that the Admiral concludes to sojourn in the vicinity. Belen being the deeper river, the two smaller caravels cross the bar January 9th, and the other two follow at flood-tide the next day. Now the natives become exceedingly cordial, and bring great quantities of fish, with which this river abounds ; also a variety of gold ornaments for traf&c, but it all conies from Veragua. To the Veragua, then, the adelantado will go with boats well armed. Having ascended half a league, he meets the Ouibian,^ or chieftain, tall, powerful, and of a warlike aspect. He is very amiable, and seems perfectly at ease amidst the canoes in which his subjects are attending him. He takes off his gold ornaments and gives them to the adelantado, highly gfratified over the trinkets and what-nots received in return. This powerful chief," wath many chiefs under him, is shrewd enough to see that he has met men of force and influence, such as he has not known hitherto. The next day he calls on the Admiral, and is well entertained. Impressive, indeed, it must have been to see these fine specimens of the human race, each from ^ This is now regarded as a title rather than a name. * " On the whole, the Qi^iibian is as fine a specimen of his race as the ade- lantado is of his. And thus thej' are fairly met, the men of Europe and the men of North America; and as in the gladiatorial combat, which opens with a smiling salutation, this four-century struggle begins with friendly greet- ings. Pity it is they are outwardly not more evenly matched; pity it is that the European wilh his superior civilization, his saltpetre and blood- hounds, his steel weapons and strange diseases, should be allowed to do his robbery so easily." — H. H. Bancroft., Hist. Central America, vol. i, p. 220. 494 THE STORM DEMONS. the opposite side of the globe, trying to communicate with each other by grimaces and gestures. The Quibian is " taciturn and cautious," exchanges some presents with the Admiral, and, after an hour, takes his leave. Meanwhile his attendants have " trucked " gold for gewgaws. But the ships are scarcel}^ more secure here in the river than they were outside in the sea. If Neptune failed to swamp them in the latter, the storm demons will open the floods upon the mountains in order that the rivers may run mad. The vessels are wrenched from their anchorage and hurled against each other, and the foremast of the Admiral's ship is carried away. Neither can they run out to sea, on account of the breakers on the bar at Belen's mouth. The storm having once more abated, on the 6th of February the adelantado takes sixty-eight well-armed men, who push the boats up the Veragua in search of the reputed gold-mines. About a league and a half up the river they come upon the home of the Quibian, with the dwellings of his people arranged about him. The chieftain comes to meet them. He is surrounded by his subjects, but they are all unarmed. All the signs and signals are for peace. This on the outside, like the bright daubs of paint on his naked body, but at heart there are no doubt many misgivings. One of his attendants fishes a big stone out of the river, and, washing it thoroughly, rolls it up as a throne for his chieftain, who deports himself with great respect in th-e commanding presence of Don Bartholomew. He furnishes the latter with guides to the gold regions of the interior, the mines being in the mountains, which GOLD I 495 begin to rise some six leagues distant and reach above the clouds. All the way, about the roots of the trees and everywhere, the earth sparkles with golden grains. The adelantado returns greatly elated. Al- ready he sees wealthy Spanish cities in the plains and on the hills. " Which seeing, the Quibian grimly smiled that they should deem their work already done, himself subdued, the land their own, and he smiled to think how he had sent them round and away from his own rich mines to the poorer and more distant fields of Urird, his ancient enemy. Then the adelantado explored westward, and came to the town and river of this Urira, and to the towns of Dururi, Cobraba, and Cotiba, where he obtained gold and provisions."^ This delightsome countr}^, laden with the most fragrant and luscious fruits, with rich fields of maize six leagues in extent, a territory of twenty da3^s' journey, so abounding in gold that one had only to turn up the stones and pick it up — pick it up in such abundance that a man of good-will might easily obtain in ten days as much as a bo}^ could carry ! — was not this the place above all others to found a colony ? Hispaniola was indeed wonderful, but bore no comparison to this. If among the natives there one occasionally espied a small nose-ornament of gold, here nearly every one had a golden mirror hung by a cotton cord to his neck. Indeed, he had seen more signs of gold here in two days than in Hispaniola in four years. Again the Admiral turns to the sacred scriptures and to the writings of divines, ancient and modern, and is well satisfied that this is the '' Golden 1 H. H. Bancroft's Hist. Central Am., vol. i, p. 221. 496 A COLONY Chersonesus." Here lie would found an empire whicli should include all these rich gold-mines in the terri- tories of the different chiefs in the neighborhood. Thus Hispaniola, so disappointing to all and so ill- fated from every point of view, would be completely eclipsed. The adelantado was of the same mind as his brother, and agreed to remain in charge of the colony, which should include the greater part of the people in the squadron, and through them he would develop the gold-mines. The Admiral, meanwhile, would return to Spain for reinforcements. The plan adopted, everything moved with energy. The eighty men who were to remain were divided into parties of ten each, and on a pretty rise of ground bordering a creek, near the mouth of the Belen, they built a picturesque village. The houses could not have been large. We simply know that they were built of wood and thatched with palm leaves. Aye ! one was large, designed as a warehouse and magazine. But the main depository was one of the ships, which was to remain in the harbor. In this the provisions might be most securel}^ stored, and it might serve the adelantado in case of an emergency. The store of pro- visions was small indeed — a little wine, oil, vinegar, biscuit, cheese, etc., but the country around abounded in maize, cocoanuts, bananas, pineapples, and various kinds of wines and beers. Then there was almost no limit to the great variety of fish in these parts ; the shoals were so thick along the river-banks sometimes that they could be dipped out with little nets, or they even leaped out of the water onto the dry land and could be picked up. The Admiral would conciliate SHUT UP IN THE RIVERS. 497 tlie natives by kind words and presents. These would then render the infant colony what aid they could. " All things were now settled for the Christian col- ony," says Fernando Columbus, " and ten or twelve houses built and thatched, and the Admiral ready to sail for Spain, when he fell into greater danger for want of water than he had been before by the inun- dation ; for, the great rains of January being over, the mouth of the river was so choked up with sand that whereas when they came in there was about ten feet of water, which was scant enough, when we would have gone out there were not two feet, so that we were shut up without au}^ help, it being impossible to get the ships over the sand ; and though there had been such a contrivance, the sea was so boisterous that the least wave which beat upon the shore was enough to break the ships in pieces, especially ours, which were at this time like a honeycomb, being all worm-eaten through and through."^ Meanwhile, the Quibian of Veragua had no intention of allowing himself to be robbed of this rich territory by the strangers thus attempting to plant themselves. Under the pretence of making war with a neighboring enemy, he assembled about a thousand of his painted warriors. He had never 3^et smelt gunpowder nor felt the keen edge of that product of civilization — steel. Blindly he hoped to rout these intruders with a single stroke. But Diego Mendez, a stout-hearted, sharp-eyed com- panion of Columbus in his four voyages, noticed so many Indians passing on the way to the Ouibian's ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter xcvii. 498 SPTING OUT THE CAMP. headquarters that his suspicions were aroused. The very impersonatiou of fidelity to l;is master, he volun- teered his service for an investigation. Starting with a few comrades for the Indian camp, he met the warrior host on their way to the Belen. Springing ashore alone from his boat, he began to communicate cor- dially with them. They gave him to understand that they were going against a neighboring tribe, and he offered to go with them and aid in the fight. This they declined, and, seeing that they were watched, re- turned to Veragua. Diego Mendez reported his sus- picions to the Admiral, but he was unwilling to make the first attack on the savages and so awaken the bit- ter enmities of warfare. The bold Mendez will once more spy out the camp of these painted warriors, then, taking with him a single companion. Rodrigo de Escobar accompanies him, and they follow the coast afoot to the Quibian's camp. At the mouth of the Veragua they meet two canoes from another part, who do not hesitate to say that the warriors had been on their way for the de- struction of the colony, and had turned back because they thought themselves suspected. Very soon they would be on their way again with a stronger force. Mendez will go to the bottom of the matter. Will not these canoes take him to the Quibian's headquarters? Oh, no ; this would be sure death ! Mendez insists ; he will make them a present. They will go, then, wherever he wishes. The Indian village was scattered along the river- bank, amidst trees and groves, the Quibian's house being on the commanding site of a little hill. ^ On every A PERILOUS SITUATION. 499 hand round about, armed warriors frowned on the two white men, who passed on fearlessly among them. As they were about to climb the hill to the Quibian's house, the Indians opposed them. The chieftain had been wounded in a recent battle, they said, and could not see them. But for that very reason Mendez must see him, for he is a surgeon and can cure him. Being a surgeon, and handing out a few presents, he may pass. Arouud the large space in front of the Quibian's house were the trophies of recent warfare — three hundred ghastly human heads were impaled on stakes in the most orderly manner. All undismayed, the two brave whites passed on to the door, when a crowd of gaping women and children there assembled shrieked and screamed and fled in terror. At this alarm a brawny son of the chieftain sallied forth and dealt Mender a blow that sent him backward several steps, who, recov- ering himself, showed a box of ointment and urged his services as a surgeon, all to no purpose. The youth was in a rage and pushed him back. Mean- while a crowd of enraged Indians were rushing to the spot. Mendez jerked out of his pocket a comb and a pair of scissors, and giving them to Escobar urged him to cut and trim his hair. The superstitious savages held their breath at the novel sight. Without loss of time, Mendez gave the chiefs son a looking-glass, in which he, with great surprise, beheld for the first time his own face. Escobar cut and combed his hair also. Now Mendez gave comb, brush, and looking-glass to the savage, and asked for something to eat and drink. The request was granted and all became friends. Mendez returned, fully convinced that the Indians were on the war-path. roo THE ^UIBIAN IS CAPTURED This was soon confirmed by a native of the vicinity, wlio had become strongly attached to the white men and had gained clew to the intentions of his conntry- men. The Quibian was planning to bnrn the ships and honses at dead of night, massacring all the Spaniards. Honses and ships were at once put nnder a strong guard, and a council of war was held. There was no time to lose. With the rapidity of a Napoleon Bonaparte, the adelantado has taken his resolution and is on the way for carrying it out. He will take seventy-four well- armed men, Mendez and the Indian interpreter included, and, on the 30th of March, go as rapidly as possible to the chieftain's camp. The Quibian sees the crowd coming and sends a messenger warning them away from the house, more from jealousy of his women, however, than from fear of war. The adelantado goes on alone, having cau- tiously disposed his men. Another messenger meets him and requests him not to enter the house. The Quibian will come out, sick though he be. They meet at the door. The adelantado is very affable and con- verses cordially through his trembling interpreter. They talk about this fine country. But that wound ! — the adelantado will examine it — so softly — strokes it gently. Now the chieftain is completely off his guard. This stranger, all alone, is so friendly ; and he has full fifty people in his house and many hundreds just outside. Don Bartholomew tightens his grasp, and his faithful Mendez, on the sharp lookout, fires his arquebus, while four Spaniards near by rush forward. The Quibian, somewhat weakened by his wound, strug- AND CONSIGNED TO SANCHEZ. qoi gles in the tremendous grasp of the adelantado. But all the Spaniards are upon him. He and his house- hold — some fifty persons, big and small — are all bound and hurried off without shedding a drop of blood. But hear those poor savages ! They rend the air with their lamentations, for their hearts are breaking at seeing their chief a captive. They plead for his release, offering for his ransom an immense treasure which the}^ say is in the woods near by. But the adelantado is inexorable. This dangerous chieftain and his household must be held as hostages for the peaceable behavior of the rest. They are sent to the ships for safe-keeping, while the adelantado and the main body of his force are to scour the surrounding countr}^ for those who have escaped. Who shall take charge of this redoubtable chieftain and conduct him to the ships this dark night ? Juan Sanchez, chief pilot of the squadron, an honest, brave sailor, volunteers his services. The Quibian is bound tightly hand and foot and fastened firmly to the seat of the boat. " Look well to your charges," urges the adelantado. " Pluck out my beard hair by hair if I let him escape," replied Sanchez as he pushed off his boat from the bank. Every muscle of the Quibian's face is calm, but a fierce fire burns within. He and his household are captives — made so in the twinkling of an e3''e ! What next ? The river runs fast — so does time. Juan Sanchez's honest face beams self-com- placently, kindly, in the light of the torch. The shrewd savage makes an appeal. These cords are so tight — hurt badl}^ ! Sanchez rows on. But by the time they approach the mouth of the river his heart is ^02 THE ^ UIBIAN ESC A PES. touched, for, beneath the rough surface, the sailor has a tender spot. He loosens the cords, unties the captive from the bench, and holds the rope's end in his firm grasp. The Quibian seems cool and motionless and emotionless as a statue, but his eyes are on the pilot. Sanchez turns his eyes away and hears some- thing like a rock splash in the water — the boat tips and he is well-nigh precipitated into the river ! The rope is out of his hand and the Indian is gone. Look out ! Others of the captives may follow. In the darkness and bustle, they have all they can do to keep guard over the rest. In the inky river the Quibian, shackles and all, has made good his escape. Juan Sanchez may make his report to the Admiral and pull out his beard ! "The next day," says Fernando, "the lieutenant perceiving the country was very mountainous and woody, and that there were no regular towns, but one house here and another at a great distance, and that it would be very difficult to pursue the Indians from place to place, he resolved to return to the ships with his men, not one of them being either killed or wounded. He presented the Admiral with the plunder of Quibian's house, worth about 300 ducats in gold plates, little eagles, and small quills which they string and wear about their arms and legs, and in gold twists which they put about their head in the nature of a coronet. All which things, deducting only the fifth part for their Catholic Majesties, he divided among those that went upon the expedition; and to the lieutenant, in token of victory, was given one of those crowns or coronets above mentioned." THE SPANIARDS ARE SURPRISED. 