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From the Library of
JAMES FRANCIS MEAGHER
Gift of his Children

THE CONQUERORS OF THE NEW
WORLD AND THEIR
BONDSMEN.

THE CONQUERORS OF
THE NEW WORLD
AND THEIR BONDSMEN
BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS
WHICH LED TO NEGRO SLAVERY IN
THE WEST INDIES AND
AMERICA r

VOLUME THE FIRST

LONDON
WILLIAM PICKERING
1848

TO THE
REV. ROBERT PHELPS D.D.
MASTER OF SIDNEY SUSSEX COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGE.
My dear Friend,
BELIEVE it is a general
complaint of authors that de
dications and epiftles dedica
tory are very intolerable things
to write ; which I feel to be true, though
in the prefent cafe it does not lefTen in the
' lead the pleafure I have in infcribing your
name to this book, as a memorial of our
long and uninterrupted friendfhip.
Hiftory being a favourite fludy of yours,
you will need but little preface or explana
tion, to make you take an interefr. in the
following work, even if your wonted re-
b

vi DEDICATION.
gard for the author were not fure to win
your attention to anything which has been
for fome time the daily labour of his life.
Still, in order that you may better under-
ftand the nature and aim of this narrative,
I will tell you how I came to write it.
Wifhing to fubmit to the " Friends in
Council," whom you know of, certain ef-
fays on the fubjed: of flavery, I had occafion
to refer to fome of the general works of
hiftory which treat, incidentally, of this
matter. The more I read, the lefs fatisiied
I felt with the refult of that reading, and
the greater wifh I experienced to make out
fomething like the full and true ftory for
myfelf. To do that, it was neceffary to refer
to certain Spanifh records which remain
unpublished : thefe I was not only permit
ted to examine and to copy from, but alfo
affifted in doing fo, with a kindnefs and a
franknefs for which I feel grateful to the
Hiftorical Academy at Madrid, and its
officers.

DEDICATION. vii
I may mention that no one could have
made much of thefe papers, unlefs with
very long fludy, if the tafk of collecting
and arranging them had not been under
taken by one fo competent to it as the
hiftorian Munoz, whofe accuracy and re-
fearch deferve the higheft, praife, and whofe
early death was a lofs to European litera
ture. With regard to the general aim of the
work, I can beft explain that to you by
mowing the want which this narrative is
intended to fupply.
In confidering the prefent condition of
the Weft Indies or the fouthern States of
America, it may occur even to a compara
tively unobfervant perfon, that thefe coun
tries are largely peopled by a race not na
tive to the foil : he hears of another race
which in fome parts has entirely paffed
away; and he fees a third which is and
was dominant over both. He naturally

viii DEDICATION.
wifhes to know the account of thefe things,
thinking rightly, that ftudy of the paft
furnifhes the fteadieft lights for deciphering
the prefent ; or, as the Spaniards have it,
" De la relacion veridica del hecho, nace y
" tieneorigen el derecho" which, being fome-
what liberally rendered, runs thus, The true
verfion of the ftory gives the right view of
the cafe.
What I aim at, then, in this narration, is
to fhow fuch an enquirer how the black
people came to the New World, how the
brown people faded away from certain
countries in it ; and what part the white
people had in thefe doings.
This is not an eafy undertaking. You,
as an artift, know how difficult it is from
fcattered objedts, pidturefque and intereft-
ing enough, perhaps, in themfelves, but
not fo connected together as readily to fall
into any harmonious grouping, to feledt
thofe which fhall fully reprefent the locality
meant to be depicted, and yet not form an

DEDICATION. ix
unpleafing picture. You will, therefore,
be indulgent to my attempt at a fimilar
piece of compofition.
I have taken a larger fcope than was
abfolutely needful, in beginning with the
Portuguefe difcoveries in Africa, which I
might have fuppofed to be known to my
readers. But I have little fcruple in doing
this, as I generally find I gain moft from
thofe books which prefume the reader to
be moft ignorant. Before ftudying this fub-
jedt of flavery I had no knowledge of what
may be fuppofed to be the well-known
fadts of the cafe; and as I traced up the
matter to its fource for my own information,
fo my narrative is fimply formed by retra
cing my fteps.
I have faid enough in explanation of the
book, and have now only to commend it to
your friendly perufal.
I am glad that this happens to be one of
your years of office as Vice- Chancellor, as,
in dedicating this book to you now, I have

x DEDICATION.
the additional pleafure of paying a mark of
refpedt to the firft officer in a Univerfity
which I always look upon with due filial
reverence and gratitude.
I remain, My dear Friend,
Yours affectionately,
THE AUTHOR.
London, July 1848.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. Page
T NTRODUCTORY Remarks— Difcovery of the Canaiy
A Iflands — Bethencourt — Portuguefe Difcoveries in Africa
under Prince Henry  t
CHAPTER II.
Cada Motto's Voyage — Prince Henry's Death — his Charac
ter — further Difcoveries of the Kings of Portugal . . 45
CHAPTER III.
Difcovery of America  80
CHAPTER IV.
Administration of Columbus in the Indies  113
CHAPTER V.
Ovando's Government, and the Events connefted with it .167
CHAPTER VI.
Don Diego Columbus — The Dominicans — The Laws of
Burgos  • 224

CHAPTER I.
Introductory Remarks — Discovery of the Ca
nary Islands — Bethencourt — Portuguese dis
coveries in Africa under Prince Henry.
' HE hiftory of every nation tells of
fome great tranfaction peculiar to
that nation, fomething which aptly
illuftrates the particular chara&er-
iftics of the people, which mows, as we may fay,
the part in human nature which that nation ex
plains and renders vifible. In Englifh hiftory, the
conteft between the Crown and the Parliament:
in that of France, the French Revolution : in
that of Germany, the religious wars, are fuch
tranfactions. All nations of the fame ftanding
have portions of their hiftory much alike ; border
wars, inteftine divifions, contefts about the fuc-
ceflion to the throne, uprifings againft favorites,
and other matters, about which if you put differ-

2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
ent names to the account of the fame tranfaction,
it will do very well for the hiftory of various
nations, and nobody would feel any ftrangenefs
or irrelevancy in the ftory, whether it were told
of France, England, Spain or Germany. Carrying
on the idea to the hiftory of our fyftem, if the
other worlds around us are peopled with beings
not • effentially unlike ourfolves, there may be
amongft. them plenty of Alexanders, Casfars, and
Napoleons ; all that conquering work of theirs
may be commonplace enough in many planets,
and thus the thing moft worthy to be noticed in
the records of our Earth, may be its commercial
flavery and its flave trade. For we may hope,
though it be to our fhame, that they have not
got thefe elfe where.
Black againft us, and almoft unaccountably
mean and cruel as much of this hiftory is, ftill it
is not altogether without fomething to be faid
for us on the other fide; and is by no means
deftitute of the higheft matters of human intereft.
The hiftory of flavery is not merely an account
of commercial greedinefs and recklefs cruelty
carried to the uttermoft ; but embodies the efforts
of the greateft men of many periods, their errors,
their difputations, their bewilderments : it par
takes largely of the nice qtieftions canvaffed by

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3
ecclefiaftics; is combined with the intrigues of
courts and cabinets ; and, alas ! is borne on the
winds by the refolute daring of hardy mariners
and far-feeing difcoverers — men who fhould have
been foremoft in the attack upon all mean cruelty,
and fome of whom thought that they were.
Again, in the hiftory of flavery, if it could be
well worked out, lie the means of confidering
queftions of the firft import touching colonization,
agriculture, foc;al order, and government.
The remarkable people connected with the
hiftory of flavery are alone fufficient to give it
fome intereft. Thefe are the royal family of
Portugal throughout the 15 th century, with
Prince Henry at their head ; then there are Fer
dinand and Ifabella, Columbus, and the whole
band of brave captains before and after him ;
there are Charles the 5 th, Ximenes, Las Cafas,
Vieyra, and hofts of churchmen and ftatefmen
from thofe times down to the prefent.
Laftly, there is the fate of one continent, per
haps we may fay, of two, deeply concerned in
the hiftory of flavery.
The importance of the records in this matter
is not to be meafured by the fhow they make,
which is often poor enough. There is many a
fmall fkirmifh in the hiftory of flavery which led

4 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
to more refult than pitched battles between rival
nations contending apparently for Empire. For
the refults of battles may almoft be faid to depend
for importance, not fo much upon the meafure of
fuccefs on the occafion of the battle, or the object.
of it, as upon the efTential difference between the
parties contending and the opinions that they hold
of each other : greatly on the contempt, whether
deferved or not, which the victors have for the
vanquifhed. Suppofing, therefore, that one na
tion, or race, commits an error in mifunderftand-
ing another which it wars fuccefsfully againft, the
refult of that war is likely to be larger, efpecially
for evil, as the mifunderftanding in queftion is
greater. The confequences of battle, whether
between races or individuals, where each knows
the worth of the other, are feldom fuch as to ob
literate the fame and courage, or change the
whole focial afpect of the vanquifhed party. But
when Spartan conquers Helot, barbarian Goth or
Vifigoth fubdues the polifhed Roman ; or civi
lized man with his many implements invades
and fubdues the Ample favage; then come the
cruelty and dire mifmanagement which are born
of ignorance and want of fympathy. And thus,
as in all human affairs, we get to fee the righ-
teoufnefs that there is in right understanding.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5
" Then fhalt thou underftand righteoufnefs, and judg-
" ment and equity ; yea every good path.
" When wifdom entereth into thine heart, and know-
" ledge is pleafant unto thy foul ; "
Yet with all this commendation of the intereft
of the fubject of flavery, it muft be confeffed that
it is a fubject which lacks dramatic intereft. It
has no one thread to run upon like the account
of any man's life, or the hiftory of a nation. The
ftory of flavery is fragmentary, confufed ; in a
different ftate of progrefs in different parts of
the world at the fame time, and deficient in dif-
tinct epochs to be illuftrated by great adventures.
Moreover, people think that they have already
heard all about it ; which is not fo.
In fine, it may be allowed that the read
er muft bring with him much of the intereft
which he is to find in confidering this fubject of
flavery. At the fame time he may remember
that it has been juftly held, that one element of
the fublime is great extent. In looking over the
vaft morals, unmarked by tower, or citadel, or
town, which the horizon defcends upon but does
not bound, the fhaping mind finds more to think
of than in the landfcape that laughs with every
variety of fcenic beauty. And here, too, in this

6 DISCOVERY OF THE
fubject of flavery is one which, be it ever fo dull,
prefents at all times an indefinite extent of human
ftruggle and human fuffering.
My intention in this work is to make a con
tribution to the general hiftory of flavery, by
giving an account of the origin and progrefs of
modern flavery, which will embrace the principal
events that led to the fubjection of the Indians of
the new world, and to the introduction of negro
flavery in America and the Weft Indies.
The hiftory of modern flavery begins natu
rally with the hiftory of African difcovery, and
firft and foremoft in that was the difcovery of
Difcovery the Canary Iflands. Thefe were the " elyfian
nlry'if^" fields" and "fortunate iflands" of antiquity.
lands. Perhaps there is no country in the world that
has been fo many times difcovered, conquered,
invaded, or fabled about, as thefe iflands. There
is fcarcely any nation upon earth of any maritime
repute that has not had to do with them. Phoe
nicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors, Genoefe,
Normans, Portuguefe, and Spaniards of every
province, (Arragonefe, Caftilians, Gallicians, Bif-
cayans, Andalucians) have all meddled in this

CANARY ISLANDS: 7
matter.* The Carthaginians are faid to have
difcovered thefe iflands, and to have referved
them as an afylum in cafe of extreme danger to
the ftate. Sertorius, the Roman general who
partook the fallen fortunes of Marius, is faid to
have meditated retreat to thefe " iflands of the
bleffed," and by fome writers is fuppofed to have
gone there. Juba, the Mauritanian prince, fon
of Salluft's Juba, fent fhips to examine them,
and has left a defcription of them.f
Then came the death of empires and darknefs
on the human race, at any rate upon the face of
hiftory. When the world revived again, and
efpecially when the knowledge of the loadftone
began to be rife amongft mariners, the Canary
Iflands were again difcovered. Petrarch is re
ferred to by Viera to prove that the Genoefe fent
out an expedition to thefe iflands. J Las Cafas
tells us that an Englifh or French veffel bound
from France or England to Spain was driven by
contrary winds to the Canary Iflands, and on its
* Viera y Clavigo. Hiftoria general de las iflas de Canaria,
Madrid, 177a. lib 3.
¦f Viera, ib. i, fee. 18.
J Petrarca de vita folitaria, lib. 2, fee. 6, cap. 3.

8 CANARY ISLANDS.
return fpread abroad in France an account of the
voyage.* The information thus obtained (and
perhaps in other ways of which we have no
i344« record) ftimulated Don Luis de la Cerda, count
of Clermont, great grandfon of Don Alonzo the
Wife of Caftile, to feek for the inveftiture of the
Crown of the Canaries, which was given to him
with much pomp by Clement the 6th, at Avig
non, A. D. 1344, Petrarch being prefent. f This
fceptre proved a barren one. The affairs of
France, with which the new king of the Canaries
was connected, drew off his attention, and he
•399- died without having vifited his dominions. The
next authentic information that we have of the
Canary Iflands is that, in the times of Don Juan
the Firft of Caftile, and of Don Enrique his fon,
thefe iflands were much vifited by the Spaniards. J
In 1399 we are told certain Andalucians, Bifcay-
ans, Guipuzcoans, with the licenfe of Don En
rique, fitted out an expedition of five veffels,
and making a defcent on the ifland of Lanza-
rote, one of the Canaries, took captive the king
* Las Cafas. Hift. Gen. de las Ind. MSS. primera parte, tom.
1, cap. 17.
¦J- Viera, vol. j, fee. 21.
X Ortiz de Zuniga, annales A. D. 1399, p. 262.

BETHENCOURT'S EXPEDITION. 9
and queen, and one hundred and feventy of the
iflanders.* Hitherto, we have had nothing but difcoveries, i402.
redifcoveries, and invafions of thefe iflands, but
now a colonift appears upon the fcene. This Bethen-
was Juan de Bethencourt a great Norman baron, Sedition.*"
lord of St. Martin le Gaillard in the county of
Eu, of Bethencourt, of Granville, of Sancerre,
and other places in Normandy, and chamberlain
to Charles the 6th. of France. Thofe who are
at all familiar with that period, and with the
mean and cowardly barbarity which charadterifed
the long continued contefts between the rival fac
tions of Orleans and Burgundy, may well imagine
that any Frenchman would then be very glad to
find a career in fome other country. Whatever
was the motive of Juan de Bethencourt, he carried
out his purpofe ftoudy. Leaving his young wife,
and felling part of his eftate, he embarked at
Rochelle in 1402 with men and means for con
quering and eftablifhing himfelf in the Canary
Iflands. It is not our intention to give a minute
defcription of this expedition. Suffice it to fay
that Bethencourt met with fully the ufual diffi
culties, diftreffes, treacheries, and difafters that
* Viera, lib. 3, fee. 25.

10 BETHENCOURT'S EXPEDITION.
belong to this race of enterprizing men. After
his arrival at the Canaries, finding his means in-
fufficient, he repaired to the court of Caftile, did
acts of homage to the king, Enrique the 3rd, and
afterwards renewed them to his fon Juan the
2nd, thereby much ftrengthening the claim which
the Spanifh monarchs already made to the do
minion of thefe iflands. Bethencourt returning to
the iflands with renewed refources, fubdued the
greater part of them, reduced feveral of the na
tives to flavery, introduced the Chriftian faith,
1405. built churches, and eftablifhed vaffalage. On the
occafion of quitting his colony in A. D. 1405 he
called all his vaffals together, and reprefented to
them that he had named for his lieutenant and
governor Maciot de Bethencourt his relation;
that he himfelf was going to Spain and to Rome
to feek for a bifhop for them ; and he concluded
his oration with thefe words :
" My loved vaffals, great or fmall, plebeians or nobles,
" if you have anything to afk me or to inform me of, if
" you find in my conduct anything to complain of, do
" not fear to fpeak, I defire to do favour and juftice to
"all the world."*
The affembly he was addrefling contained none
of the flaves he had made. We are told, how-
f Viera, lib. 4, fee. 20.

BETHENCOURT'S EXPEDITION. n
ever, and that by eye-witneffes, that the poor
natives themfelves bitterly regretted his departure,
and, wading through the water, followed his vef-
fel as far as they could. After his vifit to Spain
and to Rome, he returned to his paternal domains
in Normandy, where, while meditating another
voyage to his colony, he died a. d. 1425.
Maciot de Bethencourt ruled for fome time
fuccefsfully ; but, afterwards, falling into difputes
with the bifhop, and things going ill with him,
Maciot fold his rights to Don Enrique the prince
of Portugal, alfo, as it appears, to another perfon,
and afterwards fettled in Madeira. The claims
to the government of the Canary Iflands were,
for many years, in a moft entangled ftate, and the
right to the fovereignty over them was a conftant
ground of difpute between the crowns of Spain
and Portugal : all which, fortunately, it is not
needful for us to enter upon.
Thus ended the enterprize of Juan de Bethen
court, which, though it cannot be faid to have
led to any very large or lafting refults, yet as it
was the firft modern attempt of the kind, deferves
to be chronicled before we commence with Prince
Henry of Portugal's long continued and connect
ed efforts in the fame direction. The events alfo
which preceded and accompanied Bethencourt's

12 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
enterprize, need to be recorded to fhow the part
which many nations, efpecially the Spaniards, had
in thefe firft difcoveries on the Coaft of Africa.
We now turn to the hiftory of the Portuguefe
difcoveries made, or rather caufed to be made,
Birth of by Prince Henry of Portugal. This prince was
Prince
Hemyof born in 1394. He was the third fon of John
rtuga ' the Firft of Portugal and Philippa of Lancafter,
fifter of Henry the Fourth of England. That good
Plantagenet blood on the mother's fide was not,
I fhould think, without avail to a man whofe life
was to be fpent in infatiate attempts to work out
a great idea. This prince was with his father at
the taking of Ceuta in 141 5. He was efpecially
learned for that age of the world, being fkilled
in mathematical and geographical knowledge.
And it may be noticed here, that the greateft
geographical difcoveries have been made by men
converfant with the book knowledge of their own
time. A work, for inftance, often feen in the
hands of Columbus, and which his fon mentions
as having had much influence with him, was the
learned treatife of Cardinal Petro de Aliaco,
(Pierre d'Ailly) the " Imago Mundi."
But to return to Prince Henry of Portugal.
We are told that he had converfed much with

IN AFRICA. 13
thofe who had made voyages in different parts of
the world, and particularly with Moors from Fez
and Morocco, fo that he came to hear of the
Azenegues, a people bordering on the country of
the negroes of Jalof.
And now, the firft thing for us to do is the
fame as it was for Prince Henry, in which we
may be fure he was not remifs ; namely, to ftudy
our maps and charts. Without frequent reference
to maps, a narrative like the prefent forms in our
mind only a mirage of names and dates and facts :
is wrongly apprehended even while we are re
garding it, and foon vanifhes away. The map of
the world being before us, let us reduce it to the
proportions it filled in Prince Henry's time : let
us look at our infant world. Firft, take away
thofe two continents, for fo we may almoft call
them, each much larger than a Europe, to the far
Weft. Then cancel that fquare maflive-looking
piece to the extreme South-Eaft ; happily there
are no penal fettlements there yet. Then turn to
Africa: inftead of that form of inverted cone
which it prefents, and which we now know there
are phyfical reafons for its prefenting; make a
fcimitar fhape of it by running a flightly-curved
line from Juba on the Eaftern fide to Cape Nam
on the Weftern. Declare all below that line

14 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
unknown. Hitherto, we have only been doing
the work of deftruction ; but now fcatter emblems
of Hippogriffs and Anthropophagi on the out-
fkirts of what is left in the map, obeying a maxim
not confined to the ancient geographers only —
where you know nothing, place terrors. Looking
at our completed map, we can hardly help think
ing to ourfelves with a fmile what a, compara
tively fpeaking, minor fpace the known hiftory
of the world has been tranfacted in up to the laft
four hundred years. The idea of the univerfal
Roman dominion fhrinks a little : and we begin to
fancy that Ovid might have efcaped-his tyrant. No
time, however, remains to moralize: fixing. our
eyes on that part which was the ftarting point
for Prince Henry, we are now ready to accom
pany him.
Our prince having once the idea in his mind,
that Africa did not end where it was commonly fup
pofed, namely, at Cape Nam (Not), but that there
was a world beyond that forbidding negative,
feems not to have refted until he had made known
that quarter of the globe to his own. He fixed
his abode upon the promontory of Sagres, at the
fouthern part of Portugal, from whence, for many
a year, he could watch for rifing fpecks of white
fail bringing back his captains to tell him of new

1JN AfKHJA. 15
countries and* new men. We may wonder that
he never went himfelf: but he might have
thought that he ferved the caufe better by re
maining at home and forming a centre from
whence, if we may fo exprefs it, the electric en
ergy of enterprize was communicated to many
difcoverers and collected from them. Moreover,
we muft recollect that he was much engaged in
public affairs. In the courfe of his life he was
three times in Africa, carrying on war againft the
Moors ; and, at home, befides the care and trouble
which the ftate of the Portuguefe court and go
vernment muft have given him, he was occupied
in promoting fcience and encouraging education.
In 141 5, as we faid before, he was at Ceuta.
In 141 8, he is fettled on his promontory of Sa-
gres. One night in that year he is thought to H'S.
have had a dream of promife, for, on the enfuing
morning, he fuddenly ordered two veffels to be Firft expe-
got ready forthwith ; and placed them under the der joham
command of Joham Goncalvez Zarco and Triftam 2°r"0 .^j
Vaz, gentlemen of his houfehold, to proceed down Triftram
the Barbary coaft on a voyage of difcovery.
The contemporary chronicler, Azurara, tells
the ftory more fimply, and merely gives us to
underftand that thefe young men, after the end
ing of the Ceuta campaign, were as eager for em-

16 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
ployment as the prince for difcovery ; and that
they were ordered on a voyage having for its ob
ject the general moleftation of the Moors as well
as that of making difcoveries beyond Cape Nam.
The Portuguefe mariners had a proverb about this
Cape, " he who would pafs Cape Not, either will
return, or not," ( Qjuem pajfar o Cabo deNam, ou tor-
nara, ou nam,) intimating that if he did not turn be
fore pafling the Cape, he would never return at all.
On the prefent occafion it was not deftined to be
paffed ; for thefe captains, Joham Goncalvez Zarco
and Triftam Vaz, were driven out of their courfe
by ftorms, and accidentally difcovered a litde if-
land, where they took refuge, and from that cir-
Porto cumftance called the ifland Porto Santo. " They
cohered!11 " found there," fays Soufa, " a race of people in
" no refpedt arranged politically, but not alto-
" gether barbarous and favage, and poffefling a
" kindly and moft fertile foil."* I mention this
defcription of the firft land difcovered by Prince
Henry's captains, thinking it would well apply
to many other lands about to be found out by
his captains and other difcoverers. Joham Gon-

* " Hallaron alii gente nada politica, mas no del todo barbara
" o felvage, y pofleedora de un benevolo y fertiliffimo terreno." —
' Fariay Soufa AJia Portuguefa, Lifbon. 1666. torn. 1, part 1,
cap. 1.

IN AFRICA. ,7
calvez and Triftam Vaz return. Their matter is
delighted with the news they bring him, more on
account of its promife than its fubftance. In the
fame year he fends them out again together with
a third captain, Bartholomew Pereftrelo, and af-
figns a fhip to each captain. His object is not
only to difcover more iflands, but to improve his
Porto Santo. He fends, therefore, various feeds
and animals. This feems a man worthy to direct
difcovery. Unfortunately, however, amongft the
animals fome rabbits are introduced into the new
ifland ; and they conquer it, not for the prince,
but for themfelves. Hereafter, we fhall find them
giving his people much trouble and caufing fome
reproach to him.
We come now to the year 141 9. Pereftrelo, 1419,
for fome caufe not known, returned to Portugal
at that time. After his departure, Joham Gon
calvez and Triftam Vaz, feeing from Porto
Santo fomething that feemed like a cloud, but
yet different (the origin of fo much difcovery,
noting the difference in the likenefs), built two Madeira
boats, and, making for this cloud, foon found
themfelves alongfide an ifland beautiful and abun
dant in many things, but moft in trees, to be
called from thence, Madeira (wood). The two
difcoverers, Joham Goncalvez Zarco and Triftam

18 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
Vaz enter the ifland at different parts. The
prince, their mafter, afterwards rewarded them
with the captaincies of thofe parts. To Per
eftrelo he gave the ifland of Porto Santo, to
populate it : fhowing therein the juft mafter who
rewards, not according to fortune, but to endea
vour. Pereftrelo, however, did not make much
of his captaincy, but after a ftrenuous conteft with
the rabbits, having killed an army of them, died
himfelf. This Pereftrelo is interefting to us as
being the father-in-law of Columbus, who, indeed,
lived at Porto Santo for fome time, and here, on
new-found land, meditated far bolder difcoveries.
Joham Goncalvez Zarco and Triftam Vaz be
gin the cultivation of their ifland of Madeira, but
meet with an untoward event at firft. In clearing
the wood, they kindle a fire amongft it, that burns
for feven years, we are told, and in the end the '
wood, which gave the name to the ifland, and
which, in the words of the hiftorian, overfhadowed
the whole land, became the moft deficient com
modity. The captains founded churches in the
ifland: and the king of Portugal, Don Duarte,
gave the temporalities to Prince Henry, and all
the fpiritualities to the knights of Chrift.
While thefe things were occurring at Ma
deira and at Porto Santo, Prince Henry had been

IN AFRICA. 19
profecuting his general fcheme of difcovery, fend
ing out two or three veffels each year, with orders
to go down the coaft from Cape Nam, and make
what difcoveries they could, but thefe did not
amount to much, for the captains never got be
yond Cape Bojador, which is fituated feventy
leagues to the fouth of Cape Nam. This Cape
Bojador was formidable in itfelf, being terminated
by a ridge of rocks with fierce currents running
round them : but was much more formidable
from the fancies which the mariners had formed
of the fea and land beyond it ; for men, though
they may fhrink from an undertaking, yet will
not be without their theories about it to juftify
their fears. " It is clear," they faid, " that be-
" yond this cape there is no people Whatever ;
" the land is as bare as Libya, no water, no trees,
" no grafs in it ; the fea fo fhallow that at a league
" from the land it is only a fathom deep; the
" currents fo fierce, that the fhip which paffes
" that cape will never return."*
This outftretcher (for fuch is the meaning of
the word Bojador) was therefore as a bar drawn
acrofs the anxious hopes of our great difcoverer.
We hear that he had now been working at his

* Azurara. Paris, 1841. cap. 8.

ings

20 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
difcoveries for twelve years with little approba
te Peo- tion from many perfons, (con poca aprovacion de
^T" muchos) the difcovery of thefe iflands, Porto Santo
item's and Madeira, ferving to whet his appetite for
proceed- further enterprize, but not winning the common
voice in favour of profecuting difcoveries on the
coaft of Africa. The people at home, improving
upon the reports of the failors, faid that
" the land which the Prince fought after, was merely
" fome fandy place like the deferts of Libya; that Princes
" had pofleffed the empire of the world and yet had not
" undertaken fuch defigns as his, or fhown fuch anxiety
" to find new kingdoms : that the men who arrived
" in thofe foreign parts (if they did arrive) turned from
" white into black men : that the king Don John, the
" Prince's father, had given to Grangers lands in his
" kingdom, to break them up and cultivate them, a thing
" very different from taking the people out of Portugal,
" which had need of them, to bring them amongft favages
" to be eaten, and to place them upon lands of which
" the mother-country had no need ; that the Author of
" the world had provided thefe iflands folely for the ha-
" bitation of wild beafts, of which an additional proof
" was, that the very rabbits they themfelves had intro-
" duced were now difpoflefling them of the ifland." *
There is much here of the ufual captioufnefs to
» Faria y Soufa, torn. 1, part 1, cap. 1.

IN AFRICA. 21
be found in byftanders' criticifms upon action,
mixed with a great deal of falfe affertion and
premature knowledge of the ways of Providence.
Still it were to be wifhed that moft criticifm upon
action was as wife. For that part of the common
talk which fpoke of King John's doings, and of
the keeping their own population to bring out their
own refources, had a wifdom in it which the men
of future centuries were yet to difcover through
out the Peninfula.
Prince Henry, as we may fee by his perfever-
ance up to this time, was not a man to have his
purpofes diverted by fuch criticifm, much of which
muft have been in his eyes worthlefs and ineon-
fequent in the extreme. Neverthelefs, he had his
own mifgivings. It muft have been a weary time
of late years to him. His captains returned one
after another with no good tidings of difcovery,
but with petty plunder gained as they returned,
from incurfions on the Moorifh coaft. The prince
concealed from them his chagrin at the fruitlefs
nature of their attempts ; but probably did not
feel it lefs on that account. He began to think,
was it for him to hope to difcover that land which
had been hidden from fo many princes ? Still
he felt within himfelf the incitement of " a vir
tuous obftinacy " which would not let him reft.

22 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
Would it not, he thought, be ingratitude to God
who thus moved his mind to thefe attempts, if he
were to defift from his work, or be negligent in it?*
He refolved, therefore, to fend out Gil Eannes, one
of his houfehold, who had been fent out the year
before, but had returned, like the reft, having
difcovered nothing. He had been driven to the
Canary Iflands, and had feized upon fome of the
natives there whom he brought back. With this
tranfaction the prince had fhown himfelf diffatif-
fied, and Gil Eannes, now entrufted again with
command, refolved to meet all dangers to carry
out the wifhes of his mafter. Before his depar
ture, the prince called him afide and faid,
" You cannot meet with fuch peril that the hope of
" your reward fhall not be much greater j and in truth,

* Porgm quando os capitaes tornavam, faziam algumas entradas
na cofta de Berberia, (como atras diffemos,) com que elles refa-
ziam parte da defpeza, o que o Infante paffava com foffrimento,
fem por iffo moftrar aos homens defcontentamento de feu fervico,
dado que nao cumpriffem o principal a que eram enviados. Por-
que como era Principe Catholico, e todalas fuas coufas punha em
as maos de Deos, parecia-lhe que nao era merecedor que per elle
foffe defcuberto, o que tanto tempo havia que eftava efcondido aos
Principes paffados de Hefpanha. Com tudo, porque fentia em fi
hum eftimulo de virtuofa perfia, que o nao leixava defcancar era
outra coufa, parecia-lhe que era ingratidao a Deos dar-lhe eftes
movimentos, que nao defiftiffe da obra, e elle fer a iffo negli-
gente.— Barros, Lifbon, 1778. dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. +.

IN AFRICA. 23
" I wonder what imagination this is that you have all
" taken up, — in a matter, too, of fo little certainty ; for if
" thefe things which are reported had any authority, how-
" ever little, I would not blame you fo much. But you
" quote to me the opinions of four mariners, who, as
" they were driven out of their way to Frandes or to fome
" other ports to which they commonly navigated, had
" not, and could not have ufed, the needle and the chart ;
" but do you go, however, and make your voyage with-
" out regard to their opinion, and, by the grace of God,
" you will not bring out of it anything but honour and
" profit."* We may well imagine that thefe ftirring words
of the prince muft have confirmed Gil Eannes
in his refolve to wipe out the ftain of his former
mifadventure. And he fucceeded in doing fo ; for
he paffed thedreadedCapeBojador, — a great event Cape Bo-
in the hiftory of African difcovery, and one that Jed.°r P
in that day was confidered equal to a labour of
Hercules. Gil Eannes returned to a grateful and
moft delighted mafter. He tells the prince that
he had landed, and that the foil appeared to him
unworked and fruitful : and, like a prudent man,
could not only tell of foreign plants, but had
brought fome home with him in a barrel of the
new-found earth, plants much like thofe which
*Azurara, cap. 9.

24 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
bear in Portugal the rofes of Santa Maria. The
prince rejoiced to fee them and gave thanks to
God, " as if they had been the fruit and fign of
" the prorriifed land ; and befought our lady,
" whofe name the plants bore, that fhe would
" guide and fet forth the doings in this difcovery
" to the praife and glory of God, and to the
" increafe of his facred faith."*
The pious wifh expreffed above is the firft of
the kind that we have occafion to notice in this
hiftorical account; but fimilar wifhes feemto have
been predominant in the minds of the greateft
difcoverers and promoters of difcovery in thofe
times. I believe this defire of theirs to have been
thoroughly genuine and deep-feated ; and, in fart,
that the difcoveries would not have been made
at that period but for the impulfe given to them
by the moft pious minds longing to promote, by
all means in their power, the fpread of what to
them was the only true and faving faith. We fhall
find much to blame in the conduct of the firft dif
coverers in Africa and America, but we muft do
them the juftice to acknowledge that the love of
gold was not by any means the only motive which
urged them, or which could have urged them,

Barros, dec. t, lib. i, cap 4.. Azurara, cap. 9.

IN AFRICA. 25
to fuch endeavours as theirs. We fhould more
readily admit the above conclufion, if we kept in
our minds the views then univerfally entertained
of the merits and efficacy of mere formal commu
nion with the church, and the fatal confequences
of not being within that communion. A man
fo enlightened as Las Cafas fcorns paffages brought
againft him in argument from the works of hea
then writers, men who are now living in hell,
as he fays : and Columbus, in giving an account
of his third voyage to the Catholic fovereigns,
fays, that in temporal matters he has only a
" blanca" for the offertory, and that in fpiritual
matters he is fo apart from the holy facraments of
the holy church, that if he were to die where he is,
his foul would be forgotten (que Je olvidard defla
anima fi Je apart a aca del cuerpo). " Weep for
" me," he fays, " ye that are charitable, true, or
" juft." And doubtlefs in the minds of the common
people, the advantage of this communion with the
church flood at the higheft. This will go a long
way to explain the wonderful inconfiftency, as it
feems to us, of the moft cruel men appealing to
their good works as promoters of the faith. And
the maintenance of fuch church principles will

26 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
altogether account for the ftrange overfights
which pure and high minds have made in the
means of carrying out thofe principles, fafcinated
as they were by the brilliancy and magnitude of
the main object they had in view.
The old world has now got a glimpfe beyond
Cape Bojador. The fearful " outftretcher" has
no longer much intereft for us, is a thing that is
overcome and which is to defcend from an impof-
fibility to a land-mark, from whence, by degrees,
we fhall almoft filently fteal down the coaft, count
ing our miles by thoufands, until Vafco de Gama
boldly takes us round to India.
After the palling of Cape Bojador there was a
lull in Portuguefe Difcovery : the period from
1434 to 1 44 1 being fpent in enterprizes of no great
diftinctnefs or moment. Indeed, during the latter
part of this period, the Prince was fully occupied
with the affairs of Portugal. In 1437 ne ma<^e
the unfortunate expedition to Tangier, in which
his brother Ferdinand was taken prifoner and
ended his days in flavery to the Moor. And in
1438, king Duarte dying, the troubles of the
regency occupied Prince Henry's attention. In
144! . 1 44 1, however, there was a voyage" which led to
very important confequences. In that year Anto-

IN AFRICA. 27
nio Goncalvez, mafter of the robes to Prince
Henry, was fent out with a veffel to load it with
fkins of " fea wolves," a number of them having
been feen, during a former voyage, in the mouth
of a river about fifty-four leagues beyond Cape
Bojador. Goncalvez refolved to fignalize his voy
age by a feat that fhould gratify his mafter more
than the capture of fea-wolves ; and he accord
ingly planned and executed fuccefsfully an expe
dition for capturing fome Azeneghi Moors, in
order, as he told his companions, to take home
" fome of the language of that country." Nuno
Triftam, another of Prince Henry's captains, after
wards falling in with Goncalvez, a further capture
of Moors was made, and Goncalvez returned to
Portugal with his fpoil.
In this fame year, Prince Henry applied to
Pope Martin the Fifth, praying that his Holinefs
would grant to the Portuguefe crown all that it Grant
fhould conquer, from Cape Bojador to the Indies, pope.
together with plenary indulgence for thofe who
fhould die in the attempt. The pope granted 1441-
this. " And now," fays a Portuguefe hiftorian,
" with this apoftolic grace, with the breath of
" royal favour, and already with the applaufe of
" the people," (no common talk now about white
men turning into black, or lands intended by

28 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
Providence only for wild beafts,) " the prince
" purfued his purpofe with more courage and
" with greater outlay."*
In 1442, the Moors whom Antonio Goncalvez
had taken the previous year, promife to give black
Haves in ranfom for themfelves if he will take
them back to their own country ; and the prince,
approving of this, orders Goncalvez to {et fail
immediately, " infifting as the foundation of the
" matter, that if Goncalvez fhould not be able to
" obtain fo many negroes (as had been mentioned)
" in exchange for the three Moors, yet that he
" fhould take them ; for whatever number he
<c fhould get, he would gain fouls, becaufe they
" (the negroes) might be converted to the faith,
" which could not be managed with the Moors."f
Here again we fee the religious motives predomi
nating : and, indeed, we may note the fame mo
tive in numerous paffages in which this Prince's
conduct comes before us. ,
Gonealvez obtains ten black flaves, fome gold
duft, a target of buffalo hide, and fome oftriches'
* Faria y Soufa, torn. 1, part 1, cap. 1.
f Ordenou o Infante de o defpachar logo em hum navio, fa-
zendo fundamento, que quando Antao Goncalves nao pudeffe
haver tantos negros a troco defies tres Mouros, jade quantosquer
que foffem ganhava almas, porque fe converteriam a Fe, o que elle
nao podia acabar com os Mouros. Barros, dec. i, lib. 1, cap. 7.