503 Columbus now flattered himself that the colony might be left in security. The Ouibian had indeed escaped ; but how could he, with hands and feet tied, have ever reached the shore ? And even if he were living, would not the detention of his family on the ships compel him to keep the peace ? But this savage chieftain, having reached the shore in safety, was a genuine hero, who instead of being subdued by what he had suffered was only thereby rendered the more determined and fierce. Gathering a great number of his warriors, they stole upon the frail cabins of the little colony, under cover of the dense forest and with the noiseless step of the Indian on a still hunt. The Spaniards, thinking their enemies subdued, were completely off their guard. Some were in their cabins, some in the Gallego in the harbor, and the greater number were on the beach gazing wistfully after the Admiral's ships, about to depart. Startled almost out of their wits by the wild and deafening j^-ells sent up by the infuriated savages as they broke from the forest directly upon them, there was no protection to the little cabins covered with palm-leaves. The dense shower of arrows riddled them completely and wounded those within. The Spaniards rushed for their arms. The adelantado and some seven of his comrades seized their lances and targets, and calling on the rest to follow rushed upon the Indians as they emerged from the woods. In all there were about twenty to bear up under the shock ; but their shields protected them, while the naked bodies of the savages were exposed not only to the sword and the lance, but to the fangs of an infuriated bloodhound. The Indians fell back 504 DIEGO TRISTAN. into the forest, sending showers of arrows from behind the trees, and ever and anon rushing out into close conflict with their wooden lances. After three hours of this warfare, amidst deafening yells, and in \vhich all the Spaniards on the spot fought desperatel}^, they had one killed and seven wounded, among which latter was the adelantado, who was pierced in the breast by a lance. The savages fled to the forest, leaving quite a number dead on the field. Diego Tristan, one of the Admiral's captains, arrived with a boat during the conflict, having been sent up the river for a supply of fresh water. He looked on, but took no part in the fight, saying that if he should approach the shore the terrified Spaniards might rush in and swamp his boat. The skirmish over, he proceeded up the river amidst the lurking Indians. When warned of his danger, he replied that he should perform the duty for which he had been sent. The deep river was walled up on both sides by a forest so dense that it was about impossible to land, except where the path of the fisherman came out, or the constant hauling up of the canoes had made an opening. When the boat had advanced about a league above the settlement, to where the river was narrow and full and the tall spreading trees on each bank formed a magnificent arcade, the Spaniards were sud- denly surprised by the terrific yells and horrid couch- blasts of the savages, who burst upon them in every direction. From the shadowy nooks and from under the overhanging bows numberless canoes darted forth, each moved by a single paddle, while several warriors TRISTAN IS SIAIN. ^05 standing in lit shot arrows and hnrled lances. All this must be met by eight sailors and three soldiers, who, completely terrified by the deafening noise and overwhelmed by numbers, lost all presence of mind, and, dropping both oars and firearms, simply tried to cover themselves with their shields. Tristan fought bravely, notwithstanding a number of wounds received, and was doing his utmost to animate his men when a swift Indian javelin pierced his right eye and he expired. The canoes closed in upon the boat and massacred the Spaniards to a man. Juan de Noya, who had been knocked overboard during the conflict, swam under water, landed under the overhanging thicket, and reached the Spanish encampment, to terrif}^ them with an account of the sickening scene. The intelligence created a complete panic. How could their reduced numbers withstand these fierce hordes ? If the Admiral should sail away without them, they would either starve to death — for the}^ dared not venture out for food — or they would be massacred by infuriated savages. The}^ v/ould at once board the caravel in the harbor and escape. The adelantado remonstrated, but in vain ; they would abandon the place. But the escape was not so easy as thej^ imagined. The swollen river having subsided, the surf had again banked up the sand at the mouth and rendered the bar impassable. They attempted to go out to the Ad- miral in a boat, but were prevented by the wind and the breakers. Thus shut in to the merc}^ of the savages, they were still further horrified by the disfig- ured corpses of Tristan and his men floating down 5o6 AN APALLING SITUATION. Stream amidst hungry fishes, and stranding on the beach as food for vultures. Did not this portend their own fate but near at hand ? Meanwhile the natives had grown jubilant over their successes. Their horrid yells and the thunder of their conchs and wooden drums made the thick forests frightful in every direction. Abandoning the settlement, the adelantado raised a bulwark around an open place on the bank of the river. Here, sheltered by chests, casks, and the boat of the caravel, they plied two small cannon through openings in the barricade, and thus kept the savages at a safe distance. But what could they do when their ammunition became exhausted? On board the Admiral's ships matters were scarcely less appalling. Ten days had passed since Tristan left. Why did he not return ? What if their ships' cables should part in this rough sea ? Those clumsy caravels would surely be swamped. Then those Indians ! — the Quibian's family, confined in the hold of the Admiral's ship — they seemed to be enthused with the spirit of the chief himself. One night while the guards were sleeping on the hatch — it being so high up that it was not thought necessary to chain it down — they collected boxes, casks, and the stones used for ballast, and, piling them up, mounted them, and with one tremendous lift shoulder to shoulder in concert they tossed the sleeping guard hither and thither, and springing out and into the sea they made their escape. Those kept back and chained down under the hatch were found dead the next morning. Some had hung themselves from the roof of their dungeon, and those who could not secure this conven- THE FEAT OF LEDESMA. ^qj ience strangled tTiemselves by fastening one end of the cord to the foot. Communication with those on the shore was now absolutely necessary, Colonization at present was not to be thought of. When the natives should learn the fate of this royal family, " they would move the very rocks to revenge." But what boat might pass that raging surf? Now Pedro Ledesma, a pilot from Seville, steps forward and offers to swim through it if some one will row him up to the breakers. If those savages could swim a league to save their lives, he might pass through the surf for the relief of so many companions. The perilous feat was accomplished. Ledesma crawled up the beach from the merciless waves to listen to the shocking fate of Tristan, and the determi- nation of the colou}^ to leave the place. The}?- were simply desperate. They were bus}^ digging out canoes to carry them to the ships outside the bar as soon as the storm should abate. Ledesma must importune the Ad- miral for them that he might not sail away and leave them on this savage coast. Should he refuse to take them they would drag the caravel across the bar when the storm was over, and take their chances at sea for Spain. Again Ledesma braved the breakers, and entering the boat in waiting for him bore to the Admiral the sad tidings of the colony. Throughout this entire voyage the Admiral had been simply a suffering invalid. This seemed the crisis of his hopes. He had been unjustly deprived of his authority at Hispaniola. Now he had hoped to reinstate himself in a still better countr}^ Must he fail again ? But he could not leave his brother 5o8 THE ADMIRAL'S VISION. in a mutiuous colony, among savages. He would gladly have remained himself, but who then might convey the intelligence of this important discovery to the sov- ereigns ? For the present his enterprise of coloniza- tion must be abandoned, but by and b}'^ it might be undertaken, perhaps. Meanwhile his worm-eaten ships, on a lee shore, in a storm, were in imminent peril. A small addition of force to the present storm might drive them into the breakers. What wonder if, in these days of constant worr}^ of mind and nights of sleepless anxiet}^, this aged spirit, broken by hardships, disappointments, and outrage, should fall into delirium — happily a religious delirium ! He says : " At length, groaning with exhaustion, I fell asleep and heard a compassionate voice address me thus : ' O fool, and slow to believe and serve thy God, the God of all ; w^hat did He do more for Moses, or for David, his servant, than He has done for thee? From thine infancy He has kept thee under His constant and watchful care. When He saw thee arrived at an age which suited His designs respecting thee, He brought wonderful renown to thy name throughout all the land. He gave thee for thine own the Indies, which form so rich a portion of the world, and thou hast divided them as it pleased thee, for He gave thee power to do so. He gave thee the keys of those barriers of the ocean-sea which were closed with such might}' chains, and thou wast obeyed through many lands and gained an honor- able fame throughout Christendom. What more did the Most High do for the people of Israel when He brought them out of Bgypt ; or for David, whom, a shepherd. He made to be a King in Judea ? Turn to Him and ac- THE ADMIRAL'S VISION. ^qq knowledge thine error — His mercy is infinite. Thine old age shall not prevent thee from accomplishing any great undertaking. He holds under His sway the greatest possessions. Abraham had exceeded a hundred years of age when he begat Isaac ; nor was Sarah young. Thou criest out for uncertain help ; answer, who has afflicted thee so much and so often, God or the world ? The privileges promised by God He never fails in bestowing ; nor does He ever declare, after a service has been rendered Him, that such was not agreeable with Kis intention, or that He had regarded the matter in another light ; nor does He inflict suffer- ing in order to give effect to the manifestation of His powder. His acts answer to His words, and it is His custom to perform all His promises with interest. Thus I have told you what the Creator has done for thee, and what He does for all men. Even now He partially shows thee the reward of so many toils and dangers in- curred by thee in the service of others.' " I heard all of this as it were in a trance ; but I had no answer to give in definite words, and could but weep for my errors. He \vho spoke to me, whoever it was, concluded by saying : ' Fear not, trust ; all these tribu- lations are recorded on marble, and not without cause.' " Critics and scoffers have exercised themselves greatly at the expense of this " vision " of Columbus. The more credulous have seen in it a divine disclosure. To us it seems exceedingly natural that this devout man, broken down with age and extreme hardships, tortured with physical sufferings and borne down with anxiety, should fall into just this sort of reverie. The order of thought is simply a reflex of the facts of his life in the ^lO THE COLONY IS BROKEN UP. liglit of a true Cbristian faitli slightly tinged witli tlie superstitions of the time. If it were a dream, it was most natural, and according to the credulousness of the time might easily be mistaken for a vision. If it were a divine disclosure, it would readily fall into line with other widely accepted facts on the divine side of human history. In the final elucidation of all things, stranger facts may be discovered than that Columbus was chosen of God for a special purpose ; that he was providentially fitted and divinely inspired for the main points of his great achievement. It had now become clear to all that the maintenance of the colony was impossible. As soon as the protracted storm subsided a vigorous effort gathered all together for the homeward voyage. As the caravel Gallcgo could not be brought out from the river, she was emptied and dismantled. This work was put in charge of the energetic Diego Mendez. Out of the sails of the caravel he made sacks for carrying the biscuit ; the spars were lashed across two large canoes, and on these a platform was laid, thus making a safe raft. On this was placed provisions, arms, ammunition, the furniture of the car- avel, etc., which was then towed out to the ships by means of row-boats. The wine, oil, and vinegar casks were thrown into the water and drawn after by means of ropes. As all were anxious to get away from this dangerous coast, every one worked with a will, and in two days, by means of seven trips, everything had been transported to the ships awaiting the return. The mere hull of the Gallego^ thoroughly riddled by the teredo, remained in the river. The faithful Mendez, having worked day and night, was the last to leave the shore. THE SHIPS LEA VE. 511 No language could portray the delight of these sailors on once more finding themselves all together and on board the ships for home. Gladly would they meet the perils of the sea on their homeward voyage if they might thus put the ocean between them and that land of death. In recognition of the faithful services of Diego Mendez in getting to sea, Columbus gave him charge of the ship vacated by the death of Diego Tristan. The squadron sailed from Veragua in the last daj^s of April. The worm-eaten, weather-worn ships, the weary, enervated crews, and the scanty supply of provisions forbade their course to Spain. They must find their haven in Hispaniola. But why did the Ad- miral go coasting along to the eastward ? Why did he not strike out due north to the point in view ? Surely he must be sailing directly for Spain. So thought the piolots ; and the}^ were much annoyed at such presumption, with almost nothing in the larder, and the water almost pouring in through worm-holes nearly the bigness of a finger. But the Admiral and his lieutenant were too well versed in the knowledge of these seas to start directly north, and be carried far west out of their course by the current setting in so firmly from the east. Then, why should the former give the results of his work awa}- ? Behold how many were ready waiting to follow in the wake of his discoveries, and gather the results and profits of his toils and sufferings ! Let the route be as obscure as possible. So he even took the charts from his sailors. At Puerto Bello he was obliged to abandon one of ^12 THEi SAIL FOR HISPANIOLA. his ships, the Biscaina, as she could no longer be kept afloat, and the other two were so worm-eaten that it was all the men could do to pump and bail the water out as fast as it came in. Still the ships stood to the east, past Port Retrete, the Mulatos, and Point Bios to the Gulf of Darien. This large sheet of water making in beyond the horizon was so suggestive of the much-sought-for '''' straW'' that the Admiral was strongly tempted to continue in search of it ; but on holding a council with his oflicers he found their opposition on account of the condition of the ships and the supplies so forcible that he turned the prows northward for Hispaniola. This was May ist, and they were ten leagues farther east than they had been before. Not only the currents but also the winds were strong from the east, and the Admiral bore up close to the wind. This annoyed his men, who declared they were running to the east of the Caribbees, but he doubted if they would even reach Hispaniola, which fear proved to be true, for on the loth he approached the Cayman Islands, west of Jamaica. Passing by the tortoises which fairly swarmed and looked like little rocks in these parts, the ships reached the Queen's Gardens, south of Cuba, May 30th. Here they cast anchor some ten leagues from the main island. The crews were fairly exhausted, and the provisions reduced to a few biscuit and a little oil and vinegar — poor diet for men laboring incessantly at the pumps. A fear- ful tempest arose ; three anchors were lost. The bow of the Bermuda was driven fiercely into the stern of the Admiral's ship, which now had but one anchor. THE SHIPS ARE STRANDED. 513 At daylight the cable was nearly parted. One hour more of darkness and he would have been driven onto the rocks. The storm having lasted nearly a week, Columbus weighed anchor for Hispaniola, his " people dismayed and downhearted, almost all his anchors lost, and his vessels bored as full of holes as a honeycomb." Laboring against wind and current, he finally reached Cape Cruz. Having obtained cassava-bread from the Indians, and waited on the wind a few days, he tried again to buffet the winds and currents to Hispaniola, but all in vain. The scene is most disheartening. The ill- fed and worn-out sailors ply the pumps and bail with buckets and kettles, but still the water gains on them. Even the Admiral gives up and makes for the north side of Jamaica, for the vessels are in danger of sink- ing even before they reach that shore. On the 24th of June they run the ships aground, side by side, about a "bow-shot" from the land. Here they shore them up and build pavilions on the decks, for the holds of the vessels are almost filled with water. Everything is put in the best possible state of defence, and the men are not allowed to go ashore lest they should commit some outrage against the natives, and so prevent commerce or bring on an attack. Two persons are appointed to carry on the trade, and a careful distribution of supplies is made every evening. The Indians soon swarmed about the harbor, and were quite inclined to trade. Fernando says they " sold two utias^ which are little creatures like rabbits, for a bit of tin, and cakes of bread they call zabi for 514 A PERPLEXING SITUATION. two or tliree red or yellow glass beads ; and when they brought a quantity of anything, they had a hawk's bell, and sometimes we gave a cacique or great man a little looking-glass or red cap or a pair of scissors to please them. This good order kept the men plenti- fully supplied with provisions, and the Indians were well pleased with our company." Still the provisions were often inadequate, and as the Indians kept no great supply on hand the colony might at any time be reduced to want. It was evident something must be done to communicate with His- paniola. Should they try to build a ship for that purpose ? Alas ! they had neither tools nor workmen to construct anything which might stem the head- winds and the currents. Was there anj^ hope that some ship might pass that way ? Scarcely. After many councils held by the Admiral with his men, there was but one plan to be commended — that some one should go to Hispaniola in a canoe. Diego Mendez went on an excursion through a great part of the island, purchased and shipped pro- visions for the crews, and had cultivated such friend- ships with the different caciques that they had agreed to trade regularly with an agent sent out by the Admiral. With knives, combs, beads, hawk's bells, and fish-hooks he might purchase utias, fish, and cassava-bread. Having sent back his men one by one loaded with provisions, he continued on with two Indians, one to carry his provisions and the other his hammock, till he came to the eastern extremity of the island. Here the cacique, one of the most powerful in Jamaica, was completely won by the spirited DIE G O MENDEZ IS INTER VIE WED. 515 address and taking manners of Mendez, and became so friendly as to exchange names in token of brother- hood. The cacique was readil}?- pledged to furnish provisions for the ships, and for a brass helmet, a shirt, and a short frock sold Mendez an excellent canoe, which forthwith came back laden with pro- visions. Loud were the acclamations of his comrades on his return, and the Admiral embraced him most cordially. The Spaniards had been literally fasting. " There was not a loaf left in the ships," says Mendez. Henceforth provisions came regularly. "Ten days after this," says Mendez, " the Admiral called me aside and spoke to me of the great peril he was in, addressing me as follows : ' Diego Mendez, my son, not one of those whom I have here with me has any idea of the great danger in which we stand, except m^^self and you, for we are but few in number, and these wild Indians are numerous and very fickle and capricious, and whenever they may take it in their heads to come and burn us in our two ships, w^hich we have made into straw-thatched cabins, they may easily do so by setting fire to them on the land side, and so destroy us all. The arrangements which you have made with them for the supply of food, to which they agreed with such good-will, may soon prove dis- agreeable to them, and it would not be surprising if, on the morrow, they were not to bring us anything at all ; in such case we are not in a position to take it by main force, but shall be compelled to accede to their terms. I have thought of a remedy, if you consider it advisable, which is that some one should go out in the canoe that you have purchased, and make his ^ 1 5 HIS NOBL E A NS WER. way in it to Espaiiola, to purchase a vessel with which we may escape from the extremely dangerous position in which we now are. Tell me your opinion.' To which I answered : ' My lord, I distinctly see the danger in which we stand, which is much greater than would be readily imagined. With respect to the passage from this island to Espanola in so small a vessel as a canoe, I look upon it not merely as difficult, but impossible, for I know not who yn^ouM venture to encounter so terrific a danger as to cross a gulf of forty leagues of sea, and amongst islands where the sea is most impetuous and scarcely ever at rest.' " His lordship did not agree with the opinion that I expressed, but adduced strong arguments to show that I was the person to undertake the enterprise. To which I replied : ' My lord, I have many times put my life in danger to save yours and the lives of all those who are with you, and God has marvellously preserved me ; in consequence of this, there have not been wanting murmurers who have said that your lordship entrusts every honorable undertaking to me, while there are others amongst them who would per- form them as well as I. My opinion is, therefore, that your lordship would do well to summon all the men, and lay this business before them, to see if, amongst them all, there is one who will volunteer to take it, which I certainly doubt, and if all refuse I will risk my life in your service, as I have done many times already.' " On the following day his lordship caused all the men to appear together before him, and then opened HIS PREPARATION. 517 tlie matter to them in tlie same manner as lie had done to me. When they heard it they were all silent, nntil some said that it was out of the question to speak of such a thing, for it was impossible, in so small a craft, to cross a boisterous and perilous gulf of forty leagues breadth, and to pass between those .two islands, where very strong vessels had been lost in going to make discoveries, not being able to encounter the force and fury of the currents. I then arose and said : ' M}'- lord, I have but one life, and I am willing to hazard it in the service of 3^our lordship and for the welfare of all those who are here with us ; for I trust in God that, in consideration of the motive which actuates me, He will give me deliverance, as He has already done on many other occasions.' When the Admiral heard my determination he arose and embraced me, and, kissing me on the cheek, said : ' Well did I know that there was no one here but 3^ourself who would dare to undertake this enterprise ; I trust in God, our Lord, that you will come out of it victorious!}^, as you have done in the others which you have undertaken.' " On the following day I drew my canoe onto the shore, fixed a false keel on it, and pitched and greased it. I then nailed some boards upon the poop and prow to prevent the sea from coming in, as it was liable to do from the lowness of the gunwales ; I also fixed a mast in it, set up a sail, and laid in the neces- sary provisions for m3^self, one Spaniard, and six Indians, making eight in all, which was as many as the canoe would hold. I then bade farewell to his lordship and all others, and proceeded along the 5i8 HIS CAPTURE. coast of Jamaica, up to the extremity of tlie island, which was thirty-five leagues from the point whence we started." Here they went ashore, and, waiting for the sea to be- come smooth, were wandering about rather uncircum- spectly, when a crowd of savages falling upon them took them prisoners and hurried them away into the« woods. Here it was decided to put the Spaniards to death, but a quarrel having sprung up respecting a division of the spoils, while the question was being settled by some game of chance, Mendez got into his canoe and made his escape. Aided by the rapid cur- rent, he was back again in the presence of the Ad- miral just fifteen days after leaving. Nothing daunted, he was ready to start again, pro- vided a sufficient guard of men might accompany him to the extremity of the island and protect him till he could get away. The number in this adventure was now doubled. In addition to the six Spaniards and ten Indians in the canoe commanded by Mendez', another canoe manned in like manner was assigned to Bartholomew Fiesco, a brave Genoese, who had com- manded the Biscaina. When these brave men reached Hispaniola, Fiesco was to return to Jamaica with intelligence of their safe arrival, while Mendez was to proceed to Spain bearing the Admiral's messages to the sovereigns. Very cheerfully, indeed, did the little company embark, the Indians laying in their frugal supply of cassava-bread, roots, and calabashes filled with water. To this simple fare the Spaniards added some meat of the utia, and took their swords and bucklers. The HIS A D VENTURE. ^ I g adelantado went along the shore with seventy well- armed men. Three days they waited at the eastern end of the island for the sea to become calm. After they had launched, the adelantado waited till night, and watched the canoes till they disappeared in the horizon. Frail barks, these, for such a sea ! When the}^ were loaded they were not a span above the water.^ Awkward white men, dressed and in armor, might well dread them in a storm ; but the naked Indians were so like fishes in the water that thej^ could easily right a capsized canoe, bail it out with their calabashes, and go on as if nothing had hap- pened. The first day at sea there was neither wind nor cloud, but the burning rays of the sun reflected by the water were well-nigh insufferable. Every now and then the Indians would jump into the water, and, swimming abreast of the canoes, would cool and refresh themselves. Then the Spaniards would encourage them to row as fast as they could. The Indian had a deft hand at the paddle. All day long the canoes had fairly skipped over the water. At night there was simpl}^ sky and water in sight. The crews were divided into watches ; one-half slept while the other half worked, the Indians at the paddles and the white men keeping guard with weapon in hand. The temperature did not fall much with the dark- ness. All night long it was sultry and oppressive, so that the morning found the crews greatly exhausted. The captains now gave a rest and refreshments, and encouraged the Indians by trying their own hands at ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter ci. 520 SUJ^I^ERING OF THE AD VENTURERS. the paddles. But the Indians had brought on a calamity. In the labor and heat of the day before, they had drank up all their water, so that there was now not a drop to moisten their parched lips. By noon they were completely exhausted. Now the captains discovered two small kegs of water which they seem to have reserved for such emergency. Mouthful by mouthful the precious draughts are administered, especially to the suffering, toiling Indians. These were, moreover, encouraged by the assurance that they would soon reach the little island Navasa, which lay directly in their course, eight leagues this side of Hispaniola. Slowly and wearily the day passed away, and when the sun sank into the ocean there was still no sight of land, nor yet so much as a cloud in the horizon to delude them. According to the reckoning kept by the captains, the island should now have been in sight. Could it be that they were out of their course and might even miss Hispaniola? As the night closed about them they despaired of touching at Navasa. An island so small and low could only be met by chance in the darkness. And the gloom thickened when one of the suffering and exhausted Indians died and was dropped into the sea. Others, faint and gasping, lay stretched out on the canoe- bottoms, and those who continued their toiling were so consumed by thirst that they would even sip the brine from the sea. Finally, the last drop had been drained from the casks. The night was far advanced, but even those whose turn entitled them to rest could not sleep for anxiety and thirst. One by one the paddles ceased. THE MOON AND NA VASA. 521 All had given up in despair of reaching Hispaniola. Mendez stood watching the horizon, in which the com- ing moon glimmered faintly. As the silver edge emerged it defined a small rocky landscape. " Land !" he cried, and the sound brought life to every heart. There was Navasa ! — but such a mere bit of land-line against the sky that, had it not been on the bright face of the moon, no eye could have detected it. The weariness of the rowers and the strength of the cur- rent had thrown the captains off their reckoning. Hope brought new strength to every muscle. Again the canoes are pushed against the current, and in the gray dawn the crews leap on shore and give thanks to God. They hurry about over the island, about a mile and a half in circuit. There is not a tree, nor a bush, nor even a bit of grass. All is rock, unbroken b}^ stream or spring. But in the hollows of the rock is an abun- dance of rain-water, partially cooled by the night. Dip- ping it up with tlieir calabashes, they drank to their peril. The Spaniards restrain themselves with some- thing of reason, but the poor famished Indians simply abandon themselves to the momentary relief, some of them dying on the spot and others falling painfully ill. Oviedo says that not far from this island there gushes up in the midst of the sea a fountain of pure, fresh water, so copious as to sweeten the surface all around. But the poor famished boatmen knew it not. Their thirst assuaged, they look for food. Along the shore-line, among the weeds, they find some shell-fish thrown up by the tide. Kindling a fire with the drift- wood picked up here and there, they roast and eat them with the keen relish of fatigue and hunger. Then they 522 FAITHFULNESS OF MENDEZ. rest on the rocks and feast their eyes on the beatific vision of Hispaniola, its purple mountains and exu- berant reaches of landscape stretching along the horizon, eight leagues away. In the cool of the evening they again commit them- selves to the sea and reach the western end of Hispan- iola the next day, the fourth since leaving Jamaica. Here, on the banks of the beautiful river and abun- dantly refreshed by the kindly natives, they rest and recuperate for two days. The faithful Fiesco would have returned at once to Jamaica, according to the Ad- miral's directions, but both Spaniards and natives were so horrified by the toils and sufferings of the passage that they could not be induced to accompan3^ him. Mendez, though suffering from a fever, taking six Indians, set out in his canoe for San Domingo, a dis- tance of one hundred and thirty leagues. Having toiled against the currents for eighty leagues, he learned that Ovando, the governor, was in Xaragua, fifty miles in the interior. Abandoning his canoe and going alone on foot through forests and over mountains, he arrived at Xaragua, " achieving one of the most perilous expeditions," says Irving, " ever undertaken by a devoted follower for the safety of his commander." Now that such an herculean effort has been made to bring the tidings of the disaster of the iVdmiral at Ja- maica to the governor's ears, what is the result ? Surely he will move heaven and earth to bring relief to the acute sufferings and imminent perils of one who has been rendering the most important services to his nation and to the world. Certainly, Ovando professes great concern at the sad plight of Columbus, and makes CRUEL SCHEME OF OVANDO. 523 all sorts of promises of sending immediate relief, but the days, the weeks, and the months pass, and nothing whatever in the way of relief is attempted. Mendez gives us to understand that the governor was at this very .time busying himself with slaughtering the beau- tiful and hospitable natives of Xaragua — massacring chiefs, people, men, women, and children, in the most indiscriminate manner. Of the debauched classes of Spanish grandees — to a great extent associates of Roldan in his rebellion — who had settled in that lovely part of the island, and taxed the natives to till their soil and carry them on their backs, some had told Ovando that a rebellion was being concocted by Anacaona and her caciques. No proofs of the said rebellion ever became tangible, but the gov- ernor was completely taken by the insinuations, and forthwith set himself to cure it in the most summary manner. With three hundred foot-soldiers, bearing swords, cross-bows, and arquebuses, and seventy horse- men, well protected b}^ cuirass, lance, and buckler, he is going into Xaragua. Strangely enough, he is thus going to visit the Queen Anacaona, who since the death of her brother, Behechio, has been recognized as ruler over the natives in this lovely province. Meanwhile he will adjust the tribute in these parts. Anacaona, not- withstanding all she has suffered from these intruding white men, will still make the most of them. Having notified all her subordinate chiefs and principal subjects to assemble, she goes out to meet Ovando and his army. It is a truly spirited and beautiful procession, accord- ing to the custom of showing homage by this generous people. Here are not only scores of chiefs and strong ^24 ^ UNDA r A MUSE ME NTS. and handsome men generally, but beautiful women and maidens, moving in the most spirited and graceful man- ner, as they sing their areytos, or national ballads. The maidens are waving their palm branches and dancing as charmingly as when the}^ first met the Spaniards led by Don Bartholomew. When the procession enters Anacaona's town, she assigns the governor her largest house, and comfort- ably quarters his men in other houses around him. For da3^s they are feasted on all the good things of the province. The games, the songs, and the dances go on for their amusement. Surely there is nothing like rebellion in all this, nor have historians ever discovered any evidences of it. But unprincipled, would-be informants are still credited, and without any proper investigation Ovando proceeds upon the worst possible suppositions, and that in the most treacherous manner conceivable. He will now take his turn and amuse and entertain these natives, who have fairl}^ outdone themselves for his pleasure. What could be more fitting for this purpose than that chivalrous joust with reeds, learned from the Moors of Granada by the Spaniards ? One Sunday afternoon, on the public square and in front of the house assigned Ovando in this Indian town, the Spanish cavalrymen assemble. They are remarkable for their skilful manoeuvres and the ga}^ trappings of their fine horses. Aye, there is one steed which can so prance and curvet as to literally" keep time to the viol ! But these horsemen have also other weapons, sharper than reeds, and the footmen, ostensibly mere spectators, are also to be well armed, and all must act at a concerted signal. > t THE DBA DLT SIGNAL. 