IN AFRICA. 29
eggs, in exchange for two of the Moors, and,
returning with his cargo, excites general admira
tion on account of the colour of the flaves.*
Thefe, then, we may prefume, are the firft black Firft. black
flaves that made their appearance in the Peninfula the Penin-
fince the extinction of the old flavery. fula"
I am not ignorant that there are reafons for
alleging that Negroes had before this era been
feized and carried to Seville. In the ecclefiaftical
annals of Ortiz de Zuiiiga under the date 1474,
we are told that negro flaves abounded in that
city, and that the fifths levied on them produced
confiderable gains to the royal revenue ; it is alfo
mentioned that there had been traffic of this kind
in the days of Don Enrique the Third, about 1399,
but that it had fince then fallen into the hands of
the Portuguefe. The Chronicler ftates that the
Negroes of Seville were treated very kindly from
the time of King Enrique, being allowed to keep
their dances and feftivals ; and that one of them
was named " mayoral" of the reft, who protected
them againft their mafters, and before the courts
of law, and alfo fettled their own private quarrels.
There is a letter from Ferdinand and Ifabella in

* " Entraron en el Reyno con admiracion comun, canfada del
color de los esclavos."— Fariay Soufa, torn, i, part i, cap. i.

3o PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
the year 1474, to a celebrated negro, Juan de
Valladolid, commonly called the " Negro Count,"
(el Conde Negro) nominating him to this office
of " mayoral of the negroes, " which runs thus.
" For the many good, loyal, and fignal fervices which
you have done us, and do each day, and becaufe we
" know your fufficiency, ability, and good difpofition,
" we. conftitute you mayoral and judge of all the ne-
" groes and mulattoes, free, or flaves, which are in the
" very loyal and noble city of Seville, and throughout the
" whole Archbifhopric thereof, and that the faid ne-
" groes and mulattoes may not hold any feftivals, nor
" pleadings amongft themfelves, except before you Juan
" de Valladolid, negro, our judge and mayoral of the
" laid negroes and mulattoes ; and we command that
" you, and you only, fhould take cognizance of the dif-
" putes, pleadings, marriages and other things which
" may take place amongft them, forafmuch as you are a
" perfon fufficient for that office, and deferving of
" your power, and you know the laws and ordinances
" which ought to be kept, and we are informed that you
" are of noble lineage amongft the faid negroes." t
But all this merely fhows that in the year 1474
there were many negroes in Seville, and that laws
and ordinances had been made about them. Thefe
negroes might all, however, have been imported J()
f Ortiz de Zuniga. Madrid, 1677. Annales de Sevilla. p. 37+.

IN AFRICA. 3I
into Seville, fince the Portuguefe difcoveries. True
it is that in the times of Don Enrique the Third
and during Bethencourt's occupation of the Canary
Iflands, flaves from thence had been brought to
France and Spain : but thefe iflanders were not
negroes, and it certainly may be doubted whether
any negroes were imported into Seville previous
to 1443.
Returning to Portuguefe affairs, the iiiftorian
Faria y Soufa tells us, that the gold obtained
by Goncalvez " awakened, as always, covetouf-
" nefs." The next year Nuno Triftan went fur
ther down the African coaft, and off the ifland of
Adeget, one of the Arguim Iflands, captured 80
natives, and brought them to Portugal. Thefe,
however, were not negroes, but Azenegues.
The tide of popular opinion was now not
merely turned, but in full flow in favour of Prince prince
Henry and his difcoveries. The difcoverers are fav"u^ m
found to come back rich in flaves and other com- ™*££
modities ; whereas it is remembered that in former men-
wars and undertakings, thofe who had been en
gaged came back in great diftrefs. Strangers,
too, came from afar fcenting the prey. A new
mode of life, as the Portuguefe faid, had been
found out for them ; and we are told that " the

1444-
Companyof adven
turers for
furtherdifcovery.

32 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
" greater part of the kingdom, was moved with a
" fudden defire to follow this way to Guinea."*
In 1444, a company is formed at Lagos, who re
ceive permiffion from the prince to go upon thefe
difcoveries, paying him a certain portion of the
proceeds. This has been confidered as a com
pany founded for carrying on the flave trade, but
I do not think that we have evidence to fhow
that its founders meant this to be its purpofe.
It might rather be compared to an expedition
fent out, as we fhould fay in modern times, with
letters of marque, in which, however, the prizes
chiefly hoped for are not fhips or merchandize,
but men. After getting fome oftriches' eggs, the
firft thing the expedition does, is to attack the
inhabitants of the iflands Nar and Tider, and to
bring back about two hundred flaves.f I grieve
to fay that we do not find our great difcovering
prince putting a check to any of thefe doings,
but, on the contrary, he rewards with large ho-'
nours Lancarote, one of the principal men of this
expedition, and receives his own fifth of the

* Barros, dec. i, lib. 1, cap. 8.
f Barros does not fay of what race thefe flaves were, but merely
calls them " almas." Faria y Soufa gives them the name of
" Moors," a very elaftic word. I imagine that they were Azen
egues.

IN AFRICA. , 33
flaves.- Yet I have fcarcely a doubt that the
words of the hiftorian are fubftantially true, — that
difcovery, not gain, was ftill the prince's leading
idea.* We have an account from an eye-witnefs
of the partition of the flaves brought back by
Lancarote, which, as it is the firft tranfaction of
the kind on record, is worthy of notice, more
efpecially as it may enable us to underftand the
motives of the prince, and of other men of thofe
times. It is to be found in the Chronicles of
Azurara. The good chronicler is torn to the
heart at the forrow he witneffes, but ftill believes
it to be for good ; and that he muft not let his
mere earthly commiferation get the better of his
piety. " O thou heavenly Father," he exclaims, " who, with
" thy powerful hand, without movement of thy divine ef-
" fence, governeft all the infinite company of thy holy
" city, and who draweft together all the axles of the upper
" worlds, divided into nine fpheres,- moving the times
" of their long and fhort periods as it pleafes thee ! I
" implore thee that my tears may not condemn my
" confcience, for not its law, but our common huma-
* Porque huma das coufas, que o Infante naquelle tempo trazia
ante os olhos, e em que o mais podiam comprazer, e fervir, era
em aquelle defcubrimento, por fer coufa, que elle plantara, c
creara com tanta induftria, e defpeza. — Barros; dec. i, lib. i,
cap. 8.
% D

34 AZURARA'S LAMENT.
" nity conftrains my humanity to lament piteoufly the
" fufferings of thefe people (flaves). And if the brute
" animals, with their mere beftial fentiments, by a na-
" tural inftinct, recognize the misfortunes of their like,
" what muft this my human nature do, feeing thus before
" my eyes this wretched company, remembering that
" I myfelf am of the generation of the fons of Adam !
" The other day, which was the eighth of Auguft, very
" early in the morning, by reafon of the heat, the mari-
" ners began to bring-to their veflels, and, as they had
" been commanded, to draw forth thofe captives to take
" them out of the veffel : whom, placed together on that
" plain, it was a marvellous fight to behold, for amongft
" them there were fome of a reafonable degree of white-
" nefs, handfome and well-made ; others lefs white,
" refembling leopards in their colour; others as black
" as Ethiopians, and fo ill-formed, as well in their faces
" as their bodies, that it feemed to the beholders as if
" they faw the forms of a lower hemifphere. But
" what heart was that, how hard foever, which was not
" pierced with forrow feeing that company : for fome
" had funken cheeks, and their faces bathed in tears,
" looking at each other ; others were groaning very do-
" loroufly, looking at the heights of the heavens, fixing
" their eyes upon them, crying out loudly, as if they
" were afking fuccour from the Father of nature ; others
" ftruck their faces with their hands, throwing them-
" felves on the earth ; others made their lamentations
" in fongs, according to the cuftoms of their country,
" which, although we could not underftand their Ian-

AZURARA'S LAMENT. 35
" guage, we faw correfponded well to the height of
" their forrow. But now, for the increafe of their
" grief, came thofe who had the charge of the diftribu-
" tion, and they began to put them apart one from the
" other, in order to equalize the portions ; wherefore
" it was neceffary to part children and parents, hufbands
" and wives, and brethren from each other. Neither
" in the partition of friends and relations was any law
" kept, only each fell where the lot took him. O pow-
" erful fortune ! who goeft hither and thither with thy
" wheels, compafling the things of the world as it
" pleafeth thee, if thou canft, place before the eyes of
" this miferable nation fome knowledge of the things
" that are to come after them (coufas poftumeiras) that
" they may receive fome confolation in the midft of their
" great fadnels ! and you others who have the bufinefs
" of this partition, look with pity on fuch great mifery,
" and confider how can thofe be parted whom you
" cannot difunite! Who will be able to make this
" partition without great difficulty ? for while they
" were placing in one part the children that faw their
" parents in another, they Iprang up perfeveringly and
" fled to them ; the mothers enclofed their children in
" their arms and threw themfelves with them on the
" ground, receiving wounds with little pity for their own
" flefh fo that their children might not be torn from
" them ! And fo, with labour and difficulty, they con-
" eluded the partition, for, befides the trouble they
" had with the captives, the plain was full of people, as
" well of the place as of the villages and neighbourhood

36 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
' around, who in that day gave reft to their hands, the
' mainftay of their livelihood, only to fee this novelty.
' And as they looked upon thefe things, fome deploring,
' fome reafoning upon them, they made fuch a riotous
* noife, as greatly to difturb thofe who had the manage-
' ment of this diftribution. The Infante was there
' upon a powerful horfe, accompanied by his people,
' looking out his fhare, but as a man who for his
1 part did not care for gain, for, of the forty-fix fouls
i which fell to his fifth, he fpeedily made his choice, as
' all his principal riches were in his contentment, con-
' fidering with great delight the falvation of thofe fouls
' which before were loft. And certainly his thought
' was not vain, for as foon as they had knowledge of
' our language, they readily became Chriftians ; and
' I, who have made this hiftory in this volume, have
' feen in the town of Lagos young men and young
' women, the fons and grandfons of thofe very captives,
' born in this land, as good and as true Chriftians as if
' they had lineally defcended, fince the commencement
' of the law of Chrift, from thofe who were firft bap-
' tized." The good Azurara wifhes that thefe captives
might have fome forefight of the things to happen
after their death : I do not think it would have
proved much confolation to them to have forefeen
that they were almoft the firft of many millions
to be dealt with as they had been. For, in this
1444- year, 1444, Europe may be faid to have made a

IN AFRICA. 37
diftinct beginning in the flave trade, henceforth to Beginning
fpread on all fides, like the waves upon ftirred trade.
water, and not, like them, to become fainter and
fainter as the circles widen.
In 1445, an expedition was fitted out by the
prince, and the command given to Gonfalvo de
Cintra, who was unfuccefsful in an attack on the
natives near Cape Blanco. He and fome other of
the principal men of the expedition loft their lives.
Thefe were the firft Portuguefe who died in battle
on that coaft. In the fame year, the prince fent out
three other veffels. The captains received orders
from the Infante, Don Pedro, who was then re
gent of Portugal, to enter the river d'Oro, and
make all endeavours to convert the natives to the
faith, and even, if they fhould not receive bap-
tifm, to make peace and alliance With them.
This did not fucceedr Very likely the captains
found negociation of this kind exceedingly tame
and apparently profitlefs in comparifon with the
pleafant forays made by their predeceffors. The
attempt, however, fhows much intelligence and
humanity on the part of thofe in power in Por
tugal. That the inftructions were fincere is proved
by the fact of this expedition returning with only
one negro, gained in ranfom, and a Moor who came
of his own accord to fee the Chriftian country.

38 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
This fame year 1445, is fignalized, by a great
event in the progrefs of difcovery along the Afri
can coaft. Dinis Dyaz, called by Barros and the
hiftorians who followed him, Dinis Fernandez,
feeks employment from the Infante, and being
entrufted by him with the command of a veffel,
pufhes boldly down the coaft, and paffes the river
Sanaga (Senegal) which divides the Azenegues
(whom the firft difcoverers always called Moors)
from the negroes of Jalof. The inhabitants were
much aftonifhed at the prefence of the Portuguefe
veffel on their coafts, and at firft took it for a
fifh, or a bird, or a phantafm ; but when in their
rude boats (hollowed logs) they neared it and faw
that there were men in it, judicioufly concluding
that it was a more dangerous thing than fifh, or
bird, or phantafm, they fled. Dinis Fernandez,
however, captured four of them off that coaft, but
as his object was not flave hunting but difcove-
Dinis Fer- ry,* he went on till he difcovered Cape Verde and
covers " then returned to his country, to be received with
Cape Ver- mu^ honour and favour by Prince Henry. Thefe
four negroes taken by Dinis Fernandez, were the
firft taken in their own country by the Portu-
* Como feu propofito mais era defcubrir terra por fervir o In
fante, que trazer cativos pera feu proprio proveito. — Barros, dec.
1, lib. i, cap. 9.

IN AFRICA. 39
guefe.* That the prince is ftill engaged in high Firft ne-
thoughts of difcovery and converfion, we may fenema~
conclude from obferving that he rewarded and their ow"
o country by
honoured Dinis Fernandez as much as if he had the „Poitu-
guefe.
brought him large booty. Barros fays, " he,"
(the prince) " thought litde of whatever he could
" do for thofe who came to him with thefe figns
" and tokens of another greater hope which he
" had."f In this cafe, too, as in others, we fhould do
the prince great injuftice if we fuppofed that he
had any flave-dealer's pleafure in getting thefe
negroes ; as it is far more probable that he
valued them as perfons capable of furnifhing
intelligence, and, perhaps, of becoming inter
preters, for his future expeditions. Not that,
without thefe efpecial motives, he would have
thought it anything but great gain for a man to
be made a flave, if it were the means of bringing
him into communion with the Church.
After this, feveral expeditions, which did not

* Os quaaes forom os primeiros que em fua propria terra forom
filhados per Xpaaos, nem ha hi cronica nem eftorya em que fe
conte o contrairo. — Azurara, cap. 31.
T Qjie fempre lhe parecia pouco o que fazia aquelles, que lhe
vinham com eftas moftras, e finaes d'outra maior efperanca que
elle tinha. — Barros, dec. 1, lib. 1, cap. 9.

40 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
lead to much, occupied the Prince's time till
I447. 1 447 . In that year, a fleet, large for thofe times,
t5 'under of fourteen veffels, was fitted out at Lagos by the
Lancarote. peopie there, and the command given by Prince
Henry to Lancarote. The object feems to have
been, from a fpeech that we have of Lancarote's,
to make war upon the Azeneghi Moors, and ef
pecially to take revenge for the defeat which Gon-
falvo de Cintra fuffered in 1445, near Cape Blanco.
That purpofe effected, the fliips parted company.
Lancarote went fouthwards, extending the difco
very of the coaft to the river Gambia. In the
courfe of his proceedings on that coaft, we find
again that Prince Henry's inftructions infilled
much upon the maintenance of peace with the na
tives.* Another inftance of the fame difpofition
on his part deferves to be efpecially recorded.
The expedition had been received in a friendly
manner at Gomera, one of the Canary Iflands.
Notwithftanding this kind reception, Juan de
Caftilla took fome of the natives prifoners. On

* Gomes Pires, a quem o Capitao Lancarote mandou em hum
batel, que fofle a elles, parecendo-lhe que os provocava mais a paz,
que lhe o Infante muito encommendava em feu Regimento,
lancou-lhes em terra hum bollo, hum efpelho, e huma folha de
papel, em que hia debuxada huma cruz. — Barros, dec. i, lib. i,
cap. 13.

IN AFRICA. 41
their coming to Portugal, Prince Henry had
them clothed and placed at liberty in the place
where they were taken from.*
This expedition under Lancarote had no great
refult. They went a little further down the coaft
than they had ever been before, but they did not
make friends with the natives, who had already
been treated in a hoftile manner by fome Portu
guefe from Madeira. Neither did the expedition
make great fpoil, but only indulged in fmall fkir
mifhes and took no large number of prifoners.
They had got into feuds with the natives, and were
preparing to attack them, when a ftorm diflipated
their fleet and made them return home.
It appears, I think, from the general courfe of
proceedings of the Portuguefe in thofe times, that
they confidered there was always war between
them and the Azeneghi Moors, that is in the terri
tory from Ceuta as far as the Senegal River ; but
that they had no declared hoftility againft the ne
groes of Jalof or beyond, though fkirmifhes of
courfe would be fure to happen from ill under-
ftood attempts of friendfhip on the one fide, and
juft or needlefs fears on the other.
* Infidelidad que el Infante caftigo con mandarlos veftir, y po-
nerlos libres, y luzidos en fu naturaleza. — Fariay Soufa, torn. 1,
part 1, cap. 1.

42 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
The laft public enterprize of which Prince
Henry had the direction, was worthy to clofe his
adminiftration of the affairs relating to Portu-
Ambaf- guefe difcovery. He caufed two Ambaffadors to
fadors fent bg difpatched to the King of the Cape Verde ter-
Kingof r;torv, to treat of peace, and to introduce the
the Cape ' x
Verde ter- Chriftian Faith. One of the Ambaffadors, a Da-
nifh gentleman, was treacheroufly killed by the na
tives, and upon that the other returned, having
accomplifhed nothing.
1446. Don Alfonfo the Fifth, the nephew of Prince
Henry, now took the reins of government, and the
future expeditions along the coaft of Africa pro
ceeded in his name. Still it does not appear that
Prince Henry ceafedto have power and influence in
the management of African affairs ; and we read
that the firft thing that the king did in them was,
to enact that no one fhould pafs Cape Bojador with
out a licenfe from Prince Henry. Some time
between 1448 and 1454 a fortrefs was built in
one of the iflands of Arguim, which iflands had
already become a place of bargain for gold and
negro flaves.* And this was the firft Portuguefe

* " Porque a las Mas de Arguim concurria refcate de oro, y
" negros, mando el Rey levantar a una dellas el Caftillo de a-
" quel nombre, (y fue el primero que fe levanto en nueftras con-
quiftas") — Fariay Soufa, torn, i, part, i, cap. 2.

IN AFRICA. 43
eftablifhment on the coaft of Africa. It feems Firft Por-
according to Barros, that a fyftem of trade was tabliih-
now eftablifhed between the Portuguefe and the ^Coaft
negroes. "(¦ of Africa.
Having come to an important point in the
courfe of Portuguefe difcovery we may now make
a paufe, not without fome fatisfaction at having
got through the moft tedious, though not the
moft uninterefting, part of the narrative — a part
chiefly marked by names, dates, and bare events,
which ftand in the undiverfified ftory, like folitary
poft-houfes in the "Steppes" of Ruffia or the
" Landes" in France. If the reader has found the
narrative very dull, I am forry for it, but am fure
that he would not wifh to have had the ftory made
feemingly more interefting by the omiffion of
dull or apparently inconfequent facts, or by that
rounding off, or falfe interweaving, .which often
gives a completenefs to narrative at the entire
facrifice of truth. I believe in our every day
narratives, in the account we have to give of the

f A efte tempo o negocio de Guine andava ja mui corrente
entre os noflbs, e os moradores daquellas partes, e huns com os
outros fe communicavam em as coufas do commercio com paz, e
amor, fem aquellas entradas, e faltos de roubos de guerra, que no
principio houve. — Barros. dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 2. See alfo Azu-
rara, cap. 95.

44 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
tranfactions of common life, we are as much di
verted from truth by the love of making a neat
and fluent narrative as by almoft any other temp
tation. Admitting, however, to the full any tedioufnefs
that there may be in this account of early Portu
guefe difcovery, we ought not, I think, to confider
it uninterefting. The beginnings of great things —
even if obfcure, trivial, ifolated ; without the de
tails which bring reality into prefence ; and round
which the hopes and the fortunes of men have
not yet gathered — ftill cannot be devoid of intereft
to any thoughtful, forecafting mind. The travel
ler willingly difmounts to fee the ftreamlet which
is the origin of a great river : and the man of
imagination, (who is patient in refearch becaufe he
is imaginative) as, in fcience, he laborioufly fol
lows with delight the tracks now hardened in the
fandftone of obfcure birds which paddled over
thofe buried plains ages ago; fo, in hiftory, he will
often find material to meditate upon, and to ob-
ferve, in flight notices which, however, like the
others, indicate much to him of bygone times and
wondrous changes.

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 45

CHAPTER II.
Ca da Mosto's Voyage — Prince Henry's Death
— his Character — further Discoveries of the
Kings of Portugal.
|T the clofe of the preceding chapter it
was intimated that the narrative of
thefe Portuguefe Voyages is rather
uninviting. Could we recall, however, the voy
agers themfelves, and liften to their ftory, we
fhould find it animating enough. Each enter
prize, as we have it now, with its few dry facts,
feems a meagre affair ; but it was far otherwife
to the men who were concerned in it. We have
feen that piety had a large part in thefe under
takings : doubdefs the love of adventure and the
craving for novelty had their parts too.* And
what adventure it was ! new trees, new men, new
animals, new ftars, to be feen : nothing bounded,
nothing trite ; nothing which had the bloom
taken off it by much previous defcription ! Thefe
* See Humboldt's Kofmos. Sabine's translation, London,
1848. vol. 2, p. 274.. -

46 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
early voyagers, moreover, were like children com
ing out to take their firft gaze into the world,
with ready credulity and unlimited fancy, willing
to believe in fairies and demons, Amazons and
" forms of a lower hemifphere," myftic Iflands
and fountains of perpetual youth.
Then, too, befides the hopes and fears of each
individual of the crew, the conjoint enterprize
had in it a life and a career to be made out.
It ftarted to do fomething ; fulfilled its purpofe,
or at leaft fome purpofe ; and then came back
radiant with fuccefs — thenceforth to be a great
hiftorical fact. Or, on the other hand, there was
perhaps fome fmall failure or mifchance early in
the voyage : the failors then began to reckon up ill
omens and fay, that little good will come of this
bufinefs : further on, fome ferious mifadventure
happened which made them turn, or from the
mere lapfe of time, they were obliged to bethink
themfelves of getting back ; fafety, not renown '
or profit, now became their object, and their hope
was at beft but the negative of fome fear. There
upon enfued a good deal of recrimination amongft
themfelves ; for very few people are magnanimous
enough to fhare ill-fuccefs kindly together. Then,
in the long dull evenings of their voyage home
wards, as they fat looking on the waters, they
thought what excufes and explanations they would

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 47
make to their friends at home, and how fhame
and vexation would mingle with their joy at re
turning. This thing, teeming as it was with anxious
life, makes but a poor fhow in fome chronicle — -
they failed ; and did fomething, or did not ; and
then came back ; and this was in fuch a year —
like the entry in an almanack or the brief tale on
a tombftone. We are now, however, entering upon a time
when we are fortunate enough to meet with a
voyager who can tell us more of the details of
things than we have hitherto heard, and who is,
himfelf, his own chronicler.
In 1454, Ca da Mofto, a young Venetian, 1454.
who had already had fome experience in voy
aging, happened to be on board a Venetian gal
ley that was detained by contrary winds at Cape
St. Vincent. Prince Henry was then living clofe
to the Cape. He fent his fecretary and the Ve
netian conful on board the veffel where Ca da
Mofto was. They told of the great things the
Prince had done, fhowed famples of the commo
dities that came from the lands difcovered by
him, (Madeira fugars, Dragon's blood, and other
articles,) and fpoke of the gains made by Portu
guefe voyagers, being 700 or 1000 per cent.
Ca da Mofto afks permiffion to go, is informed

48 CADA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
of the terms, and hears that a Venetian would be
well received by the Prince " becaufe he was of
" opinion, that fpices, and other rich merchan-
" dize, might be found in thefe parts ; and knew,
" that the Venetians under flood thefe Commodi-
" ties better than any other Nation.*
Ca da In fine, Ca da Mofto fees the Prince, is evi-
voyage. dently much imprefled by him ; and being fur-
nifhed with a caravel, ' embarks his merchandize
in it, and fets off on a voyage of difcovery.
We have now for the firft time an intelligent man
on board one of thefe veffels giving us his own
account of the voyage.
From Ca da Mofto we at once learn the ftate
of things with regard to the flave trade. The
Portuguefe factory at Arguim is the head quar-
Manage- ters of the trade. Thither come all kinds of
flave-trade merchandize, and gold and flaves are taken back
in I+54- }n return. The " Arabs" of that diftrict (Moors,
the Portuguefe would call them,) are the middle
men in this affair. They take their Barbary
horfes to the negro country, and " there barter
with the great men for flaves," getting from ten
to eighteen for each horfe. They alfo bring filks
of Granada and Tunis, and filver, for which they

Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 574.

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 49
get flaves and gold. Thefe Arabs, or Moors, have
a place of trade of their own, called Hoden, be
hind Cape Blanco. There the flaves are brought,
" from whence they are fent to the mountains of Bar-
" ka, and from thence to Sicily ; part of them are alfo
"brought to Tunis, and along the coaft of Barbary, and
" the reft to Argin, and fold to the licenfed Portuguefe.
" Every year between feven and eight hundred flaves
" are fent from Argin to Portugal." *
" Before this trade was fettled," fays Ca da
Mofto, the Portuguefe ufed to feize upon the
Moors themfelves, (as we have occafionally feen
in this ftiort account,) and ufed alfo to feize the
Azenegues who live further towards the South ;
but now he fays peace is reftored to all,
" and the Infante fuffers no farther damage to be done
" to thefe people. He is in hopes, that by converfing
" with Chriftians, they may eafily be brought over to
" the Romifli faith, as they are not, as yet, well eftab-
" lifhed in that of Mohammed ; of which they know
" nothing but by hear-fay." f
No doubt the prince's good intentions were
greatly furthered by the convenience of this mode
of trading. In fhort, gain has made for itfelf its
* Aftley's Voyages; vol. i, p. 577.
f Ibid, vol. 1, p. 578.
2 E

50 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
ufual convenient channels to work in, and faves it-
felf as much as it can the trouble of difcovery or
marauding. Ca da Mofto being, as I faid before, the firft
modern European vifiting Africa who gives, him-
felf, an account of it, and being moreover apparent
ly an honeft and intelligent man, all that he fays
is moft valuable. He notices the difference of the
people and the country on the oppofite fides of the
Senegal river : on the northern fide he finds the
men fmall, fpare and tawny ; the country arid and
barren : on the fouthern fide, the men " exceeding
" black, tall, corpulent and well made ; the coun-
" try green and full of green trees." This latter
is the Jalof country, the fame that Prince Henry
firft heard of long ago in his intercourfe with the
Moors. Ca da Mofto gives a minute defcription
of the people which is well worth noting.
" It is very hot here, not being fo cold in January,
" as it is in Italy in the month of April, and the farther
" one travels, the more the heat increafes. Both men
' and women warn themfelves four or five times a day,
" being very cleanly as to their perfons, but not fo in
" eating, in which they obferve no rule. Although
" very ignorant and awkward in going about any thing
" which they have not been accuftomed to, yet in their
" own bufinefs which they are acquainted with, they are

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 51
" as expert as any Europeans can be. They are full
" of words, and never have done talking ; and are,
" for the moft part, liars and cheats. Yet, on the other
" hand, they are very charitable ; for they give a dinner,
" or a night's lodging, and a fupper to all ftrangers who
" come to their houfes, without expecting any return.
" Thefe negro lords often make war among them-
" felves, and with their neighbours. They have no
" cavalry for want of horfes : they wear no arms fave
" a large target for their defence, made of the Ikin of a
" beaft, called Danta, which is very difficult to be
" pierced ; and Azagays, or light darts, in throwing of
" which they are very dexterous. Thefe darts are
" pointed with iron, the length of a fpan, barbed in
" different manners ; fo that they make dangerous
" wounds in the body wherever they enter, tearing the
" flefh grievoufly when pulled out. They alfo have a
" Moorifh weapon, which is like a Turkifh half-fword ;
" that is, bent like a bow, and made of iron (without
" any fteel) brought from the kingdom of Gambia by
" the negroes, who thereof make their arms ; . and if
" they have any iron in their own country, they know
" nothing of it, or want induftry to work it. They ufe
" alfo another weapon, like our javelin ; befides which,
" they have no other arms.
" As they have but few arms, their wars are very
" bloody, for their ftrokes do not fall in vain. They
" are extremely bold and fierce, choofing rather to be
" killed, than to fave their lives by flight. They are not
" afraid to die, nor feared, as other people are, when

52 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
" they fee a companion flain. They have no fhips,
" neither did they ever fee any before the Portuguefe
" came upon their coaft. Thofe inhabiting near the
" river, and fome who live by the fea, have Zappolies,
w or Almadias, made out of a Angle piece of wood, the
" largeft whereof carries three or four men. In thefe
" they fifh fometimes, and go up and down the river.
" Thefe negroes are the greateft fwimmers in the
" world, by the experiments the Author has feen of
" them in thefe parts."* ,
Ca da Mofto left the country of the Jalofs and
proceeded eight hundred miles further, as he fays,
but he muft I think have over-eftimated his
reckoning, to the country of King Budomel.
Budomel receives our voyager courteoufly, and
makes purchafes of him, which are paid for in
flaves. Ca da Mofto gives us an account of the
religion in Budomel's country, which deferves
notice :
" Budomel behaved with great complaifance to Ca da
" Mofto, and carried him into the mofque ; for, towards
" evening, he ordered the Azanaghi or Arabs, whom he
" always has about him, to fay prayers. His manner
Budomel's « was thus : — Being entered into the mofque, (which
" was in one of the courts) with fome of the principal
" negroes, he firft flood with his eyes lifted up, then
* Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 582.

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 53
" he advanced two fteps, and fpoke a few words foftly ;
" after which, he ftretched himfelf on the ground and
" kiffed it. The Azanaghi, and all the reft, did the
" fame. Then rifing, he repeated the fame acts over
" again, ten or twelve times, which took up half an
" hour. When he had done, he afked the author's opi-
" nion of their manner of worfhip ; and to give him fome
" account of his own religion. Hereupon Ca da Mofto
" told him, in prefence of his doctors, that the religion
" of Mohammed was falfe ; and the Romifh, the true
" one. This made the Arabs mad, and Budomel laugh ;
" who, on this occafion, faid, that he looked upon the
" religion of the Europeans to be good ; for that none
" but God could have given them fo much riches and
" underftanding. He added, however, that the Mo-
" hammedan Law muft be alfo good ; and that he be-
" lieved the negroes were more fure of falvation than
" the Chriftians, becaufe God was a juft Lord ; and
" therefore, as he had given the latter Paradife in this
" world, it ought to be poffeffed in the world to come
" by the negroes, who had fcarce anything here, in
" comparifon of the others. In all his difcourfe he
" fhowed a good underftanding, and took great pleafure
" in hearing the cuftoms of the Chriftians. Ca da Mofto
" believed he might eafily have been converted, were it
" not for fear of lofing his eftate ; for his nephew, in
" whofe houfe he lodged, often told him fo ; and took
" great delight himfelf in hearing the author talk of his
religion."* * Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 584.

ic

54 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
Perhaps there is hardly any thing which tells
more of the ftate of a people than their markets.
We will, accordingly, hear Ca da Mofto's account
of them.
" As the author was feveral days on fhore, he went
" three or four times to fee one of their markets or
" fairs, which was kept on Mondays and Fridays in a
" meadow, not far from the place where he was lodged.
" Hither repaired, with their wares, both men and
" women, for four or five miles about ; "and thofe who
" lived at a greater diftance, went to other markets
" nearer them. The great poverty of this people ap-
" peared in the goods found in thefe fairs ; which were,
" a few pieces of cotton-cloth, cotton-yarn, pulfe, oil,
" millet, wooden tubs, palm-mats, and every thing
" elfe for the ufe of life. Here alfo one meets with
" arms, and fmall quantities of gold. As they have
" no money or coin of any kind, all trade is carried on
" by way of barter ; exchanging one thing for another,
" according to the different values. Thefe blacks, both
" men and women, came to gaze on Ca da Mofto, as if
"he had been a prodigy ; and thought it a great curiofity
" to behold a white man, for they had never feen any
"before. They were as much aftonifhed at his drefs as
" his colour; being clothed after the Spanifh fafhion,
" with a black damafk waiftcoat, and a cloak over it.
" They admired the woollen cloth of which they have
" none ; and feemed much furprifed at the fight of the
" waiftcoat. Some catching him by the arms and

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. ' 55
" hands, which they rubbed with fpittle, to fee if the
" whitenefs was natural or artificial ; and finding that
" his fkin was not painted, their wonder continued.
" The end of his going to thefe markets was chiefly, to
" fee what quantity of gold was brought thither."*
Ca da Mofto leaves Budomel's country, and
failing fouthwards, comes to the river Gambra
(now called Gambia) which the voyagers enter,
but cannot conciliate the inhabitants. A conteft
enfues, which deferves to be recorded as an in-
ftance of fignal valour, almoft unparalleled valour,
confidering that the arras ufed by the Europeans
were totally unknown to their opponents.
" The Almadias came under the prow of Cada
" Mofto's fhip, which was foremoft ; and, dividing
" themfelves into two divifions, took him in their
" centre. This gave him an opportunity to tell their
" number, which was fifteen and as large as barks.
" They ceafed to row, raifed their oars, and looked
" upon the caravel with wonder. There were between
" an hundred and thirty and an hundred and fifty ne-
" groes, all well made, of a good fize and very black.
" They wore white cotton lhirts on their bodies, and
" white caps on their heads, like the Germans, but
" with a wing on each fide, and a feather in the middle,
" by which they diftinguifhed themfelves to be foldiers
* Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 587.

56 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
" of war. At the prow of each Almadia, there ftood
" a negro with a round target, which feemed to be of
" leather, on his arm ; yet they neither attacked the
" caravel, nor fhe them.
" Thus they continued peaceably till they faw the
" other two fhips bear down on them. Then they
" prepared, dropped their oars, and without any further
" ceremony fliot their arrows at them. The fhips, fee-
" ing the attack made upon them, difcharged four pieces
" of cannon at the enemy : the report whereof fo ftupi-
" fied them, that they threw down their bows; and,
" looking fome time one way, and fome time another,
" remained furprifed to fee the ftones, fhot by the cannon,
" fall in the water near them. They continued in this
" fufpenfe for a confiderable while : but, feeing the
" cannon fired no more at them, plucked up courage,
" and, laying hold of their bows, renewed the fight with
" great fury, approaching within a ftone's throw of the
" fhips. Hereupon the failors began to difcharge their
" croff-bows at them. The firft fhot was made by the
" baflard fon of the Genoefe gentleman, which, hitting
" a negro in the breaft, he immediately dropped down
" dead. Thofe in the Almadia took up the dart and
" gazed at it with wonder, but did not give over the
Valour of " attack, which they carried on vigoroufly, and were
" as courageoufly oppofed by the caravels ; infomuch,
" that in a little time many of them were killed, without
" the lofs of one European. The Negroes obferving
" the difadvantage they laboured under, all the Al-
" madias agreed to attack the little caravel in ftern,

the Ne
groes

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 57
" which was both ill -manned and ill -armed. They
" executed this defign with great fury : which Ca da
" Mofto obferving, he moved forward to her afliftance;
" and getting her between the two large caravels, they
" all difcharged their cannon and croff-bows at the Al-
" madias which made them retire. After this, they
" linked the three caravels together, and dropped an
" anchor that held them all, as it was calm."*
During their ftay in the river Gambia, Ca da
Mofto and his companions faw the conftellation
of the Southern Crofs for the firft time. Finding
that the people would have nothing to do with
them, Tor they believed that the Chriftians were
very bad people, and bought Negroes to eat them,
Ca da Mofto and the commanders wiflied to pro
ceed a hundred miles further up the river ; but
the common failors would not hear of it, and the
expedition forthwith returned to Portugal.
In 1456, Ca da Mofto made another voyage, in
the courfe of which he difcovered the Cape de
Verde Iflands. Leaving them, he went again to
the Gambia river, which he appears to have af-
cended much further than during his previous
expedition, and to have conciliated the natives.
The voyagers enter the " Lord Battimanfa's"
* Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 590.