525 The hour appointed arrives, and the square is crowded with natives on tiptoe curiosity to see the games. The caciques are crowded into Ovando's house, which overlooks the square. Unsuspecting innocents ! Not one of them is armed. Not one has an evil thought. Ovando, who will appear as harmless as a little child, is playing with some of his principal of&cers at quoits. The cavalr}^ is prancing on the square. Everything is waiting. The caciques beg the governor to begin the games. Anacaona, too, and her beautiful daughter and beautiful female attendants, all join in the request. Ovando v/ill be obliging, leaves his game and comes forward to a conspicuous place and gives the deadly signal — took hold of a piece of gold hang- ing from his neck, some say ; or, as others say, laid his hand on the Alcantaron cross embroidered on his fine clothes. The trumpet sounds. The soldiers under regular command, at once surround the house in which are Anacaona and the chiefs. These latter are all tied to the posts supporting the roof, ^vhile the queen is led out a prisoner. Hark ! the caciques are shrieking under the most terrible tortures ! At the very extremity of anguish, they are betrayed into a false accusation of the queen and of themselves as to the supposed plot. This is enough. No regular examination is needed. A torch is put to the inflammable structure, and the cries of the unhappy chiefs rise above the raging flames. Meanwhile, a most shocking massacre is going on among the people. The horsemen are rushing through the crowds of shrieking men, women, 526 THE SLAUGHTER. and children — defenceless and naked. Swords are hacking and cutting right and left, the spears are transfixing the strong, the infirm, and the little innocent, while steel-clad hoofs trample down indis- criminately. If perchance a Spaniard, more humane than the rest, catch up a little innocent, which appeals to his heart, and is about to bear it away, some one more demoniacal thrusts a lance through it. Turning pale with dismay at such butchering, we should refuse credence if we were not compelled to ac- cept the testimony of such a venerable personage as Las Casas, who was on the scene of action at the time. Diego Mendez, who was then in Xaragua, and probably a witness of the scene, says incidentall}^ in his will that the number of caciques either burnt or hanged was eighty-four. Las Casas gives eighty as the number in the house. The slaughter of the people was general and well-nigh complete. The few who escaped — some of them in canoes to a neighboring island—were brought back and condemned to slavery. The beautiful and generous Anacaona was taken to San Domingo in chains, and, on the strength of the confession enforced by the most terrific tortures, was publicly hanged like the vilest criminal. Such was the final reward of this beautiful and highly accomplished native princess by those she had always befriended in the most remarkable and even unaccountable manner. This shocking massacre was not enough to satisfy the bloodthirstiness of Ovando and his minions. For six months the governor's horse and foot continued to scour the forests and mountains in search of those who tried to escape. When the poor terrified creatures were found DISS A TISFA C TION. 527 secreted in dens of the mountains they were dragged forth and hanged in the most summary manner as in- corrigible rebels. In commemoration of this great slaughter — oste7tsibly a victory — Ovando founded a town called St. Mary of the True Peace ! That such deeds of cruelty could have been perpetrated in the sincerity of good faith seems incredible. Such was the wise and humane government which succeeded that of the Admiral. While all this innocent blood was being shed, which continued through the greater part of a 3''ear, Columbus might lie on his back beneath the palm-leaf canopy on his worm-eaten ships, sweltering under a tropical sun, twinging with the gout, half starved, and harassed by the most unreasonable and cruel rebellions ! The last word of the previous paragraph is the key- note to the next incident in the experience of Colum- bus at Jamaica — the rebellion of the Porras brothers. It must be borne in mind that no tidings whatever had arrived as to the canoe-voyage of Mendez and Fiesco to Hispaniola. Meanwhile, many of those on the thatched wrecks fell sick, some in consequence of the unparalleled hardships of the voyage, and some because of the lack of their wonted provisions, especially wine and flesh ; for the Spaniards could not readily adapt themselves to the light vegetable diet of the Indians. Then, too, the depression of mind incident to their deplorable situation must have told heavily on the nerves and tissues of the healthiest bodies. And what could have been more favorable to the development of a mutinous spirit than the un- interrupted idleness necessitated by the situation ? 528 MURMURING. Very soon mutterings arose liere and there. '' The Admiral would return into Spain no more, because their Catholic Majesties had turned him o£f, nor much less to Hispaniola, where he had been refused admit- tance at his coming from Spain, and that he had sent those in the canoes into Spain to solicit his own affairs, and not to bring ships or other succors, and that he designed, whilst they were soliciting their Catholic Majesties, to stay there to fulfil his banish- ment, for otherwise Bartholomew Fiesco had been come back by this time, as was given out he was to do. Besides, they knew not whether he and James Mendez were drowned by the way, which, if it had happened, they should never be relieved if they did not take care for it themselves, since the Admiral did not seem to look to it for the reasons aforesaid, and because of the gout, which had so seized all his limbs that he could scarce stir in his bed, much less undergo the fatigue and danger of going over to Hispaniola in canoes."^ Then, too, they would better come to a resolution in this matter while they were well. They might fall sick at any time, and then there would be no such thing as getting away. Nor could the Ad- miral in his present state of prostration bar their departure. At Hispaniola, where he had so many enemies, they could not fail to be well received, especially since they could report him in so helpless a condition. Once in Spain, Fonseca would make their case good, as would also " Morales, who kept for his mistress the sister of those Porrases, the ringleaders of the mutineers and chief fomenters of the sedition, 1 Fernando Columbus, chapter cii. REBELLION. ran who did not doubt but they should be well received by their Catholic IMajesties, before whom all the fault would be laid upon the Admiral, as had been done in the affairs of Hispaniola with Roldan ; and their Majesties would the rather seize him and take all he had than be obliged to perform all that was agreed upon between them and him."^ These Porras brothers, Francisco and Diego, the former made captain of one of the ships, and the latter notar}^ and accountant-general by Columbus, who had been induced to favor them by Morales, the ro3-al treasurer, had been treated like relatives, even when they had proved themselves incapable of filling their several ofiices. It would seem that those whom the Admiral favored most were most susceptible of ingratitude. On the ad of Januarj^ a completely organized mutiny discovered itself. Francisco de Por- ras came rudely into the cabin on the stern of the caravel, where Columbus lay, a complete cripple from the gout. " My lord," said he, in a highly irritated mood, " what is the meaning that you will not go into Spain, and will keep us all here perishing ? " " I do not see how we can get away till those who have gone to Hispaniola in the canoes send us a ship," said Columbus. " No man can be more desirous of getting away from this place than I am, as well for my own interests as for the good of j^ou all, and I fully realize how accountable I am for the welfare of each one of you. If you have anything to propose, I will readily call the officers together in consultation, as I have more than once done heretofore." ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter cii. 530 REBELLION. "It is no time to talk," replied Porras, bruskly, " but a time to act, and to act promptly, or we may stay here forever." And turning his back on the Admiral he said in a loud and defiant voice, " I am for Spain with those who will follow me." At once his followers began to cry out here and there, " We will go with you," " We will go with you." Running about, they " possessed themselves of the forecastle, poop, and roundtops, all in confusion, and crying, ' Let them die ; ' others, ' For Spain,' ' For Spain,' and others, ' What shall we do, captain ? ' Though the Admiral was then in bed, so lame of the gout that he could not stand, yet he could not forbear rising and stumbling out at this noise. But two or three worthy persons, his servants, laid hold of him and with labor laid him on his bed that the mutineers might not murder him. Then they ran to his brother, who was courageously come out with a half pike in his hand, and, wrest- ing it out of his hands, put him in to his brother, desiring Captain Porras to go about his business and not do some mischief they might all suffer for ; that he might be satisfied they did not oppose his going ; but if he should kill the Admiral, he could not expect but to be severely punished, without hopes of any benefit. " The tumult being somewhat appeased, the con- spirators took ten canoes that were by the ship's side, and which the Admiral had bought all about the island, and went aboard them as joyfully as if they had been in some part of Spain. Upon this, many more, who had no hand in the plot, in despair to see themselves, as they thought, forsaken, taking what MISCHIEF. ^31 they could along with them, went aboard the canoes with them, to the great sorrow and affliction of those few faithful servants who remained with the Admiral, and of all the sick, who thought themselves lost for- ever, and without hope of ever getting off. And it is certain that had the people been well, not twenty men had remained with the Admiral, who w^ent out to comfort his men with the best words the posture of his affairs would suggest ; and the mutineers, with their captain, Francisco de Porras, in their canoes, went away to the east point of the island."^ On their \vay they did as much mischief as possible. They insulted the natives, taking by force provisions or anything else they wanted, and telling them to go to the Admiral for their pay. If he would not pay them they might put him to death, which, indeed, was the best thing they could do. Was he not hated by the Christians? Had he not been the cause of all the ills suffered by the Indians of Hayti ? He would soon treat them in like manner if they did not put him out of the way, for that was his design in staying there. Having reached the eastern extremity of Jamaica, they set out for Hispaniola as soon as there was a calm, taking Indians to paddle the canoes. But the}' had miscalculated the weather. Their canoes, too heavily loaded, made poor headwa}' in a rough sea with wdnd ahead ; they therefore resolved to turn back before they had made four leagues at sea. Then they were not skil- ful in managing their canoes, and the water coming in over the sides they threw everything overboard but ^ The above quotations are from Fernando Columbus's Life of the Admi- ral. Thej are the words of an eye-witness. Chapter cii. 532 CRUELT7. their arms and the provisions needed on the way back. As the wind became stronger their fears increased, and the}^ resolved to murder the Indians and throw them overboard. When they had killed some of these poor natives, others became so terrified that they sprang overboard, trusting to their skill in swimming as a means of escape. But when they became so weary that they caught hold of the sides of the canoes in order to recover their breath, their hands were chopped off and their bodies otherwise wounded. Hav- ing thus butchered eighteen, they spared a few to guide the canoes which they themselves could not handle. Such was their treatment of these timorous beings whom they had overpersuaded and coaxed into this perilous voyage. Having made their way back to Jamaica, they were much divided in opinion as to what it might be best to do. Some were for running over to Cuba and thence putting across to Hispaniola ; others proposed going back and making such terms of peace as they could with the Admiral, or, perhaps, taking away from him by force such provisions and arms as he still had, while others preferred to stay where the}^ were till another calm, when they might renew their attempt for a voyage to Hispaniola. This last advice prevail- ing, they foraged about the neighborhood a month waiting for fair weather ; but after two attempts with- out success, " they set out towards the west from one town to another, with an ill-will, without canoes or any comfort, sometimes eating what they found, and taking it where they could by force, according to their DEPRESSION OF COL UMB US. 533 strength and that of the caciques through whose territories they passed."^ To return to Columbus : on his worm-eaten, stranded ships, forsaken by nearly all the healthy and available part of his crews, and racked by the pains of exhaustion and acute disease, his most incorrigible and pitiless enemy could scarcely have conceived anything worse for him. What heart could fail to be moved by the wailing utterances he recorded to his sovereigns while in Jamaica ? " Hitherto," he says, '' I have wept over others ; may Heaven now have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me. With regard to temporal things, I have not even a blanca for an offering ; and in spiritual things, I have ceased here in the Indies from observing the prescribed forms of religion. Sol- itary in my trouble, sick, and in daily expectation of death, surrounded b}^ millions of hostile savages full of cruelt}^, and thus separated from the blessed sacra- ments of our holy church, how will my soul be for- gotten if it be separated from the bod}^ in this foreign land? Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice ! " But afflictions and trials did not deter the Admiral from present duty. The sick were so devotedly cared for that they soon became convalescent, and the Indians were so conciliated by kind treatment that they con- tinued to bring provisions in exchange for trinkets and European commodities. " But they being a people that take little pains in sowing," says Fernando Columbus, " and we eating more in one day than they did in twenty, besides having no longer any inclination to our com- ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter cii. 534 WAJVT OF FOOD. modities and making little account of them, they began in some measure to take the advice of the mutineers, since the}^ saw so great a part of our men against us, and therefore brought not such plenty of provisions as we stood in need of. This brought us to great distress ; for if we would have taken it b3^ force, the greatest part of us must have gone ashore in warlike manner and have left the Admiral aboard in great danger, he being very ill of the gout ; and if we expected they should bring it of their own accord, we must live in misery, and give ten times as much for it as we did at first, they knowing how to make their bargains, as being sensible of the advantages they had over us." But the Admiral was a great sailor even on dry land, and was about as expert in managing a com- munity of savage chieftains as in controling mu- tinous sailors. Hven the most striking phenomena of nature must be utilized in directing human thought and action. In three days there would be an eclipse of the moon. An interpreter was sent out to summon all the principal Indians on the island, for he wished to talk with them concerning a matter of great im- portance. They arrived the day before the eclipse, and the interpreter was instructed to tell them that the God in whom these Christians believed " took care of the good and punished the wicked," hence those Spaniards who had rebelled had not been permitted to reach Hispaniola, as Mendez and Fiesco had, but had wandered about miserably, as all the islanders knew, and this great God was angry with the Indians because they neglected to bring the Christians food in exchange for their commodities. THE ECLIPSE. r.r Plague and famine would, therefore, come as a pun- ishment upon the island, and, lest the}^ should doubt this, there would be a sign given them in the heavens. That ver}^ night they would behold the moon " rise angr}^ and of a bloody hue," in token of the judgments about to fall upon them. The Indians went away, some of them more or less terrified, and some of them regarding the matter merel}^ as an " idle tale." When the moon arose, the dark shadow began to advance upon her, increasing as she ascended. The Indians were on the lookout for it, and were so terrified that they came running in all directions, loaded down with provisions, " crying and lamenting," and beseeching the Admiral " by all means to intercede with God for them, that he might not make them feel the effects of his wrath, and promising for the future carefully to bring him all he wanted."^ The Admiral promised to speak with God for them, and, to this end, shut himself up during the remainder of the eclipse, the Indians meanwhile keeping up their cries and entreaties for help. When the eclipse began to recede and the moon became bright he came out of his cabin, " saying he had prayed to God for them, and promised him in their names they would be good for the future and use the Christians well, bring- ing them provisions and other necessaries, and that therefore God forgave them, and as a token of it they should see the angriness and bloody color of the moon go off."' 1 Fernando Columbus, chapter ciii. * Ibid. 536 ^UBRl. While lie was speaking the change mentioned took place; so the natives, overjoyed at the sight, con- tinued to thank the Admiral and to praise God till the moon was quite restored to them. " From that time forward," says Fernando Columbus, " they always took care to provide all that was necessary, ever praising the God of the Christians, for they believed the eclipses they had seen at other times had denoted mischief to befall them ; and being ignorant of the cause of them and that they happened at certain times, not believing it possible to know on earth what was to happen in the heavens, they certainly con- cluded the God of the Christians had revealed it to the Admiral." Bight months had passed since Mendez and Fiesco had launched their canoes for Hispaniola, and yet no word of any kind had come back. The men still remaining ^ith Columbus, especially those having recovered from their sickness, were becoming very impatient. Some thought that the above-named comrades had been lost at sea, others feared they had been killed by the Indians on landing at Hispaniola, while others conjectured that they might have fallen victims to the hardships they must have encountered along the south side of Hispaniola, in the hundred leagues of rough and mountainous coast washed by a strong westward current, before they could reach San Domingo. Their suspicions were still further increased by a report from the Indians of an upturned canoe which they had seen floating on the beach — one which the mutineers may have sent adrift for the very purpose of creating an alarm. Concluding, ESCOBAR'S CALL. r.