58 CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE.
territory, and feek to make a treaty with him.
It is curious to fee the nature of the commodities
dealt in.
" As foon as the meffengers had declared their com-
" million, Battimanfa immediately ordered certain ne-
" groes to the caravel ; with whom they not only
Battiman- " entered into a treaty of friendlhip, but alfo bartered
fa's Coun- « feveral things for negro-flaves, and fome gold :
" though nothing in comparifon from what they ex-
" peeked from the account given by thofe of Senega;
" who, as they are very poor, look upon that as a large
" quantity, which our adventurers confidered but very
" trifling. They value their gold as a very precious
" thing, and at a greater rate than the Portuguefe did ;
" yet, for all that, the latter had it very reafonably,
" fince they gave them for it things of very little value.
" They continued here eleven days ; during which time
" the caravels were reforted to by numbers of negroes,
" from each fide of the river, who came to fee novelties,
" and fell their goods ; among which were a few gold
" rings. " They traded with cotton and cotton-yarn. Some
" pieces were all white; others ftriped with blue and
" white ; and a third fort, with red, blue and white
" ftripes, very well wrought. They likewife brought
" civet, and civet-cat-flcins, monkeys, large and fmall
" baboons of various forts : which, being very plenty,
" they fold them cheap, that is, for fomething not ex-
" ceeding ten marquets a head ; and the ounce of

CA DA MOSTO'S VOYAGE. 59
" civet, for what was not worth more than forty or
" fifty : not that they fold the things by weight ; but
" the author judged it to be about that quantity."*
Leaving the river Gambia, Ca da Mofto and
his company went down the coaft, difcovered
Cape Roxo, and, afterwards failed up the river
Grande ; but for want of any knowledge of the
language of the people, were forced to return to
Portugal. Sometime between 1460 and 1464, an expe
dition went out under Piedro de Cintra, one of
the king of Portugal's gendemen, to make fur
ther difcoveries along the African coaft. Thefe
voyagers, whofe ftory is briefly told by Ca da
Mofto, difcovered Sierra Leone (fo called on ac
count of the roaring thunder heard there) and
went a little beyond Cape Mefurado. The hif
torian Barros fays that the African coaft from
Cape Bojador to Sierra Leone, was difcovered
in Prince Henry's time, in which cafe it feems
probable that this voyage of Piedro de Cintra's
was before the prince's death, but Ca da Mofto, Prince
(and I incline to truft him) makes it afterwards. deathT S
However that may be, we may fairly confider
* Aftley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 594.

PrinceHenry'scharacter.

60 PRINCE HENRY'S CHARACTER.
Sierra Leone as being near the point of difcovery
attained at, or about, the death of Prince Henry,
of whom, before parting with him, we muft fay
fomething." He had a grandeur of nature," fays Faria y Soufa,
" proportionate to the greatnefs of his doings ; he was
" bulky and ftrong ; his complexion red and white ; his
" hair coarfe, and almoft hirfute ; his afpeft produced
" fear in thofe who were not accuftomed to him ; not to
" thofe who were, for even in the ftrongeft current of his
" vexation at any thing, his courtefy always prevailed over
" his anger ; he had a grave ferenity in his movements,
" a notable conftancy and circumfpe&ion in his words,
" modefty in all that related to his ftate and perfonal
" obfervance, within the limits of his high fortune ; he
" was patient in labour, bold and valorous in war, verfed
" in arts and letters ; a fkilful fencer ; in the mathema-
" tics fuperior to all men of his time : generous in the
" extreme : zealous in the extreme for the increafe of
" the faith. No bad habit was known in him. He did
" not marry, nor was it known that he ever violated the
" purity of continency. His memory was equal to the
" authority he bore, and his prudence equal to his
" memory. He died at Sagres in the year one thoufand
" four hundred and fixty three, in the fixty feventh year
" of his age, and lies with his father in the moft illuf-
" trious church of Batalla."*

Faria y Soufa, torn. 1, part 1, cap. 1.

PRINCE HENRY'S CHARACTER. 61
The above is of the clafs of characters, fome-
what unqualified and general, which we are ac-
cuftomed to from hiftorians ; but, I believe, it is
one of the trueft of its kind : it lacks, however,
thofe flight touches and variations in which fo
much of individual refemblance confifts. We
may map down the main qualities of a man, one
by one ; but this alone will hardly fuffice to convey
to us fuch a complex, perverfe, varying, dubious
thing as any one human character. Fortunately,
in this cafe, we are enabled from the chronicler
Azurara, who evidently knew the prince well,
and fpeaks with perfect honefty about him, to
fupply two or three of thofe little niceties of de
fcription which give life and reality to the picture.
Azurara fays, that the Prince was a man " of great
" counfel and authority, wife, and of good me-
" mory, but in fome things flow, whether it was
" through the prevalence of the phlegmatic tem-
" perament in his conftitution, or from intentional
" deliberation, being moved to fome end which
" men did not perceive."*
His portrait confirms the latter hypothefis,
giving the ide,a of a man of great deliberation,
but no laxity of purpofe : and we may notice
* Azurara, cap. 4.

62 PRINCE HENRY'S CHARACTER.
how this would agree with the ftory of his appa
rently fudden refolve in fending out his firft ex
pedition, a thing with him probably long thought
of, little talked of, and rapidly put in execution.
Again, in another place, the Chronicler hints at a
defect in the prince, where he fays, " There was
" no hatred known in him, nor ill will againft
" any perfon, however great the injury he had
" received from him ; and fuch was his benignity
" in this refpect, that judicious men remarked
" againft him, that he was wanting in diftri-
" butive juftice, (jujlicia diftributivd) for, in all
" other refpects, he conducted himfelf juftly."
There are inftances in his hiftory which bear
out this, and one efpecially, in which he is ftated
to have overlooked the defertion of his banner,
on an occafion of great peril to himfelf, and af
terwards to have unjuftly favoured the perfons
who had thus been found wanting in courage. I
fuppofe we muft confefs this to have been an
error on his part, but at leaft it is an heroic one,
Casfar-like, and adds, perhaps, to our liking for
him, what little it may take away from our
confidence in the precifion of his juftice.
We learn from the fame fource that his houfe
was the refort of all the good men of the king
dom, and of foreigners, and that he was a man

PRINCE HENRY'S CHARACTER. 63
of intenfe labour and ftudy. " Often the fun
" found him in that fame place where it had
" left him the day before, he having watched
" throughout the whole arc of the night without
"any reft."*
Altogether, whether we confider this Prince's
motives, his objects, his deeds, or his mode of
life, we find him not merely one of the moft no
table men of his own country and period, but of
all modern times and nations, and one upon whofe
fhoulders might worthily reft the arduous begin
nings of continuous maritime difcovery. Would
that fuch men remained to govern the lands they
have the courageous forefight to difcover. Then
indeed they might take to themfelves the motto
" talant de bien faire" which this, their great lea
der, caufed to be infcribed by his captains in
many a land, which as yet at leaft has not found
much good from its introduction, under his au-
fpices, to the civilization of an older world.
In 1469, and perhaps in confequence of Prince King Al-
Henry's fuperintendence of African difcovery be- farms out
ing miffed, King Alfonfo adopted a new fyftem, ^Africa
and farmed out the commerce with the coaft of *° Fernan
do Gomez.
* Azurara, cap. 6.

64 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
Africa to Fernando Gomez for five years at one
thoufand ducats a year, upon certain conditions,
one of which was that he fhould advance the dif
covery along the coaft, beginning from Sierra
Leone, three hundred miles in the courfe of each
of the five years.* . Fernando Gomez, by his cap
tains Juan de Santarem and Pedro de Efcobar,
difcovered the Gold Coaft, which they called Oro
de la Mina, and gained great riches which he
expended in aid of the King's expeditions againft
the Moors. He was in confequence ennobled,
and received the name of El Mina. Fernando
Po difcovered the ifland of Formofa, now called
by the name of the difcoverer. The laft dif
covery in the life of King Alfonfo was that of
Cape Catharina.
148 1. Don Juan the Second fucceeded to his father
Don Alfonfo. This king was very earneft in
Fort built African difcovery. He refolved that a fort fhould
at La Mi-' . J
na. be built at La Mina ; and for this purpofe fent
an expedition'*under Diego de Azambuja with
fix hundred men, (five hundred foldiers and one
hundred artizans), and the fort already made in
feparate pieces, as we now fend out palaces for
native chiefs, or lighthoufes, to diftant parts.
* Barros, dec. 1, lib. 2, cap. 2.

IN AFRICA. 65
The account of the proceedings of this expedi
tion is interefting. On the arrival of the fhips
at La Mina, Azambuja jumps on fhore to take
pofleffion, fixes the Portuguefe flag upon a tree,
raifes an altar at the foot of the tree, and caufes"
mafs to be faid, the firft ever faid in thofe parts.
The Portuguefe commander then prepares to
receive the negro king with due pomp. The"
king arrives, furrounded by a large company of
his fubjects well armed. Their helmets, however,
made of fkins were fuch as to provoke " more
mirth than terror." Their king's arms and legs
were covered with ornaments of gold. On his
neck was a chain with bells fufpended to it, like
that of the firft mule in a fet. Before him went
the band, with numerous and various inftru-
ments, producing " more noife than harmony."
The inftruments were fuch as are well known,
timbrels, horns, and bells. The negro king ar
rives himfelf^ " ferene and fevere," and the Portu
guefe captain comes forward to meet him, "mag
nificent in drefs and grave in afpect." The king
takes the hand of the other in fign of peace, and
the ceremonious part of the matter being ended,
Azambuja makes known the propofition he had
brought from his mafter (here we muft take the
very words of the hiftorian), " which was to

66 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
" make the negro king underftand firft the way
" of the catholic rites, and then to hide from him
" the way of pur covetoufnefs, afking leave to
" make a houfe in which our people could live ;
" and force was to be ufed to compel them, if it
" fhould be neceflary." " I do not," fays the can
did hiftorian, " imagine that I fhall perfuade the
" world that our intent was only to be preachers ;
" but on the other hand the world muft not fancy
" that our intent was merely to be traders."*
The Portuguefe captain was liftened to with
" marvellous filence," and the propofition touch
ing the Chriftian faith well received : the other
about building a fort was liftened to very coldly.
The negro king was not fo dull as to be without
an unpleafant forefight of what this fort-building
might come to. However, the Portuguefe cap
tain preffed the point, and the negro king gave
it .up, and took himfelf away. The Portuguefe
artizans began forthwith to work, but unfortu
nately commenced upon a rock that was held fa-
cred, upon which the negroes rufhed upon them'.
Azambuja diverted this danger by an inftant dif-

* Yo no imagino perfuadir al mundo que nueftro intento era
folo el de fer predicadores, a trueque de que el no imagine, que era
folo el de fer mercaderes.— Fariay Soufa, torn, i, part i, cap. 3.

IN AFRICA. 67
tribution of prefents, which foothed the negroes
completely, thus verifying the proverb, fays the
hiftorian, that "gifts break through rocks." The
caftle was built, and called the fort of St. George.
Azambuja being made lieutenant, ruled for three
years, and came out of his employment with
applaufe, " a difficult thing to attain amongft
" the Portuguefe." The writer might have added
amongft all people; for fecond-hand authority
has within it the elements of decay and difappro-
bation, meeting with that criticifm and fuper-
vifion when alive which in the cafe of other au
thority is often poftponed until after its death.
The King of Portugal about this time takes
the title of " Lord of Guinea," and defires his
captains to leave more formal notice of their
difcoveries at the place of difcovery : to fet up
ftones, declaring " the king, the captain, and the
time; by whofe order, by whom, and when" the 1484.
difcovery was made. The firft captain fent out
after this order was Diego Cam ; and Martin Congo dif-
Behaim, the great aftronomer and geographer, is Dkgod by
faid to have accompanied him. They difcovered Cam"
the kingdom of Congo : and, at the requeft of the
king of Congo, took back fome of the fons of
the principal men to be baptized, and to learn the
Chriftian faith. Diego Cam was alfo bearer of a

68

PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.

Cape of
Good
Hope dif
covered.

Expedi
tion by
land to
Prefter
John's Country. 1487.

requeft that priefts fhould be fent to Congo. The
king of Benin, a territory between the Gold Coaft
and Congo, made at this time a fimilar requeft,
by an ambaflador fent to the king of Portugal.
This ambaflador, while at Lifbon, happens to
fpeak about a greater power in Africa than his
mafter, to whom indeed his mafter is the vaffal,
which inftantly fets the Portuguefe king thinking
about Prefter John, — the fearch after whom is in
the hiftory of difcovery what alchemy was to che-
miftry. The king concludes that this greater
power muft be Prefter John. Bartholomew Diaz
and two other captains are accordingly fent out
on further difcovery. They do not find Prefter.
John, but get as far as a cape which from expe
rience they call Cape Stormy, but which their
mafter, feeing in its difcovery an omen of better
things, re-names as the Cape of Good Hope.
Here we have got down the coaft nearly to the
fouthernmoft point, and fhall foon be curving
round in due courfe to India.
But expeditions by fea were not the only modes
of difcovery undertaken by the Portuguefe in the
reign of John the Second of Portugal. Pedro de
Covilham and Alfonfo de Paiva went on an en
terprize of difcovery mainly by land. The latter
died at Cairo : the former made his way to Can-

IN AFRICA. 69
anor, Calecut, and Goa, and thence back to Cairo,
where he found that his companion had died.
He then fet out again, and eventually came into
the kingdom of Shoa, to the court of the king of
Habbefh, who fulfilled fufficiendy in Covillam's
eyes the idea of Prefter John, and was accordingly
called fo. It is a curious coincidence that an
ambaflador from this very king of Habbefh,
called Lucas Marcos, a prieft of that country,
came about this time to Rome, and afterwards
to Lifbon, which, as we are told, gave new health
to all the king of Portugal's " hopes, wifhes,
" and endeavours."
A more remarkable perfon, even than an am
baflador from Prefter John, came nearly at the
fame time to Lifbon. This was Bemoin, prince
of Jalof. Bemoin came to feek the protection
of the king of Portugal, and his ftory was this. Bemoin
He was the brother on the mother's fide of ja""f.e °f
Brian, king of Jalof. This king was inert
and vicious. He had, however, the fenfe to
make Bemoin prime minifter, and to throw all
the cares and troubles of governing upon him.
Nothing was heard in the kingdom but of Be
moin. But he, feeing perhaps the infecurity of
his pofition, diligently made friends with the

70 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
Portuguefe, keeping aloof, however, from be
coming a convert, though he liftened formally
to thofe who expounded the Chriftian faith to
him. Cibitab, a brother of the inert Brian; by
the father's fide, became jealous of Bemoin, re
volted, killed Brian, and vanquifhed Bemoin, who
threw himfelf upon the protection of his Portu
guefe friends and came to Lifbon.
Bemoin was received magnificently by King
John of Portugal, The negro prince had formerly
alleged that one of his reafons for not becoming a
Chriftian was the fear of difgufting his followers ;
but being in Portugal that reafon no longer holds
good and he now becomes a convert, and is bap
tized as Don John Bemoin, King John being his
Godfather. Twenty four of Bemoin's gentlemen
received baptifm after him. This is the account
of his reception,
" Bemoin, becaufe he was a man of large fize and fine
*' prefence, about forty years old, with a long and well
" arranged beard, appeared indeed not like a barbarous
" pagan, but as one of our own princes, to whom all
" honor and reverence were due : with like majefty and
" gravity of demeanour he commenced and finrlhed his
" oration, with fuch inducements to make men bewail
" his fad fortune in exile, that only feeing thefe natural
" figns of forrow, people comprehended what the inter-

IN AFRICA. 71
" prefer afterwards faid. And having finifhed the ftate-
" ment of his cafe as a good orator would, in declaring
" that his only remedy and only hope was in the great-
" nefs and generofity of the king, with whom he fpoke
" afide for a fliort time, he was anfwered by the king in
" few words, fo much to his fatisfaction that immediately
" it made a change in his whole look, fpirits, and bearing,
" rendering him moft joyous. And taking leave of the
" king, he went to kifs the queen's hand, and then
" that of the prince, to whom he faid a few words, at
" the end of which he prayed the prince that he would
" intercede in his favour with the king. And thence
" he was conducted to his lodgings by all the nobility
" that accompanied him."*
After this Bemoin had many converfations with
the king, and always acquitted himfelf well.-j-
Amongft other things he gave information to the
king reflecting various African nations, and ef
pecially of the king of a Jewifh people who in
many things were like Chriftians. Here again
the king was delighted at finding himfelf upon
the traces of Prefter John. It muft not be for
gotten to mention, that the king made great
rejoicings in honor of Bemoin's converfion, on

* Barros, dec. 1, lib. 3, cap. 6.
f Moftrava fer dotado de mui claro entendimento. — Barros, dec.
1, lib. 3, cap. 7,

72 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
which occafion, the negro prince's attendants
performed Angular feats on horfeback.*
Bemoin maintained his favour and fucceeded in
his object of getting affiftance from the Portu
guefe. He was fent back to his own country
with a Portuguefe fquadron of twenty caravels,
which had in hand, befides his reftitution, to found
a fort on the banks of the river Senegal.
The Portuguefe arrived at the river, and began
building the fort, but are faid to have chofen an
unhealthy fpot to build on. Whether they could
have chofen a healthy one is doubtful. Pedro
Vaz thought, however, that there was treachery
on Bemoin's part and killed him with the blow of
a dagger on board his veffel. The fort>building
was left off and Pedro Vaz returned to Portugal,
where he found the king exceflively vexed and
difpleafed at the fate of Bemoin, Faria y Soufa
difmiffps the matter with the following pithy re
mark. " The way to heaven by the Portuguefe
" hand (baptifm) came dear to Bemoin: and

f Elle D. Joao Bemoij, tambem a feu mpdp, quiz fazer as fuas;
porque como trazia alguns homens grandes cavalgadores, diante
del B.ey corriam a carreira em pe, virandofe, e aflentando-fe, e tor-
nando-fe levantar, tudo em huma corrida : e com a mao no arcao
da fella faltavam no chao, correndo a toda forca do cavallo ; e
tornavam-fe a fella tao foltos, como o podiam fazer a pe quedo.—
Barros, dec. i, lib. 3, cap. 7.

IN AFRICA. 73
" more fo, if by chance it was hidden from him
" by his defpair at finding fo little faith in one
" who fought to teach him the true faith."
The ftory of Bemoin is interefting, not that
it carries forward the hiftory much, but it and
other fuch narratives fhow the temper, manners,
and views of both Europeans and Africans towards
each other ; and go to indicate what might have
been made out of their intercourfe.
King John the Second was more fuccefsful in
converting the inhabitants of Congo, than of Jalof,
The ambaflador from Congo, having fpent two 1490.
years at Lifbon, during which his attendants
learnt the Portuguefe language and were in-
ftructed in Chriftian doctrine, was fent back to
his own country with three Portuguefe veffels .
The Portuguefe were well received: mafs was
performed in the midft of thoufands of negroes ;
a church was built ; and the king of Congo be
came Chriftian and took the name of John. He
had occafion at that time to make war againft a
neighbouring people; and fallying forth with a
crofs depicted on his banner, he was victorious.
After this, the Portuguefe expedition, which really
feems to have come out for no other purpofe than
to introduce Chriftianity into Congo, returned,
leaving perfons capable of continuing the work

74 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES.
of converfion. The old negro king foon grew
a litde cold towards Chriftianity, difliking much
its monogamic rules. He had two fons : the
elder approving and the other difapproving of
the new faith. The king himfelf inclined to his
pagan younger fon and the other was difinherited.
On thexfeath of the old monarch, the younger fon
fuddenly attacked the other who had only about
him thirty feven followers, Portuguefe and ne
groes. However, under the Chriftian banner and
probably with fome litde aid of Chriftian difci-
pline, the elder vanquifhed his younger brother
Chriftiani- with all his hoft ; became king, and did his beft
y m on- tQ g^yj^ Chriftianity throughout his dominions.
This king of Congo reigned fifty years; he
was not only a warm favourer of Chriftianity, but
himfelf, an active preacher, having qualified him
felf by learning the Portuguefe language and ftu-
dying the Scriptures. He fent his children and
grandchildren over to Portugal ; had them well
taught both in Latin and Portuguefe ; and of his
own lineage there were two bifhops in his king
dom. Barros tells us, that all thefe things were
done at the expenfe of the kings of Portugal.*
A very noble work it was of theirs : and in the
* Barros, dec. i, lib. 3, cap. 10.

IN AFRICA. 75
prefent ftate of that kingdom, thefe are the works
which may confole the Portuguefe nation and their
rulers with a not unbecoming recollection of paft
greatnefs, and, perhaps, reanimate them to great
deeds again.
We may now ftop in our tafk of tracing Por
tuguefe difcovery on the coaft of Africa. We
have feen it quiedy making its way for feventy
years, from Cape Nam to the Cape of Good Hope,
fome feven thoufand miles. This long courfe of
difcovery has been almoft entirely thrown into
fhade by the more daring and brilliant difcovery
of America, which we have now to enter upon.
Yet thefe doings on the African coaft had in them
all the energy, perfeverance, and courage which
diftinguifhed American difcovery. Prince Henry
himfelf was hardly a lefs perfonage than Columbus.
They had different elements to contend in. But
the man whom princely wealth and pofition, and
the temptation to intrigue which there muft have
been in the then ftate of the Portuguefe court,
never induced to fwerve from the one purpofe
which he maintained for forty years, unfhaken by
popular clamour for or againft him, however
forely vexed he might be with inward doubts and
mifgivings; who " fcorned delights and lived

76 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
" laborious days," to devote himfelf to this one
purpofe — enduring the occafional fhort-comings
of his agents with that forbearance which fprings
from a care for the enterprife in hand, fo deep as
to control private vexation (the very fame motive
which made Colunjibus bear fo mildly with infult
and contumely from his followers), — fuch a man
is worthy to be put in comparifon with the other
great difcoverer who worked out his enterprife
through poverty, neglect, fore travail and the
viciffitudes of courts. Moreover we muft not
forget that Prince Henry was undoubtedly the
father of modern geographical difcovery, and that
the refult of his exertions muft have given much
impulfe to Columbus, if it did not firft move him
to his great undertaking. Having faid fo much
in favour of Prince Henry, we muft not omit to
fpeak highly of the contemporary Portuguefe
monarchs who feem to have done their part in
African difcovery with much vigour, without
jealoufy of Prince Henry, and with good intent ;
and I would wifh to include in fome part of this
praife his many brave captains.
The redifcovery of America ( I fay " redis
covery," becaufe I do not doubt that it was dif
covered by the Northmen in the ninth and tenth
centuries,) juft at the time when the whole of

IN AFRICA. 77
the weftern coaft of Africa had been made out
by the Portuguefe, appears to us, humanly
fpeaking, to have furnifhed a moft inopportune
conjuncture for evil. Had not America afforded
a market for flaves, we hardly fee where elfe
it could have grown up, g*id if it had not
grown up then, legitimate commerce would have
come in its place, and prevented any fuch trade.
Black flaves might have been for fome time a
favourite part of the grandeur of a great houfe-
hold, but we do not fee how they could have
occupied a country already flocked with hardy
labourers, fitted for the foil, as was the cafe with
Europe. Ca da Mofto has told us that in
1455 a. d., the export of flaves was between feven
and eight hundred yearly. Seeing how carelefs
people are in the ufe of numbers, fo that fhrewd
men of the world moftly divide by two or three
the account in numbers of everything they hear,
except men's accounts of their own debts and
loffes, it is not improbable that Ca da Mofto gives
us an exaggerated ftatement of the number of
flaves exported, which at the moft is but a fmall
affair indeed, when compared with the immenfe
exportations of modern days. Moreover, from
what is mentioned of the voyages fince that time
to the one we are now fpeaking of, i. e. from 1455

78 PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES
to 1492, it may be concluded that the trade in
flaves had fallen off, fo little are they mentioned,
while at the fame time we have figns of other
articles of commerce engaging the attention of
the Portuguefe.*
Leaving now for a while all mention of Por
tuguefe affairs, we commence the chapter of that
man's doings whom we laft heard of inciden
tally as fon-in-law of Pereftrelo and living at
Porto Santo ; but who is now about to become
one of the few names which carry on from period
to period the tidings of the world's great ftory,
as beacon fires upon the mountain tops. There
is a peculiar fafcination in the account of fuch
a doing as the difcovery of America, which
cannot be done any more, or anything like it, —
which ftands alone in the doings of the world.
We naturally expect to find fomething quite pe
culiar in the man who did it, who was indeed
one of the great fpirits of the earth, but ftill of

* Precedieron otros a eftos ; como la cofta de donde vino la
primera malagueta: Faria y Soufa, torn. 1, part 1, cap. 2. El
Rey D. Juan II, que fuccedio a fu Padre D. Alonfo cofiderando
que en la tierra nuevamente conocida avia riquezas que aumenta-
van fus rentas, y viendo difpoficion en fus habitantes para admitir
nueftra ley, ordeno que fe levantafle una fortaleza en'aquella parte
adonde fe hazia el refcate del oro que llamaron de la Mina. — Fa
riay Soufa, torn. 1, part 1, cap. 3.

IN AFRICA. 79
the fame kind of fluff of which great inventors
and difcoverers have moftly been made. Lower
down, too, in mankind there is much of the fame
nature leading to various kinds of worthy deeds,
though there are no more continents for it to dif
cover. There was great fimplicity about him,
and much loyalty and veneration, (for truly great
people are apt to fee here, and beyond here, fome
thing greater than themfelves, or even than their
own ideas). He was as magnanimous as it is,
perhaps, poflible to be for one so fenfitive and
impaffioned as he was. He was humane, felf-
denying, courteous. He had an intellect of that
largely-enquiring kind which may remind us of
our great Englifh philofopher Bacon. He was
fingidarly refolute and enduring. The Spaniards
have a word, " longanimidad," (longanimity)
which has been well applied to him. He was
rapt in his defigns, having a ringing for ever
in his ears of great projects, making him deaf to
much, perhaps, that prudence might have heeded ;
— one to be loved by thofe near him, and likely
by his prefence to infpire favour and refpedt.
Such was the man under whom we are now
going to enter into a wider fphere of our hiftory
of Slavery.

8o
CHAPTER III.
Discovery of America.
OLUMBUS was born in the Genoefe
territory in the year 1447 or 1448.
His family was obfcure, but, like
moft others, when the light of a great man born
in it is thrown upon its records, real and pbflible,
it prefents fome other names not altogether un
worthy to be put down as the great man's ancef-
tors. Columbus was fent to Pavia for his edu
cation, and feems to have profited by it, for we
find that he wrote legibly, defigned well, was a
good Latin fcholar, and it is probable that he
acquired then the rudiments of the various fciences
in which he afterwards became proficient. At the
age of fourteen he went to fea. Of his many
voyages, which of them took place before, and
which after, his coming to Portugal, we have no
diftinct record ; but we know that he traverfed
Early voy- moft of the known parts of the world, that he
Columbus, vifited England,* that he made his way to Ice-
* VI todo el Levante y Poniente, que dice por ir al camino de

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 8r
land,* that he had been at El Mina, on the coaft
of Africa, j" and had feen the iflands of the Archi-
pelago.J He alfo mentions having been em
ployed by King Rene of Provence, to intercept
a Venetian galliot. The next thing that we may
fay we know for certain of him is, that he went
to Portugal, where he married Donna Felipa
Muniz Pereftrelo ; and is faid to. have been fhown
by his mother-in-law the papers of her deceafed
hufband, the late governor of Porto Santo, Co
lumbus lived for fome time at Porto Santo,§ and
made voyages to different parts of Africa in com
pany with Portuguefe mariners. At what precife
period his great idea came into his mind we have
no records to fhow. The flow of Portuguefe difco-
Septentrion, que es Inglaterra. — Navarrete, Coleccion. Madrid,
1825. vol. 1, p. 101 .
* Yo navegue el ano de cuatrocientos y fetenta y (iete en el
mes de Febrero ultra Tile . . . . es tan grande como Inglaterra,
van Ios Inglefes con mercaderia ; efpecialmente los de Briftol. —
Las Cafas, Hifl. de las lndias, MSS. Primera Parte, torn. *, cap. 8.
f Yo eftuve en la Fortaleca de San Jorge de la Mina. —
Barcia, Hiji. del Altnir ante Chrift. Colon. Madrid, 1749. cap. 4.
\ En otra parte hace mencion haber navegado a las Mas del
Archipielago donde en una dellas que fe llama Enxion vido facar
almaciga de ciertos arboles. — Las Cafas, Hifl. de las lndias,
MSS. Primera Parte, torn. 1, cap. 3.
§ Las Cafas, upon the authority of Diego Columbus. — Hifl.
de las lndias, MSS. Primera Parte, torn. 1, cap. 3.

8i DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
veries had- excited the mind of Europe, and muft
The have influenced Columbus, living in the midft of
his greaf them. This may be faid without in the leaft
refolve. detracting from the merits of Columbus as a dif-
coverer. Men do not jump from nothing to the
higheft realities, like people in fick dreams. A
great invention or difcovery is like a daring leap,
but from land to land, not from nothing to fome
thing. And if we look at the fubject fairly, we
fhall probably admit that Columbus had as large
a fhare in the merit of his difcovery as moft in
ventors, or difcoverers, can lay claim to. If the
idea which has rendered him famous was not in
his mind at the outfet of his career of inveftiga-
tion, at any rate he had from the firft the defire
for difcovery, or, as he fays himfelf, the wifh to
know the fecrets of this world.* Whether this
impulfe foon brought him to his utmoft height
of furvey, and that he then only applied to learn
ing in order to confirm his firft views ; or whe
ther the impulfe merely carried him along, with
growing perception of the great truth he was to
* Muy altos Reges ; de muy pequeiia edad entre en la mar
navegando e lo he contlnuado fafta hoy : la mefina arte inclina
a quien le profigue a defear de faber los fecretos defte mundo.
Ya pafan de cuarenta anos que yo voy en efte ufo : todo lo que
fafta hoy fe navega todo lo he andado. — Navarrete, Col. Doc.
Dip. num. 140.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 83
prove, into deep thinking upon cofmographical
ftudies, Portuguefe difcoveries, the dreams of
learned men, the labours of former geographers,
the dim prophetic notices of great unknown lands
and vague reports amongft mariners of drift wood
feen on the feas ; at any rate we know that he
arrived at a fixed conclufion that there is a way
by the weft to the Indies, that he could find it
out, and fo come to Cipango, Cathay, the grand
Can, and all that his much-ftudied Marco Polo
told him of. Let us not pretend to lay down
the exact chronological order of the formation
of the idea in his mind, — in fact to know more
about it than the man would probably be able to
tell us himfelf.
Of the works of learned men, that which ac
cording to Ferdinand Columbus, had moft weight
with his father, was the " Cofmographia" of Car
dinal Aliaco.* Columbus was alfo confirmed in
his views of a weftern paflage to the Indies by
Paulo Tofcanelli, the Florentine philofopher. That
the notices, however, of weftern lands were not
* The following paflage is particularly referred to by Ferdinand
Columbus : " Et dicit Arifloteles ut mare parvum eft inter finem
Hifpania; a parte occidentis et inter principium Indiae a parte ori-
entis. Et non loquitur de Hifpania citeriori, quae nunc Hifpania
communiter dicitur, fed de Hifpania ulteriori quae nunc Africa di-
citur." — Aliaco, Ymago Mundi Capitulum oSwvum.

84 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
fuch as to have much weight with other men, is
fufficiently proved by the difficulty which Colum
bus had in contending with adverfe geographers
and men of fcience in general, of whom he fays,
he never was able to convince any one.f After
the new world had been difcovered, many fcat-
tered indications were then found to have fore-
fhown it.
One thing which cannot be denied to Columbus,
is that he worked out his own idea himfelf. And
how he did fo muft now be told. He firft ap
plied himfelf to his countrymen the Genoefe, who
would have nothing to fay fo his fcheme : then to
the Portuguefe, who liftened, but with bad faith
fought to anticipate him by fending out a caravel
with inftructions founded upon his plan. The
caravel returned, the failors not having heart to
venture far enough weftward. It was not an
enterprize to be carried out by men who had only
ftolen the idea of it.
1485- Columbus, difgufted at the treatment he had
SvSS" received from the Portuguefe court, leaves Lifbon,
Spain. and after vifiting Genoa, as it appears, goes to
Spain to fee what fortune he can meet with there,
arriving at Palos in the year 1485. He leaves

f Las Cafas. Hift. de las lndias. MSS. primera parte, torn, i,
cap. 33.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 85
his young fon at La Rabida, a monaftery near
Palos, under the care of Juan Perez de Mar-
chena ever after to be the ftouteft friend of our
great adventurer, who in January i486 makes
his way to the court of Ferdinand and Ifabella,
then at Cordova. There Columbus finds at once
a friend in Alonfo de Quintanilla, a man like
himfelf, who took delight in great things (que te
nia gufto en co/as grandes) and who gets him a
hearing from the Spanifh monarchs by whom the
matter is referred to the queen's confeffor, who
fummons a junta of cofmographers, not a pro-
mifing affemblage, to confult about it. They
think that fo many perfbns wife in nautical affairs
never could have overlooked fuch a thing as this ;
moreover they had their own arguments againft the
fcheme, amongft which was the not unnatural one
that Columbus, after he had defcended the hemi-
fphere, would not be able to mount again, for it
would be like getting up a mountain, as they faid.
In fine they decided that this fcheme of the Ge
noefe mariner was " vain and impoffible, and
" that it did not belong to the majefty of fuch
" great princes to determine anything upon fuch
" weak grounds of information."*
* Herrera, Hiftoria general, Madrid, 1601. dec. 1, lib. 1,
cap. 8.

86 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Ferdinand and Ifabella feem not to have taken
the extremely unfavorable view of the matter en
tertained by the junta of cofmographers, or at
leaft, to have been willing to put off Columbus
gently ; for they merely faid, that with the wars
at prefent on their hands, and efpecially that of
Granada, they could not undertake any new ex-
penfes, but when that war was ended, they would
examine his plan more carefully.*
Thus ended a folicitation at the court of Fer
dinand and Ifabella: which, according to fome
authorities, lafted five years ; for the facts above-
mentioned, though fhort in narration, occupied
no litde time in tranfaction. Columbus left the
court and went to Seville with " much fadnefs
and difcomfiture" {con mucha trijteza y dejcon-
Juelo.) He is faid then to have applied to the
Duke of Medina Sidonia ; and afterwards to the
Duke of Medina Celi. Certain it is, that when
Columbus fucceeded in his enterprize, the duke
of Medina Celi wrote to the Cardinal of Spain,
fhowing that he (the duke) had maintained Co-

* Defpues de mucho tiempo mandaron los Reyes Catolicos,
que fe refpodiefle a don Chriftoual, que por hallarfe ocupados en
muchas guerras, y en particular en la conquifta de Granada, no
podian emprender nueuos gaftos, que acabado aquello mandarian
examinar mejor fu pretention, y le defpidieron. — Herrera, dec. i,
lib. i, cap. 9.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 87
lumbus two years in his houfe,* and was ready to
have undertaken the enterprize himfelf, but that
he faw it was one for the queen herfelf, and even
then that he wifhed to have had a part in it. I
do not doubt that any man in whofe houfe Co
lumbus was for two years, would have caught
fome portion of his enthufiafm and have been
ready to embark in his enterprize. However, it
may be conjectured that none of the nobles of
the Spanifh court would have been likely to un
dertake the matter without fome fanction from
the king or queen.
Columbus was now minded to go into France,
and with this intent went to the monaftery of La
Rabida for his fon Diego, intending to leave him
at Cordova. At the monaftery there was Colum
bus's faithful friend Juan Perez, to whom he
doubdefs detailed all his griefs and ftruggles, and
who could not bear to hear of his intention to
leave the country and go to France. Juan Perez
takes Garcia Hernandez into council upon the
affairs of Columbus, and they three talk the mat
ter well over until they come to the conclufion

* Suplico a vueftra Senoria me quiera ayudar en ello, e ge lo
fuplique de mi parte, pues a mi cabfa y por yo detenerle en mi ca-
fa dos aiios, y haberle enderezado 'a fu fervicio, fe ha hallado tan
grande cofa como e&a.—Navarrete, Coll. dip. num. 14, vol. »,

88 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
that Juan Perez who was known to the queen,
having on fome oecafions acted as her confeffor,
fhould write to her highnefs. He does fo ; fhe
fends for him, fees him, and in eonfequence fends
money to Columbus to enable him to come to
court to renew his fuit. He attends the court
again, but the negotiation is broken off on the
ground of the largenefs of the conditions which he
afks for. The opponents faid that thefe conditions
were too large if he fucceeded, and if he fhould
not fucceed, and the conditions fhould come to no
thing, they thought that there was an air of trifling
in granting fuch conditions at all.* And truth
to fay, they were very large ; that he was to be
made an Admiral at once, to be appointed vice
roy of the countries he fhould difcover, and have
an eighth of the profits of the expedition. The
only way, as it appears to me, of accounting for
the extent of thefe demands and his perfeverance
in them, even to the rifk of total failure, is that
the difcovering of the Indies was but a ftep in his
mind to the greater undertakings, as they feemed
to him, which he had in view of going to Jeru-
falem with an army, and in fact making another
* Les parecia mucho lo que queria fi la empreffa fucedia bien,
y finojuzgauanporligerezaelconcederlo. — Herrera,dec. x, lib. i,
cap. 8.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 89
crufade. For Columbus carried the ideas of the
twelfth century into the fomewhat felf-feeking
fifteenth. However, the negotiation fails, and
Columbus refolves again to go to France, when
Alonfo de Quintanilla and Juan Perez contrive
to get a hearing for our great adventurer from
Cardinal Mendoza who is pleafed with him. Co
lumbus now offers, in order to meet the objections
of his opponents, to pay an eighth part of the ex-
penfe of the expedition. Still nothing is done.
And now finally Columbus determines to go to
France, indeed is actually gone one day in Jan-
. . uary of the year 1492, when Luis de Santangel,
receiver of the ecclefiaftical revenues of the crown
of Aragon, a man much devoted to the plans of
Columbus, addreffed the Queen with all the ener
gy that a man feels when he is aware that it is
his laft time for fpeaking in favour of a thing
which he has much at heart. He tells her that
he wonders that having always had a ftrong mind
for great things, it fhould be wanting to her on
this occafion.* He endeavours to pique her jea-
loufy as a monarch, by fuggefting that the enter
prize may fall into the hands of other princes.
 — ¦ — . — _ — ¦
* Que auiendo tenido fiempre doblado animo para grandes co-
fas, le faltafle en efta ocafion. — Herrera, dec. », cap. 8.

90 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Then he fays fomething in behalf of Columbus
himfelf, and the queen was not unlikely to know
well the bearing of a great man. He intimates
to her highnefs that what is an impoflibility to
the cofmographers, may not be fo in nature.
Nor, continues he, fhould it be attributed to light-
nefs the having tried at fuch a great thing, even
though it fhould fail, for it is the part of great
and generous princes to know the fecrets of the
world. Other • princes (he does not fay thofe of
neighbouring Portugal) had gained eternal fame
this way. He concluded by faying that all that
Columbus wanted, to fet the expedition afloat,
was but a million of maravedis ; and that for fo
fmall a fum fo great an enterprize fhould not be
forfaken. Thefe well addreffed arguments falling
in, as they did, with thofe of Quintanilla the trea
surer, who had great influence with the queen,
prevailed. She thanked thefe lords for their coun-
fel, and faid fhe would adopt it, but they muft '
wait until the finances had recovered a little from
the drain upon them occafioned by the conqueft
ifabella of Granada, or if they thought that the plan muft
to equip be forthwith carried out, fhe would pledge her
o um us. jewejs to ra;fe tne neceffary funds. Santangel and
Quintanilla kifs her hands, highly delighted at
fucceeding ; Santangel offers to lend the money

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 91
from his own eftate ; and the queen fends an Al-
guazil to overtake Columbus and bring him back
to the court. He is overtaken at the bridge of
Pinos, two leagues from Granada, returns to San
ta Fe, is well received, and finally the agreement
between him and their catholic highneffes is fetded
with the fecretary Coloma.*
We do not fee much of Ferdinand in all thefe
proceedings ; and it is generally underftood that
he looked rather coldly upon the propofitions of
Columbus. We cannot fay that he was at all
unwife in fo doing. His great compeer, Henry the
Seventh, did not haften to adopt the fame project
fubmitted to him by Bartholomew Columbus,
fent into England for that purpofe by his brother
Chriftopher ; and I do not know that it has been
thought to derogate from the Englifh king's fa-
.gacity. Men in power in all ages are furrounded
by projectors, and have to clear the way about
them as well as they can, and to take care that
they get time and room for managing their own
immediate affairs. It is not to be wondered at if
good plans fhould fometimes fhare the fate which
ought to attend, and muft attend, the great mafs
of all projects fubmitted to men in power. Here,
* Herrera, dec. i, 1. i, c. 9.

92 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
however, the ultimate event would juftify the mo
narch's wifdom ; for it would be hard to prove that
Spain has derived aught but a golden weakhefs
from her fplendid difcoveries and poffeffions in
the new world.
Moreover, the characters of the two men being
effentially oppofed, it is probable that Ferdinand
felt contempt for the uncontrolled enthufiafm of
Columbus ; and, upon the whole, it is rather to
be wondered that the king confented to give the
powers he did, than that he did not do more.
Had it been a matter which concerned his own
kingdom of Aragon, he might not have gone fo
far, but the expenfes were to be charged on Caf
tile, and perhaps he looked upon the whole af
fair as another inftance of Ifabella's good-natured
enthufiafm.
149*- The agreement between Columbus and their
catholic highneffes was figned at Santa Fe on the
17th of April 1492 : and Columbus went to Pa-
los to make preparation for his voyage, bearing
with him an order that the two veffels which that
city furnifhed annually to the crown for three
months, fhould be placed at his difpofal.
There was no delay in furnifhing the funds for
this expedition ; for we find from an entry in an
account-book belonging to the bifhopric of Palen-

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 93
cia,* that one million, one hundred and forty
thoufand maravedis were advanced by Santangel
in May, 1492, " being the fum he lent for pay-
" ing the caravels which their highneffes ordered
" to go as the armada to the Indies, and for
" paying Chriftopher Columbus, who goes in the
" faid armada."
Juan Perez, we are told, was active in perfua-
ding men to embark. The Pinzons, rich men
and fkilful mariners of Palos, joined in the under
taking and fubfcribed an eighth of the expenfes :
and three veffels were manned with ninety mari
ners, and provifioned for a year. At length all the
preparations were complete, and on a Friday (not
inaufpicious in this cafe) the 3rd of Auguft 1492, i492-
Columbus
after they had all confeffed and taken the facra- fets fail.
ment, they fet fail from the bar of Saltes, making
for the Canary Iflands.
Columbus is now fairly afloat : about to change
the long continued, weary, dreary fuitor's life for
the fharp, intenfe anxiety of a ftruggle in which
there is no alternative to fuccefs, but deplorable,
ridiculous, fatal failure. Speaking afterwards of
this fuitor time he fays " eight years I was torn
" with difputes, and in a word, my propofition
* Navarrete Coleccion, vol. z, p. 5.

94 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
" was a thing for mockery."* It was now to be
feen what mockery was in it. Our account of the
voyage is mainly taken from an abridgment of Co
lumbus's own diary, made by Las Cafas, who in feme
places gives the Admiral's own words. The little
fquadron reached the Canary Iflands in a few days,
with no accident worth recording, except that the
caravel " Pinta," commanded by Martin Alonfo
Pinzon, unfhipped her rudder. This was fup
pofed to be no accident, but to have been done
by the owners of the veffel, who liked not the
voyage. The Admiral, (from henceforth Colum
bus is called the Admiral) is obliged to ftay fome
time at the Canary Iflands to refit the Pinta, and
to make fome change in the cut of her fails. In
the abridgment of the diary, under the date 9th of
Auguft, the Admiral remarks that many Spani
ards of thefe iflands (hombres honrados) fwear that
each year they fee land ; and he remembers how
in the year 1484 fome one came from the ifland
of Madeira to the king of Portugal to beg a cara
vel to go and difcover that land which he declared
he faw each year, and in the fame manner, f Had
not the Admiral been confcious of the fubftantial

* Los ocho' fui traido en difputas, y en fin fe dio mi avifo por
ca'ufa fie burla.— Namarrete, Col. vol. z, p. 254.
f Navarrete, Col. vol. 1, p. 5.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 95
originality of his proceRclings, he would hardly
have been fo careful to collect thefe fcattered no
tices which might afterwards be ufed, as many
like them were ufed, to depreciate that originality.
There is no further entry in the diary until the
6th of September, when they fet out from Gomera
(one of the Canary Iflands) on their unknown
way. For many days, what we have of the diary
is little more than a log-book giving the rate of
failing, or rather two rates, one for Columbus's
own private heed, and the other for the failors.
For inftance, when they go fixty" leagues in a day
and night, it is put down at forty eight for the
failors. On the 13th of September, it is noted
that the needle declined in the evening to the
north-weft, and on the enfuing morning to the
north-eaft — the firft time that fuch a variation had
been obferved or, at leaft, recorded by Europeans.
On the 14th, the failors of the Caravel Nina faw
two tropical birds, which they faid were never wont
to be feen at more than fifteen or twenty leagues
from fhore. On the 1 5th, they all faw a meteor fall
from heaven, which made them very fad. On the
1 6th they firft came upon thofe immenfe plains of
feaweed, (the "fucus natans") which conftitute the
Mar de Sargaflb, and which, according to Hum
boldt, occupy a fpace in the Atlantic almoft equal

96 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
to feven times the extent of France.* The af-
pect of thefe plains terrified the failors greatly,
who thought they might be coming upon fub-
merged lands and rocks; but finding that the
veffels cut their way well through this fea-weed,
the failors thereupon took heart. On the 17 th,
they fee more of thefe plains of fea-weed, and
thinking themfelves to be near land, they, are
almoft in good fpirits, when finding that the
needle declined to the weft a whole point of the
compafs and more, their hopes fuddenly fank
again : they began to " murmur between their
" teeth," and to wonder whether they were not in
another world. However Columbus orders an
obfervation to be taken at day break, when the
needle is found to point to the north again ; and
he has forthwith an ingenious theory to account
for the phenomenon of its variation which had fo
difturbed the failors ; namely, that it was caufed
by the north ftar moving round the pole. The
failors are, therefore, quieted upon this head. In
the morning of the fame day they catch a crab,
from which Columbus infers that they cannot be
more than eighty leagues diftant from land. The
1 8 th, they fee many birds, and a cloud in the
* Humboldt's Kofmos, vol. a, p. 287.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 97
diftance ; and that night expect to fee land. On
the 19th, in the morning, comes a pelican ; in the
evening another; birds not ufually feen twenty
leagues from the coaft : alfo drizzling rain with
out wind, a certain fign, as the diary fays, of
proximity to land. However the Admiral will
not beat about for land, as he concludes that the
land which thefe various figns give token of, can
only be iflands, as indeed they were. He will fee
them on his return : but now he muft prefs on to
the Indies.* This refolution fliows his great mind,
and the fcientific conclufion he had come to.
He is not to be diverted from the main defign
by any partial fuccefs, though by this time he
knew well the fears of his men, fome of whom,
according to the account of Herrera, had already
come to the conclufion " that it would be their
" beft plan to throw him quietly into the fea, and
" fay he unfortunately fell in while he flood ab-
" forbed in looking at the ftars" (embebido en con-
Jiderar las eftrellas.) Indeed, three days after he
had refolved to pafs on to the Indies, we find him

* Mas de que tuvo por cierto que a la banda del Norte y del
Sur habia algunas iflas, como en la verdad lo eftaban y el iba por
medio dellas ; porque fu voluntad era de feguir adelante hafta las
lndias, y el tiempo es bueno, porque placiendo a. Dios a la vuelta
fe veria todo : eftas fon fus palabras. Navarrete, Col. vol. i, p. 1 1 .
H

98 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
faying, for Las Cafas gives his words, " very
" needful for me was this contrary wind, for the
" people were very much tormented with the idea
" that there were no winds on thefe feas that
" could take them back to Spain."
On they go, having figns occafionally in the
prefence of birds and grafs and fifh that land muft
be near; but land does not come. Once, too,
they are all convinced that they fee land : they
fing the "gloria in excelfis:" and even the Ad
miral goes out of his courfe towards this land
which turns out to be no land. They are like
men liftening to a terrible difcourfe, or oration,
that feems to have many endings which end not :
fo that the hearer at laft liftens in grim defpair,
thinking that all things have loft their meaning,
and that ending is but another form of begin
ning. Thefe mariners were ftout-hearted, too : but
what a thing it was to plunge, down-hill as it
were, into a new world of waters, mocked day
by day with figns of land that neared not. And
thefe men had wives and fweethearts at home,
and did not bring out with them any great idea
to uphold them, and had already done enough to
make them great men in their towns, and to fur-
nifh ample talk for the evenings of their lives.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 99
Still we find Columbus, as late as the 3rd of
October, faying, " that he did not choofe to flop
" beating about laft week during thofe days that
" they had fuch figns of land, although he had
" knowledge of there being certain iflands in that
" neighbourhood, becaufe he would not fuffer
" any detention, fince his object was to go to the
" Indies : and if he fhould flop on the way, he
" fays it would fhow a want of brains."*
Meanwhile he had a hard tafk to keep his men
in any order. Peter Martyr, who knew Colum
bus well, and probably had had a fpecial account
from him of thefe perilous days, deferibes his
way of dealing with the refractory mariners, and
how he contrived to get them on from day to
day ; now foothing them with foft words, now
carrying their minds from thought of the prefent
danger by fpreading out large hopes before them,
not forgetting to let them know what their princes
would fay to them if they attempted aught againft
him, or would not obey his orders.f With this

* Navarrete, Col. v, i, p. 16.
f Poft trigefimum jam diem furore perciti, proclamabant, ut
reducerentur : ne ulteriiis procederet, ftimulabant hominem :
ipfe veto, blandis modo verbis, ampla. Ipe modo, diem ex die
protrahens, iratos mulcebat, depofcebat : ' proditionis quoque tax-
andos effe a regibus, fi adverfi quicquam in eum molirentur, et fi
parere recufarent, predicabat.-l-jfVter Martyr, dec. 1, 1. 1.

ioo DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Babel of wild, frightened men around him, with
mocking hopes, not knowing what each day would
bring to him, on went Columbus. At laft comes
the nth of October, and with it indubitable
figns of land. The diary mentions their finding
on that day a table board and a carved flick, the
carving apparently wrought by fome iron inftru-
ment. Herrera mentions alfo that the men in
one of the veffels faw a branch of a haw tree with
fruit on it. Now, indeed, they muft be clofe to
land. The fun goes down upon the fame weary
round of waters which for fo long a time their
eyes had ached to fee beyond, when at ten o'clock,
Columbus, ftanding on the poop of his veffel,
faw a light, and called to him, privately, Pedro
Columbus Gutierrez, who faw it alfo. Then they called
on land. Rodrigo Sanchez, who had been fent by their
Highneffes as overlooker ; I fancy him the fort
of dry little man fent by Dutch or Venetian
flates to accompany and curb great generals, and
who are generally anything but loved by them.
Sanchez did not fee the light at firft, becaufe, as
Columbus fays, he did not fland in the place
where it could be feen, but at laft even he fees
it : and it may now be confidered to have been
feen officially. " It appeared like a candle that
" Went up and down, and Don Chriftopher did

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 101
" not doubt that it was true light, (no will-of-
" the-wifp) and was on land : and fo it was, as it
" came from people paffing with lights from one
" cottage to another."*
We cannot but be forry for a poor common
failor, Rodrigo de Triana, who faw the light juft a
litde too late, got no reward, and of whom they
tell a ftory, that in fadnefs and defpite, after his
return to Spain, he paffed into Africa, and became
a Mahometan. The award was adjudged to the
Admiral : it was charged on the fhambles (car-
nicerias) of Seville, and was always paid to the
Admiral to the day of his death : for, fays the
hiflorian Herrera,
" he faw light in the midft of darknefs, fignifying the
" fpiritual light which was introduced amongft thefe
" barbarous people, God permitting that the war being
" finifhed with the Moors, feven hundred and twenty
" years after they had fet foot in Spain, this work (the
" converfion of the Indians) fhould commence, fo that
" the princes of Caftile and Leon fhould always be oc-
" cupied in bringing infidels to the knowledge of the
" Holy Catholic Faith." f
Thefe laft words are notable. It is the very
* Herrera, dec. i, lib. i, cap. 12. f Ibid.

roa DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
account that Columbus himfelf would probably
have given of the matter. In the ^preface to
his diary, which is an addrefs to Ferdinand and
Ifabella, he fpeaks at large (and Las Cafas gives
the Admiral's own words) of the motives of their
Highneffes. He fays how the Grand Can had
fent ambaffadors to the pope, praying for doc
tors to inftruct him in the faith. • He fpeaks of
the expulfion of the Jews, probably intimating
that that was alfo a proof of the devout intentions
of their Highneffes. And, indeed, he afcribes no
motive to the monarchs but religious ones.
" Your highnefles as Catholic Chriftians and princes,
u lovers and furtherers of the Chriftian faith, and ene-
" mies of the feet of Mahomet, and of all idolatries and
" herefies, thought to fend me, Chriftopher Columbus,
" to the aforefaid provinces of India to fee the afore-
" faid princes, the cities and lands, and the difpofition of
" them and of every thing about them, and the way
" that fhould be taken to convert them to the facred
" faith."*

* Vueftras Altezas, como catolicos criftianos y Principes ama-
dores de la fanta fe criftiana y acrecentadores della, y enemigos
de la fefta de Mahoma y de todas idolatrias y heregias, penfaron
de enviarme a mi Crift&bal Colon a. las dichas partidas de India
para ver los dichos principes, y los pueblos y tierras, y la difpofi-
cion dellas y de todo, y la manera que fe pudiera tener para la
converfion dellas k nueftra fanta fe. — Na<varrete, v. i, p. 2.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 103
The diary to which this addrefs was prefixed is
probably one of the books which their highneffes
allude to in a letter to Columbus, as in their pof-
feflion, and which they fay they have fhown to
nobody. I fee no reafon to doubt the good
faith of the words of Columbus in this matter :
and it is well to dwell upon them, becaufe we fhall
never come to a right underftanding of thefe times
and of the queftion of flavery as connected with
them, unlefs we fully appreciate the good as well
as the bad motives which guided the firft and
moft important perfons of the time.
As for Ifabella, there can be no doubt about
her motives. Even in the lamentably unjuft
things in which fhe was too often concerned, fhe
had what to her mind was compelling reafon to
act as fhe did. Perhaps there is no one who
ever lived to whom fo much evil may be traced,
all done, or rather permitted, upon the higheft and
pureft motives. Whether we refer to the ex-
pulfion of the Jews, the treatment of the Moor-
ifh converts, or the eftablifhment of the Inquifi-
tion ; all her proceedings in thefe matters were
entirely fincere and noble-minded. Methinks I
can ftill fee her beautiful, majeftic face, (with broad
brow and clear, honeft, loving eye,) as it looks
upon us from one of the chapels in the cathedral

104 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
at Granada; too expreflive and individual to be
what painters give as an angel, and yet the next
thing to it. Now fhe looks down reproachfully,
and yet with confcious fadnefs. I know what you
would fay, fair woman ; that you obeyed the voice
of Heaven— taking priefts as its interpreters.
Oh ! that you had but liftened to it, as it fpoke
in your own kindly heart, when with womanly
pity you were wont to intercede in favour of the
poor cooped-up inmates of fome clofely belea
guered town or fortrefs. But at leaft the poor In
dian can utter naught but bleffings on you. He
might have needed no other ' protector' had you
lived : nor would flavery have found in his fate
one of the darkeft chapters in its hiftory.
But we muft away from Granada, and our
fancies there, to San Salvador, the firft land
touched by Columbus. He is for the prefent
moment all triumph. Our intereft paffes now
from him to the new people we are amongft.
And what are they like ? Are they worthy of
the efforts we have made to fee them ? Is there
mind and foul enough in them, for them to be
made Chriftians of? What fays the greateft of
the men who firft faw them ? What impreflion
did they make on him ? Let him anfwer for
himfelf.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 105
" Becaufe they had much friendfhip for us, and be-
" caufe I knew they were people that would deliver
" themfelves better to the Chriftian faith, and be con-
" verted more through love than by force ; I gave to
" fome of them fome coloured caps and fome firings of
" glafs beads for their necks, and many other things of
" little value, with which they were delighted, and were
" fo entirely ours that it was a marvel to fee. The
" fame afterwards came fwimming to the fhips' boats
" where we were, and brought us parrots, cotton threads
" in balls, darts and many other things,*and bartered
" them with us for things which we gave them, fuch as
" bells rfhd fmall glafs beads. In fine they took and
" gave all of whatever they had with good will. But
" it appeared to me they were a people very poor in
" everything. They went totally naked, as naked as
" their mothers brought them into the world."*
Then Columbus goes on to fay they were well
made, with very good faces, but hair like horfehair,
their colour yellow ; and that they painted them
felves. They neither carried arms nor underftood
fuch things ; for when he fhowed them fwords,
they took hold of them by the blade and hurt
themfelves. Their darts were without iron ; but
fome had a fifh's tooth at the end. In concluding
his defcription he fays, "they ought to make
* Navarrete, Col. vol. 1, p. 21.

106 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Charaaer " faithful fervants and of good underftanding,
of Indians. „ ^ j ^ ^ ygry qujckly they fepeat aH that
" is faid to them ; and I believe they would eafily
" be converted to Chriftianity, for it appeared to
" me that they had no creed."
A little further on, the Admiral fays of the peo
ple of a neighbouring ifland, that they were more
domeftic and tractable than thofe of San Salvador
and Santa Maria, and cleverer too, as he faw in
their way of reckoning for the payment of the
cotton they brought to the fhips. At the Rio
de Mares fome of the Admiral's men whom he
had fent to reconnoitre, bring him word that the
houfes of the natives were the beft they had feen.
They were made like
" alfaneques, (pavilions) very large, and appeared as
" royal tents without an arrangement of ftreets, except
" one here and there, and within they were very clean,
" and well fwept, and their fittings in good tafte. All
" thefe houfes were made of palm branches and were
" very beautiful. Our men found in thefe houfes many
" ftatues of women, and feveral cafts very well worked.
" I do not know whether they have thefe for the love
" of the beautiful or for purpofes of worfhip."*
* Eran hechas a manera de alfaneques, muy grandes, y pare-
cian tiendas en real fin concierto de calles, fino una aca y otra
aculla, y de dentro muy barridas y limpias, y fus aderezos muy

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 107
They found alfo excellent nets, fifh-hooks and
fifhing tackle. There were tame birds, too,
about the houfes, and dogs which did not bark.
The Admiral, fpeaking of the Indians, in another
place fays that they are " very gentle, without
" knowing what evil is, neither killing nor fteal-
"ing."f But we muft refume our hiftory, and fee what
Columbus did and fuffered in this firft voyage of
his. The firft Indians he meets with have fome
few gold ornaments about them — poor wretches,
if they could but have had the gift of prophecy,
they would have thrown them into the nether-
moft fea!: — they are afked whence comes this
gold. From a race, they fay, living fouthwards,
where there was a great king, who had much
gold. On another occafion, other Indians be
ing afked the fame queftion, anfwer, " Cubana
can, Cubanacan." They meant the middle of
Cuba ; but Columbus goes off immediately upon
the idea that he is now upon the traces of his
compueftos. Todas fonde ramasde palmamuy hermofas. Hal-
laron muchas eftatuas en figura de mugeres, y muchas cabezas en
manera de caratona muy bien labradas. No fe fi efto tienen por
hermofura 6 adoran en ellas. — Na'varrete, Col. vol. i, p. 42.
f Muy manfos, y fin faber que fea mal, ni matar a otros, ni
prender. — Na'varrete, vol. 1, p. 53.

io 8 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
long looked-for friend, the Grand Can. Indeed
it is droll to fee throughout, how Columbus is
pofleffed with his old Marco Polo notions. He
afks for " his Cipango," as Herrera flyly puts it ;
the natives at once point out to him the direction
where that is . They think he means Cibao, where
afterwards the beft mines of gold were found.
The Admiral, bent on difcovery, and efpecially
on getting to the terra firma, does not flay long
anywhere. He difcovers Cuba, and afterwards
Hifpaniola, and comes there to the country of
King Guacanagari, where he is received moft
cordially. It may be mentioned here, that Martin Alonzo
Pinzon had wilfully parted company from the
Admiral while on the coaft of Cuba : unbridled
covetoufnefs was probably the caufe of this moft
undutiful proceeding. And we are now going
to have another proof of the infubordination of
the mariners under Columbus, which makes us
only wonder more how he could have got them
acrofs the Atlantic at all. One evening the ad
miral, after paying a vifit to Guacanagari, feeing
the fea quite calm, betook himfelf to reft. As
he had not flept for two days and a night, it is
probable his flumber was deep. Meanwhile the

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 109
fteerfman, contrary to the diftinct orders of the
Admiral, gives the helm to a common failor, a
youth. All of the failors go to fleep. The fea
is as calm " as water in a difh," fays Columbus.
Litde by litde the fhip is drifted on to a fhoal.
Directly they touch, the failor-boy at the helm
ftarts from his dream, haply about his mother,
and cries out : the Admiral jumps up firft, (for
the refponfibility of command feldom goes quite
to fleep) then the officer whofe watch it ought
to have been, hurries up and the Admiral orders
him to lower the boat which they carried on the
poop and throw out an anchor aftern. Inftead of
obeying the Admiral, this cowardly villain, with
others like him, jumped into the boat and made
off for the other veffel, which was about half a Columbus
league off.. The other veffel would. not receive wrecked.
them and they rowed back again. But it was
too late. The Admiral did what he could : he
cut down the maft, lightened the veffel as beft he
might, took out his people and went with them
to the other veffel, fending his boat to Guacana
gari to tell of the misfortune. The good Gua- .
canagari was moved to tears by this fad affair.
He not only gives fympathy, however, but aflift-
ance. His people go out in canoes, and in a
moment clear the veffel of all the goods in it.

1 10 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
Guacanagari is very careful that nothing fhould
be loft. He himfelf ftands guard over the things
taken out of the fhip. He fends comforting
meffages to the Admiral, faying that he would
give him what he had to make up for the lofs.
He puts all the effects under fhelter and places
guards round them. The Admiral, as well he
might be, is evidently touched to the heart by
the kindnefs of thefe Indians. He goes on to fay,
Character « they are a loving, uncovetous people, fo docile
dians. " in all things, that I affure your Highneffes that
" I believe in all the world there is not a better
" people, or a better country : they love their
" neighbours as themfelves, and they have the
" fweeteft and gentleft way of talking in the
" world, and always with a fmile."*
The Admiral refolves to found a colony in
Guacanagari's land, " having found fuch good
will and fuch figns of gold,"j" Upon this our
Spanifh hiftorian, Herrera, makes fome curious
reflections. He looks upon the lofs of the veffel

* Son gente de amor y fin cudicia, y convenibles para toda cofa,
que certifico & vueftras Altezas que en el mundo creo que no hay
mejor gente ni mejor tierra : ellos aman a fus projimos como a si
mifmos, y tienen una habla la mas dulce del mundo, y manfa, y
fiempre con rifa — Na<varrete, Col. vol. i, p. 113.
f Herrera, dec. 1, lib. x,c. 18.

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. m
as providential, in order that the true faith might
be preached in that country. Then he fays how
Providence not only caufes his work to be done on
high motives, but alfo on the ordinary ones which
influence mankind. Then he concludes by faying
that Providence dealt with the Spaniards and the
Indians as a prudent father who has an ugly
daughter, but makes up for her uglinefs by the
help of a good dowry. By the uglinefs in this
cafe he means the feas to be traverfed, the hunger
to be endured, and the labours to be undertaken,
which he confiders no other nation but the Spa
niards would have encountered, even with the
hope of greater booty. There we may venture
to differ from him.
Columbus builds a fort and calls it La Navi- Columbus
dad becaufe he entered the port near there on fort.
Chriftmas-day. He remains on very friendly
terms with the good cacique Guacanagari ; and
might have eftablifhed himfelf very comfortably
in that part of the country, if he could have been
content to be a fettler. But from the firft mo
ment of his difcovery, he, doubdefs, had an anx
ious defire to get back to Spain and tell what he
knew ; and at times, perhaps, was fearful left
his great fecret, through fome mifchance to the

ii2 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
expedition, fhould ftill perifh with him. Our
great difcoverer muft now, therefore, think about
returning homewards. He mans his fort with
thirty-nine men, commends his people to Gua
canagari, gives them excellent advice — to do no
violence to man or woman, and, in fhort, to make
their actions conformable to the idea (which the
Indians firft entertained of them) that they had
come from heaven — then, having received the ne
ceffary provifions for his veffel from Guacanagari,
the Admiral fets fail for Spain the fourth of Ja
nuary, 1493.

"3

CHAPTER IV.
Administration of Columbus in the Indies.
IS we are not inveftigating the life of Co
lumbus, we need not go into any of the
minor difcoveries which he made after
leaving La Navidad, or the troubles and difficul
ties he had on his voyage homewards ; or his re
ception at Lifbon, where he was obliged to take
refuge from a florm, and where, difplaying the
figns of a new world at a court which had refufed
the difcovery, muft have been almoft too much
of a triumph for a generous mind. Suffice it to
fay, that he arrived at Palos, the port he had fet
out from, on the 15th March, 1493, and forth- 1493.
with commenced his journey to Barcelona where
the court then was. Herrera tells us that the
Admiral now " entered into the greateft reputa-
" tion," and the hiftorian goes on to explain to
his readers what the meaning of "reputation"
is. It does not confift, he tells us, in fuccefs,
1

n4 RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS
but in doing fomething which cannot be eafily
comprehended, which compels men to think over
and over again upon it.* And certainly, this
definition makes the word particularly applicable
to the achievement of Columbus.
The Court The court prepared a folemn reception for the
back Co- Admiral at Barcelona where, as we are told, the
umbus. pe0pie poured out in fuch numbers that the ftreets
could not contain them. A triumphal proceffion
like his the world had not feen : it was a thing to
make the moft incurious alert, and even the fad and
folitary fludent content to come out and mingle
widi the mob. The captives that went before a
Roman general's car might be ftrange barbarians,
of a tribe from which Rome had not yet had
flaves. But barbarians were not unknown crea
tures. Here, with Columbus, were beings of a
new world. Imagine the rumours that muft have
gone before his coming. And now he is here.
Ferdinand and Ifabella have their thrones placed
in the prefence of the affembled multitude. Co
lumbus approaches, with a face full of modeft
fmiles, (" modefta rifa") kneels at the King's feet,
and begs to kifs their Highneffes' hands. They
give their hands ; then they bid him rife and be

* Herrera, dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 3.

ON HIS RETURN TO SPAIN. 115
feated before them. He recounts, briefly, the
events of his voyage — a ftory more interefting
than the tale told by iEneas in Dido's court —
and he concludes by fhowing what new things
and creatures he has brought.
Ferdinand and Ifabella fall on their knees, giv
ing thanks to God with many tears; and the
chorifters of the royal chapel clofe the grand cere
monial by finging the Te Deum. Afterwards
men walk home grave and yet happy, having feen
the fymbol of a great work : fomething to be
thought over for many an age.
Other marks of approbation for Columbus are
not wanting. The agreement between him and
Los Reyes, (Ferdinand and Ifabella may as well
be, henceforth, called by us Los Reyes, as they
are in the hiftories of that time) is confirmed.
He gets a coat of arms, then a thing of fome
meaning and fubftance. He rides by the king's
fide ; is ferved at table as a Grandee ,- " all hail "
is faid to him on ftate oecafions : and the men of
his age, happy in that, have found out another
great man to honour.
The more profaic part of the bufinefs has now
to be attended to, Los Reyes apply to the pope,
Alexander the 6th, to confer on the Crowns of

116 RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS.
Caftile and Leon the lands difcovered and to be
difcovered. They foon receive a favourable an-
The Pope fwer. The pope grants to the princes of Caftile
indies to6 and Leon, and to their fucceffors, the fovereign
May)6' empire and principality of the Indies, and of the
J493- navigation there, with high and royal jurifdiction
and imperial dignity and lordfhip over all that
hemifphere. To preferve the peace between Spain
and Portugal, the pontiff divides the Spanifh and
Portuguefe Indian fovereignties, by an imaginary
line drawn from pole to pole, one hundred
leagues to the weft of the Azores and the Cape
de Verde iflands.
Meanwhile, the preparations for the Admiral's
fecond voyage are going on. After the arrival of
the apoftolic bulls, and before the departure of
Columbus from Barcelona, the nine Indians
Indians brought by him were baptized. Here, paren-
3.T6 D3.pr.lZ~
ed. thetically, we may take note of fomething which,
did the fact correfpond with what the Spaniards
thought, would indeed be notable. One of the
Indians, after being baptized, dies j and is, we are
told, the firft of that nation, according to pious
belief, who entered heaven.*

* Y porque ellos mifmos pidieron el bautifmo, quifieron los
Reyes ofrecer a nueftro Senor las primicias defta gentilidad, y
fueron padrinos, el Rey y el Principe don Juan fu hijo : el qual

ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS. 117
We cannot help thinking of good Guacanagari,
and imagining, that if his race had been like him,
fome one might already have reached the regions
of the bleffed. I do not however refer to this
paflage of Herrera for its Angularity, but becaufe
it brings before us again the profound import at
tached to baptifm in thofe times, and may help
to account, as has been noticed before, for many
feeming inconfiftences in the conduct of the Spa
niards to the Indians.
In the conduct, however, of Los Reyes towards
the Indians, there is nothing equivocal; but all
fhows tendernefs and religious care in thefe mo-
narchs for their new fubjects. The inftructions
which Columbus carries out in his fecond voyage,
dated the 29th May, 1493, are the firft ftrokes H93-
upon that obdurate mafs of Colonial difficulty which
at laft by inceffant working of great Princes, great
Churchmen and great flatefmen, is eventually to
be hammered into fome righteous form of wifdom
and of mercy. The following are part of thefe
inftructions. They charge the Admiral by all
poflible ways to labour to bring the dwellers in

quifo, que uno de los Indios quedafle en fu cafa en fu feruicio,
que no mucho defpues murio, que fegun piadofamente fe deve
creer, fue el primero que defta nacion entro en el cielo. — Herrera,
dec. 1, lib. *, cap. 5.

n8 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
the Indies to a knowledge of the facred Catholic
Faith. And that this may the eafier be done, all
the armada is to be charged to deal lovingly
(amorofamente) with the Indians. The Admiral
is to give them things and honour them much (/'
los honre mucho). And if by chance any perfon
or perfons fhould treat the Indians ill, in any
manner whatever, the Admiral is to chaftife fuch
ill doers feverely* Their highneffes alfo fent
out Father Buil, and other ecclefiaftics to fuper-
intend the religious education of the Indians.
With thefe inftructions, Columbus fets fail the
25th of September, 1493, having with him 17
veffels and 1500 men. After making various
difcoveries, which we need not trouble ourfelves
about, the Admiral arrives at Hifpaniola, and
Deftruc- finds his little colony at La Navidad entirely de-
N°avidadU ftroyed. The account of this which Guacanagari
gives to Columbus, and which I fee no reafon for
doubting, is that the Spaniards who had been left
at La Navidad, took to evil courfes, quarrelled
amongft themfelves, ftraggled about the country,
and finally were fet upon when weak and few in
numbers, by a neighbouring Indian chief, named
Caonabo, who burned the tower and difperfed or
* Navarrete, Coleccion Diplomatica, Num. XL v.

IN THE INDIES. 119
killed the Spaniards. None were ever found.
Columbus builds another fort at another part of
the ifland, and calls his new colony Ifabella. He
hears of the mines of Cibao and fends to recon
noitre them : the Indians, little forefeeing what is
to come of it, give gold to the Spanifh meffengers
who return with good figns of fuccefs. Columbus
refolves to found a colony at Cibao.
At this period, January, 1494, Columbus fends 1494-
home an account of the ftate of his colony. It is
in the form of inftructions to Antonio de Torres,
the Receiver of the colony, who is to go and fay
to Los Reyes fuch things as are written in thefe
inftructions, and doubtiefs to elucidate them by
difcourfe; as in the prefent day, we fend a defpatch
to be read by an ambaflador to the foreign min-
ifter of the power we are treating with. There
remains a copy made at the time of this document,
and of the notes in the margin containing the
refolutions of Los Reyes. The original thus
noted was taken back to Columbus. It is a moft
valuable document, very illuftrative of the cau
tious and wife dealing of the Catholic Sovereigns.

The document begins with the proper refpect- inftruc-
ful compliments. " Their Highnejfes hold it for Antonio
" goodfervice" is the marginal remark.

120 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
The next paragraph confifts of a general ftate-
ment about what has been difcovered. " Their
" Highnejfes give much thanks to God, and hold as
" very honoured Jervice all that the Admiral has
" done, &V."
Then follow the Admiral's reafons why he has
not been able to fend home more gold. His
people have been ill ; it was neceffary to keep
guard, &c. " He has done well" is in the mar
gin. Then come more reafons — more approbation
in the margin.
He fuggefts the building a fortrefs near the
place where gold can be got. Their Highneffes
approve ; and the note in the margin is, " This
" is well and Jo it muft be done"
Then comes a paragraph about provifions, and
a marginal order from Los Reyes " that Juan de
" Fonjeca is to provide for that matter"
Again there comes another paragraph about
provifions, complaining amongft other things, that
the cafks in which the wine for the Armada had
been put, were leaky. Their Highneffes make
an order in the margin, a that Juan de Fonjeca
" is to find out the perfons who played this cheat
" with the wine-cajks, and Jo make good from their
" pockets the lofs, and to fee that the canes" (fugar
canes for planting I fuppofe) " are good and that

IN THE INDIES. 121
" all that is here afked for, fhould be provided
" immediately." So far nothing can run more pleafantly with
the main document than the notes in the margin.
Columbus now touches upon a matter which inti
mately concerns our fubject. He defires Antonio
de Torres to inform their Highneffes that he has
fent home fome Indians from the Cannibal iflands
as flaves, to be taught Caftilian, and to ferve
afterwards as interpreters, fo that the work of
converfion may go on. His arguments in fupport
of this proceeding are weighty. He fpeaks of the
good that it will be to take thefe people away
from Cannibalifm, and to have them baptized,
that fo they will gain their fouls, as he expreffes
it. Then, too, with regard to tlie other Indians,
he fays, we fhall have great credit from them fee
ing that we can capture and make flaves of thefe
Cannibals of whom they, the peaceable Indians,
entertain fo great a fear. Such arguments muft
be allowed to have much force in them ; and it
may be queftioned whether many of thofe perfons
who are, in thefe days, the ftrongeft opponents of
flavery, would then have had that perception of
the impending danger of it which Los Reyes ap
pear to have entertained, from their anfwer to this
part of the document. " This is very well, andfo

122 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
" it muft be done; but let the Admiral fee whe-
" ther it could not be managed there," (i. e. in the
Cannibal iflands) " that they Jhould be brought
" to ourfacred Catholic Faith, and the fame thing
" with the Indians of thofe iftands where he is."
The Admiral's defpatch in the next paragraph
goes much further; he boldly fuggefts that for
the advantage of the fouls of thefe Cannibal In
dians, the more of them that could be taken, the
better; and that confidering what quantities of
live flock and other things were neceffary for the
maintenance of the Colony, a certain number of
caravels fhould be fent each year with thefe ne
ceffary things, and the cargoes be paid for in
flaves taken from amongft the Cannibals.* He
touches again on the good that will be done to
the Cannibals themfelves ; alludes to the Cuftoms
duties that their Highneffes may levy upon them ;
and concludes by defiring Antonio de Torres to
fend, or bring, an anfwer, " becaufe the prepara-
" tions here" (for capturing thefe cannibals) "may
" be made with more confidence, if the fcheme
" feem good to their Highneffes."
A more diftinct propofition for the eftablifh-

* Las cuales cofas fe les podrian pagar en efclavos de eftos ca-
nibales. Nan/arrete Coleccion, vol. i, p. 23a.