^ therefore, that no relief would ever come to them, another mutin}^, consisting mostly of those who had been too sick to get away on the former occasion, was about to break out, when fortunately^ one afternoon, near night, the novel sight of a sail in the distance brought a quietus. The craft, sent out by Ovando, cast anchor near the stranded caravels, and the captain, Diego de Escobar, known as one of the most active coadjutors of Rol- dan's rebellion and condemned to death by Columbus, but pardoned by Bobadilla, entered a boat and ap- proached the wrecks. He came near enough to deliver a letter from Ovando, and also a cask of wine and some bacon ; then, moving away quite a distance, he told Columbus that he had been sent by the governor to express his deep regrets at his mis- fortunes, that he unfortunately had no vessel large enough to bring away him and his cre4s, but that he hoped soon to accommodate him. The Admiral's affairs, too, at Hispaniola were being faithfully looked after. If he wished to send a letter to the governor, would he prepare it quickly, as he must return at once. All this w^as truly an enigma. Columbus wrote hastil}^ to Ovando in the most friendly manner, depicting his deplorable situation, the late rebellion, and his dependence upon the good offices of the governor; moreover, he especially commended Men- dez and Fiesco to his favor, assuring him that they had set out on their perilous voyage simply as the messengers of his distressed condition. On receiving the letter, Escobar returned immediately to his craft and set sail in the gloom of the coming night. 538 EXPLANATION AND ^UERT. As the disappointed crews watclied the retreating sail, they were still more and more perplexed at the cool- ness and sudden departure of these messengers, who had not been allowed to intercommunicate with them. Columbus, reading their gloomy disappointment in their faces, assured them that he was satisfied with the message, and believed that relief would soon come. Did it seem strange to them that he had not returned with Kscobar ? He preferred to remain and share their lot till a ship large enough to take them all away might arrive. Hope revived, and the heart went out of the conspiracy. But as Columbus reflected he found much ground for query in this strange and hasty call from one of his most malicious enemies. Since Mendez had performed his mission so faithfully and in so short a time, why had not this much at least been done before? And why now w^ the relief so scanty — barely enough to tanta- lize them ? Was Ovando afraid to have him returned to Spain, lest he should be reinstated in his viceroyalty, and so displace him ; or did he hope by this long delay to insure his death on this lonely island, among savages ? Was the unfriendly Escobar merel}'- a spy, sent out to ascertain something as to these possibilities ? To this very hour impartial students of history have continued to ask these same questions, but no answer has ever suggested itself which does not imply the most culpable and shameful neglect of a noble and most serviceable man, whom the world still delights to honor. Should we not believe Ovando guilty of some dark and sinister purpose, the fact still remains that he was at least unmindful of the keen sufferings incident to so O VA ND O'S A D MINIS TRA TION. 539 great a calamity, and that is still further aggravated in that he was at this very time, as it would appear, com- pletel}^ absorbed in the most shameless and cruel per- secution of the natives. The exterminating wars, in which the aged, the infirm, and those in helpless in- fancy were alike subjected to the most indiscriminate slaughter ; the manner in which captives were gibbeted, hacked in pieces, wrapped in dr}^ straw and set on fire, or were sent awa}^ with their hands cut off, that the bleed- ing stumps of their arms might be a warning to those disposed to rebel against Spanish t3'ranny ; how others were made to slave in the mines, long distances from their homes, for a mere pittance of pay which mocked the pangs of hunger ; how many of the oppressed natives resorted to suicide as an escape from the most cruel outrages ; how others died from exhaustion on their wa3' home from the mines — all this and immeasurably more, even to the extermination of million^ of the once happy aborigines of these elysian isles in a few decades, all is told by the saintly Las Casas, who was an eye- witness of the shocking scenes and spent his life in trying to alleviate the miseries of the poor unfortu- nates. Such was the administration of Ovando, who had been sent to Hispaniola to correct the supposed misrule of Co- lumbus, and especially in respect to his so-called cruel treatment of the natives. In no way does the govern- ment of the Admiral appear so favorable, particularly in respect to the natives, as when contrasted with the hor- rors of the rule of Bobadilla and Ovando, whose exter- minating oppression of the Indian servants and slaves finds its explanation in their determination to gain favor 540 OVERTURES TO THE REBELS. with the Spanish sovereigns by swelling their coffers with the much-coveted gold from the Indies. Indeed, the entire scheme of their management was a carefully studied and well-organized plan to this particular end, without any apparent regard for justice or human rights. Las Casas, whose detailed account of the cruelties of the Spaniards to the natives is so sickening as to be well-nigh unreadable, says, " All these things and others revolting to human nature my own eyes beheld ; and now I almost fear to repeat them, scarce believing myself, or whether I have not dreamt them."^ But to return to the Admiral on his worm-eaten ships, we find the whole aspect of things changed by Esco- bar's short and mysterious call. Hope had returned to every heart, and a vantage-ground had been gained for treating with the rebels, with whom, now that it was clear how safely and successfully Mendez and Fiesco had made their voyage and ultimately accomplished their purpose, and that the services of the Admiral would be acknowledged and he treated with favor at court, it was thought fit to make overtures. Two of the most noted men in the crews, therefore, were sent, car- rying along with them some of the newly arrived bacon as proof positive that a ship had really arrived. The main item of the proposition was an offer of pardon to all, irrespective of the past, and free passage with the Admiral to Spain in the ships expected in case they would return at once to their allegiance. Porras came out to meet the messengers, keeping his men back lest they should be moved by the propositions which might be made. But the ears of his men were 1 Lib. ii., cap. 17, MS. AUDACITT OF THE REBELS. 541 sharp ; they readily caught the intelligence of the arrival of the caravel, the good health of those with the Admiral, and the overtures he was making. After several consultations on the part of the leading muti- neers, it was resolved not to accept the Admiral's offers, nor to regard the general proffer of pardon he had sent. If two ships should arrive for his conveyance, and he would allow them one, they would go peaceably to His- paniola. Should there be but one ship, he might assign them half of it. And since they had lost their clothing and commodities for trade in their ill-fated attempts to leave the island, he must share what he had with them. When the messengers pronounced these proposals un- reasonable the}^ had the audacity to say if these terms were not granted them " by fair means," they would take them " by force." When Porras and his associate leaders reported themselves to the rank and file of the mutineers they discovered that the}' were not sustained in their decision. A general amnesty ! a free and honorable return to Spain ! — these were items not to be thrown away as trifles. Besides, the magnitude of the pros- trate, suffering Admiral rose before them in such proportions that they dared not continue obnoxious to his power. But the deceitful eloquence of Porras rose equal to the emergency. It would not do to risk dissension in this hour of danger. They must beware of this bait, he insinuated, for the Admiral was naturally cruel and vindictive, and would make them smart when they came into his power. As for themselves — the Porras brothers — they had influence at court, and therefore had nothing to fear. Had not ^42 INCORRIGIBILITY OF THE MUTINEERS. Roldan and his company rejected all Columbus's offers, and persisted in their rebellion, and yet came out to great advantage in the end, even sending the Admiral home in chains ? As for that phantom ship just reported, it M^as a mere illusion of the twilight, con- jured up by art mag ic^ in which Columbus was known to be a great adept. If it had been a real caravel, why did not its crew communicate with those on the wrecks ? Why did it stay so short a time ? Why did not the Admiral, with his brother and son, embark on its home- ward voyage ? This harangue, so shrewdly put, had the desired effect. The men concluded to remain in rebellion, and, going at once with Porras to the ships, take by force what they wanted, and capture the Admiral. The mutineers approached within about a mile of the ships, but* Columbus was informed of them, and sent out Don Bartholomew with fifty men well armed. He was first to use " good words," but, if the offenders proved incorrigible, he was to be ready for the worst. He and his men took their stand on a little hill about a bow-shot from the rebels, and sent to them as mes- sengers the same two men who had made overtures to them before. But Porras, whose force was quite as numerous as that of the adelantado, was in no mood for a peaceful conference. The rebels were all able seamen, well hardened by their outdoor strolling, while those with Don Bartholomew were weak through sickness and confinement on the wreck — indeed, were only gentlemen and pale-faced civilians — and would not dare to fight. Deluded by these words, the rebels refused to listen THE SKIRMISH. ^4^ to any overtures for peace, but presenting a solid rank of swords and lances, cried, " Kill ! kill ! " Six of their strongest men resolved, under oath, to stand together in the attack till they had slain the adelantado. Of the rest they made no account. " But they were so well received," says Fernando Columbus, " that five or six of them dropped at the first charge, most of them being of those of them that aimed at the lieutenant, who fell upon his enemies in such manner that, in a very short time, Juan Sanchez, from whom Quibian made his escape, was killed, as was Juan Barber, the first I saw draw his sword when they ran into rebellion, and some others fell very much wounded, and Francisco de Porras, their captain, was taken. Seeing them- selves so roughly handled, like base, rebellious people, they turned their backs and fled as fast as they could." The adelantado, whose hand had been wounded by the sword which Francisco de Porras had thrust through his buckler, and who, with the aid of his comrades, had captured the rebel leader before he could extricate himself, wished to pursue the rebels still further; but his men dissuaded him, saying that punishment must not be carried too far. Besides, there was a body of the natives in arms near by, simply looking on, indeed, but they might be tempted to attack if they saw the Spaniards scattering in the pursuit of their own men. The skirmish over, the Indians, led by curiosity, prowled around to examine the wounds which the fatal weapons of the white men had made in those of their own flesh, with some such feelings, probably, as men might look on a battle-field of the gods. " Peter 244 LEDESMA'S WOUNDS. de Ledesnia, that pilot we mentioned above," says Fernando Columbus, " who went with Vincent Yanez to Honduras, and swam ashore at Belen, fell down certain rocks, and lay hid that day and the next till the evening, nobody assisting him or knowing where he was except the Indians, who with amazement, not knowing how our swords would cut, with little sticks opened his wounds, one of which was in his head, and his brains were seen through it ; another in his shoulder, so large that his arm hung as it were loose ; and the calf of one leg almost cut off, so that it hung down to his ankle ; and one foot, as if it had a slipper on it, being sliced from the heel to the toes. Notwith- standing all which desperate hurts, when the Indians disturbed him he would say, ' Let me alone, for if I get up,' etc.,^ and they, at these words, would fly in great consternation. This being known aboard the ships, he was carried into a thatched house hard by, where the dampness and gnats were enough to have killed him. Here, instead of turpentine, they dressed his wounds with oil, and he had so many besides those already mentioned that the surgeon who dressed them swore that for the first eight days he still found out new ones, and yet at last he recovered, the gentleman of the chamb'er dying, in whom he apprehended no danger,^ The next day, being the 20th of May, all those that had escaped sent a petition to the x^dmiral humbly begging he would be merciful to them, for they repented them of what was past, and were ready to submit themselves to him. The Admiral granted ^ It is said that his voice was particularly deep and impressive. * This man had only been wounded slightly in the hip. INDIGNA TION AT O VA ND O. - 4 ^ their request, and passed a general pardon upon condi- tion the captain should continue a prisoner as he was, that he might not raise another mutiny.''^ After a year of weary waiting, the inmates of the ships stranded on this island of savages were overjoyed at the sight of two vessels making for the harbor. One of them had been hired and fitted out by the ever- faithful Mendez. Stimulated by this example, the other had been sent by Ovando, in command of the Ad- miral's agent at San Domingo. According to Las Casas, the flagrant delay of Ovando to send relief to Columbus in his sufferings had awakened such universal indignation that even the pulpits gave their voice against it. The governor was therefore pressed into the sending relief in this eleventh hour in order to escape the universal condemnation. The common S3anpathy of mankind must ever be with the suffering. In the case of Columbus, notwithstand- ing all the efforts to rob him of the proper acknovvl- edgment of his merits, it could not fail to be seen how poorly the treatment he received compared with his incalculable services. When Columbus and his crews left the miserable wrecks, on the 28th of June, 1504, their joy might be more readily imagined than expressed. On the whole, the impressions which had been made upon the gener- ous-hearted natives must have been favorable, for Oviedo sa3'^s they wept when the Spaniards left. Since Mendez and Fiesco had reached Hispaniola in their canoes in four days, we might fancy a mere sail of a week at most for these ships bearing back the Ad- ^ Fernando Columbus, chapter cvii. 546 COLUMBUS AND O VAN DO. miral to Sau Doiniugo ; but sucli was the opposition of winds and currents that only on the 15th of August did they reach that harbor. The aged shipwrecked mariner, a mere suffering wreck of humanity, was hailed with a universal sense of kindly favor. Says Irving, " What had been denied to his merits was granted to his misfortunes ; and even the envious, ap- peased by his present reverses, seemed to forgive him for having once been so triumphant." The governor and all the grandees of the place came to meet him, and he was treated with the utmost courtesy, as a guest of Ovando's house. But, with all this external cordiality, it was felt by Columbus and his friends that at heart Ovando was cool and suspicious. As an evidence of this, they saw Porras, a traitor-prisoner, on his way to Spain for trial, now set free. Indeed, the governor even talked of punishing those who had taken up arms against the mutineers in the Admiral's defence. Here at once arose a collision between the two of&cials, as to the proper jurisdiction over these Jamaica criminals. Ovando finally yielded the point and sent them to Spain for trial. There was nothing here in Hispaniola which could yield Columbus any particular delectation. The island was wholly changed. The happy, kind-hearted natives, the smoke of whose camp-fires had once en- livened the forests, and whose canoes had been made to glide so cheerfully about the harbors, had been utterly broken in spirit and almost annihilated. Where was the cheerful service and the Christian civilisation he had hoped would obtain among them ? Just here it will be pertinent to glance at the govern- 'iili OVANDO'S COLONY. 