IN THE INDIES. 123
ment of a flave trade was never made, though we
muft do Columbus the juftice to believe that his
motives were right in his own eyes. To their
honour Los Reyes thus replied, "As regards
" this matter, it is fufpended for the prefent until
" there come fome other way of doing it there, and
" let the Admiral write what he thinks of this."*
This is rather a confufed anfwer, as often hap
pens, when a propofition from a valued friend or
fervant, is difapproved of, but has to be rejected
kindly. Los Reyes would be very glad to have
fome money : money was always welcome to
Ferdinand : the paying for wine, feeds, and cattle
for the colonifts was anything but agreeable : the
profpect of converfion was probably dear to the
hearts of both of thefe Princes, certainly to one
of them : but ftill this propofition for the eftab-
ment of flavery was wifely and magnanimoufly
fet afide.
While Antonio de Torres has been abfent laying
thefe things before Los Reyes, Columbus has been
bufy about the affairs of the colony, which are in
a moft diftracted ftate. The number of men

* En efte fe ha fufpendido por agora hafta que venga otro ca-
mino de alia, y efcriba el Almirante lo que en efto le parefciere.
Navarrete Coleccion, vol. 1, p. 233.

12+ ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
which the Admiral brought out with him was
difproportioned to his means of fuftaining them.
Provifions and medicines began to fail ; ficknefs
pervaded the whole armament; and men of all
ranks and ftations, hidalgoes, people of the court
and ecclefiaftics, were all obliged to work ma
nually under regulations ftrictly enforced. The
rage and vexation of thefe men, many of whom had
come out with the notion of finding gold ready for
them on the fea fhore, may be imagined ; and
complaints of Columbus's harfh way of dealing
with thofe under him (probably not one whit
harfher than was abfolutely neceffary to fave them)
now took their rife and purfued him ever after to
his ruin. The colonifts were fomewhat cheered
at this time by hearing of gold mines and feeing
fpecimens of ore brought from thence ; and the
Admiral went himfelf and founded the Fort of St.
Thomas in the mining diftrict of Cibao. But the
Spanifh colonifts gained very little real advantage
Folly in from thefe gold mines, which they began working
mines too at before they had confolidated around them the
ILi means of living: in fact dealing with the mines
in Hifpaniola, as if they had been found out in an
old country and that there was nothing to do but
to work them.
There was alfo another idea and perhaps quite

IN THE INDIES. 125
as mifchievous a one, which flood in the way of
the fleady improvement of thefe early Spanifh
colonies. The Catholic Sovereigns had unfortu
nately impreffed upon Columbus their wifh that
he fhould devote himfelf to further difcovery, a Rage for
wifh but too readily furthered by his enterprizing difcovery.
fpirit. The hankering of Los Reyes for further
difcovery was foftered by their jealoufy of the
Portuguefe. The Portuguefe were difcovering
India, going eaftward. They, the Spaniards,
thought they were difcovering India, going weft-
ward. The more rapidly, therefore, each nation
could advance and plant its flandard, the more of
much-coveted India it would be able to claim.
Acting upon fuch views, Columbus now goes
upon further difcovery, notwithftanding his little
colonies at Ifabella and St. Thomas muft have
needed all his authority and fagacity to protect and
reftrain them. He nominates a. council to manage
the government during his abfence, with his bro
ther Don Diego as Prefident of it ; he appoints
Don Pedro Margarite Captain-General ; and then
puts to fea, the 24th April, 1494.
In the courfe of the voyage that then enfued,
the Admiral made many important difcoveries, Cuba and
T cl.iT13.lC3.
amongft them Cuba, Jamaica, and the clufter of difcovered
little iflands called the " Garden of the Queen." I+9+*

126 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
The navigation amongft thefe iflands was fo diffi
cult, that the Admiral is faid to have been thirty
two days without fleeping. Certain it is, that
after he had left the ifland called La Mona, and
when he was approaching the ifland of San Juan,
a drowfinefs which Las Cafas calls " peftilential,"
but which might be juft as well attributed to the
privations, cares, and anxieties that the Admiral
had now undergone for many months, feized up
on him and entirely deprived him of the ufe of
his fenfes.* -
His object in going to San Juan was to have
captured Cannibals there ; and Las Cafas looks
upon this lethargical attack as a judgment upon
the Admiral for fo unjuft a manner of endeavour
ing to introduce Chriftianity. The mariners
turned the fleet homewards to Ifabella where they
arrived the 29th September, 1494, bearing with
them their helplefs chief.
On Columbus's arrival at Ifabella, where he re
mained ill for five months, he found his brother
Bartholomew Columbus, which gladdened him
much : for his brothers were very near and dear

* Le dio una modorra peftilencial, que totalmente le quito el
ufo de los fentidos, y todas las fuerzas, y quedo muerto, y no pen-
faron que un dia durara. Las Cafas. Hifl. de las lndias. MSS.
lib. 1, cap. 99.

IN THE INDIES. 127
to him ; and I recollect that on fome occafion he
tells his eldeft fon Diego to make much of his
brother Ferdinand; for, fays he, I have never
found better friends, " on my right hand and on
" my left," than my brothers. Afterwards came
Antonio de Torres with provifions and all things
needful. But nothing, we are told, delighted the
Admiral fo much as the defpatches from the
Court : for he was a faithful, loyal man, who
loved to do his duty to thofe who employed him,
and to have his faithfulnefs recognifed. Peace or
delight, however, was not at any time to be long
enjoyed by the Admiral, for he finds his colony
in a fad ftate of diforganization, the Indians in
arms againft the Spaniards, and Father Buil, Don
Pedro Margarite and other principal perfons gone
home to Spain in the fhips which had brought
Bartholomew Columbus.
The Admiral, before his departure, had given
a moft injudicious command to Margarite to put
himfelf at the head of 400 men and go through
the Country, with the double object of impreffing
the natives with refpect for the power of the
Spaniards and of freeing the colony from flip-
porting thefe 400 men. Columbus's inftructions
to Margarite were, to obferve the people and
the natural productions of the country through

128 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
which he fliould pafs : to keep the troop in three
divifions, to do rigorous juftice in order to pre
vent the Spaniards from injuring the Indians,
or the Indians the Spaniards, to treat the Indians
kindly, to get provifions by purchafe if poffible, if
not, by any other means they could, and to cap
ture Caonabo and his brothers either by force or
artifice.* The doings of the men under Margarite were
fimilar to thofe of the Spaniards formerly left at
La Navidad. They went ftraggling over the
country ; they confumed the provifions of the
poor Indians, aftonifhing them by their voracious
appetites; wafte, rapine, injury and infult followed
in their fleps ; and from henceforth there is but
little hope of the two races living peaceably to
gether, at leaft upon equal terms: The Indians
were now fwarming about the Spaniards with
hoftile intent ; as Munoz well fays " they had
" paffed from terror to defpair : " f and but for the
opportune arrival of the Admiral, the Spanifh

* Munoz. Hifl:. del. Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, cap. 10.
f Crecen las infolencias hafta el punto de hacerfe intolerables a
los vecinos de la Vega. Los foldados, fin cabeza que los adune y
contenga, corren divididos por varias partes, entregandofe a quanto
les dicta la necefidad, la pafion, y el antojo. Canfados de fufrir
los miferables Indios pafan del terror a. la defefperacion. Munoz.
Hilt. del. Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, fee. 25.

IN THE INDIES. 129
fettlements in Hifpaniola might again have been
entirely fwept away.
Caonabo, the Cacique who in former days had
put to death the garrifon at La Navidad, was
now threatening that of St. Thomas, a fort which
the Admiral had caufed to be built in the mining
diftrict of Cibao. Guatiguana, the Cacique of
Macorix, who had killed eight Spanifh foldiers
and fet fire to a houfe where there were forty ill,
was now within two days' march of Ifabella, be-
fieging the fort Magdalena. Columbus ftarted Firft battle
up forthwith, went off to Magdalena, did battle bus with
with the Indians and routed them utterly. He $£„£'
took a large part of them for flaves, and reduced
to obedience the whole of the province of Ma
corix. Returning to Ifabella, he fent back, the
24th February, 1495, the four fhips which An
tonio de Torres had brought out, chiefly laden
with Indian flaves. It is rather remarkable that
the very fhips which brought that admirable re
ply of Los Reyes to Columbus, begging him to
feek fome other way to Chriftianity than through
flavery, even for wild man-eating Caribs, fliould
come back full of flaves taken from amongft the
mild iflanders of Hifpaniola.
Caonabo, not daunted by the fate of Guatiguana,
K

i3o ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
ftill continued to moleft St. Thomas. The Admi
ral accordingly fallied out with two hundred men
againft this Cacique. On the broad plains of the
Vega Real the Spaniards found an immenfe num
ber of Indians collected together, amounting, it is
faid, to one hundred thoufand men. The Admiral
divided his forces into two bands, giving the com
mand of one to his brother Bartholomew, and
leading the other himfelf: and when the brothers
made an attack upon the Indians at the fame time
from different quarters, this numerous hoft was
at once and utterly put to flight. In fpeaking
of fuch a defeat, we muft not be lavifh of the
words " cowardly," "pufillanimous," and the like,
till we have well confidered what it is to expofe
naked bodies to fire-arms, to the charge of fleel-
clad men on horfeback, and fierce dogs. A
" horrible carnage" enfued upon the flight of
the Indians. Many were taken alive and con
demned to flavery.* Caonabo, however, who
was befieging the fortrefs of St. Thomas at the
time of the battle on the Vega Real, remained un-
taken. The Admiral refolved to get hold of this
Cacique by treachery; and fent Ojeda to coax
* Munoz. Hift. del. Nuevo-Mundo. lib. 5, cap. 27.

IN THE INDIES. 131
Caonabo to come to a friendly meeting. There
are fome curious inftructions of Columbus's to
Margarite in 1494,* reflecting a plot to take
this formidable Caonabo. They are as thoroughly
bafe and treacherous as can well be imagined.
This time they were completely fuccefsful. The
ftory which was current in the Colonies, of the
manner in which Ojeda captured the refolute In
dian Chief, is this. Ojeda carried with him gyves
and manacles, the latter of the kind called by the
Spaniards fomewhat irreverently efpofas (wives),
and all made of brafs finely wrought and highly
polifhed. The metals of Spain were prized by
the Indians in the fame way that the gold of the
Indies was by the Spaniards. Moreover, amongft
the Indians, there was a ftrange rumour of talking
brafs, which was nothing more than the Church-
bell at Ifabella which, fummoning the Spaniards
to mafs, was thought by the fimple Indians to
convene with them. When, therefore, Ojeda
brought thefe ornaments to Caonabo and told
him they were made of brafs of Bifcay, and that
they were a great prefent from the Admiral, and
that he would fhow him how to put them on,
* Navarrete, Col. Doc Dip. Num. lxxii.

132 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
and that when they were put on, Caonabo fhould
{et himfelf on Ojeda's horfe and be fhown to his
admiring fubjects, as Ojeda faid, the kings of
Spain were wont to fhow themfelves to theirs;
the incautious Indian is faid to have fallen entirely
into the trap. Going with Ojeda, accompanied
by only a fmall efcort, to a river a fhort diftance
from his main encampment, Caonabo, after per
forming ablutions, fuffered the crafty young Spa
niard to put the fetters on him and to fet him
upon the horfe. Ojeda himfelf got up behind
the Indian prince, and then whirling a few times
round, like a pigeon before it takes its deter
mined flight, making the followers of Caonabo
imagine that this was but difplay, they all the
while keeping at a refpectful diftance from the
horfe, an animal they much dreaded, Ojeda dart
ed off for Ifabella ; and after great fatigues, now
keeping to the main track, now traverfing the
Caonabo mountain paths in order to evade purfuit, brought
is^aptur- caonab5 bound into the prefence of Columbus.
The unfortunate Cacique was fent to Spain to be
judged there ; and his forces were afterwards put
to flight by a troop of Spaniards under the com
mand of this fame Ojeda. Some were killed ;
fome taken prifoners; fome fled to the mountains ;
fome yielded " offering themfelves to the fervice

IN THE INDIES. 133
~" of the Chriftians if they would allow them to
" live in their own ways."*
Never, perhaps, were litde fkirmifhes, for fuch I4.95.
they were on the part of the Spaniards, of greater
permanent importance than thofe we have juft
been reading of, which took place in the early
part of the year 1495. They muft be looked
upon as the origin in the Indies of flavery,
vaffalage, and the fyftem of repartimientos. We
have feen that the Admiral after his firft vic
tory fent off four fhips with flaves to Spain.
He now took occafion to impofe a tribute upon
the whole population of Hifpaniola. Thofe In- Tribute
dians above 14 years old, who were in, or near "pon the
to, the provinces of . the Mines, were to pay n§*™{°*
every three months a little bell-full of gold ; all la-
other perfons in the ifland were, each, to pay at
the fame time an arroba of cotton. Certain brafs
or copper tokens were made — different ones for
each tribute time — and were given to the Indians
as they paid tribute ; and thefe tokens being worn
about their necks were to fhew who had paid
tribute, j" A remarkable propofal was made upon
* Ofreciendofe al fervicio de los chriftianos fi les permiten vivir
en fu naturaleza. Munoz. Hifl. del Nucuo Mundo, lib. 5, cap.
29. f Herrera, dec. 1, lib. a, cap. 17.

i34 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
this occafion to the Admiral by Guarionex, Cacique
of the Vega Real, namely that he would make a
huge farm for the manufacture of bread, ftretching
from Ifabella to St. Domingo (i. e. from fea to fea)
which would fuffice to maintain all Caftile with
bread. The Cacique would do this on condition
that his vaffals were not to pay tribute in gold,
for they did not know how to collect that. But
this propofal was not accepted, as Columbus wifh-
ed to have tribute in fuch things as he could fend
over to Spain.*
This tribute is faid to have been a moft unrea-
fonable one in point of amount ; f and Columbus
was obliged to modify his demands upon thefe
poor Indians, and in fome inftances to change the
nature of them, for we find that in 1496, fervice
inftead of tribute was demanded of certain Indian
villages : as they were ordered to make the farms

* Ofrecio Guarionex Rey de la gran Vega Real al Almirante
que le haria una labranca de pan, que llegaffe defde la Yfabela
hafta fanto Domingo, que es de mar a mar, y ay buenas cinquenta
y cinco leguas de camino, con lo qual baftaria a matener de pan a
toda Caftilla, con que no le pidiefle oro, porque fus vaflalos no lo
fabian coger, pero como el Almirante era foraftero, folo y desfauo-
recido de los miniftros de los Reyes Catolicos, y como prudete
conocia, que lo que le auia de conferuar, eran las riquezas que
embiafie, dauafe prifla por el oro. Herrera, dec. i, lib. 2, cap. 17.
f Contribucion durifima, y ordenada con fuma ligereza. Mu
noz, lib. 5, cap. 30.

IN THE INDIES. 135
in the Spanifh fettlements* — which may be con
fidered as the beginning of the fyftem of reparti-
mientos, or enconiiendas as they were afterwards
called. We muft not, however, fuppofe that Indian
flavery would not have taken place even if thefe
uprifings and defeats of the Indians in the courfe
of the year 1495 had never occurred. Very early
indeed we fee what the views of Columbus were
with regard to the Indians. In the diary which
he kept of his firft voyage, on the 14th of
October, three days after difcovering the New
World, he deferibes a pofition which he thinks
would be a very good one for a fort ; and he
goes on to fay, " I do not think that it (the fort)
" will be neceflary, for this people is very fimple
" in the ufe of arms (as your Highneffes will fee
" from feven of them that I have taken in order
" to bring them to you, to learn our language
" and afterwards to take them back) fo that when

* Antes que fe fueffe a Caftilla el Almirante, el ano de. 14.96.
por el mes de Marco o poco defpues de partido, en lugar de los
tributos fe impufo a algunos pueblos, que tuuieflen cuydado de
hazer las labrancas de las poblaciones de los Caftellanos, a imita-
cion de lo que vfauan con fus Caziques. Herrera, dec. 1 , lib. 3,
cap. 13.

136 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
" your Highneffes command, you can have them
" all taken to Caftile or kept in the ifland as cap-
" tives."* Columbus was not an avaricious nor a cruel
man; and certainly a very pious one ; but he had
been brought up on the coaft of Africa, and was
accuftomed to a flave trade. Moreover he was
anxious to reduce the expenfes of thefe Indian
poffeffions to the Catholic Sovereigns, to prove
himfelf in the right as to all he had faid reflecting
the advantages that would flow to Spain from the
Indies, and to confute his enemies at Court.
We fhall naturally be curious to know how the
news of thefe veffels laden with flaves, 'the fruit
of the Admiral's firft victory over the Indians, was
received by Los Reyes, recollecting how tender
they had been about flavery before. This is a
very different cafe though from the former. Here
are people taken in what would be called rebel
lion — prifoners of war. Still we muft be glad to
find that Ferdinand and Ifabella are heedful in
their proceedings in this matter. There is a let
ter of theirs to Bifhop Fonfeca, who ftill man
aged Indian affairs, telling him to withhold re
ceiving the money for the fale of thefe Indians

* Navarrete, Col. vol. i, p. 24.

IN THE INDIES. 137
that Torres had brought with him, until their
Highneffes fhould be able to inform themfelves
from men learned in the law, theologians and
canonifts, whether with a good confcience thefe
Indians could be ordered to be fold or not.* The
hiftorian, Munoz, fays that he does not find that
the point was decided ; and if he has failed, we
are not likely to difcover any direct evidence about
the decifion. We fhall hereafter, however, find
fomething which may enable us to conjecture
what the decifion had practically come to be.
The fo-called free Indians in Hifpaniola had
many of them perhaps even a worfe fate than their
brethren condemned to flavery. Seeing the Spa
niards quiedy fettling down there, building houfes,
and making forts, and no veffels in the harbour
of Ifabella to take them away, the profoundeft
fadnefs fell upon the Indians, and they bethought
them of the defperate remedy of -attempting to
flarve the Spaniards out, by not fowing or planting
anything. But this is a fhallow device when under
taken on the part of the greater number, in any
country, againft the fmaller. The fcheme reacted
upon themfelves. They had intended to gain a
* Porque Nos queriamos informarnos de letrados, Teologos e
Canoniftas, fi con buena conciencia fe pueden vender eftos por folo
vos 6 no. Na-varrete, Col. Dip. Doc. Num. xcn.

138 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
fecure though fcanty fuftenance in the hills ; but
though the Spaniards fuffered bitterly from fa
mine, they were only driven by it to further
purfuit and moleftation of the Indians who died
then in great numbers of hunger, ficknefs, and
mifery. About this period there arrived in the Indies
from the Court of Spain aCommiffioner of enquiry
Commif- (Juez pefquifidor) his miffion being doubtlefs oc-
enquiry cafioned by the various complaints made againft
indies" t £ t^e Admiral by Father Buil, Margarite, and the
Spaniards who had returned from Hifpaniola.
The name of this Commiffioner was Juan Agua-
do and his powers were vouched for by the fol
lowing letter from Los Reyes.
" The King and the Queen.
" Cavaliers, Efquires and other perfons who by
" our command are in the Indies : we fend you
" there Juan Aguado our Steward, who willfpeak
" to you on our part : we command that you give
" him faith and credence. " I the King : I the Queen.
" By command of the King and Queen, our Lords.
" Hernand Alvarez.
" Madrid the ninth of April, one thoufand four
" hundred and ninety five"

IN THE INDIES. 139
Juan Aguado arrived at Ifabella in October
1495, and his proceedings there, together with the
fear of what he might report on his return, quick
ened the Admiral's defire to return to Court that
he might fight his own battles there, himfelf.
Leaving, therefore, his brother Bartholomew as 1496.
Lieutenant Governor, (Adelantado) the Admiral
left Ifabella on the 10th of March, 1496, and
anchored in the Bay of Cadiz the 1 1 th of June Columbus
in that year. He proceeded to Burgos, where the Spain.
Court then was, and appears to have been well
received by Ferdinand and Ifabella ; and to have
made -his cafe good againft all his maligners. It
was long, however, before he was able to return
to Hifpaniola with fuch an armament as he re
quired. Meanwhile, about ten months after his
arrival, he managed to fend out two fhips under
Peter Fernandez Coronel with fuch things as
were neceffary for the colony. The Admiral
himfelf did not leave Spain again until May, 1498.
During the two years that elapfed from the
Admiral's leaving Hifpaniola in 1496 to his return
there in 1498, many things happened on both fides
of the Atlantic, which need recording. In 1496
we find, according to Herrera, that three fhips

i4o ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
arrived at Hifpaniola, in which Don Bartholomew
Columbus fent three hundred flaves back. We
are told that he had informed Los Reyes that cer
tain Caciques were killing the Caftilians, and that
their Highneffes had given orders in reply, that
all thofe who fhould be found guilty fhould be
fent to Spain. If this meant the common Indians
as well as the Caciques, then it feems probable
that the queftion about felling them with a fafe
confcience was already decided.
1497. In 1497, two very injudicious edicts were pub-
lifhed by Los Reyes upon the advice, as we are
told, of Columbus ; one authorizing the Judges
Criminals to tranfport criminals to the Indies ; the other
edCto goto g*vmg an indulgence to all thofe who had com-
the indies. mitted any crime (with certain, exceptions in
which herefy, lefe majefte and treafon find a place)
to go out at their own expenfe to Hifpaniola
and to ferve for a certauvtime under the orders
of the Admiral.* We cannot wonder that three
years after, we find the Admiral faying in his
moft emphatic manner, " I fwear that numbers
" of men have gone to the Indies who did not
* Navarrete, Col. Doc. Dip. Num. cxvi. and cxx.

. IN THE INDIES. 141
" deferve water from God or man." * It is but
fair however to mention, that Las Cafas, fpeak
ing of the colonifts who went out under thefe con
ditions, fays, " I have known fome of them in
" thefe iflands, even of thofe who had loft their
" ears, whom I always found fufficiently honeft
" men." In 1497, we have letters patent from Los 1497-
Reyes to the Admiral, authorizing him to grant
repartimientos of the lands in the Indies to the Repaiti-
Spaniards. And it is noticeable that in this docu- iands in
ment there is no mention of Indians, fo that they the Indies*
had not come to form portion of a repartimiento
at this period. It is a formal legal document, very
much after the ftyle of thofe of the prefent day, by
which the fortunate Spaniard who gets, the land is
" to have, and to hold, and to poffefs" and fo forth ;
{hay a e tenga e pofed) and is enabled " to fell and
" to give and to prefent and to traffic with and
" to exchange and to pledge and to alienate and
" to do with it and in it all that he likes or may
" think good."f

* " Fago juramento que cantitad de hombres han ido a las
" lndias que no merefcian el agua para con Dios y con el mundo."
Nawarrete, Col. vol. i, p. 271.
f Munoz mentions that to facilitate emigration to the Indies,

142 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
While the things above mentioned were being
tranfacted at the Court of Spain, Don Bartholo
mew Columbus was doing much in Hifpaniola
that led to very ferious refults.
Before the Admiral left the ifland he had dif
covered fome mines to the fouthward, and had
thought of choofing fome port in their vicinity
where he might eftablifh a colony. He had
fpoken about this in his letters to Los Reyes.
As he entered the Bay of Cadiz on his return, he
met fome veffels there, which were bound for
Hifpaniola, and which contained letters from their
Highneffes approving of his fuggeftion. By thefe
fhips, therefore, he fent orders to his brother to
make this fouthern fettlement ; and the Adelan-
tado, accordingly, proceeded fouthwards and fixed
upon a port at the entrance of the river Ozama.
St. Do- He fent for artifans from Ifabella and commenced
founded, building a fortrefs which he called St. Domingo,
and which afterwards became the chief place of
the ifland.
There was one part of Hifpaniola into which
the Spaniards had not yet penetrated ; it was called

the perpetual pofleflion of the houfes which they fliould build and
the lands they mould cultivate had been offered to the Spaniards
in 1495. Munoz., Hifl. del. Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 5, cap. 33.

IN THE INDIES. 143
Xaragua, and was reigned over by a Cacique named
Bohechio, whofe fifter Anacaona, the wife of Ca
onabo, feems alfo to have had much authority in
thofe parts. The Adelantado, after feeing the
works of St. Domingo commenced, refolved to
enter the kingdom of Xaragua, whither he pro
ceeded at the head of 100 men. Arriving at the
river Neyba, he found an immenfe army of In
dians drawn up there to oppofe his progrefs. Don
Bartholomew, however, made figns to them that
his errand was peaceful ; and the good natured
Indians accepting his proffers of amity, he was
conducted fome 30 leagues further to the city of
Xaragua, where he was received with proceffions
of dancing and finging women, and feafled mag
nificently. After having been well entertained by
thefe Indians, the Adelantado proceeded to bufi-
nefs, and in plain terms demanded tribute of them.
Bohechio pleaded that there was no gold in his
dominions, to which the Adelantado replied, that
he did not wifh to impofe tribute upon any peo
ple except of the natural productions to be found Cacique of
in their country. And it was finally fettled that a Jreefto
Bohechio fhould pay tribute in cotton and Caza- £ay tn"
bi-bread. He acceded to this agreement very
willingly ; and the Adelantado and this Cacique
parted on the moft friendly terms.

144 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
Don Bartholomew then returned to Ifabella
where he found that about 300 men had died
from difeafe, and that there was great dearth of
provifions. He diftributed the fick men in his
fortreffes and in the adjacent Indian villages, and
afterwards fet out on a journey to his new fort of
St. Domingo, collecting tribute by the way. In
all thefe rapid and energetic proceedings of the
Adelantado, and ftill more from caufes over which
he had no control, the Spaniards muft have fuf
fered much, and doubdefs thofe complaints on
their part which were foon to break out very me
nacingly, were not unheard at the prefent time.
If the Spaniards, however, complained of the
labours which Don Bartholomew impofed upon
them, the Indians complained ftill more, and far
more juftly, of the tribute impofed upon them.
Several of the minor chiefs, upon this occafion of
collecting tribute, complained to the great Cacique
Guarionex, and fuggefted a rifing of the Indians.
This Cacique feems to have been a peaceful, pru
dent man, and well aware of the power of the Spa
niards. But he now confented to place himfelf at
the head of an infurrection which, however, the
Lieutenant Governor, foon made aware of, quelled
at once by a battle in which he was victorious
over Guarionex, taking him and other principal

IN THE INDIES. 145
perfons prifoners. The chief movers of the revolt
were put to death ; but Guarionex was delivered
up to his people who flocked by thoufands to his
place of imprifonment, clamouring for his reftitu
tion. About this time meffengers came from Bohe
chio and Anacaona informing the Adelantado that
the tribute of that country was ready for him, and
he accordingly went to fetch it. During his ab-
fence there, and under the Iefs vigorous admi-
niftration of Don Diego Columbus who had been
left at the head of affairs at Ifabella, thofe difcon-
tents amongft the Spaniards, which had no doubt
been rife for a long time, broke out in a dif-
tinct manner. I allude to the well-known infur-
rection of Roldan, whom the Admiral had left as
Chief Juftice in the ifland on his departure. The
proceedings between the Chief Juftice and the
Governor were to form an original to many fimilar
ones to happen hereafter in many colonies even to
our own times. It may be imagined that thefe Co-
lumbufes were a hard race to deal with ; and any
one obferving that the Admiral was very often
engaged in difputes and almoft always in the right,
might conjecture that he was one of thofe perfons
who go through life, proving that everybody about
them is wrong, and going a great way to make

146 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
them fo. This would have been an eafy mode of
explaining many things, and therefore very wel
come to a narrator ; but I cannot fay that it
feems at all juft towards Columbus to faddle upon
him any fuch character. We are to confider
the men and the circumftances he had to deal
with. Here are men who have come out with
very grand expectations, and who find them
felves pinched with hunger, having dire florms to
encounter, and vafl labours to undergo ; who
are contained in due bonds by no preffure of
fociety ; who are commanded by a foreigner, or
by members of his family, whom they know to
have many enemies at court; who think that
Los Reyes themfelves can fearcely reach them at
this diftance ; and who imagine that they have
worked themfelves out of all law and order, and
that they deferve an Alfatia. With fuch men —
(many of them, perhaps, not worthy of water)
our Admiral and his brothers had to get ufeful
work of all kinds done ; and did contrive to get
veffels navigated, forts built, and fome ideas of
civilization maintained. But it was hard work at all
times: and this Roldan did not furnifh the leaft of
the troubles which the Admiral and his brothers
had to endure. Roldan, too, if we could hear him,
would probably have fomething to fay. He wifh-

IN THE INDIES. 147
ed, it appears, to get back again to Spain, as Fa
ther Buil and Margarite had done ; and faid that a
certain caravel which the Governor Don Bartholo
mew Columbus had built, might be launched for
that purpofe. This is Ferdinand Columbus's ac
count : and he fays that the faid caravel could not
be launched for want of tackle. He alfo mentions
that Roldan complained of the reftlefs life the
Adelantado led them, building forts and towns, and
that there was no hope of the Admiral coming
back to the colony with fupplies. Without going
into thefe fquabbles, — and indeed it is very difficult
when a quarrel of this kind breaks out, taking it
up at the point where it breaks out, to judge it
upon that only, feeing the ftream of ill-will may
have run underground for a long time — fuffice it
to fay that Roldan and his men grow more and Roldan
more infubordinate ; are not at all quelled by the
prefence of the Adelantado on his return from
Xaragua; and finally quit Ifabella in a body. The
Adelantado contrives to keep fome men faithful
to him, promifing them, amongft other things,
two flaves each. Negotiations then take place
between the Adelantado and Roldan, which we
muft leave for the prefent to enter upon the further
dealing of Don Bartholomew with the Indians.
Thefe poor iflanders were now haraffed both

148 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
by the rebels and by the loyal Spaniards whom
the Adelantado could not venture to curb much,
for fear of their going over to the other party.
The Indians were alfo tempted by Roldan to join
him, he contending that tribute had been unjuftly
Story of impofed upon them. From all thefe difficulties
anTMuV Guarionex makes his efcape by flying to the terri-
banex. tories of Maiobanex, the Cacique of a long-haired
hardy race, who inhabited the hilly country to
wards Cabron. This flight of Guarionex was a
very ferious affair, as it threatened the extinction
of tribute in that Cacique's territory, and Don
Bartholomew accordingly purfued the fugitive Ca
cique. After fome fkirmifhes with the troops of
Maiobanex in which, as ufual, the Spaniards are
victorious, the Adelantado fends a meffenger to
Maiobanex telling him that the Spaniards do not
feek war with him, but that he muft give up the
fugitive, otherwife his own territory will be de-
ftroyed with fire and fword. Maiobanex replies,
" that every one knows that Guarionex is a good
" man, endowed with all virtue," wherefore he
judges him to be worthy of affiftance and defence,
but that they, the Spaniards, are violent and bad
men, and that he will have no commerce nor
friendfhip with them.
Upon receiving this anfwer, the Adelantado
burns feveral villages and approaches nearer to the

IN THE INDIES. 149
camp of Maiobanex. Frefh negotiations are enter
ed into : Maiobanex convokes an affembly of his
people ; and they fay that Guarionex ought to be
given up, and they curfe the day when firft he came
amongft them. Their noble chief, however, faid
" that Guarionex was a good man and deferved
" well at his hands, for he had given him many
" royal gifts when he came to him, and had taught
" him and his wife to join in choral fongs and
" to dance, of which he made no little account
" and was grateful for : wherefore, he would be
" party to no treaty to defert Guarionex fince he
" had fled to him, and that he had pledged him-
" felf to take care of him : and that he would
" rather fuffer all extremities with him than give
" detractors a caufe for fpeaking ill, to fay that
" he had delivered up his gueft."* The people
being difmiffed, Maiobanex informs his gueft that
he will ftand by him to the laft.
The fugitive Cacique, however, finding that

* Maiobanexius autem Guarionexium virum effe bonum et de
fe bene meritum, quod regia illi dona^cum ad eum veniret, multa
prabuiffet, uxoremque fuam et ipfum chorizare tripudiareque
docuiffet, quod non parvi faciebat, fibique curse efle refpondit:
propterea fe nullo pafto eum, quandoquidem ad fe confiigerat, et
ipfe tutandi fidem dederat, deferturum : malleque fe extrema om
nia cum eo perpeti, quam obloquendi caufam, quod hofpitem
tradiderit, detractoribus praebere. Peter Martyr de rebus Oceania!,
dec. 1, lib. 7.

150 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
Maiobanex's people feek his life, flies the territory ;
but by fo doing he is not enabled to fave his
generous hoft, who, with his family was furprifed
and taken ; and Guarionex himfelf being fhortly
afterwards captured and put in chains at Fort
Concepcion, the two Caciques probably fhared
the fame prifon. Thus concludes a ftory which,
if it had been written by fome Plutarch, and the
names had been more eafy to pronounce, might
have taken its juft place amongft the familiar and
houfehold flories which we tell our children to
make them imitate great deeds.
1498. We muft now pafs from the doings of the
Adelantado to thofe of his brother the Admiral.
Columbus had at laft obtained fufficient fupplies
for his expedition, and had fet forth from Spain
with eight fhips, the 30th May, 1498. In the
Difcovery courfe of his voyage he difcovered Paria, on the
tinent of continent of America, and landed at St. Domingo
menca. ^ ^Qtj1 Auguft, 1 498. He found the ftate of his
Colony far from cheering, the defection of Roldan
and his followers haying put everything in confu-
fion. The Admiral fuppofed at firft that the enmi
ty of Roldan's party was chiefly directed againft
the Adelantado, and the Admiral hoped that now
he had arrived, fome agreement would fpeedily be

IN THE INDIES. 151
concluded with Roldan, of which he might inform
Los Reyes by the veffels which he purpofed to
fend back directly to Spain. This was very far,
however, from being the cafe. Thefe veffels, five
in number, left the port of St. Domingo bearing
no good news of peace and amity amongft the
Spaniards, but laden with many hundreds of In
dian flaves which were taken in the following
manner. Some Cacique, Las Cafas conjectures it
to have been the Cacique of the vega Real, and it
might either allude to Guarionex or his fucceffor,
failed to perform the perfonal . fervices impofed
upon him and his people, and fled to the moun
tains ; upon which, orders were given to purfue
him, and a large number of flaves were taken and
put into thefe fhips. Columbus, in his letters to
Los Reyes, goes into an account of the pecuniary
advantage that will arife from thefe flave-dealing
tranfactions, and from the fale of logwood. He
eftimates that " in the name of the facred Trinity"
there may be fent as many flaves as fale could be
found for in Spain, and that the value of the flaves
for which there would be a demand, taken at four
thoufand, and of the logwood, would amount to
40 cuentos (i. e. 40 million maravedis).* The
* De aca fe pueden con el nombre de la Santa Trinidad enviar

152 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
number of flaves who were fent in thefe five fhips
was 600, of which 200 were given to the matters
of the veffels in payment of freight. In the courfe
of thefe fame letters, throughout which Columbus
fpeaks after the fafhion of a regular flave-dealer,
he alludes to the intended adoption, on behalf of
private individuals, of a fyftem of exchange of
flaves for goods wanted from the mother country.
As far as I can make out the propofed tranfaction,
the mailers of veffels were to receive flaves from
the colonifts, were to carry them to Spain, and to
pay for their maintenance during the voyage ;
were then to allow the Colonifts fo much money
payable at Seville, in proportion to the number of
flaves brought over. This money they would ex
pend according to the orders of the Colonifts who
would thus be able to obtain fuch goods as they
might ftand in need of.* The Admiral alfo fup-

todos* los efclavos que fe puediefen vender, y brafil, de los cuales
fi la informacion que yo truje es cierta, me dicen que fe podran
vender cuatro mil, y que a poco valer valoran veinte cuentos ; y
cuatro mil quintales de brafil que pueden valer otro tanto, y el
gafto puede aqui fer feis cuentos ; afi que k prima az buenos ferian
cuarenta cuentos fi efto faliefe afi. Las Cafas, Hifl. de las lndias.
MSS. Primera Parte, torn. 3, cap. 150.
* Y falieron agora dos 6 tres Maeftres de navios, que pufieron
a la puerta cedulas para quien fe quiera obligar 6, les dar mill y
quinientos maravedifes en Sevilla, que les llevaran alii tantos ef
clavos, y les faria la cofta, y la paga feria de los dineros que dellos

IN THE INDIES. 153
plicates their Highneffes, that the Spanifh Colon
ifts fhould be allowed to make ufe of the fervices
of the Indians for a year or two until the Colony
fhould be in a fettled ftate,* a propofal which he
did not wait for their Highneffes' authority to
carry out, and which led to a new form of the
repartimiento. But this brings us back to Roldan's
ftory, being clofely connected with it.
After great trouble and many compacts, in
which mention is more than once made of
flaves,-]- the matter is at laft, after two years
negotiation, brought to a clofe. Roldan keeps
his Chief-Jufticefhip : and his friends get lands
and flaves. It reminds us of the end of many
a long war in the Old World, in which two
great powers have been contending againft each
other, with feveral fmall powers on each fide, who
are either ruined in the courfe of the war, or
facrificed at the end. The Admiral gives repar-

fe facafen. Plugo mucho k la gente toda, e yo lo acepte por
todos, y les protefto de le dar la carga ; y afi vernan y traeran
baftimentos y cofas que fon ac4 neceffarias. Las Cafas, Hifl. de
las lndias. MSS. Primera Parte, torn. 3, cap. 155 and 156.
* Suplico k Vueftras Altezas tengan por bien que efta gente fe
aproveche agora un ano 6 dos fafta que efte negocio efte empie,
que ya fe endereza. Las Cafas, Hifl. de las lndias. MSS. Primera
Parte, torn. 3, cap. 155 and 156.
f Barcia Hifl. del Aim. cap. 80.

154 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
timientos to thofe followers of Roldan who choofe
to flay in the ifland, which the Admiral does in
this way. He places under fuch a Cacique fo
many thoufand " matas," (fhoots of the Cazabi)
or, which came to the fame thing, fo many thou
fand ." montones," (fmall mounds a foot and a half
high and ten or twelve feet round, on each of
which a Cazabi fhoot was planted) and Columbus
orders that the Cacique or his people fliould work
thefe lands for whomfoever they were affigned to.*
Reparti- The repartimiento has now grown to its fecond
larged. e ' ftate — not lands only, but lands and the tillage of
them. We fhall yet find that there is a further
ftep in this matter, before the repartimiento af-
fumes its ftrongeft form. It feems, too, that
Columbus gave thefe men flaves alfo. Others of
Roldan's followers, fifteen in number, chofe to
return to Spain : they received a certain number
of flaves, fome one, fome two, fome three ; and
the Admiral fent them home in two veffels which
left the Port of St Domingo at the beginning of
1499. October, 1499.

* Y de aqui tomard origen los repartimientos, o encomiedas
de todas las lndias, porque los daua el Almirante por fus cedulas,
diziedo que daua en tal Cacique tatas mil matas, o montones, que
todo es uno, y que aquel Cacique, o fus gentes, labraffen para
quien las daua, aquellas tierras. Herrera, dec. i, lib. 3, cap. 16.

IN THE INDIES. 155
On the arrival in Spain of thefe veffels, the
Queen was in the higheft degree angered by thefe
proceedings, and faid that the Admiral had no
authority from her to give her vaffals to any one,
and commanded proclamations to be made at
Seville, Granada and other places, that all perfons
who had Indians which the Admiral had given
them, fhould fend thofe Indians back to Hifpa
niola under pain of death, " and that particularly
" they fhould fend back thofe Indians, and not
" the others who had before been brought, becaufe
" fhe was informed that they had been taken in
" juft war."* The former part of this proclama
tion has been often enough alluded to, and deferves
much praife ; but from the latter part it is clear
that there were fome Indians who could juftly,
according to Ifabella, be made flaves. So that by
this time at any rate the queftion had been folved,
whether by the learned in the law, Theologians
and Canonifts, I know not, but in practice, that

* La Reyna Catolica recibio grandiflimo enojo, y dixo que el
Almirante no tenia fu poder para dar a nadie fus vafallos, y
mando pregonar en Seuilla, Granada, y otras partes, que' todos los
que tunieffen Indios, que les huvieffe dado el Almirante, los bolui-
effen a la Efpaiiola fopena de muerte, y que particularmete bolui-
effen eftos Indios, y no los otros que antes fe avian traydo, porque
eftava informada, que eran avidos de buena guerra. Herrera,
dec. 1, lib. 4, cap. 7.

156 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
the Indians taken in war could be made flaves.
The whole of this tranfaction is very curious;
There is nothing to fhow that the flaves given
to Roldan's followers were made flaves in a dif
ferent way from thofe who had been fent over
on former oecafions both by the Admiral and his
brother for the benefit of the Crown. And yet
Ifabella, who had no tricks of ftate about her
feems to deal with this particular cafe as if it were
fomething quite new. It cannot be faid that the
Crown was favoured ; for the queftion is put upon
the legitimacy of the original capture; and to
confirm this, there is a letter from Los Reyes to
one of their houfehold, from which it may be in
ferred, though the wording is rather obfcure, that
they, too, gave up the flaves which had come
over for them on this occafion.*
Everybody would be forry to take away any
honour from Ifabella; and I wifh with all my
heart, her proclamation could be proved to have
gone quite to the root of the matter ; but at
any rate it cannot be characterized as a mere
blowing of trumpets for injured dignity, if it is
not, indeed, altogether a blaft of wrath againft an
outrage to humanity.
* See Navarrete, vol. 2, Col. Dip. Num. 1 34.

IN THE INDIES. 157
To return to the affairs of Hifpaniola. Co
lumbus had now fettled the Roldan revolt and
other fmaller ones ; he had now, too, reduced the
Indians into fubjection ; the mines were profper-
ing ; the Indians were to be brought together in
populous villages, that fo they might better be
taught the Chriftian Faith, and ferve as Vaffals Thefor-
to the Crown of Caftile ; the royal revenues Columbus
(always a matter of much concern to Columbus) cu mina
would, he thought, in three years amount to
fixty millions of reals ; and now there was time
for him to fit down, and meditate upon the re
building of the temple of Jerufalem, or the
converfion of Cathay.* If there had been any
prolonged quiet, fuch things are what he would
probably have begun to think about. But he
had hardly more than a month of repofe, or joy,
* David en fu teftamento dejo tres mil quintales de oro de las
lndias a Salomon para ayuda de edificar el templo, y fegun Jofefo
era el deltas mifmas tierras. Hierufalem y el monte Sion ha de
fer reedificado por mano de criftianos : quien ha de fer, Dios por
boca del Profeta en el decimo cuarto falmo lo dice. El Abad
Joaquin dijo que efte habia de falir de Efpana. San Geronimo k
la fanta mujer le moftro el camino para ello. El Emperador del
Catayo ha dias que mando fabios que le enfenen en la fe de Crifto.
c Qjiien £erk que fe ofrezca k efto ? Si nueftro SeiTor me lleva a
Efpana, yo me obligo de llevarle, con el nombre de Dios, en
falvo. Navarrete, Col. vol. i, p. 309.

158 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
when that evil came down upon him, which, in
the words of our excellent hiftorian Munoz,
poured the juice of aloes into the remaining days
of his life.*
Los Reyes, I contend, had upon the whole,
hitherto, behaved well to Columbus. He had
bitter enemies at Court. People were for ever
dinning into the ears of Los Reyes that this
foreigner was doing wrong. The Admiral's fon
Ferdinand gives us a vivid picture of this. He
fays " when I was at Granada at the time the
" moft ferene prince Don Miguel died, more
" than fifty of them, (Spaniards who had returned
" from the Indies) as men without fhame, bought
" a great quantity of grapes, and fat themfelves
" down in the Court of the Alhambra, uttering
" loud cries, faying, that their Highneffes and the
" Admiral made them live in this poor fafhion on
" account of the bad pay they received, with
" many other difhoneft and unfeemly things,
" which they kept repeating. Such was their
" effrontery, that when the Catholic King came

* Entonces vino el golpe fatal que acibaro todos los dias de fu
vida. Munoz, Hifl. del Nucvo Mundo, lib. 6, cap. 57.
Thefe are the laft printed words of Munoz's hiftory : there is
more in manufcript which furely fome good Spaniard ought to
fee to the printing of, forthwith.

IN THE INDIES. 159
" forth they all furrounded him, and got him
" into the midft of them, faying, c Pay ! Pay ! '
" and if by chance I and my brother who were
" pages to the moft ferene Queen happened to
" pafs where they were, they fhouted to the very
" heavens faying, ' Look at the fonsof the Ad-
" miral of Mofquito-land, of that man who has
" difcovered the lands of deceit and difappoint-
" ment, a place of fepulchre and wretchednefs to
" Spanifh hidalgoes:' adding many other infulting
" expreffions, on which account we excufed our-
" felves from paffing by them."*
Unjuft clamour, like the above, would not,
alone, have turned the hearts of the Catholic
Sovereigns againft Columbus ; but this clamour
was not unfupported by ferious grounds for dif-
fatisfaction in the ftate and profpects of the colo
ny : and when there is a conftant ftream of en
mity and prejudice againft a man, his conduct, or
his fortune, will fome day give good way for
it to rufh in upon him. However this may be,
foon after the return of the five veffels from St.
Domingo, mentioned above, which firft told the
news of the Roldan revolt, and which brought
* Barcia, Hifl. del Almirante, cap. lxxxv.

i6o ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
back the firft Indian flaves to Spain, Los Reyes
appear to have taken into ferious confideration the
queftion of fufpending Columbus. He had, him
felf, in the letters fent over in thefe fhips requefted
that fome one might be fent to conduct the affairs
of juftice in the Colony ; but if Ferdinand and
Ifabella began by merely looking out for fuch an
officer, they ended in refolving to fend one who
fhould take the civil as well as judicial authority
into his hands. This determination was not,
1499. however, acted upon haftily. On the 21ft of
March, 1499, they giye commiflion to Francis
de Bobadilla " to afcertain what perfons have
" raifed themfelves againft Juftice in the ifland
" of Hifpaniola, and to proceed againft them ac-
" cording to law."* On the 21ft of May, 1499,
they confer upon him the Government, and fign
an order that all arms and fortreffes in the Indies
fhould be given up to him.f On the 26th of
the fame month, they give him the following
remarkable letter to Columbus.
" Don Chriftopher Columbus our Admiral of the
" Ocean : We have commanded the Comendador
" Francis de Bobadilla, the bearer of this, that he

* Navarrete, Col. Doc. Dip. vol. 2. Num. cxxvn.
f Ibid. vol. a. Num. cxxvm-ix.

IN THE INDIES. i6r

" talk to you on our part fome things which he will
" tell you : we pray you give him faith and cre-
" dence, and at! accordingly*
" I the King, I the Queen.
" By their command.
" Miguel Perez de Almazan."
Bobadilla, however, was not fent from Spain
until the beginning of July, 1500, and did not 1500.
make his appearance in Hifpaniola till the 23rd Bobadilla
of Auguft of the fame year. So their Highneffes Hifpanio-
muft have taken good time before carrying their la"
refolve into execution, and what they meant by it
is dubious. Certainly not, that the matter fhould
have been tranfacted in the way which Bobadilla
managed it. It is a great pity they fixed upon
a perfon like Bobadilla. I imagine him to have
been fuch a man as one fometimes fees, who
from his narrownefs of mind and diftinctnefs of
prejudice is fuppofed to be high-principled and
direct in his dealings ; and whofe untried repu
tation has great favour with many people: till
placed in power fome day, he fhows that rule
requires quite other things than onefidednefs in

* Navarrete, vol. 2, Num. cxxx.
M

162 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
the ruler ; and is fortunate if he dpes not acquire
that part of renown which confifts in notoriety, by
committing fome coloffid blunder, henceforth his
torical from its largenefs.
The firft thing that Bobadilla does on arriving
at St. Domingo, is to take poffeffion of the Ad
miral's houfe, (the Admiral was at the fort La
Conception) and he then fummons the Admiral,
Columbus fending him the royal letter^ The Admiral and
brothers his brother the Adelantado do not attempt re-
sepain°in fiftance : and Bobadilla with a ftupid brutality
chams. -which, I fuppofe, he took for vigour, puts them
in chains and fends them to Spain. There -is no
doubt that the Caftilian population of Hifpaniola
were rejoiced at Bobadilla's coming, and that
they abetted him in all his violence. Accufations
came thick againft Columbus : " the ftones rofe
". up againft him and his brothers," fays the Hifto-
rian Herrera emphatically. The people told how
he had made them work, even fick men, at his
fortreffes, at his houfe, at the mills, and other
buildings ; how he had flarved them ; how he had
had men whipped for the flighteft caufes, as for
inftance, for flealing a peck of wheat when they
were dying of hunger. Confidering the difficulties
he had to deal with, and the fcareity of provifions,
many of thefe accufations, if rightly examined,
would probably have not only fallen to the ground,

IN THE INDIES. 163
but would have developed proofs of Columbus's
firmnefs and fagacity as a Governor. Then his
accufers go on to other grounds, fuch as his not
having baptized Indians " becaufe he defired flaves
" rather than Chriftians :" moreover, that he had
entered into war unjuftly with the Indians, and
that he had made many flaves, in order to fend
them to Caftile. I do not believe that thefe latter
accufations were uttered by a fingle colonift, unlefs,
perhaps, by fome man in religious orders* The
probability is, that thefe accufations came from the
other fide of the water, and this does give con-
fiderable ftrength to the report, that difpleafure of
the Court with refpedt to the Admiral's proceed
ings againft the Indians, had to do with his removal
from the Government of the Indies. If fo, it
fpeaks largely for the continued admirable inten
tions of the Spanifh Court in this matter.
Poor Columbus ! His chains lie upon him very
grievoufly. He infifts upon not having them
taken off though, unlefs by Royal command, and
will keep them by him ("I always faw them
" in his room" fays Ferdinand Columbus) and
will order that they fhall be buried with him.
He does not know how many wretched beings
will traverfe thofe feas in bonds much worfe than
his, with no room allowed to them for writing, as
was his cafe, — not even for ftanding upright ; nor

164 ADMINISTRATION OF COLUMBUS
does he fortunately forefee that fome of his doings'
will have furthered all this coming mifery. In
thefe chains, however, Columbus is of more in
tereft to us than when in full power as Governor
of the Indies ; for fo it is, that the moft infelicitous
times of a man's life are thofe which pofterity will
look to moft, and love him moft for. Let this
comfort him, for he will think of this too ; but
happily will find true comfort in thofe pious
thoughts which never defert him.* We have come
now to the end of his adminiftration of the Indies.
Whatever we may think of his general policy, we
cannot but regret his removal at the prefent time,
when there appeared fome chance of folidity in
his government : though we muft honeftly admit,
I think, that Los Reyes, with the evidence they
had before them, were far from wrong in re
calling Columbus, had it been done in a manner
worthy of his and their greatnefs.
I do not know that there is much to be faid

* " Hope in him who created all men fuftains me : his fuccour
" was always very fpeedy. At another time, and not long ago,
" when I was lower ftill, he raifed me with his divine arm, faying,
" ' O man of little faith, arife, it is I, be not afraid.' "
La efperanza de aquel que crio a. todos me foftiene : fu focorro
fue fiempre muy prefto. Otra vez, y no de lejos eftando yo mas
bajo, me levanto con fu brazo divino, diciendo : " 6 hombre de
poca fe, levantate que yo foy, no hayas miedo." Navarrete Co-
leccion, vol. i, p. 265.

IN THE INDIES. 165
about the Government of Bobadilla. Ferdinand
Columbus makes many dire complaints againft this
Governor, of his favouritifm, covetoufnefs, injuf-
tice and mob fervice ; but thefe accufations coming
from that quarter muft be received with caution.
And, indeed, whatever fault Bobadilla might have
had, there is good reafon for thinking that he
was quite free from anything like perfonal cor
ruption. One thing, however, he feems to have done,
or permitted, which was moft mifchievous. Co
lumbus placed a Cacique and his followers on
certain lands, and then named certain Spaniards
who were to receive the benefit from the tillage
of thefe lands. We find alfo that he allowed
Indians to be taken to work in the mines ; but
then an efpecial licenfe was neceffary and it was
given from fuch a month to fuch a month.* This,
however, was a confiderable extenfion of the re
partimiento, and a very evil one for the poor
Indians. But Bobadilla feems, if we may truft Extenfion
Charlevoix, to have gone further and to have partimi-6
allowed the Spaniards to treat their Indians as a ento"
labour gang, to be taken to work any where and
without any reftrictions.f He alfo, according to
* Las Cafas, Hift. de las lndias. MSS. lib. i, cap. 161.
f II contraignit les Caciques de fournir a, chaque Efpagnol un

166 ADMINISTRATION OF BOBADILLA.
the fame authority, numbered the inhabitants of
the ifland and made a diftribution of them.
It is very difficult to lay down correct limits
and periods for the various extenfions of the re
partimiento as defined by law, ftill more of what
it was made by cuftom ; and we may therefore
be wronging Bobadilla in attributing this laft
extenfion to him : but we have accounts of the
general courfe of his proceedings which reprefent
him, like the unjuft Steward in the Scriptures,
though not upon the fame motives, bidding the
Spaniards under his dominion make as much hafle
as they could to profit by their prefent advan
tages ; and making friends for himfelf by eafy
treatment of his mailer's debtors.
His government did not laft much more than a
year and a half. He was removed in confequence
of the juft remonftrances of Columbus ; and the
government was given on the 3rd of September
1 501, to Nicholas de Ovando, a knight of the
order of Alcantara.

certain nombre de fes fujets, dont ceux-ci fe fervaient, comme ils
auraient pu faire des betes de charge ; et pour empecher ces mal-
heureux de pouvoir fe fouftraire au joug, qu'il venait de leur
impofer, il commenca par faire un denombrement de tous les In-
fulaires, puis il les redigea par clafles, enfuite il les diftribua aux
habitans, plus ou moins, fuivant qu'il voulait gratifier un chacun.
De cette forte toute l'ifle fe trouva reduite fous le plus dur efcla-
vage, qui fut jamais. Charlevoix, Hifl. de. S. Domingue. lib. 3,
p. 205.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 167

CHAPTER V.
Ovando's Government, and the Events
connected with it.
)N confidering hiftory, nothing is more
curious to reflect upon than the chance
way, as it feems to us, in which the
particular actors come before us. Thefe Indians,
for inftance, whom we have met with in the
courfe of this narrative, will always have a certain
place in hiftory; and how ftrange it is to find
them there. For centuries, many fuch as Gua
canagari and many fuch as Caonabo had fhot off
their puny arrows, fmoked their long pipes, and
gone down to the fhades of their forefathers
" unwept, unhonoured and unfung," at leaft by
Europeans : when, fuddenly, amongft the liftlefs
threads of Indian affairs is plied the bufy fhuttle
of European enterprize, till they come out woven
into fomething like hiftorical tapeftry; and the
relationfhips and alliances of petty Caciques be
come part of a ftory which I think, if it be mode
rately well told, the world will always liften to.

1 68 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Now, if we men had the making of hiftory,
we fhould, I fuppofe, choofe to have the game
played by the beft pieces on the board : but how
much more interefting it is after all, that hiftory
embraces almoft every variety of human character
as well as of human circumftance. There is no
clafs or kind of perfon, for example, to whom
fupreme power has not been entrufted. The real
king, the good fort of man, the utter fenfualift,
the mere foldier, the intriguer, the idiot, the
madman, have all been crowned : nor, in our own
times, have we been without inftances of moft
unlikely perfons being fuddenly called to fupreme
power, to fee what they could make of it.
In our prefent narrative nothing can be more
abrupt than the change from Columbus to the
two governors who fucceeded him : both foldier-
monks, probably with a certain narrow way of
looking at things incident to their profeffion, and
with no efpecial culture that I know of; while
he was of various accomplifhments, large-minded,
enthufiaftic, fluent, affectionate, inventive.
In choofing Ovando, however, Los Reyes
feem this time to have taken great pains to
provide a worthy governor for the Indies. With
regard to his perfonal appearance, we are told,
that he was of moderate ftature, and had a

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 169
vermilion-coloured beard, which fact hardly con
veys much to our minds, but it is added in
general terms that his prefence expreffed autho
rity : with regard to his mental qualifications, we
learn that he was a friend to juftice, an honourable Qualities
perfon both in words and deeds, and that he held ^0 van"
all avarice and covetoufnefs in much averfion.
He was humble too, they fay ; and when he was
appointed Comendador Mayor of the order of
Alcantara he would never allow himfelf to be
addreffed by the tide of " Lordfhip," which be
longed to that office.
Previous to Ovando's departure from Court,
Los Reyes were particular in giving him inftruc
tions both verbal and written. Amongft thefe
inftructions was one which Ifabella efpecially in-
fifted on : namely, " that all the Indians in Hif-
" paniola fhould be free from fervitude and be
" unmolefted by any one, and that they fhould
" live as free vaflals governed and protected by
"juftice as were the vaflals of Caftile."* Like
the vaflals in Spain the Indians were to pay tri
bute ; they were alfo to affift in getting gold, but
for this they were to be paid daily wages. Other
commands were given at the fame time for the
* Herrera, dec. i, lib. 4, cap. 11. (xi).

170 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
converfion of the Indians, and to infure their
being treated kindly.
Reflecting the general government of the
Country, it was arranged that on Ovando's going
out, all thofe who received pay from the Go
vernment in the Indies, as well thofe who had
accompanied Bobadilla as thofe who had come
out originally with Columbus, fhould return to
Spain, and a new fet to replace them fhould go
out with Ovando. This was done becaufe the
major part of thefe foldiers and officials had ne-
ceffarily been connected with the late troubles of
the Colony, and it would be a good plan to ftart
afrefh, as it were. At the fame time it was pro
vided that no Jews, Moors or new Converts were
to go to the Indies or to be permitted to remain
there : but negro flaves " born in the power of
" Chriftians" were to be allowed to pafs to the In
dies, and the Officers of the royal revenue were
j 50 1. to receive the money to be paid for their permits.*
Firft men- This is the firft notice about negroes going to the
tionofne- . . ...
groes go- Indies. Thefe inftructions were given in the year
ing to the
Indies. 1 50 1.

* Que fe dexaflen paflar efclavos negros, nacidos en poder de
Chriftianos, y que fe recibiefle en cuenta a los oficiales de la Real
hazienda, lo q por fus firmas fe pagafle. Herrera, dec. 1, lib. 4,
cap. 12.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 171
On Ovando's arrival in the colony, Bobadilla
was to undergo the ordeal of a " refidencia," a
kind of examination well known and conftantly
practifed in Spain, to which authorities were fub
ject on going out of office — a fort of general im
peachment. We are glad to find that amongft
the orders given to Ovando there are fome for
the reftitution of the Admiral's property and the
maintenance of his mercantile rights.
Juft before Ovando took leave of the King,
he received a formal lecture upon the duties of
a governor. The King, the Queen, and the
Privy Councillor Antonio de Fonfeca were the
perfons prefent ; and, as I imagine, the latter ad-
dreffed Ovando on the part of their Highneffes.
As it is not often that we have an opportunity of
hearing a didactic lecture on the modes and du
ties of government given in the prefence of a
great mafter of that art, and probably looked over,
if not prepared, by him, we muft enter the Royal
Cabinet and hear fome part of this difcourfe.
The firft point which Fonfeca impreffes upon The duties
Ovando, is, that before all things, he is to look ernor.
to what concerns the reverence of God and his
worfhip. Then he is to examine into the life and
capacity of the men about him, and to put good
men into office; taking care, however, not to

172 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
leave all the authority In the hands of fiibordinates
(here we may well imagine Ferdinand nodded
approvingly) to the diminution of his own power,
" nor to make them fo great that they fhall have
" occafion to contrive novelties" in order to make
themfelves greater. But let there be change of
authorities, fo that many may have a fhare of
profit and honour, and be made fkilful in affairs.
That he fhould ufe moderation in making re
partimientos and tributes, not overtaxing the peo
ple, which moderation would be furthered by his
taking care that his perfonal and his houfehold
expenfes were within due bounds. (Here, I
fancy, the monarchs looked at each other, thought
of their own frugal way of living, and Ifabella
fmiled.) That he fhould not make himfelf judge in a
caufe,^but let culprits be tried in the ordinary
way. Thus he will avoid unpopularity, for " the
" remembrance of the crime perifhes : not fo, that
" of the punifhment." This aphorifm, I think,
muft have been Ferdinand's own. His writing is
always exceedingly concife and to the purpofe.
That he fhould not liften to talebearers (par-
leros) either of his own houfehold or to thofe out
of it ; nor take vengeance upon anybody who had
fpoken ill of him, it being " an ugly thing to

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 173
" believe that anybody could fpeak ill of one who
" did ill to no one, but good to all." That it is
one of the conditions of bad governors, " moved
" therein by their own confciences" to give heed
to what they hear is faid of them and to take ill
that, which if it had been faid, they had better
vnot have heard. Rather let injurious fayings be
overcome by magnanimity.
That it would be good for him to give free
audience to all, and to hear what they had to fay :
and if their counfel turned out ill, not to look
coldly upon them for that. The fame in war, or
in anything elfe : his agents muft not have to fear
punifhment for failure nor calumny for fuccefs :
" for there were many perfons who, to avoid the
" envy of their fuperiors, fought rather to lofe a
" victory than to gain it." (Here Ferdinand
' ought to have looked a litde afhamed, being
confcious that his own practice by no means came
up to what he perceives to be noble and wife po
licy in the matter, as hereafter notably appeared
in his treatment of the " Great Captain.")
That he (Ovando) fhould look to what exam
ple he gives both in word and deed, Governors
living as in a theatre in the midft of the world.
¦ If he does ill, even thofe who follow him in that
will not the lefs difefteem him.

174 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
That although it is neceffary for him to know
the life of every one, yet he muft not be over-
inquifitive about it, or rout up offences which are
not brought before him officially. " Since if all
" offences were looked into, few men, or none,
" would be without punifhment." Befides, for
fecret faults men may correct themfelves : if thofe,
faults are made known, and efpecially if they are
overpunifhed, fhame is loft and men give way to
their bad impulfes.
That he is to encourage thofe who work and
difcourage the idle, as the Univerfal Father does.
That, as regards liberality, he fhould fo conduct
himfelf, that men fhould not dare to afk him for
things which they knew he would have to deny :
this would be a great reftraint upon them, and a
great proof of good reputation in a Governor.
That, in fine, all that had been faid confifted in '
this, that he was to govern as he would be go
verned : and that " it behoved him to be intent
" on bufinefs, to fhow courage in difficulties and
" management in all things, brevity in executing
" ufeful determinations, yet not as if carried away
" by paffion, but always upon good counfel ;
" confidering much what a charge was upon him,
" for this thought would be ufeful to him at all
" times : and above all things he was to take

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 175
" heed (in order that might not happen to him
" which happened to the Admiral) * that when
" any occafion for dealing briefly with an offence
" occurred, he fhould have fwift recourfe to pun-
" ifhment, for in fuch cafes the remedy ought
" to be like a thunderbolt."^
After reading the above, we cannot fay that
Los Reyes were inattentive to the government of
their Indian poffeffions. It is faid by Herrera and
Las Cafas that the Catholic Sovereigns affigned a
duration of two years to Ovando's government ;
and Charlevoix, in his hiftory of St. Domingo,
fays that it was their intention at the end of thofe
two years, to reinftate the Admiral. I do not give
credit to this ; and in the document appointing
Ovando, the words are, that he is to be governor
as long as it is their Highneffes' will and pleafure. J
There is a reftriction upon him, but it is one that
regards the extent of his government and not the
duration of it. It is declared that his authority

* This paflage is remarkable as it fliows the King fuppofed
the Admiral to fail as a Governor from indecifivenefs, a very
different thing from feverity and yet not inconfiftent with it.
The pofition of Columbus as a foreigner may account for this
want of decifion, if the king was right in attributing it to him.
f Herrera, dec. i, lib. 4, c. 13.
X Navarrete, Col. Doc. Dip. vol. », p. 255.

176 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
is not to extend to the iflands where Alonfo de
Ojeda and Vicente Yanez Pinzoii are governing.
I have not, hitherto, made mention of thefe two
difcoverers, or, indeed, of any others befides the
Admiral ; being defirous to keep, if poffible, to
the main current of the hiftory of the New World.
If we fuffer ourfelves to be diverted from that,
we fhall get into fome fuch perplexity as we
fhould, if we ourfelves were navigating without
chart in the midft of thofe Weft Indian feas thick
with fhoals and iflets. Where the proceedings in
refpedt of any one ifland will not give us an ade
quate view of the general policy, we muft have
recourfe to the hiftory of other iflands ; but, for
the prefent, we follow the fate of the ifland firft
fettled, and which may be confidered as the feat of
government in the Weft Indies, Hifpaniola.
At the fame time it muft not be fuppofed but
that American difcovery is fpreading out in feveral
directions. Their Highneffes have already made
terms with many adventurers whom the fine
things brought home from the Indies and the re
nown that men have gained there, tempt Irrefifti-
bly to further daring.
1502. On the 13th of February 1502, Nicholas de
Ovando leaves the Port of San Lucar to take
poffeffion of his new government, having under

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 177
him a gallant company of two thoufand five hun
dred perfons, a large proportion of them being
Hidalgoes. He will meet with a terrible ftorm
on his way, and may be very thankful to reach
St. Domingo at all, which, however, he will
accomplifh on the 15th of the enfuing April.
Meanwhile, we will take this opportunity, as
many perhaps of his company did, to talk over
the ftate and profpects of the royal family of
Spain, which materially affect our fubject.
Death had made many a fad inroad into the
home of Ferdinand and Ifabella. They had loft Royal
1 • ^ r t«- ti - *-» r i • family of
their only fon, Prince John, in 1497. Of their Spain.
four daughters, Ifabel had married the heir of the
Portuguefe throne, and after his death, without
children, the next heir. She died in giving birth
to a fon : and the child died foon afterwards.
Juana, the fecond daughter, was married to Phi
lip, fon of Maximilian the Emperor, and had
two .fons, Charles, afterwards Charles V. and
Ferdinand, King of the Romans. Catharine of
Aragon, another daughter, was married, as we
all know, into the Royal family of England.
Then there was Maria who married the widower
of her fifter Ifabel.
Juana was now the heirefs, and fhe was "Juana
la loca" — Juana the infane. Her hufband Philip

178 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
had lately vifited Spain ; but wearied of the Spa
niards and probably not lefs fo of his doting' and
imbecile wife, he had fet off again for Flanders.
Doubtlefs all thefe domeftic troubles had faddened
the heart and injured the health of Ifabella ; and
we muft not be furprifed if at no diftant time we
have to lofe the light of her loving countenance
on our Indian affairs. As long, however, as there
is any fpark of life in her, fhe will not be wanting
to us.
It muft be remembered, while we are difcuffing
the affairs of the Royal Family of Spain, that the
Kingdom of Caftile was effentially feparate from
that of Aragon, and that on Ifabella's death,
Caftile, and with it the Indies, muft go to the
helplefs Juana and therefore to her hufband ; —
not to the politic Ferdinand, into whofe fagacity
for government we have juft had fome infight
from that addrefs of his to Ovando. On every
account then the ftate of the Royal family is a
matter of moment to the Indies.
We may alfo mention at this time, , though
it is not neceffarily connected with our fubject,
that Columbus was received very gracioufly by
their Highneffes ; was promifed to be reinftated
in his rights; and is about to commence his
fourth and laft voyage of difcovery. He is not,

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 179
however, to land at St. Domingo for reafons
which are obvious*
Nicholas de Ovando arrives at St. Domingo 1502.
the 15th of April 1502. Las Cafas, now in his Ovando
28 th year, came out in the fame fleet ; and he tells St. Domin-
us that as the veffels neared the fhore, the Spanifh s°'
Colonifts ran down to hear the news from homey
and to tell their good news exultingly in return,
which was, that an extraordinary lump of gold had
been found and that certain Indians were in revolt*
" I heard it myfelf," the hiftorian fays ; and he is
right to chronicle the fact, fhowing as it does the
views which prevailed among the fettlers, of the
advantage of an Indian revolt in furnifhing flaves.
This great piece of gold which they talked about,
had been found accidentally by an Indian woman
at the mines, while liftlefsly moving her rake
to and fro in the water one day during dinner
time. It contained 3000 pefos worth, equal to ,
1350000 maravedis, and in the feftivities that
took place on the occafion, was ufed as a difh for
a roaft pig, the miners faying that no king of
Caftile had ever feafted from a difh of fuch value.
We do not find that the poor Indian woman had
any part in the good fortune. Indeed, as Las
Cafas fays, fhe was fortunate if fhe had any portion
of the meat, not to fpeak of the difh.

180 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Amidft the clamour of fuch welcome, the new
Governor lands, is duly received by the autho
rities, and commences the affairs of government.
He announces the refidencia of Bobadilla, and
takes Roldan prifoner. The people he had
Rage for brought with him rufh off to the mines, knowing
aing" nothing of the kind of work, or how the veins
ran, or anything about it. Their provifions failed
them; fevers feized them; and, in fhort, more
than a thoufand of Ovando's two thoufand five
hundred perifhed at once in a wretched manner.
The only people who had food to traffic with
were the three hundred Caftilians, old refidents as
we may call them, and as they had fcarcely any
clothes, fuch of the new comers as had clothes, or
tools, were enabled to get food for a time. It
could not be expected, however, that the food
provided by three hundred improvident people
would go far amongft two thoufand five hundred.
Here it may be noticed that in general thofe
colonifts who devoted themfelves to mining re-
Farmers mained poor, while the farmers grew rich. When
melting-time came, which was at ftated intervals
of eight months, it often happened that, after the
King's dues were paid, and thofe, who had claims
upon the produce for advances already made to
the miners, were fatisfied, nothing remained for

thrive.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 18 1
the miner himfelf. And fo all this blood and toil
were not paid for even in money : and many ftill
continued to eat their meals from the fame wooden
platters they had been accuftomed to in the old
country, only with difcontented minds and fouls
beginning to be embruted by cruelty.
While Ovando is doing what he can in the
troubles that met him at the outfet of his admin-
iftration, Columbus fuddenly appears again upon
the fcene — thoroughly unwelcome no doubt to
the new Governor. One of Columbus's veffels
wants refitting, and he wifhes to change her for
another in the fleet; moreover, as he informs
Ovando, he defires to enter the port of St. Do
mingo, becaufe he forefees that a hurricane is
coming on. The landfman Ovando perceives
nothing of the kind ; and is only anxious to get
Columbus away as foon as he can, and thus to
obey the orders received from their Highneffes,
which were that Columbus fhould not land at St.
Domingo. Befides, Bobadilla is not yet gone,
and Roldan and his faction are there, fo there is
no knowing what tumult might arife if Columbus
were permitted to land. In fine, Ovando ftands
upon the orders he had received, and very wifely,
as it appears to me, with his lights, refufes to
allow Columbus to enter the harbour. That

i8z OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Ovando put no faith in the great navigator's
prophecy about the coming hurricane, is manifeft,
becaufe he fent away at that moment the return
fleet to Spain, Cplumbus made as quickly as he
could for fome fafe anchorage. The hurricane
did come on and raged furioufly, The greater.
part of the return fleet fank. Bobadilla perifhed,
Roldan perifhed, and there was a grand clearance
made of the enemies of Columbus, Amongft
the few veffels that efcaped was a lumbering one,
the worft in the fleet it is faid, which was taking
back the goods of Columbus to Spain. The
men of that day faw in this the efpecial hand of
Providence. This fame hurricane did great damage to the
town of St. Domingo, and the Governor took
occafion to change the fite of the town to the
other fide of the river where it now ftands. About
this time, too, he beftirred. himfelf in founding
fettlements, The firft that he refolved to found
was on the North of the Ifland, at the Puerto de
Plata, one of his reafons for founding a fettlement
there being the great multitude of Indians in that
part :* fo that at any rate at that time Hifpaniola
* Por la mucha multitud de Indios que en ella avia. Herrera,
dec. i, lib. 5, cap 4.
See alfo Columbus's letter to the pope, anno 1502.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 183
was not depopulated. The expedition, in their
way to Puerto de Plata, had occafion to touch at
or near the ifland of Saona, the very foot which
the colonifts alluded to, when coming down to the
fhore to welcome the Governor, they had joyfully
exclaimed that the Indians were in revolt. The
caufe of this muft now be told. Between the Origin of
inhabitants of the little ifland of Saona and the S nTg^ey.
Spaniards there had originally been much friend-
fhip. Thefe Indians had been in the habit of
fupplying their new friends with bread ; and on
one occafion lately, a Spanifh party had been fent
to the ifland to get bread there. The Cacique of
the place, with a flick in his hand, was urging his
men and haftening the preparations. The Spa
niards were looking on : one of them had his dog
with him, and the dog was wild to get at the Caci
que. The Spaniard could hardly hold in the dog ;
and, unfortunately, happened to remark to a com
rade ftanding by him, " what a thing it would be
" if we were to fet the dog at him." His friend in
jeft faid " at him" {tomalo) thinking that the
Spaniard could certainly reftrain the dog. The
dog, with this encouragement, burft from his
mafter, rufhed on the Cacique, and killed him in
a manner hideous to think of. The adjacent pro
vince rofe in arms : and it was no wonder therefore

184 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
that when the mariners, whom Ovando fent to
found his new colony of Puerto de Plata, touched
at a fpot near to where the above tranfaction took
place, the natives fhould have confidered them as
invaders and have attacked them accordingly.
In the conflict that enfued nine Spaniards were
killed, and the news of their flaughter being
brought to the Governor, he ordered war to be
declared, — war, according to the phrafe of the
time, " of fire and blood." From all the Spanifh
citadels forces were fent under various captains,
and Juan de Efquivel was named Captain-general
of the force, which amounted to four hundred
men. On the arrival of this body in Higuey,
"the province of Hifpaniola adjacent to the ifland
of .Saona, and which had been concerned in the
original revolt, the Indians feem to have behaved
with fufficient bravery; but finding that their
naked bodies and childifh weapons could in no
way compete with well-clad, well-armed men,
they foon abandoned open fighting and fled to the
mountains. From a war it degenerated into a
hunt. Many of the Indians who were taken had
both their hands cut off, and were told by the
Spaniards to carry thofe letters to their lords, i. e.
to fhow what mutilation they had fuffered, that it
might infpire general terror. Nor was it only by