547 ment of Ovando in respect to affairs in general and in respect to the natives in particular. It will be remem- bered that he had been sent out to repair the damaging effects of Columbus's administration. Let us see how this ruling knight of Alcantara, noted for his wisdom and his high moral qualities, compares with the Admiral, so universally spoken against. With the change of governors, a new impulse had been given to the affairs of the Indies. The old illusion as to inexhaustible treasures of wealth to be picked up in the new country revived, for no one seemed to suspect that the causes of disaster to the colony were to be found in the nature of things — in the fact that a crowd of adventurers, demor- alized soldiers, and prison-convicts, expecting to appro- priate the civilized wealth of the Indies, could not thrive in a wilderness, among savages — in a part of the world, indeed, which no one even suspected to exist. The one man who governed was supposed to be the wheel upon which the fortunes of all who emigrated would turn. The appointment of Ovando inspired a new confidence, and there was about the same scramble of adventurers for his magnificent fleet of thirty sail as there had been when Columbus started on his second voyage. Las Casas, an eye-witness, gives a vivid description of affairs when these adventurers arrived in the new countr}'. Scarcely had they stepped ashore when the roads to the gold-mines were thronged. Even the proud hidalgo was carrying his bag of biscuit and miner's tools, envying the lucky fellow who could make the journey on horseback, and thereby bring back the greater load of gold. Each one strove to be 548 THEIR DISAPP0INTMEN7 . the first in the mines of the mountains, where they expected to gather gold like fruit from the trees. How great was their surprise, on reaching the spot, to find that they must dig laboriously, and that it required an experienced eye to detect the veins of gold, which must be searched out with the utmost perseverance and patience ; and that, after the most exhaustive efforts, they not infrequently failed to find the precious ore. And while many thus failed utterly, mau}^ others accomplished so little that they were soon obliged to look upon their efforts as exceedingly unprofitable ; so that, in a short time, there straggled over the highways and byways a lot of miserable, disappointed wretches, who had consumed their provisions, worn themselves out with useless toil, and were now returning in utmost chagrin and disappointment over the tracks made outward in the highest anticipations of hope. San Domingo was thronged with moneyless, hopeless, forlorn wretches, ready to sink into the most squalid misery. Some there were who were compelled to sell even the clothes from their backs to save them- selves from starvation; and while a few gained employ- ment from the older settlers, such was the generally reduced condition of the colony that the greater number could find no occupation whatever, and, be- coming the suppliants of public charity, were the vic- tims alike of hunger and shame. This union of physical want and mental torture in an uncultivated country of tropical climate soon brought on burning fevers and wasting consumptions, and in an incredibly short time over one thousand inhabited the newly made grave-yards of San Domingo and vicinity. OPPRESSION OP THE NA TIVES. 549 No one thought of attributing this fearful mortality to a maladministration on the part of Ovando, as they no doubt would have done in the case of Columbus ; on the other hand, his treatment of the Spaniards was considered wise and discreet. The same cannot be said, however, as to his management of the natives. To them he was simply a sure and swift destruction. It will be remembered that Columbus, under the severe pressure of Roldan's rebellion, had granted repartiimentos of the natives ; that is, he had ordered the caciques to furnish certain numbers of their sub- jects as laborers for the different Spaniards, and the service thus rendered was to be accepted instead of the original tax in gold-dust, cotton, etc. Under a con- siderate and humane management, the system might have resulted well, teaching the natives regular methods of industr^^, and bringing them in contact with civilization and Christianit3^ Under Bobadilla the system had been abused to the utmost. When his in- dulgence of the self-willed and depraved Spaniards had placed them in a state of riot riui inad^ and therefore entirel}^ beyond his control, the chief result was the un- mitigated sufferings of the helpless natives. Did he teach that the sovereigns of Spain did not care to enrich themselves by means of the new country, and so sell the lands and estates of the crown at the lowest possible figure, and did he reserve only one-eleventh instead of one-third of the gold for the crown ? With ordinary working of the mines this small proportion would have fallen to a mere nothing, and the natives must, there- fore, be subjected to the highest possible pressure of labor and toil in order Lo swell the eleventh of the gold 550 OPPRESSION OP THE NA TIVES. to as much and even more tlian one-third of it used to be. Moreover, the immense tracts of land, almost given away, must be ameliorated, cultivated, and rendered productive of sugar-cane, cotton, and tropical fruits. In order to carry out the two departments of labor as thoroughly as possible, two Spaniards would unite their interests, one superintending the working of the mines, and the other taking charge of the cultivation of the land. Special attention was given to the accumulation of gold. " Make the most of your time," was Bobadilla's oft reiterated advice ; " there is no telling how long it will last." The Spaniards were only too ready to carry out his advice to the full, and so mercilessly forced the Indians to their utmost capacity of labor that the eleventh part of the gold yielded a greater revenue than did one-third under Columbus. The picture of the scenes which followed are por- trayed in a startling manner by that most humane and faithful eye-witness, Las Casas. In his old age, many years after the events had transpired, he recalled them as in a painful reverie. The light vegetable and frugivorous diet of the natives and their eas}^, pleasure-taking style of life from time immemorial had fixed a characteristic weakness of constitution which positively incapacitated them for the hardships of slavery. In addition to the failure of strength incident to excessive labor was the ener- vating effects of the most atrocious punishments, inflicted for the slightest offences. Behold that wretched criminal just escaped from the galleys of Castile or from the bloody hands of the executioner by the special grace of the sovereigns ! He puts on OPPRESSION OP THE NATIVES. SS^ all tlie airs of a grand cavalier, is attended by an immense train of servants, and keeps a whole harem of young girls. Nor is he satisfied with the common Indian girls, but seeks out women of birth and rank — sisters and daughters of chieftains, who, from time out of mind, had been regarded with the most sacred feelings of veneration. Now, trembling and in tears, they are forced to minister to the passions of the vilest felons, who, but for the discovery of a new world, would have long since been hanging on gibbets. Is this luxurious Spaniard about to travel ? He will disdain the back of a horse or a mule, and stretch himself out daintily on a hammock or litter, to be borne gently on the shoulders of the Indians. Others, following along, must hold the leaves of some gigantic palm over his head to shield from the sun a face bronzed not many years since in the exposure of the galleys; others, still, wave before that face a great feather fan to ward off the inconvenience of a burning atmosphere. Las Casas could recall the sore and bleeding shoulders of the Indians who had thus carried their tyrannical masters through long journeys. When one of these newly made specimens of gentility reaches an Indian village, he seizes the stores of provisions in the most wasteful and wanton manner, and having been well feasted, orders the cacique and his subjects to dance and sing for his amusement. If he speaks to them, it is in the most haughty language, and the slightest sign of resentment or the least offence whatever brings down the lash or the cudgel, possibly even to the death of the offender. If any of the better class of Spaniards took exception to 552 'THE NATIVES MADE FREE. such vile despotism, they might appeal in vain to the far more numerous class of bad people recently liberated from their penal life in Spain, or, sending" distressing accounts to Spain on the other side of the globe, wait for a possible but slow and imperfect redress. The fabulous quantities of gold amassed b}^ Boba- dilla did not close the eyes of the Spanish sovereigns to the atrocity of his methods, and when it was re- solved that Ovando should succeed him every precau- tion was taken to remedy the evils brought about by his administration. Many and salutary in themselves were the new regulations made by the sovereigns. Among others, it was resolved that the natives, who had suffered so severely under the oppressions of Bobadilla, should be free. But under this new regime they refused to labor in the mines. Ovando at once reported to the sovereigns the evils of this state of things, saying that tribute could not be collected, nor vice repressed, nor any regular industry be secured among the lazy and improvident Indians, unless they were compelled to work ; nor could they be brought under the influence of Christianity while in a state of freedom, for they then kept entirely aloof from the Spaniards. On the strength of these sugges- tions new regulations were made. The sovereigns wrote to Ovando, saying that he should exact moderate labor from the natives ; but authority must be enforced in the most kindly manner, the laborers must be paid regularly and fairly, and must be instructed in religion on certain days of the week. This was enough. Ovando made the uttermost of these instructions in distributing the Indians as laborers THE NA TIVES A GAIN ENS LA VED. 553 among the Spaniards. Requisitions were made on the different caciques for regular appointments of their subjects to each Castilian, according to his supposed needs. These laborers were to be paid, and instructed in the Catholic faith ; but the pa}^ was a mere apology for wages, and the instruction was limited in most cases to a few drops of water administered in baptism. The term of labor was at first limited to six months, but was soon increased to eight months, and before long the whole system became more intolerably cruel than were the worst days of the former administration. Often set to work at a distance of several days' journey from their families, and confined to the unsubstantial cassava-bread, with a mere scrap of pork occasionally to each, they were forced, under the lash, to the utmost capacit}^ of their ability to toil. See those Spaniards who superintend the mines taking their dinner ! The famished Indians scramble under the table like dogs for an}' bone that ma}^ be dropped. See how they gnaw and suck it, and then pounding it between stones, mix it with their cassava-bread ! But the miners are more fortunate than those toiling in the fields, for they never taste "flesh or fish," but are obliged to keep up on a little cassava-bread and a few roots. And these poorly-fed Indians, all unused to work, Avere compelled to a degree of exertion sufficient to break down the strongest well-fed man. Do any of these poor mortals, fainting under a scorching sun, flee from this exces- sive toil and these severe lashes, and seek refuge in the mountains ? They are hunted with bloodhounds like wild beasts, are scourged like slaves of the barbarous ages, and loaded down with chains to prevent a second 2^4 HUNGER I HUNGER I escape. Many dropped and died in tlie fields and. in the mines. Others, who survived their six or eight months of labor, were so far from their homes — forty, sixty, or eight}^ leagues — with only a little cassava- bread, a few roots, or a few agi peppers to support life by the way, that their frail constitutions gave out, and they sank down and died. " I have found many dead in the road," says the good Las Casas ; "others were gasping under the trees, and others in the pangs of death faintly cried, ' Hunger ! hunger !' " Did any reach their homes ? In most cases, during the long and weary months, the wives and children had wandered away or perished. The little hovel or wigwam called home, with its rude garden possibly, w^as overgrown with weeds, and the poor exhausted wretch crept up to his door, only to lie down and die in despair. Under these intolerable hardships the weakly race was fast passing away. In the wild delirium of despair many committed suicide ; mothers destroyed their infants, that they might thus be spared a life so intolerably wretched. Though scarcely twelve years had passed since the discovery of Hispaniola, hundreds of thousands of the once happy natives had perished under the relentless hand of the licentious, avaricious white man. The shameful massacre at Xaragua and the sad fate of Anacaona under the direction of Ovando are related elsewhere. The war with Higuay and the ruthless de- struction of the natives we must pass over with a mere mention. There were originally five Indian sovereignties in Hispaniola. Four of these had already been subdued, and their caciques had come to a miserable end. The O UTRA GE A GAINST A CA CI^ UE. 555 downfall of the fiftli invited tHe relentless hand of Ovando. The people of this kingdom of Higuay, which comprised the east end of the island, were in closer proximity to the Caribs than were the other kingdoms on the island, and had, consequently, been trained into a more warlike temper and habit. Their chieftain, Cotabanama, was a notable giant, measuring a yard from shoulder to shoulder, and being otherwise in good proportion. The natives of Higuay came into collision with the Spaniards as follows : Some Spaniards had wantonly set a dog on a cacique, who was thus shame- fully mangled, and died in consequence soon after. Again and again the Higuayans had sought redress, but to no purpose. By and by the}^ surprised a shallop carrying eight Spaniards near the island Saona, and slaughtered the crew as a retaliation. Now there was an uprising of the whole kingdom, and Ovando sent out Juan de Esquibel with four hundred men to quell the insurrection and administer suitable punishment for the massacre. Cotabanama, having assembled his warriors, was ready for a stout resistance. Never did savages show a braver or more determined spirit. From time imme- morial they had contended successfully against the cruel Caribs, and the}?- would now test their arms and their valor to the utmost in resisting the encroachments of the detested white men. As the Spanish warriors ascended the beautiful and cultivated plateaus of this mountain region they were contested every step of the way in the most spirited manner ; but the Spanish implements of war and their discipline in tactics proved, as usual, too much for naked savages. The Higuayan 556 EXTREME CRUELTY. forces were soon scattered, and sougiit refuge in the recesses of mountain rocks and in the thick forests. Women and children and the aged and infirm were hidden away in the darkest caves and deepest recesses of the mountains. When the Spaniards came upon them they slaughtered them in the most indiscriminate and cruel manner. The island of Saona was treated with special revenge. Some six or seven hundred natives, seeking refuge in one large enclosure, were all put to the sword without mercy. The few who escaped were made slaves, and the island was a desolation. As no extent of bravery could enable these naked Indians to hold their own against the steel-clad war- riors of Spain, they sued for peace, and were promised protection if they would cultivate a large tract of their beautiful table-lands in the mountains, and thus produce every year an immense quantity of bread. Cotabanama, the giant cacique, was so magnanimous in forgiving and forgetting the cruel wrongs suffered by him and his people that he joined in the most sacred friendship with Esquibel, even to the exchange of names with him as a symbol of a perpetual heart-union. But the peace did not last long. About the time when Columbus was leaving the wreck at Jamaica a new revolt broke out among the Higuaj^ans. The Spaniards had exceeded the bounds of their treaty in requiring the Indians not only to raise the grain stipu- lated, but to carry it on their backs to San Domingo. Then, too, after their usual manner, the Spaniards had outraged the sisters, daughters, and even the wives of the natives. There was a general rebellion. The Higuayans burnt a large wooden fortress biiilt by the Spaniards, and put many of them to death. BRA VERT OF THE NATIVES. 