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 185
twos or threes that they fuffered : on one occafion
fix or feven hundred prifoners were put to the
fword at once. Haraffed in every way the poor
Indians at laft fought to make terms ; and it was
agreed that as a condition of peace they fhould Higuey
conftruct in their territory a great manufactory of
Cafabi bread for the Spaniards. They were not,
however, to be required to come with the bread
to St. Domingo, which fervice they were very
glad to avoid.
Amongft the chiefs who came to do reverence
to the Captain-general was Cotubano the principal
Cacique of thofe parts. He was a man of great
bodily force and courage, and was fo efteemed
that the Captain-general did not think it deroga
tory to exchange names with him. This practice
of exchanging names, meant for a fign of perpetual
love and amity, was an Indian cuftom. The per
fons fo exchanging names were called " Guatiaos ; "
and I imagine the relationfhip was confidered in
fomewhat of the fame light as that of fofter
brethren amongft the Irifh. It fhows a degree of
refinement which we might not have expected ;
but it is not, perhaps* in the affections that civili
zation finds the moft to change and to develope.
The war with the inhabitants of Higuey was
thus fuccefsfully brought to a clofe; welcome

186 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
news for Ovando in whofe favour it may be
noted, that he is faid to have given fuch inftruc
tions to the Captain-general as fhowed that he
wifhed for peace ; though peace was only arrived
at through fuch fearful cruelties.
The Governor's greateft difficulty, at this pe
riod of his adminiftration, was to know how to
fupport the Caflilian population ; and this diffi
culty would have been felt ftill more urgendy but
for the great mortality we have mentioned, and
the return of many men in thofe veffels which
were fent back to Spain in the fleet that perifhed.
The flores which Ovando had brought with him
from Spain were now exhaufted ; and the Spa
niards began to fuffer gready from hunger. They
were compelled to eat all manner of uncleanly
things. The Indians alfo fuffered from this fa
mine, for they had not put in the ufual crops
(their fuicidal mode, as we have feen before, of
getting rid of their Spanifh vifitors) and in con
fequence of the famine, it is ftated, new difeafes
made their appearance both amongft the native
population and the Spaniards.
Another great difficulty for the Governor was,
that the Indians would have little or no comtnu-
indians nication with the Chriftians. Ovando ftated that
Spaniards, this averfion of the Indians was the refult of the

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 187
freedom which had been declared for them. But
Las Cafas with more probability afferts that the
Indians never knew anything about this declara
tion of their freedom ; and that they fhunned the
Spaniards as naturally as fparrows the fparrow-
hawk. It is eafy to fee that this conduct of the
Indians would appear to prefent a great hindrance
to their converfion, a circumftance which Ovando
did not omit to mention to Los Reyes when he laid
the matter before them. He would probably take
care alfo to point out the difficulty of procuring
gold, or making profperous fetdements, while the
Indians thus flood apart.
The Catholic Sovereigns, in a reply dated the
20th December, 1503, direct Ovando to compel 1J03.
the Indians to have dealings with the Spaniards, Fatal or-
and to work for them at fuch wages as he fhall Reves>
think fit. Los Reyes further order, that the In
dians fhall work under the guidance of their
Caciques ; that they fhall go and hear mafs and be
inftructed in the Faith — and that they fhall do all
thefe things " as free perfons, for fo they are."
Ferdinand and Ifabella were great Princes, and
very fagacious ones; but it was beyond their
power and their wifdom to combine fuch orders
with freedom for their Indians. Ovando works
out the fyftem in this way : he diftributes Indians

188 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
amongft the Caftilians, giving to one man fifty, to
another a hundred, and fo on ; with a deed that ran
thus, " To you, fuch a one, is given an encomienda
" of fo many Indians with fuch a Cacique, and
" you are to teach them the things of our facred
" Catholic Faith."* The word encomienda which
will now be more frequendy ufed than repartimi
ento, was a term belonging to the Military Orders,
correfponding to our word, commandery, or pre-
ceptory ; and this term naturally enough came in
with the government in the Indies, of men who
held authority in thofe orders, fuch as Bobadilla
and Ovando. As regards the implied condition of
teaching the Indians the " facred Catholic Faith,"
it was no more attended to from the firft, than
any formal claufe in a deed which is fuppofed by
the parties concerned to be the mere fringe of the
matter ; and, indeed, to be put in chiefly to gra
tify the lawyers.
Climax of We have now come to the climax of the reparti-
ento. 1 miento fyftem. That which Bobadilla did ille
gally, is now done with proper formalities on
parchment : and many a dreary day will intervene

* A vos fulano fe os encomiendan tantos Indios, en tal Caci
que, y enfenaldes las cofas de nueftra fanta Fe Catolica. Herrera,
Hi/l. de las lndias, dec. i, lib. 5, cap. 11.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 189
before the flatefmen moft anxious for humanity
will be able to reduce this gigantic evil in the
leaft. We may notice again that the firft reparti
mientos made by Columbus were very different in
principle to the encomiendas of Ovando, though in
practice the two things might ultimately have come
to much the fame refult. Columbus apportioned
to any Spaniard, whom he thought fit, fuch and
fuch lands, to be worked by fuch a Cacique and
his people — a very different procedure to giving
men — a feudal fyftem as Munoz juftly calls it,
not a fyftem of flavery.
Let no one fay that the Indians were to be
blamed for keeping away from the Spaniards, or
that this averfion of theirs to join their invaders,
fhewed any inaptnefs for civilization. Such argu
ments were of great force in thofe days, but are
worth nothing. Thefe Indians were in the main
well off before : and what did the fo-called civiliza
tion of the Spaniards offer them ? What peace,
what love, what beauty or holinefs of life did they
fee amongft the Spaniardsthat fhould have tempt
ed any fane Indian to wifh to be amongft thefe new
men — efpecially to take up the part of fervants
to them ? The civilized man did not then poffefs
thofe fire-waters which are now fo potent in at
tracting and clearing off the favages adjacent to

ioo OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
the outfkirts of civilization. The Indians had
already ivvhat diffraction could be got out of cer
tain herbs and fruits, and were not obliged to go
to the Spaniards for thofe alluring infanities.
The implements, drefs and toys of the Spaniards
might have had fome attraction for the Indians,
but forely not enough to conquer their reafonable
diftafte for Spanifh bloodhounds. And as for any
inducements which the Spanifh religion held out
to the Indians, we may judge how far they were
underftood, or eftimated, by the ftory of Hatuey,
Cacique of a part of Cuba, who kept fpies at
Hifpaniola to tell him of the goings on there
of the Spaniards. He feared that they would
come, as they afterwards did, to his territory;
fo calling his people together, and recounting
the cruelties of the Spaniards, he faid that they
did all thefe things for a great lord whom they
loved much, which lord he would now fhow to
them. Forthwith he produced a fmall bafket
Idol of the filled with gold. " Here is the lord whom they
" ferve and after whom they go, and, as you
" have heard, already they are longing to pafs
" over to this place, not pretending more than to
" feek this lord ; wherefore, let us make to him
" here a feflival and dances, fo that when they
" come, he may tell them to do us no harm."*

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 191
The Indians approved this counfel and danced
round the gold till they were exhaufted, when the
Cacique turned to them and faid that they fliould
not keep the god of the Chriftians anywhere, for
were it even in their entrails, it would be torn
out, but that they fhould throw it in the river,
that the Chriftians might not know where it was.
" And fo," fays the account, " they threw it."
There is fomething fo ironical in this ftory that it
almoft looks as if it had been intended by fome
good Dominican as a fatire on his parifhioners ;
and it may have crept into hiftory without good
warrant. Still we fhall probably not be wrong in
concluding that the inducements held out either
by the religion, or the polity, which the Spaniards
exhibited in the Indies were not fuch as to lead
any Indian to give up his freedom willingly and
come and live in fellowfhip with them and their
dogs. An impartial obferver would have thought
much more flightly of the mental powers of the
Indians if they had fhown this willingnefs : and
he would have pronounced thofe Indians the wifeft

* Veis aqui fu fenor a efte firven, y tras efte anda, y como aueys
oydo, ya quieren paflar aca, no pretendiendo mas de bufcar efte
fenor, y por tanto hagamos le aqui fiefta, y bayles, porque quando
vengan, les diga que no nos haga mal. Herrera, Hifl. de las ln
dias, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 3.

192 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
who betook themfelves at once to the remoteft
and moft inacceffible parts of the ifland, or by
war or artifice, ftrove to the uttermoft to get rid
of their invaders.
Before Los Reyes had authorized Ovando to
give repartimientos of the peaceful Indians of
Hifpaniola, the monarchs had iffued an edict al
lowing the capture of Cannibals when rebels. In
this edict are recounted the fleps that had previ-
oufly been taken on behalf of thefe Cannibals, —
how it had been forbidden to capture them, how
fome that had been captured had been fent back ;
yet as they ftill perfevere in their idolatrous and
cannibal ways, {idolatrando y comiendo los dichos
Indios) it is now declared by Ifabella that if the
Cannibals will not receive her Captains and liften
to them in order to be inftructed in the Faith,
and to be in her fervice and under her fway, they
may be made captives of.* As might be expected,
this permiflion to capture Cannibals led to great
abufe. But we muft return to Hifpaniola, where worfe
things than capturing Cannibals are about to
take place. Before entering, however, upon
that part of Ovando's adminiftration, which it is
* Navarrete, Col. Doc. Dip. vol. z, p. 414.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 193
impoffible not to condemn, we muft premife
that in his government of the Spaniards he
feems to have been exceedingly fuccefsful. He
fully acted up to Ferdinand's advice of com
ing down upon malefactors like a thunderbolt,
If there were a turbulent perfon, an incipient
Roldan for inftance, Ovando would fend for him
on fome fair pretext, juft when there happened to
be veffels returning to Spain. Then inviting him
to dinner, he would talk with him about his neigh
bours and their eftates, and enquire on what terms
they lived with each other. The unwary colonift
exults in thinking that he is now in high favour Ovando's
with the Governor and likely to have more Indians ™eedinf
allotted to him : when fuddenly Ovando turns the Col°"
upon him with this queftion. " In which of
"..thofe fhips (probably vifible from where they
were fitting) would you like to go to Caftile ? '"
The rofy look of a man who thinks he fhall get
more Indians changes to the palenefs of one who is
about to be fent home ruined to his friends. He
falteringly afks " why, my Lord?" The flern
Comendador Mayor anfwers " You have nothing
elfe to do but to go." " But, my Lord, I have
not the wherewithal, not even for my paflage."
" It fhall be my care to provide for that" anfwers
the Governor : and in this fummary manner he

r94 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
fhips his man off at once, and thus clears the
Colony of a poffible nuifance.*
Ovando's treatment of the Indians was equally
fwift and immeafurably more fevere. The great-
ovando's eft ftain upon his adminiflration is his conduct to
with the Anacaona, the Queen of Xaragua. My readers
of Xara- w^ recollect how well this Indian Queen and her
sua- , Brother received the Admiral's Brother, Don
Bartholomew, on a former occafion. The Spa
niards then aflirmed her to be a wife woman, of
good manners, and pleafant in company ; and
fhe is faid to have earneftly perfuaded her brother
to take warning by the fate of her hufband Cao
nabo, and to love and obey the Chriftians. As
fhe is now to play the hoftefs again, we may as
well turn to the account of her former reception
of a Spanifh Governor, of which we happen to
have fome details furnifhed by Peter Martyr.
After mentioning that the Queen and her
brother received the Lieutenant with all cour-
tefy and honour, he fays " They brought our
" men to their common hall, into which they
" come together as often as they make any nota-
" ble games or triumphs, as we have faid before.
" Here after many dancings, fingings, mafkings,
" runnings, wreftlings, and other trying of maf-

* Las Cafas Hid. de las lndias. MSS. Segunda Parte, cap. 40.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 195
" tries, fuddefily there appeared in a large plain
" near unto the hall, two great armies of men of
" war, which the King for his paftime had caufed
" to be prepared, as the Spaniards ufe the play
" with reeds, which they call ' Juga de Canias.'
" As the armies drew near together, they affailed The in-
" the one the other as fiercely, as if mortal ene- nament? "
" mies with their banners fpread, fhould fight for
" their goods, their lands, their lives, their liberty,
" their country, their wives and their children, fo
" that within the moment of an hour, four men
" were flain, and many wounded. The battle
" alfo fhould have continued longer, if the king
" had not, at the requeft of our men, caufed
" them to ceafe." *
At this time, in the year 1503, fome of Rol- 1503.
dan's men were fettled in the province of Xara
gua ; and a troublefome brood they were. Her*
rera fays in a quiet farcaflic way, " they lived in
" the difcipline they had learnt from Roldan,"
and the governing powers of Xaragua found them
" intolerable." As might be expectedy there were
conftant difturbances between thefe Spaniards and
the Indians ; and the Spaniards took care to
round into the Governor's ear that the Indians of

* Dec. 1, lib. 6, Eden's tranflation.

196 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Xaragua intended to. rebel. Perhaps they did fo
intend. Ovando refolved, after much confulta-
tion, to take a journey to Xaragua. We muft
fay for Ovando, that this does not look as if he
thought the matter were a light one. Xaragua
was feventy leagues from St. Domingo. Ovando
fet out well accompanied, with 70 horfemen and
300 foot foldiers. Anacaona, who had probably
fome fiupicion, fummons all her feudatories around
her " to do honour" to the Governor, for fhe has
heard of his coming. She goes out to meet
him with a concourfe, finging and dancing : juft
as in former days fhe had met the Lieutenant.
All forts of pleafures and amufements are pro
vided for the ftrangers, and probably, Anacaona
thought, in her innocent way, that fhe had quite
foothed and pleafed this fevere-looking Governor
as fhe had the laft. But thefe former followers
of Roldan were about the Governor, telling him
that there certainly was an infurrection at hand,
that if he did not look to it now, and fupprefs it
at once, the revolt would be far more difficult to
quell when it did break out. Thus they argued,
ufing all thofe feemingly wife arguments of wick-
ednefs which from time immemorial have com
menced and perpetuated treachery. Ovando liftens
to thefe men, indeed muft have been much. in-

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 197
clined to believe them, or he would hardly have
come all this way. He is now convinced that an
infurrection is intended.
With thefe thoughts in his mind, he ordered
that, on a certain Sunday after dinner, all the
cavalry fhould get to horfe on the pretext of a
tournament. The infantry, too, he caufed to
be ready for action. He himfelf, a Tiberius
in diffembling, goes to play at quoits and is dif-
turbed by his men coming to him and begging
him to look on at their fports. Poor Anacaona ovando'!
abfolutely jumps into the trap prepared for her. ^"a"
She tells the Governor that her Caciques, too,
would like to fee this tournament, upon which,
with demonftrations of pleafure, he bade her come
with all her Caciques to his lodgings, for he
wanted to talk to them, intimating, as I conjec
ture, that he would explain the game to them.
Meanwhile, he gave his Cavalry orders to furround
his lodgings ; he placed the Infantry at certain
points ; and told his men that when, in talking
with the Caciques, he fhould put his hand in his
fcarf (the thing from which probably hung his
Alcantara order of knighthood,) they fhould rufh
in and bind the Caciques and Anacaona. It
fell out as he had planned. All thefe deluded
Indian chiefs and their Queen were fecured ; fhe

198 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
alone was led out of the lodgings which were
then fet fire to, and all the chiefs burnt alive.
Anacaona was afterwards hanged and the province
was defblated.
Humanity does not gain much after all by this
man's not taking the title of " Lordfhip," which
he had a right to,
Finally, the Governor collects the Roldanites
of Xaragua into a town there and calls it " the
" city of the true peace" {La villa de la vera Paz)
which a modern Chronicler well fays might more
properly have been named " Aceldama, the field
tf of blood." * J obferve that the arms afligned to
this new fettlement are a dove with the olive
branch, a rainbow and a crofs.
The next occafion Ovando had to chaftife the
Indians was upon another outbreak in the pro-
Higuey vince of Higuey, — that province which we have
revolt. feen reduced to obedience by Juan de Efquibel.
The Indians of this diftrict had agreed to make
bread for the Spaniards, but not to carry it to St.
Domingo. This was now endeavoured to be
impofed upon them. Las Cafas is convinced from
his experience, that the conduct of the little gar-
rifon which had been left in Higuey was difbrderly
and licentious, according to the ufual fafhion of

* Captain Southey, Hift. of the Weft Indies, vol. i, p. 93.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 199
the invaders. The refult was, that the Indians
rofe and attacked the fort, burnt it, and put to
death the garrifon with the exception of one who
efeaped to tell the news. The Governor inftantly
proclaimed war, and gave Juan de Efquibel the
command. The war was carried on in the accuf-
tomed way, as regards the unavailing efforts of
the Indians, and with more than the accuftomed
ferocity on the part of the conquering Spaniards,
There were fome fignal inftances of valour fhown
by the Indians. On one occafion, where Las
Cafas was an eye-witnefs, a naked Indian with
only his bow and arrows maintained, unhurt, a
clofe conteft with a well-armed Spaniard, to the
admiration of both armies ftanding aloof to be
hold the engagement. The Indians, however,
found their chief fafety in flight; and it is re
corded that thofe whom the Spaniards compelled
to act as guides and whom they kept attached to
them by ropes, often threw themfelves off the
precipices and thus balked their mailers. Un
fortunately, amongft the Spaniards themfelves,
were men who had become quite fkilful in track
ing Indians ; fo much fo, that from the turn of
a withered leaf, they could detect which way a
party had gone of thofe they hunted after. The
cruelty wreaked by the Spaniards upon their cap
tives was exceffive. They ufed the fame mode

200 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
,of fending terror amongft the Indians which had
been adopted in the former war ; namely, cutting
off the hands of their captives. Las Cafas men
tions that on one occafion they hanged up thirteen
Indians " in honour and reverence of Chrift our
" Lord and his twelve Apoftles." Thefe men
Barbari- hanging at fuch a height that their feet could juft
ties in Hi- , ,
guey. touch the ground, were ufed as dumb figures for
the Spaniards to try their fwords upon. This
hideous cruelty Las Cafas fays he faw, but at the
fame time he adds with a fhrinking which all will
feel to be natural, that he, fears to relate thefe
things now, hardly being able to perfuade himfelf
but that he muft have dreamt them. On another
occafion he faw fome Indians being burnt alive in
a fort of wooden cradle. Their cries difturbed
the Spanifh Captain taking his fiefta in his tent ;
and he bade the Alguazil who had the charge of
the execution, to difpatch the captives. This
officer, however, only gagged the poor wretches,
who thus fulfilled their martyrdom in the way he
originally intended for them. " All this I faw
" with my bodily mortal eyes,"* emphatically
exclaims our witnefs for the fact.

* Todo efto yo lo vide con mis ojos corporales mortales. Las
Cafas, Hifl. de las lndias, Segunda Parte, cap. 17.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 201
And here I muft fay for Las Cafas, that I have
not the flighteft doubt of the truth of any flate-
ment which he thus vouches for. He manifefts,
throughout, in various litde things his accuracy
and truthfulnefs. For inftance, he is careful to
point out the exact pronunciation of the Indian
names. He fhows a fair appreciation of thofe
perfons he is moft bitterly oppofed to : as, for
example, he fays of this Governor Ovando, that
he was a man -fit to govern, but not Indians —
which is much the fame conclufion that we fhall
probably come to ourfelves in reviewing his go
vernment. But to return to Higuey. Notwithftanding
all the efforts of the Spaniards, Cotubano, the
chief Cacique, the fame who exchanged names
with Juan de Efquibel, remained untaken ; and
the fubjection of the province was therefore con
fidered incomplete. This Cacique had retired to
the little ifland of Saona where he had his fpies
who watched out for the approach of the Spa
niards. One day thefe fpies, two in number,
were feized. One was put to death, the other
made to ferve as a guide. The Spaniards hurried
off in different directions, each anxious to diftin-
guifh himfelf in the capture : at laft one of them,
Juan Lopez Labrador, came fuddenly upon twelve

202 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Indians, *marching in a line one after another.
The Spaniard afked for Cotubano : the Indians
faid he was the laft of the line ; and the poor
frightened wretches made way for the Spaniard,
who dealt a blow with his fword at the Cacique
which he received with his hands that were thus
cut off, or at leaft rendered nearly ufelefs. The
Capture other Indians fled, and the Spaniard feizing Cotu-
of Cotu- bano by the throat, and with a fword pointed
to his body, was carrying him off captive when
the Cacique made a fudden fpring on one fide to
avoid the fword ; 'then, maimed as he was, rufhed
on Labrador, got him down and was on the point
of flaying him when a party of Spaniards came
to the refcue. They ftruck Cotubano down
fenfelefs, took up their almoft lifelefs comrade,
and afterwards conveyed the Cacique to St. Do
mingo where he was hanged by order of the
Governor. Higuey was now confidered to be at peace,
and two fettlements were made in it, called Sal-
valeon and Santa Cruz.
Meanwhile the news of Anacaona's punifhment .
has reached Spain ; and we may imagine how
wrathful Ifabella is on hearing of fuch things,
for, with all her fweetnefs, fhe is capable of ftern

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 203
and fierce thoughts. Ovando, we are told, ftrove
much to juftify himfelf; but theQueenwas minded
to make " a great demonftration," (thefe are the
very words) and fhe is reported to have faid to
the Prefident of the Council, " I will have fuch a
" refidencia taken as never was before."
Neverthelefs, Ovando maintained his place,
probably on account of the Queen's illnefs, which
began to be fevere in Auguft, 1504 : and this is 1504.
the laft we fhall hear of Ifabella in the conduct
of the affairs of the Indies.
It was at this time, late in the year 1504, that
Columbus returned to Spain after his fourth voy- Columbus
age, which had proved very difaftrous. Poor, spainafter
old, infirm, he had now to receive intelligence hislaft
* ° voyage.
which was to deepen all his evils. He remained
at Seville, too unwell to make a journey himfelf,
but fent his fon Diego to Court to manage his
affairs for him. The complaints of the Admiral
that he has no news from Court are quite touch
ing. He fays he defires to hear news each
hour. Couriers are arriving every day, but none
for him : his very hair flands on end to hear
things fo contrary to what his foul defires.*
*, Muchos correos vienen cada dia, y las nuevas aca, fon tantas
y tales que fe me encrelpan los cabellos todos de las -oir tan al
reves de lo que mi anima defea. Navarrete Coleccion, vol. i, p.
338.

204, , OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
In his paper of inftructions to his fon of things
to be done, the firft is, to " commend affection-
" ately, with much devotion," the foul of the
* Queen to God. Could the poor Indians but
have known what a friend to them was dying,
one continued wail would have gone up from
Hifpaniola and all the iflands. The dread decree,
ifabelk's however, had gone forth; and on the a6th of
death. November, 1504, it was only a prayer for the
departed that could be addreffed ; for the great
Queen was no more. If it be permitted to de
parting fpirits to fee thofe places on earth they
yearn much after, we might imagine that the foul
of Ifabella would give "one longing lingering
"look "to the far Weft.
And if fo, what did fhe fee there ? How dif
ferent the afpect of things from what governors
and officers of all kinds had told her : how dif
ferent from aught that fhe had thought of, or
commanded ! She had faid that the Indians were
to be free : fhe would have feen them flaves.
She had declared that they were to have fpiritual
inftruction : fhe would have .feen them lefs in-
ftructed than the dogs. She had infilled that
they fhould receive pay : fhe would have found
that all they received was a mockery of wages,

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 205
juft enough to purchafe once, perhaps, in the
courfe of the year, fome childifh trifles from Caf
tile. She had always ordered kind treatment
and proper maintenance for them : fhe would
have feen them literally watching under the tables
of their mafters, to catch the crumbs which fell
there. She would have beheld the Indian labouring
at the mine under cruel buffetings, his family neg
lected, perifhing, or enflaved; fhe would have
marked him on his return after eight months of
dire toil enter a place which knew him not, or a
houfehold that could only forrow over the gaunt
creature who had returned to them, and mingle
their forrows with his ; or, ftill more fad, fhe
would have feen Indians who had been brought
from far diftant homes, linger at the mines, too
hopelefs, or too carelefs, to return.
Turning from what might have been feen by
Queen Ifabella, had her departing gaze pierced
to the outfkirts of her dominions, we may note
what were her lateft provifions in their behoof.
Her will, as regards Ferdinand, was to this ef
fect : — fhe bequeathed the Regency of Caftile to
him in cafe of certain fpecified contingencies;
and fhe- left him half the produce of the In
dies, and a definite fum charged upon the three
military orders — both of thefe legacies being

dians

206 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
limited to his life-time. The following are
her words touching the conduct fhe wifhed to
be purfued to the Indians. After declaring that
the ground on which they (the Catholic Sove
reigns) had received thefe kingdoms from the
Pope, was to bring the people to Chriftianity.
" Wherefore," fhe goes on to fay, " I very affec-
" tionately fupplicate my Lord the King, and
ifebelk? " Charge and command mY &id daughter (Ju-
wili " ana) that they act accordingly, and that this
touching . ' ' ,
the in- (the converfion of the Indians) fhould be their
" principal end, and that in it they fhould have
" much diligence, and that they fhould not con-
" fent, or give occafion, that the Indians who
" dwell in thofe iflands or on the Terra-firma,
" gained, or to be gained, fhould receive any in-
"jury in their perfons or goods, but fhould
" command that they be well and juftly treated.
" And if the Indians have received any injury,
" they (the King and her daughter Juana) fhould
" remedy it, and look that they do not infringe
" in any refpect that which is enjoined and com-
" manded in the words of the faid conceflion (of
" the Pope)."*
Having thus tranfcribed the injunctions of
* For a copy of the will, fee Mariana Hifl:. gen. de Efpana.
Valencia 1796, torn. 9, Apendices.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 207
this pious and admirable Princefs, we have to
return, with fomewhat of a foreboding mind, to
the hiftory of thofe poor Indians to whom fhe
meant fo kindly.
This bequeft of Ifabella's of half the revenues
of the Indies was not well-advifed. We are told
that Ferdinand attended more to profit from the
Indies than to the prefervation of them. This
flatement is probably much exaggerated ; but
certainly to leave a portion of the proceeds, for
life only, of fuch an eftate, was not the way to
enfure its being well adminiftered. Still, it would
be laying too much ftrefs upon this bequeft, to
attribute, any very remarkable confequences to it.
We are to confider the troubles and confufions
which enfued in Spain on Ifabella's death, making
it almoft impoffible for Ferdinand, or anybody
elfe, to give the requifite attention to the affairs
of the Indies. The ftory of thefe troubles is well
known, but we may as well briefly recapitulate
it. The CaftUian nobles did not wifh to have changes
Ferdinand for their mafter. If it was only on ^emment
account of being tired of his rule, (whether it of Spain"
were good or bad) that was, perhaps, enough.
Negociations enfued between Ferdinand and his
fon-in-law Philip which led to no amicable refult.
Ferdinand was nearly fuccefsful in procuring a

208 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
paper figned by Juana conftituting him Regent,
which being difcovered by Philip, he immedi
ately placed his wife in confinement. Ferdinand
refolved to marry again, and allied himfelf to the
French king, taking to wife Germaine de Foix,
niece of that monarch. Upon this Philip came
to terms with Ferdinand ; and an agreement was
made by which the Regency of Caftile was fhared
between them.
1506. In 1506, Philip came over with Juana to
Spain; and, notwithftanding the compact men
tioned above, demanded the fole authority over
the kingdom which had defcended to his wife.
A large majority of the Spanifh nobles fiding
with Philip, the old King had to give way ; and
he went to vifit his newly-conquered kingdom of
Naples. Philip lived but a fhort time to enjoy
the exercife of his authority ; for in three months
after gaining poffeflion of the Caftilian Crown, he
Philip fuddenly fell ill at Burgos and died there, the
25th of October, 1506.
A few months before, a much more important
perfon in our hiftory had alfo departed this life.
Columbus, fince his return from his fourth voy
age to the Indies, had done little elfe than memori
alize, and petition, and negociate, about his rights
and his claims. The proverb, " Fear old age,

dies.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 209
" for it does not come alone,"* was efpecially
applicable to him, fuffering ficknefs without elafti-
city to bear it, poverty with high ftation and debt,
and all the delay of fuitorfhip, not at the begin
ning, but at the clofe, of a career. A fimilar
decline of fortune is "to be feen in the lives of
many men ; of thofe, too, who have been moft
adventurous and fuccefsful in their prime. Their
fortunes grow old and feeble with themfelves;
and thofe clouds which were but white and fcat-
tered during the vigour of the day, fink down
together ftormful and maffive, in huge black lines,
acrofs the fetting fun.
Shortly after the arrival of Philip and his
Queen in Spain, Columbus wrote to their high
neffes, deploring his not being able to come to
them through illnefs, and faying that, notwith-
ftanding his pitilefs difeafe, (the gout) he could
yet do them fervice the like of which had not
been feen.f Perhaps he meant fervice in the
way of good advice touching the adminiflration
of the Indies ; perhaps, for he was of an indomi
table fpirit, that he could yet make more voy-
* Time Sene&utem ; non enim fola venit,
f Bien que efta enfermedad me trabaja asi agora fin piedad,
que yo les puedo aun fervir de fervicio que no fe haya vifto fu
igual. Na-varrete Coleccion, vol. 3, num. lxii.
P

210 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
ages of difcovery. But there was now only left
for him that voyage in which the peafant who
has feen but the litde diftrict round his home,
and the great travellers in thought and deed, are
alike to find themfelves upon the unknown waters
of further life. " Looked at in this way, what a
great difcoverer each of us is to be. But we
muft not linger too long, even at the deathbed
of a hero. Having taken all the facraments of
the church, and uttering as his laft words, " In
" manus tuas, Domine, commendo fpiritum meum,"
1506. Columbus died, at Valladolid, on Afcenfion Day,
dies!"" S the 20th of May, 1506. His body was carried
to Seville and buried in the monaftery of Las
Cuevas ; his remains were afterwards removed to
the Cathedral at St. Domingo, and in modern
times were taken to the Cathedral at Havannah,
where they now are.
Ferdinand ordered an Epitaph to be infcribed
for Columbus at Seville, which tells in the feweft
words that he had given a new world to Caftile
and Leon. A Caftilla y a Leon
Nuevo Mundo dib Colon.
The death of Columbus is the moft memo
rable event which occurred in Spain between the
time of Philip's landing and his deceafe. That

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 211
king being dead, there could now be no reafon-
able oppofition to Ferdinand: Juana was quite
incompetent ; Charles but a boy; and fo we have
again one of the warieft of monarchs to admi-
nifter the affairs of Spain and the Indies.
During the interval between Ifabella's death
in 1504 and the reftoration of King Ferdinand
to the Regency of Caftile in 1506, there are, as
may be expected, but few documents relating to
the government of the Indies. One letter, how
ever, exifts of much importance. Not long after
Ovando had come to the government of Hifpa
niola, we are told that he "folicited that no
" negro flaves fhould be fent to Hifpaniola, Ovando
" for they fled amongft the Indians and taught want ne-
" them bad cuftoms, and never could be ^° indies.
" caught." * We may, therefore, be fomewhat
aftonifhed at finding a letter from the King to
Ovando dated- Segovia, 15th of Sept. 1505, of
the following tenor. " I will fend you more
" negro flaves as you requeft, I think there
" may be a hundred. At each time" (I fuppofe The King
he means at each time of their going to the ^one-
mines) " a truftworthy perfon will go with them goes'
" who may have fome fhare in the gold they

* Herrera, Hift. de las lndias, dec. i, lib. 5, cap. 12.

212 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
" may collect, and may promife them eafe if
" they work well."| There is fome appearance
in this of Indians becoming fcarce, or being found
poor workers. It is alfo important to notice
that negroes, in fome numbers, were employed
in the Indies much earlier than has been fup
pofed. We have feen that the troubled ftate of Spain
was one of the caufes of the injury to the Indies
which took place about this period. Another,
doubtlefs was, that the knowledge of the Queen's
death (the Queen having always been a vigorous
defender of the natives) removed a wholefome
reftraint from the Spanifh Colonifts. Moreover,
it muft be acknowledged that the evident tendency
of fuch a ftate of things as the prefent, even under
favourable adminiflration, was downwards — fo
that even an Ifabella at the head of affairs, a true-
hearted Columbus as Governor, with a Las Cafas
ever at his fide to plead the caufe of the Indians,
(had fuch a concurrence been permitted,) would
have had difficulty enough to prevent the prefent

f Puerto de la Plata.
El Rey a Obando  Segobia i j de Setiembre de 1505.
Embiare mas efclavos negros como pedis, pienfo que fean ciento.
En cada vez hira una perfona fiable que tenga alguna parte en el
oro que cogieren y les prometa alibio fi trabajan bien. M.SS.
Coleccion de Munoz, tomo 90.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 213
encomienda fyftem from going into great abufe.
A total change of fyftem, fuch as with the expe
rience of centuries we, if we were lookers on,
might in this nineteenth century devife, would,
perhaps, have averted "the mifchief; or even fuch
a fyftem as that adopted by the Paraguay Mif-
fionaries. But that was not to be, and could
hardly be expected. In Ferdinand's Government
of the Indies, we fhall find many proofs of faga
city ; many, too, of anxiety for the welfare of the
Indians : and we muft be careful not to lay any
undue fhare of blame upon this fhrewd Monarch
for the deterioration of the Indies which now
took place.
One of the firft things, however, which he did
muft have been mifchievous ; and, indeed, Herrera
puts it down as the beginning of the perdition of
the ifland of Hifpaniola; though, as we have
feen, there was much reafon to apprehend that
fuch perdition was. impending anyhow, unlefs a
totally new fyftem were adopted.
The troublous and perplexed times in Spain
from Ifabella's death to Ferdinand's return from
Naples to take the Regency, and for fome time
after, muft have made many fuitors for royal
favour whom it were hard to deny. Ferdinand
was not fond of giving, and with the great and
coftly affairs he was engaged in, feldom had much

214 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
to give. Indians, however, were now a fort of
money. The courtiers afked for repartimientos
of Indians — fome purpofing to go themfelves to
Hifpaniola and pufh their fortunes there, and
others intending merely to farm their Indians
out, as abfentee proprietors. Ferdinand did not
refill thefe applications ; and though the Governor
Ovando, probably aware of the mifchief, and alive
to the inconvenience, remonftrated as much as
he dared, efpecially againft abfentee proprietors,
there were many cafes in which he muft have
been obliged to give way. The mania for gold-
finding was now probably at its height;* and
Courtiers the facrifice of Indian life proportionately great.
ptrtknien- At the fame time that the King ls chargeable
tos. v/ith furthering this great mifchief of giving re
partimientos, it is to be obferved that he was not
inattentive to thofe things which were, or were
fuppofed to be, the true interefts of the colony.
He promoted difcovery ; he encouraged the
growth of the fugar cane ; he urged the building
of churches (not too coftly) ; he allowed all his
fubjects to trade to the Indies ; (hitherto it had
only been the Sevillians) ; he looked after the pearl

* 470,000 pefos of gold were found annually. — Herrera, Hifl.
de las lndias, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 18.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 215'
fifheries; he took Amerigo Vefpucci into his
fervice ; and in fhort, like a prudent man, fought
to make the moft of his eftate, furthering hu
mane things when they came in his way. As
regards thefe repartimientos, he did not look
upon them as final and irrevocable, but only as
fubfifting during his pleafure.*
As the Indians in Hifpaniola were now be
ginning to grow fcarce, the next thing we may
expect to find is, that importations will be made
from other iflands to fill up the vacuum pro
duced by the working at the mines, and by other
caufes. The firft large importation of this kind
furnifhes us with one of the moft affecting narra
tives in hiftory. Ferdinand was told that the
Lucayan iflands were full of Indians ; and that it
would be a very good thing to bring them to Lucayans
Hifpaniola " that they might enjoy the preaching Hifpa-
" and political cuftoms" which the Indians in mo a'

* Valladolid 12 de Noviembre de 1509 — Declaracion del poder 1509.
del Almirante para el repartimiento de Yndios. Noviem-
Don Ferdinando &c. — A vos el Almirante fabeis que os dirigi
la cedula figuiente (La va fupra, folio 51-52) E por cuanto en
ella no fue fenalado el tiempo que fe havian de tener los Yndios
repartidos : mando por efta fdbre carta que los tengan cuanto nu-
eftra merced e voluntad fuere e no mas — Cumplafe lo difpuefto en
la cedula que va incorporada. — MSS. Coleccion de Munoz, tomo 90.