557 Ovando gave orders to carrj^ fire and sword into Higuay. The romantic heroism of the former war was re-enacted, and many v/ere the incidents of the most impressive bravery. It is said that some of the wounded, into whose flesh the swift arrows from the cross-bows had sunk to the feather, drew them out, broke them with their teeth, and, hurling them at the Spaniards in helpless fur}^, fell dead in their tracks. When an}'- of the Indians were found they were subjected to the most excruciating tortures in order to force them into a betrayal of their concealed country- men. When they found aged men, women, and help- less children hid away among the rocks and caves of the mountains they ran their swords through them, and hacked them in pieces in the most atrocious man- ner. One fearful battle ensued, lasting from tw^o o'clock in the afternoon till night-fall, in which the poor naked Indians fought in defence of their country and their homes with extreme energy to the last. When their weak bows and slender arrows failed them they hurled showers of stones from their rocky heights, and were only the more infuriated at seeing the blood and the mangled corpses of their countrymen. They were completely routed, however, by the keen-edged steel and the gunpowder of the Spaniards. The next morning they were nowhere to be seen. The Span- iards, now breaking up into small parties, went in every direction, hunting them as if they had been wild beasts. They sought especially after the caciques, particularly Cotabanama. , The Indians kept up their retreat with great caution, a whole line of twenty or more treading in the same tracks, leaving a footprint 558 THEIR SUFFERINGS. like that of a single man, and scarcel}^ displacing a branch or leaf of the forest. But the Spaniards had become exceedingly sharp in trailing out their victims. The displacing of a few withered leaves would give them the clew, even amidst the confusing tracks of animals. With the keen nose of a hound, they could scent from afar the smoke of Indian fires. Not only did they continue to torture the straying victims of their search, and massacre en masse the multitudes of the helpless taking refuge secretly in the mountains, but to inspire the most overwhelming terror they would cut off the hands of such as they found roaming at large, and send them as a warning, to intimidate their friends into a surrender. " Num- berless were those," says Las Casas, " whose hands were cut off in this manner, and many of them fainted and died by the way, from pain and loss of blood." The cruel, persecuting white men became ingenious in the invention of new and unheard-of cruelties. Be- hold that row of miserable victims on a long line of gibbets, so low down that the feet of the sufferers dangle on the ground, in order that death might be as lingering as possible ! There is even a blasphemous play upon a sacred number in history, and thirteen are hung together, in honor of Christ and his twelve apostles. Not content with seeing their tortured victims struggle in the air, the soldiers test the strength and execution of their swords by hacking and hewing them in pieces. Some they wrap in dry straw, which they set on fire, terminating life in the most intense agony. The caciques were broiled to death on gridirons over slow fires, and when their groans and cries annoyed the COTABANAMA. ^^^ Spauish officers their mouths were crammed with chips in order to gag them. '' All these things, and others revolting to human nature, my own eyes beheld," says Las Casas, who in old age recalled these shocking scenes of his youth, saying, " and now I almost fear to repeat them, scarcely believing my own recollections, and w^ondering if I have not dreamt them." But the capture of Cotabanama was the great desid- eratum with Bsquibel. Without it, Higuay w^ould never completely surrender. The chieftain, with his wife and children, had taken refuge in a cave in the midst of a labyrinth of rocky forest, in the centre of the island Saona. Esquibel, with some fifty men, em- barked in a caravel at night, and, sailing along the shadowy side of the island, landed his men on an ob- scure part of the coast at the dawn of day, before Co- tabanama's spies had taken their stations. Presently two of these spies were brought to Esquibel, who soon drew^'^out of them the fact that the chief was in the island. He thrust a poniard through one of these un- fortunates in order to inspire terror in the other, whom he bound and compelled to act as a guide. Kvidently the cacique was not far away, so every Spaniard was on the alert to be his captor. They soon discovered a point at which the main path forked. Only Juan Lopez took the path to the left. With a bravery and an intuition on the track of the savage peculiar to himself, he threaded his way around hills so dense with thicket and forest that he could scarce see half a bow-shot ahead. Entering a gorge among the rocks, where the excess of vegetation and the deep cut in the mountain almost shut out the light, he found himself 56o THE GIANT IS CAPTURED. face to face with some dozen Indian warriors, in single file. How easily they might have pierced this solitary enemy with their arrows ; but they were petrified with surprise, having depended on their spies to guard the island, and now all suddenly suspectiug a host of white men to be just at hand. Lopez understood human nature, and follow^ed up this first surprise by boldly advancing and calling for Cotabanama, Tremblingly they replied that he was just behind them, and let him pass on to the rear. The giant cacique grasped his bow ; but before he could draw the string Lopez had struck him with his sword, and the Indians about him had fled in a panic. Terrified at the blood gushing from his wound, Cotabanama cried out, " I am Juan de Esquibel," thinking his former change of names might be a guarantee of safety. Instantly Lopez seized him by the long hair of his head with his left hand, and with his right hand was about to plunge his sword into his body, but the cacique warded off the thrust with his huge arm, and clinching the Spaniard, hurled him to the ground. The struggle was long and fierce between these two powerful athletes ; and the bleeding cacique, being on top of his adversary, was not only likely to crush him with his great weight, but was just grasping him by the throat to strangle him, when the Spaniards on the other path, being attracted by the noise, came to the rescue of Lopez. The poor cacique, giant though he was, could avail nothing against so many. In the large cavern near by, from which the cacique's wife and children had already fled, they found a huge chain which some Indian prisoners, once bound with it, had carried away. HIS CRUEL FATE. 561 With this the}'- secured the cacique's immense hands, and led him, all bleeding, to a village near by. In the village square the Spaniards arranged trunks of trees like a huge gridiron, on which they proposed to broil the giant ; but on a second thought they concluded to make a greater exhibition of their trophy, and so sent him on board a caravel, in chains, to San Domingo. Here he was a curiosity, and as he was paraded along the streets the crowds thronged him from every direction, gazing on this huge blood-stained image of despair, already become the mere shadow of himself. In these more humane days, so grand a specimen of the human race, guilty of no greater crime than an heroic defence of his outraged country, would be entitled to some kindly, or even juagnanimous^ treat- ment ; but Ovando simply adjudged him to the fate of the vilest criminal, and hanged him ignominiously on the public square. Thus ended the struggle of the last native chieftain against the cruel encroachments of the white man. The mere remnant — perhaps one-sixth — of the once numerous and happy population of the island now succumbed to the hardships and sufferings incident to the conquests of the steel-clad foreigners, and, broken alike in spirit and in that physical endurance which is born of hope, they gradually disappeared. Such was the unhappy Hayti to which Columbus returned near the middle of August, 1504, from his long and tr^'ing confinement on the Jamaica wrecks. Ovando received him vdth formal politeness and an affected cordiality ; but his inclination to let the Porras rebels go free, and to dispute the jurisdiction of the 562 COL UMB US' S FINANCES. Admiral over his men even in his trying situation on the lonely island of Jamaica, soon caused the latter to feel ill at home, and induced a return to Spain as soon possible. Notwithstanding the efforts of the ever-faithful Car- vajal as agent, the financial resources of Columbus were sadly demoralized at San Domingo. For this Ovando would seem to be the subject of just blame. The Admiral collected what funds he could, repaired the ship in which he had sailed from Jamaica, and put her in the command of the adelantado for the convey- ance of those who wished to return with him to Spain, many of the companions of his late voyage pre- ferring to remain in Hispaniola. As these latter were in poverty and rags almost to nakedness, he made for them what provision he could out of his slender purse, wholl}^ regardless of their recent unkindness to him. Chartering another vessel for the convenience of himself, his son, and his more intimate and faithful friends, the little squadron sailed September 12, 1504. They were barely out at sea, when a gale carried away the mast of the Admiral's caravel, and she was obliged to consign her crew and passengers to the other vessel and put back to San Domingo. The solitary craft now sailed on with fine weather for over a month, when, October i8th, a severe storm burst upon her. Then, after a short calm, a tempestuous whirlwind splintered the mainmast into four pieces, and it re- quired all the adelantado's resources, aU)ug with the counsel of the sick Admiral stretched helplessly on his couch, to raise the yard, and tying planks on all' sides of it, thus extemporize a mast. A few days later HOME AGAIN. 563 Still another storm sprung the foremast, and in this crippled and toggled-up plight they entered the port of San Lucas on the 7th of November. We shall now see what rest and comfort awaited the tempest-tossed Admiral, aged, infirm, and racked with pain. CHAPTER XXL THE LAST VOYAGE. ROM Sau Lucas, Columbus was borne to Se- ville, where he remained till May of the fol- lowing year. He had hoped to go immedi- atei}^ to court, there to present his claims for his heavj^ financial arrears which had reduced him to posi- tive want, and for the restoration of his privileges so ruthlessly taken from him ; but his intense ph3^sical sufferings, aggravated b}^ the most severe winter in Spain within the memory of man, made the plan im- practicable. Financial embarrassment is hard enough at any time, and has done much to break down many a stout-hearted man ; but when it comes in old age and infirmity, aye, even in exhaustive illness, and is the re- sult of the most flagrant injustice, its trials can scarcel3'' be estimated. Columbus states in the most solemn manner, in a letter to his son, that his annual income at this time should not have been less than 10,000,000 maravedis. Without attempting an}'- estimate, it is self- evident that it should at least have been a sufficient competenc}^ Having appropriated all he could collect at San Domingo for the comfort of his crews and for the homeward voyage, he was obliged to live on borrowed money as soon as he reached Spain, and to live in the most frugal manner. While the weary months of suffering dragged b}^, his chief occupation was the writing of letters, as he LETTERS OF THE ADMIRAL. 565 lay almost helpless on his couch, and for this he was physically so incapacitated that the stiffness and pain in his hands would allow him the use of his pen onl}- at night. He wrote to Diego de Deza, his old, trust}^ friend, now high in ecclesiastical honors ; to Morales, the King's treasurer ; to the council of the famous Casa de Contra tacion^ instituted during his last voyage ; he wrote indirectly to the Bank of St. George in Genoa, through his trusty friend Oderigo ; to Gorricio, to the Pope, and to the King ; but most of his letters were to his son Diego. The}^ alone would make a fair- sized book. He wTote not only concerning his own personal matters, but in behalf of the deplorable state of affairs in the Indies, concerning the needy, ragged, and almost starving men who had sailed with him in his last voyage, and who were now beseeching the officers of the crown in vain for their pay, and he gave an almost endless category of good advice to Diego, his son. About this time he had become so thoroughly con- vinced of the fact that he could elicit no reply by means of his letters that he determined to be carried to the court, even at the risk of his life. He applied to the canons of Seville for the new mortuary litter, which had recently been used to carry Cardinal Mendoza to his grave. He might have it, they said, if Pinedo, treasurer of the navy, would be security for its return in good condition ! High appreciation there was in those days for the man who had staked all on the dis- covery of a new world. The litter was secured, but his health was so precarious and the weather so cold that his friends dissuaded him from an undertaking; so perilous to the life of one in his condition. 566 MESSENGERS GO TO COURT. November 26, 1504, Isabella, worn out with dis- ease contracted during the Moorish war, and over- whelmed by a series of the severest family afflictions, passed away. This was a most crushing bereavement to Columbus — the finishing stroke in the long series of his calamities. No doubt he comprehended his situa- tion. His failure to be carried to court, and the sad intel- ligence of the death of the Queen, induced him to send his brother Bartholomew, his son Fernando, and Car- vajal to plead his cause with the King before his ene- mies could have time to prejudice the royal mind and so secure a final determination of affairs against him. The bitterly severe winter had passed away, and the balmy days of spring so cheered the invalid that he de- termined to be carried to the court, then at Segovia. He arrived in May, well-nigh exhausted. Where are now the fawning courtiers who a few years ago, at Barcelona, would have waited for hours to touch his hand ? Ah, they are still here, but they worship the rising, not the setting sun ! And the King ! He smiles — on the surface — without enthusiasm, or even warmth. He listens to the recital of this perilous fourth voyage, but has very little to say. Nor is he at all moved by the portraj^al of the golden wealth of Veragua, or the detailed account of the cruel rebellion of Porras and his associates. Now Columbus becomes fully conscious of the wintry cold- ness of that court without the presence and influence of Isabella. A few days later Columbus itro/e to the King, pre- senting his grave claims respectfully, but most ear- AN ARBITRA TION SUGGESTED. 567 nestly. The reply was characteristic of Ferdinand's wily treacherousness. He knew how much Spain owed to Columbus ; but — but, there was so much im- plied in his claim — titles, governments, rights, ac- counts, indemnifications, and how man}^ other points ! — it would be necessary to submit the matter to the judgment of some very prudent and competent person. Who should this arbitrator be but Father Deza ? asked Columbus. Was he not a favorite of the King, and also his friend ? But in this arbitration the Admiral will have it explicitly understood that he submits only his rights and revenues, not his titles and prerogatives ; these had been fixed by royal decree, and confirmed — how manv times ? Nothing" more is known about the arbitration. The points to be submitted by the Ad- miral did not suit the King. Again and again the claims were pressed, and as often did the King smile, and acknowledge, and compliment, and promise to look into the matter ; " but as to doing anything," says Las Casas, " not only did he show Columbus no tokens of favor, but, on the other hand, placed every obstacle in his way, and at the same time was never remiss in complimentary expressions." The aged, suffering xA.dmiral is disheartened with pleading his rights on the grounds of justice ; he will leave all to the King's sense of fairness — his generosity, if you please. He will accept just what the King- chooses to give him, regardless of the facts and figures in the case ; onlj- he begs that the matter may be at- tended to promptly, that he may retire to some quiet corner for rest. Now Ferdinand waxes eloquent in acknowledgments. He knows but too well that he 568 H^/fA T MORE ? owes the Indies to Columbus, and he would not deprive him of the just dues for his services. He will not onl}- bestow upon him the rightful revenues coming to him, he will do more — will even compensate him out of the estates of the crown. What more than this could any one ask ? What more can the Admiral say, after so out-and-out a prom- ise ? What can he do but be carried around after the court on a litter, simply Avaiting for the fulfilment ? For months he follov/s and waits, but gets nothing be- yond " fine words " and " great regards." Finally the matter is referred to the tribunal of the dead Queen, and they know the mind of the King so well that they can simply hesitate and demur. " If Ferdinand could have done so with a quiet conscience and without disgracing his name, he would have utterly disregarded every privilege which he and the Queen had granted the Admiral, and which had been so justly merited." So thought Las Casas and others of his time. It is true, the outlook had immeasurably changed since the granting of the privileges of Columbus. ' Then, through a narrow loophole, the largest faith and the most intense enthusiasm might anticipate uncer- tain islands, and possibly pieces of continents. Now there were islands and continents, the richest and grandest — no one might conj ecture to what extent ; at any rate, Spain was a mere patch compared with them. Would it be wise to relegate such incalculable territories to a foreigner and his descendants forever ? This surely was too much for a penurious, ambitious soul like that of Ferdinand to give away. In this case, at least, it was no mere matter of keeping one's HOPE DEFERRED. 569 word, like him " who sweareth to his own hurt aud chaugeth not." But O heavens, and O earth ! could not somethijig have been done ? Must this greatest benefactor of Spain and of the world — this begetter of a new era in the world's history — drag out his days a mere mendicant on a litter, and die a pauper ? Can the King of Spain do nothing whatever to save him- self from the foulest perjury and the blackest ingrati- tude ? This anxious waiting and sore disappointment were telling heavily on the suffering Admiral. Helpless and hopeless, he sank upon a sick-bed at Valladolid. " It is a matter that concerns my honor," he wrote to the King ; " your Majest}^ niay do as you think proper with all the rest ; give or take, as may appear for your advantage, and I shall be satisfied. I believe that the worry caused by the delay of my suit is the main cause of my ill-health." Columbus finally gave up his own personal claims, and simpl}^ interceded with the King, along with his son, for the rights of the family. " The more they appealed to him the more favorabl}- he replied," says Las Casas, " but he always continued his system of putting them off, in the hope of tiring out their patience, and making them renounce their privileges and accept titles and; estates in Castile in compensation for them." In f"act, some such offer was made, but Columbus was never a man to be bought off from his clearly conceived or explicith' stipulated rights. '* I have done all that I can do," he wrote pitifully to Deza:; i"[^I,leave the rest to God. He has always sus- tained me in extremities." 570 -^ STRANGE DECREE. During the last winter of the Admiral's life Ferdi- nand issued the following decree : " The King : As I am informed that you, Chris. Colon, the Admiral, are in poor bodily health, owing to certain diseases which you have had or have, and that you cannot ride on horseback without great injury to your health ; therefore, conceding this to your advanced age, I, by these presents, grant you license to ride on a mule, saddled and bridled, through whatever parts of these kingdoms or realms you wish and choose, notwithstanding the law which I issued in regard thereto ; and command the justices of all parts of these kingdoms and realms not to offer you any impediment, or allow any to be offered to you, under penalty of ten thousand maravedis in behalf of the treasur}^ on whoever does the contrary. " Given in the city of Toro, Feb. 23rd, 1505." This enactment is at once an indication of the infirm condition of Columbus and of the peculiarly t3'ran- nical laws of the time, which, finding horses too scarce in Spain for the emergencies of war, had laid restric- tions on the domestic uses of the mule, hoping thereby to increase the number of horses. During the very last days of the Admiral there was a gleam of hope. The Infanta Juana, with her hus- band, the Archduke Philip, had arrived from Flanders to take possession of the kingdom of Castile. Might there not be found in the daughter some likeness to the great soul of her mother ? When the King and all the court went to Laredo to meet the new Queen, Columbus Avas unable to gratify his heart's strongest wish to accompany- them, for a violent relapse had THE NEW ^UE EN. 571 laid him lower than ever. His brother Bartholomew was sent to represent him, with a letter of regret from him at not being able to congratulate the new sovereigns in person, and asking to be counted among their most faithful subjects. Though now in such great suffering, he still cherished the hope of rendering them some signal service. Moreover, he hoped by them to be restored to his honors and estates, which had been so unfairly taken from him. On the 7th of May the sovereigns arrived, and in a fews days received Don Bartholomew with great kind- ness. The claims of the Admiral were well considered, and once more fair promises were made. But the adelantado had scarcely left him when it became evident that he was nearing his end — was about to make his last voyage. He accordingly addressed him- self to the last duties of life. The codicil to his will, found in 1779, and dated May 4, 1506, written on the blank page of a breviary given to him by Pope Alex- ander VI, a great comfort to him in battles, captivities, and misfortunes, is probably apocryphal. May 19th he ratified his will, formally drawn up in his own hand some time before. Diego was made his heir. If he failed of heirship, the estate was to vest in Fernando, who, in default of heirs, should be suc- ceeded by the adelantado. If these all failed of male descendants, the inheritance was to pass to the female line in similar succession. He had continued loyal to the Spanish sovereigns through all the wrongs he had suffered, and now he enjoined upon his descend- ants the utmost fidelity. They must relieve all dis- tressed relatives and others in poverty. Some one of 572 GRATITUDE. his lineage must represent the family in Genoa. Diego' must have special regard for the needs of his brother and uncle. When the resources of the estate would admit, he must erect a chapel in the Vega Real of Hispaniola, where masses may be maintained for his repose and that of the souls of other mem- bers of the family. The crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was also remembered, and Dona Beatrix Knriquez. It will be seen at once that this is, to all intents and purposes, the will of 1496. After signing the codicil of his will, dul}- witnessed, he showed his fine sense of gratitude by noting in his own hand small sums which his heirs were to pay to the various persons who, at different times in his life, had rendered him small services. Having thus fulfilled the final duties of this life, he sought the consolations of religion. With the calm- ness and resignation of hope, he awaited the great transition from this world to the unknown. His last words were those of Christ on the cross — " Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." Thus ended the most eventful life this side of the Christian era, May 20, 1506. The commonly received opinion, that the Admiral was first entombed in the Franciscan convent in Valladolid, may be regarded as probable, but is with- out any certain evidence ; and according to the will of his son Diego, 1509, it would seem that his father's remains had already been deposited in the vault of the Carthusians in the Las Cuevas convent of Seville. It seems to have been the conviction of the Columbus family that the Admiral had a preference for Hayti as THE ADMIRAL'S REMAINS. 57?> his final resting-place, and his remains were removed there, probably, about 1541, soon after the completion of the cathedral. As early, however, as 1536, the roeords of the convent show them to have been given up for transportation, though it is only on June 2, 1537, that the first ro3^al order was given for their removal. Strange to sa}^, that order was repeated on the 2 2d of August, 1539, and again on the 5th of November, 1540. As to where the remains could have been from 1536 till 1541, or after, we have no informa- tion. There is no record, made at the time, to show the exact placing of the body of Columbus in the San Domingo cathedral. In 1676 some one recorded that it had been deposited on the right of the altar ; and in 1683 the recollections of aged people were quoted to that effect. About a centur}'' later, when certain re- pairs were being made, a vault was found on the '' gos- pel " or left side of the chancel, tradition alljr held to contain the remains of the Admiral, while another was found on the " epistle " or right side, supposed to con- tain those of his brother Bartholomew. In 1795, when the treaty of Basle gave the San Dom- ingo half of the island to the French, the Spanish au- thorities, along w4th the Duke of Veragua as the lineal descendant of Columbus, concluded to remove the re- mains to Havana ; and the vault on the left hand or " gospel " side was opened, according to the above tra- dition, but contrary to the first known record. " Within were found the fragments of a leaden cof&n, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, evidentlj^ the re- mains of a human body. These were carefully col- 574 THE ADMIRAL'S REMAINS. lected and put in a case of gilded lead, about half an ell in length and breadth, and a third in height."^ With indescribable pomp and ceremony, the remains were conveyed to Havana. It is now claimed, however, that these remains were not those of the Admiral, but of Diego, his son. " In 1877, in making some changes about the chan- cel, on the right of the altar, the workmen opened a vault, and found a leaden case containing human bones, with an inscription showing them to be those of Luis, the grandson. This led to a search on the opposite or ' gospel side ' of the chancel, where they found an empty vault, supposed to be the one from which the remains were taken to Havana. Between this and the side wall of the building, and separated from the empty vault by a six-inch wall, was found another cavity, and in it a leaden case. There seem to have been suitable pre- cautions taken to avoid occasion for imputations of de- ceit, and with witnesses the case was examined. In it were found some bones and dust, a leaden bullet, two iron screws, which fitted the holes in a small silver plate found beneath the mould in the bottom of the case. This casket bore on the outside, on the front and two ends — one letter on each surface — the letters C. C. A."^ An inscription on the top is supposed to mean " Discoverer of America, first Admiral." On the under side of the lid was a legend, translated, " Illus- trious and renowned man, Christopher Columbus." An inscription on the silver plate is rendered, " A part of the remains of the first Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, discoverer." 1 Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus. * Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. 2. p. 81. THE ADMIRAL'S REMAINS. 575 A discussion followed, which it would be useless to attempt to describe within our limits. The Spaniards are well convinced that they have the remains of the famous Admiral in Havana, but a careful examination of the disclosures of 1877, ^^ the Cathedral of San Domingo, can leave but little doubt as to the remains of the great Admiral being still there. Indeed, the last shadow of doubt would seem to be removed b}^ the painstaking investigations made b}^ that famous German explorer, Cronau, at San Domingo in 1890. He believes the much-debated inscriptions on the casket in question to have been cut in the sixteenth century, and is conclusive in his conviction that the remains of Columbus are still at San Domingo. The corroded musket-ball found in the casket, he regards as a marked evidence of identity in respect to the remains. We have no account, indeed, of the Admiral being wounded, but in a letter from Jamaica to the sovereigns he speaks of his w^ound breaking out afresh. On the whole it would seem that as in Columbus's lifetime the Spaniards had tried to get rid of him and his claims without accomplishing their aim, so now, after trying in the most signal manner to retain the prestige of the last and least remains of his dead body, they have probably incurred an equall}^ ignominious failure. It is well known that the chains in which Columbus was sent to Spain by Bobadilla he kept as a memorial of his wrongs, and intended the}^ should go with him into his coffin ; but as no such chains, not even in the form of oxide of iron, have been in any of the supposed caskets, may it not be that his veritable remains are 576 HIS MONUMENT. yet to be identified ? But wherever the spot ma}^ be, of which in respect to the great Admiral we may say, " Dust to dust, and ashes to ashes," the New World — that is, one-half the c^lobe — is his monument. Summing up the question of the possession of the remains of Columbus, we feel at liberty to disclose, at this time and in this place, two facts which may anticipate and conclude future action in the prem- ises. We have been informed by controlling if not THE HOUSE IN WHICH COLUMBUS DIED. actually of&cial parties in the management of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago that onh^ a proper and legitimate appropriation of sufficient funds was needed to accomplish the transfer of the alleged remains of Columbus from vSan Domingo to Chicago. We have also had assurance of the significant fact that the chains which Columbus's son describes in his memoirs of his father, and which he says were kept MUNIMENTS AND REMAINS. 577 hanging in his bed-chamber, are still preserved and said to be, if we are not mistaken, in the hands of a party in Genoa, from whom they can be obtained upon like conditions as the muniments and alleged remains from San Domingo. If these are to be forthcoming, they will probably be added to the copious body of relics to be exhibited in the replica of the Convent of La Rabida, now in course of construc- tion on the shores of Lake Michigan, during the present celebration. _»'x'sr\ INDEX. Page. Aguado, Juan 306, 310, 311 Alexander VI .171 Alfraganus 35 Alhambra 69, 175 All Saints, Convent of. 31 Alligators 254, 486 Alphonso, King 27, 37 Amazons 317 Anacaona 283,353, 3.';4' 3^3 her treasures 364, 365 her inelancholvfate 523-527 Arana, Diego de 137, 195 Arana, Pedro de 329 Archives of Milan 293 of Venice 29 Aristotle 36, 43 Astrolabe 47 Augustine, St 59 Azores 26, 44, 153, 156 Babeque 119, 125, 126, 243 Bacon, Roger 43 Balboa 450 Ballester, Miguel 389, 396, 397 Bank of St. George, letter to, 456, 457 Barcelona 164, 166, 319 Bastidas 450 Behaim, Martin 35, 47 Behechio 353, 354, 362, 363 Bel vis, Pablo 309 Benjamin, Rabbi 47 Beradi 175 Bernaldez, Andres 3, 8 frequently cited. Blood-hounds 245, 282, 503 Bobadilla 428, 431-446, 448-450, 463. 552 Bojador 25, 26 Breviesco Ximeno 326, 327, 427 Brazil 34 Bristol, England 291 Brown, Rawdon 29 Buil, Father. 203, 274, 305, 306, 319 Butterflies 257 Cabot, John 291, 297 Cabot. Sebastian.. 292, 298, 300, 302 Cabral 34, 450 Cadiz 176, 318, 452 Calzadilla 48, 50 Page. Canary Islands.. 82-84, 178,329,462 Canoe, Royal 265 Caonabo..."..i93, 195, 233, 236, 275, 277, 278, 315.317. 318, 320 Cape Good Hope 27 Cape Nam 24 Cape Not — 25 Cape de Verde Islands. ...26, 50, 280 Carvajal 329, 387, 388, 391, 395, 396, 398, 402, 404, 451, 566 Cassaneuva 18 Catalina 314 Cedo, Firmin 221, 222, 309 Ceuta 49, 50 Chanca, Dr 177 frequently cited. Cibao 129, 130 Cipango 82, 130 Columbus, Bartholomew 18, 30, 63, 65, 271, 272, 279, 282, 290, 310, 311, 314, 318, 323. 350, 351. 355' 358. 366-374, 378-384. 460 Columbus, Christopher: his portrait 7-9 birthplace 13 date of birth 14-16 parentage 17, iS education 20-22 early life 22, 23 on the bridge of pines 75 his privileges 75~77 his humiliation 431-446 death 572 remains 573-576 Columbus, Diego, the brother... 18, 177, 223, 273, 274, 280, 308, 351, 366-369 Columbus, Diego, the son. ...31, 32, 33, 65-67, 456, 565 Columbus, Diego, the Indian in- terpreter 191, 371 Columbus, Fernando 4,5, 27,63 frequently cited. Colombo, Juan Antonio 329 Code Diplomaticus 5 Compass 47 Cordova 56 Corn 116 Coronal 372-375 58o INDEX, Correo, Pedro 32 Curtis, Wm. Elory 7 D'Ailly, Cardinal 43 same as Uiaco. Darien, Isthmus of 35, 48S Decurions of Genoa 454 Deza, Diego 61, 565 Diaz, Bartholomew 63, 271 Diaz, Bernal 221-223 Diaz, Miguel 313 Dominica 181 Eclipse 534-536 Emanuel, Victor 454 Enriquez, Beatrix 63, 64 Escobar, Diego de 416, 537, 538 Esquibel 555, 560 Eugenius IV, Pope 37-40 Ferdinand, King 56,61. 164. 167, 169, 170, 173, 427, 42S, 446, 449 Fernandez, Garcia 55, 67 Ferrar, Jajme 328 Fiesco, Bartholomew. .518, 522, 545 Fire and Faggot 359 Fish catch fish 249, 250 Fiske, John. ..7, 51, 54, 442, 443, 4z|S Fonseca..i74, 175, 326, 405, 412, 413, 427, 444, 446 Gama, Vasco de 451, 459 Genoa 12, 30, 53, 54 Geraldini brothers 57 Gibraltar, Straits of. 26 Giovio, Paolo 9 Giustiniani 2 Gold, famous nugget of 464 Golden Chersonesus...257, 258, 451 Good Hope, Cape of 63 Goodrich, Aaron 6 Gorbolan 212, 221 Gracios a Dios, Cape 473 Granada surrenders 69 Grand Khan 40, 47 Guacanagari. 128, 131-139, 191-195, 197-205, 275, 276, 282, 288, 289 Guadaloupe 182 Guanahani 98 Guarionex....276, 277,351,358-362, 370, 375-384 Guevara 418-421, 435, 436 Guinea 46 Harrisse...!, 13, 14, 19, 43, 55, 291, 300 -304 Hayna 318, 335, 351, 357 Hayti 119 Helps, Sir Arthur 58 cited. Henry VII 64, 65, 271, 290 Herons, great white 254 Herrera 180 frequently cited. Page. Hibernia 294 Higuay 555^561 Hispaniola 119 Holy Sepulchre 62,63 Honduras, coast of. 269, 473 Humboldt 2, 36, 173 cited. Hurricane or furicane 312 Hurricane 465-467 Iceland, Columbus's voyage to. ..33 Iceland 295 Iguana 241 Imago Mundi 43 Indies, wealth of. 58 Isabella, Queen 56, 61, 63, 67, 68, 74, 164, 167, 175, 176, 428, 434, 446, 566 Jamaica 244-246, 513-545 John II 52, 63, 156, 159, 162, 173 Joseph 48 Juan, Prince 322, 326 Juana, Princess 322 Kublai Khan 36, 112, 113 Lactantius 59 La Cosa, Juan de 177, 413, 450 La Navidad 136, 192-195 La Rabida 51, 55, 65-68 Las Casas 3, 4, 8 frequently cited. Madeira 26 Maiobanex 147, 375-384. 409, 41S-421 Maize 116 Major, R H 6 cited. Malacca 257 Mandeville 36 Manicaotex 282, 283 Manacles 278 Mangi 35, 251 Mangon 251 Marchina, Antonio 55 Margarita 273, 274, 305 Margarita of Austria 322 Margarite....23o, 233, 236, 273, 274, 319 Marinus of Tyre 34 Martin, Andres 445 Martyr, Peter 3 often cited. Mateo, Juan 351 Mastic 114 Medina Celi, Duke of 64 Meteor on outward voyage 87 Mendez, Diego. ...445, 497-500, 510, 511, 514-522, 545 Mendoza, Cardinal 57, 169, 170 Mermaids 144 INDEX. 581 Page. Mexico 469, 471 Moors, conquest of. 56-58 Moxica 406, 418 422 Mufioz 5 Mutiny 90 Navarrete 5 cited. Nifia 79, 140, 150, 163 Nifio, Pedro Alonzo...322, 352, 449 No variation, line of 172 Ocean currents 346, 347 Oderigo, Nicolo 456 Ojeda 177, 187, 212, 235-237, 277-279. 4H-418, 449 Ophir 314, 321,323 Orinoco 334 Ovando, Nicholas de 42S-430 Oviedo 3 cited. Palos 65-68, 77, 163 Paria, Gulf of 337 Pasqualigo 292 Pear^hape of earth 347, 348 Pear's 340-345 Perestello, Captain 31 Perestello, Filipa 31 Perez, Juan 55, 66-68, 77 Philip, Archduke of Austria 322 Pilot, storj of 32 Pinta 79, 83, 84, 137, 141, 142, 148-150, 164 Pinzons 77, 78 Pinzon, Martin Alonzo, deserts, 67, 117, 141, 142, 147, 164 Pinzon, Vicente Yanez 79, 380, 449' 450 Pliny 36 Polo, Marco 36 Ponce de Leon 177 Pope's line 279, 280 Porras brothers. ...527-533, 540-543 Porto Rico 147, 191 Porto Santo 26, 31, 45 Portugal 24-26, 53, 61 Potato 114 Puerto Bello 484 Ptolemy 34, 44 Quintanilla, Alonzo de..57, 62,70, 74 Quibian, the 494, 495, 497, 504, 506, 507 Raimondo 293 Rastelo 158. 159 Rebellion in Vega 283 Repartimientos 406, 407 Requelnie 409' 4^0' 435) 436 Rock, the great 82 Rodrigo 48 Page. Roldan, Francis.. .366, 368-370, 374, 385-410, 411-417- 418-422, 463 Salamanca 34 council of 58 Samana 146 San Christoval 351 Sanchez, Juan 501, 502 San Domingo 314, 353 San Lucar 328, 548 San Salvador 98 Santangel, Louis de 68, 72-74 Santa F^ 68 Santa Maria 79 wrecked 130-132 Saragossa Sea 88 Savona 54 Sea of Darkness 82 Seneca 36 Seneca, the Poet 43 Sidonia, Duke of 64, 175 Sierra Leone 26, 349 Slavery of the Natives. 217-220, 280, 281 St. Elmo's lights 180 Strabo 36 Tagus 158, 159 Tails, Men with 253 Talavera 57, 59, 69, 70 Talking Metal 277 Tarducci 60, 61, 64, 442 Tartary 251 Taxation of Indians .^.284, 285 Teneriffe 84 Tongue cut 259 Tobacco 116 Torres 279, 326 Tortugas 125 Toscanelli 36 42, 89 Trade-winds 88 Triana, Rodrigo de 95, 96 Trinidad 332, 334, 337, 339 Tristan, Diego 504, 506 Valladolid 572 Variation of Compass 86, 87 Vega Real 224-228, 282 Venice applied to 53, 54 Venetian galleys 27-30 Veragua 480, 482, 492-494 Veragua, Duke of 51, 573 War with Natives 281, 282 Water Spout 490 Watling 98 Winsor, Justin 6 cited. Yucatan 469 Zemi 230, 359 O' .15 D '19 >o- ^ o A.'-' "< o ^"'V, .^^ »„o- _^o- <=^^ v^ V^ .L.-^ V^ " N " ^ IM "^-^^ ■f> .0' -^^'-0^ ^€Kn? -^0' J o .^^"- ^OV^' '^Jk^s! V. •o . , o A m ' . . « .0 ^^.^/T) "^^ O >. V ^^^ o* NnV.68 N. MANCHESTER INDIANA K' %,^* ••