216 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
Hifpaniola enjoyed. " Befides, they might affift
" in getting gold, and the King be much ferved."
The King gave a licence. The firft Spaniards
who went to entrap thefe poor Lucayans did it
in away that brings to mind our Englifh proverb —
" feething a kid in its mother's milk" — for they
told thefe fimple people that they had come from
the heaven of their anceftors, where thefe anceftors
and all whom the Indians had loved in life were
now drinking in the delights of heavenly eafe :
and thefe good Spaniards would take the Lucayans
in their fhips to join their much-loved anceftors,
and dearer ones than anceftors who had gone thi
ther.* We may fancy how the more fimple
amongft them, lone women and thofe who felt this
life to be fomewhat dreary, crowded round the
fhips which were to take them to the regions of the
bleft. I picture to myfelf fome fad Indian, not
without his doubts of thefe Spanifh inducements,

* Dixeron que yua de la ifla Efpanola adonde las animas de fus
padres, y parientes, y de los que bien querian eftauan en holgura,
y que fi querian yr a verlos, los Uevarian en aquellos nauios, por
que es cofa cierta, que las naciones de todas las lndias creyeron la
inmortalidad del alma y que fe yuan, muertos los cuerpos, a ciertos
lugares deleytofos, adonde ninguna cofa de plazer, y de confuelo
les faltava : y en algunas partes crehian, que primero padecian
algunas penas por los pecados que en efta vida avian hecho. —
Herrera, Hifl. de las lndias, dec. j, lib. 7, cap. 3.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 217
but willing to take the chance of regaining the
loved paft, and faying like King Arthur to his
friend Sir Bedivere upon the fhore,
" I am going a long way
" With thefe thou feeft  if indeed I go —
" (For all my mind is clouded with a. doubt)
" To the ifland-valley of Avilion ;
" Where falls not hail, or rain, or any fnow,
" Nor ever wind blows loudly 5 but it lies
" Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard-lawns
" And bowery hollows crown'd with fummer fea,
" Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
Alfred Tennyfon. Morte d* Arthur, vol. 2, p. 15.
This hideous pretence of the Spaniards did its
work ; but there were other devices, not men
tioned to us, which were afterwards adopted;
and the end was, that in five years forty thou
fand of thefe deluded Lucayans were carried to
Hifpaniola. Moft men in the courfe of their
lives have rude awakenments which may enable
them to form fome notion of what it was, to
come down from the hope of immediate para-
dife to working as a flave in a mine. Some
lived on in patient defpair ; others of fiercer na
ture, refufing fuftenance, and flying to dark caves
and unfrequented places, poured forth their lives,
and we may hope were now, indeed, with the
bleft. Others of more force and practical energy,
" peradventure the wifeft" as Peter Martyr fays,

218 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
made efcape to the northerly parts of Hifpaniola,
and there with " arms outftretched" towards their
Country, lived at leaft, to drink in the breezes
from their native lands. Thofe lands were now
paradife to them.
There is a tree in Hifpaniola called the Yau-
ruma; a large, light, pithy tree. A Lucayan
more enterprifing than the reft, who had been a
carpenter in his own ifland, cut down one of
thefe Yauruma trees, hollowed it out, provifioned
A defpe- the hollow part with maize and fome calabafhes
age home- of water ; then put the ftems of fmaller trees acrofs
wards. ^g main trunk ; then lafhed thofe ftems toge
ther with " bexucos," which are ftringy roots like
cords ; and filling in well with leaves the inter-
flices between the ftems, thus made fomething of a
raft.* He took on board with him another Indian
man and a woman, both relations, and having
provided themfelves with oars, away they paddled,
having the North Star for their guide. There is
always life in a ftout-hearted action though long
paft ; and one feels quite anxious now, as if they
ftill were on that fea, to know what became of
them. On they went, day after day, night after
night ; the loathed Hifpaniola had long been out
* Herrera, Hift. delas lndias, dec. i. lib. 7, cap, 3.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 219
of fight ; they had already gone two hundred
miles. " Cheer up, filler Indian, not many morn-
" ings will dawn upon us 'ere we fee our own
" dear land again." But what is that black thing
in the diftance ? No land of home — but one of
thofe accurfed caravels coming, perhaps, with
more Lucayans. It has already feen our raft,
and the bold wanderers are again in the power of
their adverfaries, are again on their hateful way
to Hifpaniola.
Treafure up all thefe things, reader : you will
afterwards find much controverfy as to the capa
bility of thefe Indians, which queftion you may
be able to folve without Dr. Sepulveda, or Las
Casas, or any theologift or ftatefman whatever.
This Lucayan enormity is one of the laft acts
mentioned of Ovando's government. Diego Co
lumbus had for fome time paft been urging the
King to give him the rights which he claimed as
his father's heir. He was enabled to urge his
claim with more effect, having married Maria de
Toledo a grand Niece of the King's and Niece
of the Duke of Alva. The King allowed Don
Diego's caufe to be heard in the courts. " Let
" right be done," as we fay here when the fovereign
gives permiffion that a caufe againft the Crown
fhall be heard in the courts of law. And right

220 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.

Don Die
go Colum
bus ap
pointedGovernor.

Character
of O van-
do's Gov
ernment.

was fo far done as to appoint Don Diego Ad
miral and Governor of the Indies, but " without
" prejudice " to the right of either party — that is,
I imagine, as to whether the Governorfhip was to
be hereditary in the family of Columbus or not.
The arrival of Don Diego Columbus in Hif
paniola clofes the adminiflration of Ovando, an
adminiflration which received much praife from
the Spaniards, even from thofe who lived under
it, who we are told in after years ftill continued
to regret this Governor's departure.
Thinking, however, on what the Indians muft
have fuffered during his time, we cannot look on
his adminiflration, as a whole, otherwife than
with profound regret and diffatisfaction, though
we muft not lay the entire blame upon him and
make him out to be a monfter in human form.
The hiftorian of St. Domingo* fays it is re
markable that the Governors of the Indies, even
thofe who were noted as good men before, all
turned out cruel tyrants. This uniformity might
have fuggefted to the good father the ftrength
of the current of evil into which thefe men were
thrown, and which, perhaps, none but a really
great man could have Hemmed.

* Father Charlevoix.

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 221
To fhew the extent of the evil which had taken
place in Ovando's time, we can hardly do better
than quote a letter of the King's written in May,
about two months before the Ovando govern
ment ended. " You fay," writes the King, " that
" there are few Indians in this ifland and that it
" will be well to bring them from other iflands,
" I now order the Governor that he fhould pro-
" vide for the mines as many Indians as may
" be requifite." *
" Few Indians !" " It is moft populous," faid
the firft difcoverer. There were twelve hundred
thoufand fouls, declares the ardent Las Cafas;
and Herrera, not long ago, at the time of the
treachery to Anacaona, fpoke of the large numbers
in her province of Xaragua.
We may well exclaim in indignation, Ovan
do, and the reft of you Spanifh Colonifts and
authorities, where are thefe Indians ?
I am afraid that, anfwering what you can for
deaths by famine and difeafe, and which you
may put down as unavoidable, there ftill remains
* Refpuefta y defpacho al Gobernador y Oficiales de la Efpa-
nola que debian ir antes que el Almirante. Valladolid, 3 de 1509.
Mayo de 1509. Mayo 3.
Decis que hay pocos Yndios en efta Yfla y fera bien traer de
otras, ya mando al Gobernador que probea para las minas todos
los que fean menefter. M.SS. Coleccion de Munoz, tomo 90.

222 OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT.
a fearful number of your brethren of whom you
cannot fay that you were not the keepers. And
brethren they were, though then, and it is fome
excufe for you, you did not think fo.
Arraigned before the bar of hiftory, as I have
juft imagined Ovando to be, we muft hear what
an advocate would fay for him. He would tell
us that this Governor did keep order amongft
the Spaniards; that he did not enrich himfelf,
Advocate needing money even for his paflage home ; that
d0. what property he chanced to have in the ifland
he left for charitable purpofes ; and that we hear
of no private vice in him. Faultlefs to his order,
faithful to his King, complete in panoply of per
fonal virtue, with true Caftilian dignity in his
demeanour, fo that to gain refpect he needed not
the title of Lordfhip, which in his humility he
would not take — what is there to juftify your
condemnation of him ?
And we on the other fide fhould anfwer, that
that kind of character was not unknown to us
which, free from the fofter and the weaker vices
and vanities, was yet fit to prefide over, or counte
nance, fuch treachery as that of Xaragua, fuch
cruelties as thofe in Higuey, fuch tearings afunder
as thofe in the Lucayan iflands. And we fhould
add that he gave up the weak to the oppreflion

OVANDO'S GOVERNMENT. 223
of the ftrong ; that as thefe oppreffed ones died
away, he collected them together again, like a
pack of cards,* and dealt them out anew to thofe
whom he "favoured, thus mingling folly with
cruelty, till nature pronounced againft his govern
ment by its defolation.
* Las Cafas Hift.de las lndias. MSS. Segunda Parte, cap. xiv.

224

CHAPTER VI.
Don Diego Columbus. — The Dominicans. —
The Laws of Burgos.
)N the midft of the crafh of Dynafties,
the downfal of Kingdoms, and the
wild havoc in great cities which pre
vails in thefe unquiet times,* any ftudy of what
was done a long while ago, which itfelf may not
be dramatic, or at leaft, not of the fame livelinefs
as the prefent proceedings in the world, and which
derives moft of its importance from the largenefs
of the refult and not from the impofing prefence
of the means, feems fomewhat tame and profitlefs.
And, indeed, in all ftirring periods, thofe engaged
in the ordinary affairs of life, ftill more ftudents,
whether readers or writers, feel as if they had,
fomehow, been left behind ; or as a man fitting in
a gloomy room confined by ill health or dull
bufinefs, while at intervals comes in the merry
noife of boifterous children playing in the fun.
* A. D. 1848.

THE DRIFT OF HISTORY. 225
But thefe feelings and fancies are fallacious.
Often, the importance of a thing lies altogether in
the principle upon which it is done. The mere
phyfical fate of empires, monarchies and pope
doms, much lefs of mere fwarms of thoughtlefs
people, may not be equal in depth and fignificance
to one man's one fin ; nor, on the other hand, is a
great example of duty performed, though of a fim
ple character, (as we fhall find in this coming chap
ter of the doings of fome poor monks) to be poft^
poned in confideration to the moft loud-founding
battle-fields and ever fo much frivolous flaughter.
You fee a fimilar thing in fiction : an old Greek
drama which fhall have but one mind brought
before you gready tortured by conflicting paflions
and duties, prefents fome picture of the univerfe
to you, throws a fudden light down into the
abyffes of human mifery and madnefs, and rivets
your attention immeafurably more than an ill-told,
feebly-following tragedy in which the deaths are
as numerous as the perplexed foectator can defire.
Still lefs is the benefit which may be derived
from the ftudy of hiftory to be meafured by the
noife and pageant of the thing ; but by the ex
amples it affords and the formation of character
it gives rife to. Men have not outgrown the aid
which hiftory might afford them : duty — political

226 DIEGO COLUMBUS.
duty — ftill requires to be expounded and incul
cated ; greatnefs is not yet fully underftood ; and
to revert to the image ufed above, the man who
would come down from his dull chamber and
play well with thofe children in the fun, had
better have fomewhat made up his mind in quiet
of what it is well to play at, and what fhould be
the rules of the game.
So let us be content, in the midft of all this
tumult, to go on quietly and get the moft we can
out of a ftory which will fhow us what the vain
doctrines and defires of men, their cruelty, their
piety and their charity, all mingling together,
make of the new materials which a fo-called
" New World" affords them.
i J09. The new Governor Don Diego Columbus and
Don Die- h;s w;fe Maria de Toledo arrived at St. Domingo
go arrives °
at St. Do^ in July 1509. The ifland had not before been
graced by a Spanifh lady of her rank ; and the
arrival of the new Authorities was honoured by a
large affemblage of the Colonifts and grand fef
tivities of various kinds. Behind all this fcenic
reprefentation of greatnefs, there was, as often
happens, but little real power. The Governor did
not poffefs the King's confidence (it is a queftion
whether any Viceroy would have had that) which
was chiefly beftowed upon the Treafurer Paffa-

OVANDO'S RESIDENCIA. 227
mohte. There was a correfpondence carried on
between the King and this officer in cypher, which
did not bode Don Diego much good, for Paffa-
monte was a fteady enemy of his. And Paffa-
monte was only one out of many enemies to the
new Governor both in Hifpaniola and in Spain.
Before, however, we begin with the new Gov
ernor, let us fee what became of Ovando. A
reftdencia was held, as ufual, upon the late Gov
ernor and the two Alcaldes Mayores, which went
off well and left no ftain upon them. There was no
reftdencia in this life, as Las Cafas remarks, about Ovando's
the matter of the Indians ; and with regard to the r' " ' ' M
Spaniards, if you could feparate their welfare from
that of the Indians, it has always been acknow
ledged that Ovando managed them (the Spa
niards) with much vigour and difcretiori. Indeed,
there muft have been fomething good about
Ovando. Las Cafas, a good judge of character,
(a faculty by the way not in the leaft incompatible
with vivacity of nature like his) was evidently
attached to Ovando. Would to God, he fays,
that the final judgment (not man's reftdencia)
may have been favourable to him : for " in truth
" I loved him, with the exception of thofe errors
" into which he fell through moral blindnefs."
There is a ftory of Ovando from which we
may, perhaps, infer that he was not deficient in

228 DIEGO COLUMBUS.
good-nature to thofe about him. Some official
perfon had been extravagant and was ruined,
Ovando liked the man, and attending at the fale
of his effects, contrived to raife the prices fo that
all the debts were fatisfied, every one ftriving by
exceffive biddings to pleafe the Governor. Not
a very high-minded or correct proceeding this ;
but ftill there is a good nature in it we might not
have expected from fo ftern a man. He got
home fifely to Spain, and was well received by
Ferdinand, but died a fhort time after his arrival.
He is faid to have written fome account of his
Government which has not yet reached pofterity ;
but, amongft the treafures which lie hid in Spanifh
libraries, it may ftill be found, and will probably
throw light upon thefe times. It would be curious
to fee what he fays of fome of the doings at
Xaragua and elfewhere. Peace be with him.
Happily he was to be judged by one who under
ftood him infinitely better than he could his fel
low-men, the Indians.
We turn now to the doings of Don Diego
Columbus. The king's inftructions to this Gov
ernor had been given pardy in writing and partly
verbally;* and, as regards the Indians, were to

* Herrera, dec. i, lib. 7, cap. 8.
Navarrete, Coleccion, vol. 2, p. 327.

DIEGO COLUMBUS. 229
the following effect: that they fliould be well
treated, being made Chriftians of, with much
management, " little by litde, without fcandaliz- Ferdi-
" ing them;" that they fhould live together in ftruaion""
fetdements, each of them poffeffing a cottage Q0^iego
and land for himfelf, which he fhould not be bl*s.
allowed to part with for lefs than its juft value;
that they fhould have their own magiftrates, and
be under the government of their Caciques.
That, with regard to bringing Indians from other
parts to Hifpaniola, it might be done, if the
Indians in queftion were Caribs, or had made
refiftance. That the Indians who worked in the
mines fhould be worked with moderation ; and
with that view, as the king heard that many of the
Indians had died who were brought to Hifpaniola,
he would, for the firft year, demand lefs tribute
for each Indian, that fo their matters might de
mand lefs work from them.
Thefe laws of Ferdinand's are well inten-
tioned, and to a certain extent fagacious; but as
they are all fubject to the old fyftem of reparti
mientos, we muft not hope much from them. It
would, perhaps, have aftonifhed Ferdinand if any
one had accufed him of furthering flavery which
he put fo many reftraints upon ; but that one
thing alone, the authority to bring Indians from

230 DIEGO COLUMBUS.
other parts to Hifpaniola, however guarded, was
fure to lead to the greateft abufe. Who was to
define refiftance ? Who was to fay whether re
finance had, or had not, been made ?
New re- Don Diego began by giving repartimientos of
tos again. Indians to himfelf, his wife, and to thofe who had
royal orders for thefe gifts ; and we hear that the
Indians were not treated better in this Governor's
time than in Ovando's. They have much more
to hope from a veffel which arrives at St. Do
mingo in the year following, a. d. i 5 10, honoured
in carrying the firft Dominican friars who ap-
'5i°- peared in thefe lands. In this year, too, we have
our earlieft notice of Las Cafas, who fings the
firft " new mafs" in the Indies.* As from this
time forward, his doings will be frequendy before
us, it will be well to afcertain who and what he is.
Bartholomew Las Cafas was the fon of Antonio
Las Cafas one of Columbus's fhipmates in his firft
voyage. Bartholomew was born in 1474. His
Las Cafas, father became rich and fent him as a ftudent to
his parent- ....
age and Salamanca, where he took a licentiate's degree.
mg' He came with Ovando to Hifpaniola in 1502,
was afterwards ordained prieft, and now, at the
age of 36, has juft made his appearance on the
ftage of hiftory. He was a very notable man :
* Herrera, Dec. i, lib. 7, cap. 12,

DIEGO COLUMBUS. 231
the utmoft that friends or enemies, I imagine,
could allege againft him, was an over-fervent
temperament. If we had to arrange the facul
ties of great men, we fhould generally, according
to our eafy-working fancies, combine two charac
ters to make our men of. And, in this cafe,
we fhould not be forry, if it might be fo, to have
a little of the wary Ferdinand nature intermixed
with the nobler elements of Las Cafas. Confider
ing, however, what great things Las Cafas ftrove
after, it is ungracious to dwell the leaft more than
is needful upon any defect or fuperfluity of his.
If he were at any time over-ardent, it was in a
caufe that might have driven any man charged
with it beyond all bounds of prudence in indig
nation. His ardent nature had the merit of being
as conftant as it was ardent : he was eloquent,
acute, truthful, bold, felf facrificing, pious. We
need not do more in praife of fuch a character
than fhow it in action.
In the whole courfe of Weft Indian coloniza- 1511.
tion, a wife and humane forethought never could
have been more wanted than now. Hifpaniola
was rapidly becoming depopulated of Indians ;
and on the mode of renewing the population we
may almoft fay depended the future deftinies of
flavery. Ojeda and Nicueffa had ftarted upon
their voyages, and though with their own ruin,

232 DIEGO COLUMBUS.
were to lay the foundations of the colony at
Darien. Velazquez is to go over to Cuba this
year ; which is in its turn to be the ftarting point
of Hernando Cortes for ftill wider difcovery and
conqueft. And what are the orders iffued at this
important and interefting period upon which fo
I5u. much depends? On the 6th of June of this year,
Letter of the King writes thus " With refpect to the doubt
on^mpor- " about bringing Indians from the ifland of Tri-
indiarisf " nidad, look well if there is gold there, for you
" know what the Indians fuffer in changing them
" from one place to another. Perhaps it will be
" better to make ufe of them there, but do what
" may feem beft to you ; and that more Indians
" may be brought, proclaim a licence for doing
" fo without paying us the fifth of them : of
" which we make a prefent to the inhabitants of
* ' Hifpaniola and San Juan.
" The converfion of the Indians is the prin-
" cipal foundation of the conqueft, that which
" principally ought to be attended to. So act
" that the Indians there may increafe and not
fC diminifh as in Hifpaniola."*
This is a moft unfatisfactory and vacillating

* " El Rey al Almirante." Sevilla 6 de Junio de 1 5 1 1 . MSS.
Coleccion de Munoz, tomo 90.

DIEGO COLUMBUS. 233
letter which it is not harfh to conftrue fhortly in
this way " Get gold, humanely if you can, but
" get gold and here are facilities for you." The
king tries to wafh his hands of the ill confequences
in a letter of the next month, in which he fays
" take care that our confidence be not burdened
" and that the importation of Indians be without
" danger to them and to our people. I feel
" much the great lofs of people (Spanifh people)
" that Nicueffa and Ojeda have had."*
Thefe are but ufelefs words : how are you to
enter a country, take a number of its people and
tranfport them to another place, in any velvet
manner ? The only thing to be faid for the king
is, that he was deeply engaged in wars and ne
gotiations at home, and had to meet the expences
confequent thereon. Thefe poor Indians could
little have conceived how much the troubles in
die Italian flates concerned them, and were to be
paid for by them.

* Tordefillas 25 de Julio de 1511 — El Rey al Almirante etc. y
Oficiales. Cerca de la necefitad de traer Yndios porque mueren muchos y
no fe multiplican he concedido que no fe paguen el quinto : pero
cuidado en la forma de traellos que no fe cargue nueftra concien-
cia y fea fin dano dellos y de los nueftros. Siento la gran perdida
de gente que han tenido Nicuefa y Ojeda : MSS. Coleccion de
Munoz tomo 90.

234 FORM OF PROCLAMATION
That we may better underftand the procefs by
which Indians were now acquired, we may turn
to a proclamation iffued by the very Ojeda men
tioned above, and which we are told by Herrera
was the form ufed on fimilar oecafions. " I,
" Alonzo de Ojeda, fervant of the very high
" and powerful kings of Caftile and Leon &c.
" notify and make known to you the following
" things."
Form of Firft, the proclamation tells them of the cre-
tionacU1 ation of man, and of all men being of one
dreffed to racej but of their having difperfed on account
dians. of their large increafe, and having formed vari
ous provinces and nations. Then it declares
how God gave charge of all thefe nations to one
man called St. Peter, that he fhould be the head
of the human race, and have rule over them all^
and fix his feat at Rome " as the fitteft place for
" governing the world." He was called Father, as
the Father and Governor of all men. Then the
proclamation goes on to fay, how all the men of
St. Peter's time obeyed him and took him for
Lord, as likewife all men have obeyed his fuc-
ceflbrs and will continue to obey them to the end
of time. Having now eftablifhed the Papal
Power, the proclamation proceeds to inform the
Indians, how a certain Pope gave to the Catholic

TO THE INDIANS. 235
Sovereigns all thefe weftern iflands and this weftern
continent, as appears from certain writings which
the Indians are told they may fee if they like {que
podeis ver ft quifteredes). Then, they are told
how well other iflands who have had this notice,
have received his Majefty and obeyed him, lift-
ening without any refiftance or delay to religious
men, and becoming Chriftians, and how kind his
Majefty has been to them. " Wherefore I entreat
" and require you" fays Ojeda, or any other
privateering difcoverer, " that after taking due
" time to confider this, you acknowledge the
" church" as fovereign lady of the world and
" the Pope in her name, and His Majefty, in his
" place as Lord of thefe ifles and continent, and
" receive thefe religious men. If you do, His
" Majefty will greet you with all love and affec-
" tion and leave you your wives and children
" free, and will give you many privileges and
" exemptions. But if you do not, by the help of
" God I will enter with power into your land and
" will fubdue you, and will take your wives and
" children and make flaves of them, and fell them
" as fuch, and take all your goods and do you
" all the mifchief I can, as to Vaffals that do not
" obey and will not receive their Lord. And I
" proteft that all the death and deftruction which

236 FORM OF PROCLAMATION.
" may come from this is your fault, and not his
" Majefty's or mine, or that of my men." *
There is fomething irrefiftibly grotefque in this
document. How remote -and hazy muft have been
the conceptions of the Indians as to the meaning
of the word " Church" (not an eafy thing to ex
plain at any time or to any people) or of fuch things
as " privileges" and " exemptions ! " Thefe diffi
culties would not have been much fmoothed either
by tranflation. But we muft come to the ferious
part of the matter. Whenever this proclamation
had no effect, and it was fcarcely the intereft of the
Indians of proclaimers that it fhould have, then hoftilities
mad'e. commenced, and thofe who were taken in war
(" Indios de guerra," as they were called) were
branded and made flaves, and the fifth part of
them given to the King.f
If the Government of the Indians refident in
Hifpaniola had been ever fo good at this time,
and if there had been fuch communities as thofe
pictured in the King's inftructions to Don Diego
Columbus, ftill what a great difturbance this per-
* Herrera, Dec. 1, lib. 1, cap; 14.
•)• " E quanto toca a. efto de la Guerra, no ai mas que decir al
" prefente, fino que todos los que en la Guerra fe tomaron, fe hep-
" raron, i fe hicieron Efclavos, de los quales fe dio el quinto de
" fu mageftad al Teforero Baltafar de Mendoc,a."---itor«fl Hiflo-
riadores Primiti'vos, vol. 1, p. 159.

NEGROES IN THE INDIES. 237
petual introduction of flaves would have been to
the well-being of the community. But I do not
believe that any fuch communities, as the King
fpeaks of, were formed at all at this time ; and
that the ftate of the Indians at peace was moft
wretched, we fhall foon have reafon to conclude.
Meanwhile, we muft turn from the Indians for a
fhort time to the negroes.
Herrera fpeaks in 15 10 of the King having
told the Admiral that he had given orders to the
Officials at Seville that they fhould fend 50 ne
groes to work in the mines. We have already
feen what the King had before faid to Ovando
on the fame point, and what number of flaves he
had fent over. In June 1 5 1 1 we have a fentence, 1 5 1 1 .
in one of the King's letters to a man of the name Negroes in
of Sampier who held fome office in the Colony,
about the negroes " I do not underftand how fo
" many negroes have died, take much care of
" them."* In October of the fame year we have
an order from the King to his Officers at Seville
ordering them to pay Ledefma, one of the King's
pilots, what was his due for the laft voyage he
had made at the king's command to carry negroes
* Sevilla 21 de Junio de 1511, El Rey a Sampier
.... No entiendo como fe han muerto tantos negros : Cuidadlos
mucho. — Coleccion de Muiioz, tomo 90.

238 THE DOMINICANS
to Hifpaniola. * I wifh the reader to keep thefe
facts in mind. They are mentioned now as they
occurred at this period.
Returning to the Indians, we find that concern
for them developing itfelf amongft the Dominican
fathers in Hifpaniola, which is hereafter to have
fuch root in that brotherhood as almoft to become
one of the tenets of their faith. Grieved and
aftonifhed and terrified muft thefe good fathers
have been at all they faw and heard. It was, no
doubt, the daily talk at their convent : and at laft
they refolved to fpeak out their minds, come what
would of it.
Thefe Dominican monks were about twelve or
fifteen in number, living under the government
of their Vicar, Peter de Cordova. Coming to a
new country, they had deepened the feverity of
their rules, fo that it kept pace with the general
hardnefs of living throughout the colony. One of
their new rules was, that they would not afk for
bread, wine, or oil, except in cafes of ficknefs :
and their habitual fare was moft fcanty and of the

* Burgos 24 de Oftubre de 1511 — El Rey a. los Oficiales de
Se villa. Que a Pedro de Ledefma nueftro piloto paguen lo que fe les
deviere del ultimo viage que por nueftro mandado hizo a llebar
negros a la Efpanola. Coleccion de Munoz, tomo 90.

OF ST. DOMINGO. 239
pooreft defcription. Being fully intent upon the
work they had taken upon them, they would foon
have comprehended, from their own obfervation,
the extent of evil in the ftate of things about
them ; but their infight into the treatment of the
Indians was rapidly enlarged and confirmed by
the acquifition of a new lay-brother. This was a
man who had murdered his wife, an Indian wo
man, and then had fled to the woods, where he
remained two years ; but on the arrival of the
Dominicans in the ifland, he fought what refuge 151 1.
from his fin and his forrow could be found under The Do-
the fhadow of their order. This man recounted ^ntQans
to his brethren the cruelties he had been witnefs Preach
down In-
of : which narration may have brought them dian flave-
fooner to the determination they now came to ;
namely, to make a folemn proteft, againft the
ways of their countrymen with the Indians.
The good monks determined that their proteft
fliould exprefs the general opinion of their body ;
and they accordingly agreed upon a difcourfe to
be preached before the inhabitants of St. Do
mingo, and figned their names to it. The fathers
refolved that Brother Antonio Montefino fhould
be the perfon to preach it ; a man, we are told, of
great afperity in reprehending vice. In order to
enfure a fit attendance on the occafion, the monks

240 THE DOMINICANS
took care to let the principal perfons of St Do*
mingo know, that fome addrefs of a remarkable
kind (which concerned them much) was to be
made to them, and their attendance was requefted.
The Sunday came ; Father Antonio afcended the
pulpit, and took for his text a portion of the
gofpel of the day, " I am the voice of one crying
" in the wildernefs."
We have only a fhort account of the fermon ;
but we may imagine that it was an energetic dif-
courfe : for indeed, when anybody has anything
to fay, he can generally fay it worthily. And here,
inftead of nice points . of doctrine (over which,
and not unreafonably, men can become eloquent,
Father ingenious, wrathful, intenfe) was an evil uplifting
fermon. itfelf before the eyes of all men, and reflecting
which neither preacher nor hearers could entrench
themfelves behind generalities. He told them
that the fterile defert was an image of the ftate of
their confciences : and then he declared with
" very piercing and terrible words" {palabras
muy pungitivas y terribles) that " the voice" pro
nounced that they were living in " mortal fin"
by reafon of their tyranny to thefe innocent peo
ple, the Indians. What authority was there for
the impofition of this fervitude ? what juft
ground for thefe wars ? How could the colonifts

THE DOMINICANS. 241
rightly infift upon fuch cruel labours as they did
from the Indians ; neglecting all care of them
both in the things of heaven and thofe of earth ?
Such Spaniards had no more chance of falvation
than Moors, or Turks.
We fhall but put a worthy ending to Father
Antonio's fermon, if we conclude with fome words
from a very renowned preacher on the fame
¦ fubject and a like occafion. " But you will fay
" to me, this people, this republic, this ftate can-
" not be fupported without Indians. Who is to
" bring us a pitcher of water, or a bundle of
" wood ? Who is to plant our mandioc ? Muft
" our wives do it ? Muft our children do it ? In
" the firft place, as you will prefently fee, thefe
" are not the ftraits in which I would place you :
" but if neceffity and confcience require it, then I
" reply, yes ! and I repeat it, yes ! you and your
" wives and your children ought to do it ! We
" ought to fupport ourfelves with our own hands ;
" for better is it, to be fupported by the fweat of
" one's own brow than by another's blood. O ye
" riches of Maranham ! What if thefe mantles
" and cloaks were to be wrung ? they would drop
« blood."*

* Vieyra's firft fermon at St. Luiz. A. D. 1653, quoted in
Southey's Hiftory of Brazil, vol. *, p. 479-
R

242 THE DOMINICANS.
I almoft hear during the difcourfe, the occa-
fional clang of arms as men turned angrily about
to one another, and vowed that this muft not
go on any longer. They heard the difcourfe out,
however, and went to dinner. After dinner, the
principal perfons conferred together for a fhort
time, and then fet off for the monaftery, to make
a fierce remonftrance. When they had come to
the monaftery, which, from its poor conftruction,
might rather have been called a fhed than a mo
naftery, the Vicar, Peter de Cordova, received
them and liftened to their complaint. They in-
fifted upon feeing the preacher, Father Anto
nio, declaring that he had preached " delirious
" things," and that he muft make retractation next
Sunday. A long parley took place, in the courfe
of which Peter de Cordova told them that the
fermon was not the words of one man, but of the
whole Dominican community. The angry de
putation exclaimed, that if Father Antonio did
not unfay what he had faid, the monks had
better get ready their goods to embark for Spain.
" Of a truth, my Lords," replied the Vicar,
"that will give us little trouble;" which was
true enough, for (as Las Cafas tells us) all that
the monks poffeffed, — their books, clothes, and
veftments for the mafs, — might have gone into

THE DOMINICANS. 243
two trunks. At laft the colonifts went away,
upon the underftanding that the matter would
be touched upon next Sunday, and, as the re-
monftrants fuppofed, an ample apology would
be offered them.
The next Sunday came: there was no occa
fion this time to invite anybody to come to
church,- for all the congregation were anxious
to come, rejoicing in being about to hear an apo
logy to themfelves from the pulpit. After mafs,
Father Antonio was again feen walking to the
pulpit, and he gave out the text from the 36 th
chapter of Job, the 3rd verfe : " Repetam fci- Father
. ... Antonio':
" enttam meam a prtnctpto et operatorem meum fecond
" probabo juftum." Thofe of his audience who ermon-
underftood Latin, and were perfons of any acute-
nefs, perceived immediately what would be the
drift of this fermon — no whit lefs unfavoury to
them than the laft. And fo it was. Father An
tonio only repeated his former facts, clenched
his former arguments, and infifted upon his for
mer conclufion. Moreover, he added that the
Dominicans would not confefs any man who made
incurfions amongft the Indians, and this the colo
nifts might publifh, and write to whom they
pleafed at Caftile. The congregation heard Father
Antonio out ; and this time they did not go to

244 THE DOMINICANS.
the monaftery; but they determined to fend a
complaint to the king, and afterwards to difpatch
a Francifcan (monk againft monk) to argue their
cafe at Court. Thither the colonifts had already
fent two agents to plead for having the Indians .
affigned to them for two or three dives, or in
perpetuity. The Francifcan chofen for this embaffage was
Alonfo de Efpinal, and he went out in great
favour with the inhabitants of St. Domingo,
having all his wants amply provided for. The
Dominicans refolved to fend their advocate ;
and found two or three pious perfons from whom
they contrived to procure the wherewithal for
his voyage. Father Antonio, as might be ex
pected, was the monk chofen by the Domi
nicans. When the letters from the authorities of St.
Domingo, complaining of the contumacious con
duct of the Dominicans, reached the King, he
fent for the head of their order in Spain, and
made much complaint to him of the fcandal
which had been occafioned in the colony by this
preaching. Not long afterwards came the agents
from the principal parties themfelves ; Father
Antonio on behalf of the Dominicans, and Father
Alonfo on behalf of the colonifts. The latter

THE DOMINICANS. 245
was well received by the people in authority, had
free accefs to the king, and was much favoured
by him. Father Antonio, on the contrary, was
little friended, found official doors generally clofed
to him, and porters very peremptory. At laft
one day, after an ineffectual attempt to perfuade
fome porter, or door-deeper, to admit him to
the royal prefence, he watches an opportunity
while the porter is fpeaking to fome one elfe,
makes a bold rufh at the door, paffes the obftacle,
and finds himfelf at once in the royal prefence, Father
fupplicating for an audience. The king fpoke has an au-
kindly to him, and in reply to his requeft to be thenkm°.
heard, anfwered thus, " Say, Father, what you
" will." Father Antonio, accordingly, takes out
his papers and begins his flatement. In the
courfe of it, as an illuftration of the cruelty of
the Spaniards towards the Indians, he mentions
that fome Spaniards ftanding together joking,
near a river, one of them took up a little Indian
child, of one or two years old, and merely for
the fun of the thing, threw it over the heads
of the others into the water. He was heard to
fay, as he turned back and faw the little creature
rifing once or twice to the furface, "You boil
" up, little wretch, do you?" {Bullis, cuerpo de
tal, bullis.)

246 THE DOMINICANS.
- No one, as far as I know, has ever fuppofed
Ferdinand to be a cruel man ; and I fhould think
he would have had an efpecial diflike to wanton
cruelty — to any wafte of wickednefs. On hearing
this ftory, he exclaimed, "Is this poffible?" " Not
" only poffible, but neceffary," replied the Father,
" for fo the thing happened and cannot (now) be
" left to be done."* He means, I fuppofe, that
it has the neceffity incident to a paft tranfaction,
of having been what it was. Then the monk
went on to fay, "Did your Highnefs command
" fuch things? I am fore you did not." " No,
" by God, nor ever in my life," replied Ferdi
nand. Father Antonio then refumed his ftate-
ment, and the refult was, that the King, after
having heard it all, declared that he would give
orders for the matter to be looked to immediately
with diligence. Upon that the monk rofe, and,
after having kiffed the king's hands, left the
royal prefence with the confcioufnefs that he had
amply juftified his boldnefs.
The king was true to his word, and loft no
time in fummoning a Junta to confider the matter
which Father Antonio had urged upon him.

* antes es neceflario, por que pafo afi, y no puede dejar de fer
hecho. Las Cafas, Hifl.Gen. Tercera Parte, torn, i, cap. 6.

A JUNTA FORMED. 247
The Junta was formed partly of perfons belong- a junta
ing to the King's Council and partly of new men, confider*0
chiefly Theologians. This plan of forming a '{"^jf-^
Junta feems by no means a bad way of getting ans-
work done for a government ; and the mixture of
thofe who had official experience, and who would
have official refponfibility, with thofe who were
fuppofed to be peculiarly cognizant of the prin
ciples upon which the legiflation in the particular
cafe fhould proceed, appears a happy device. I
cannot fay, however, that this Junta fhowed any
great fagacity in dealing with the matter in hand,
though, I dare fay, their intelligence refpecting it
was, at the leaft, not below that of the principal
men of their age and country.
Herrera fays, that the Junta firft confidered the
queftion on the ground that the Indians were not
free ; and that afterwards Ferdinand refubmitted
it to them, ordering them to take as their bafis
the words of Ifabella's will refpecting the Indians.
It may have been fo ; but I find nothing to fup-
port this flatement; and am inclined to think
that the following account, which is that of Las
Cafas, is the true one.
He does not fpeak of any interference on the
part of the king with the powers of the Junta ;
but merely fays that after having had many con-

248 THE DOMINICAN
ferences and heard evidence on both fides, they
Decifion of came to a decifion, which may be fummed up
the junta. thus_That the Indians are free; that they
fhould be inftructed in the Chriftian Faith ; that
they may be ordered to work, but fo that their
working fhould not hinder their converfion, and
fhould be fuch as they could bear ; that they
fhould have cottages and land of their own, and
time to work it ; that they fhould be made to
hold communication with the Chriftians ; and
that they fhould receive wages, not paid in money
but in clothes and furniture for their cottages.
Thefe propofitions were put in due form and
were given to the king as the anfwer of the
Junta ; and it was figned by Bifhop Fonfeca, who
had all along had the management of Indian
affairs, by Doctor Palacios Rubios, a learned
jurift and writer of thofe days, by the Licen
tiates Santiago, de Sofa, and Gregorio, and by
Thomas Duran, Peter de Covarrubias and Ma-
thias de Paz, who were monks. Several of thefe
perfons, afterwards, when they came to underftand
the queftion better, favoured the Indians ; and
it appears that, even at this time, one of them,
Mathias de Paz, was not fatisfied with the decifion
of the Junta, for he wrote a work the fubftance
of which was, that the king could not give enco-

PERSUADES THE FRANCISCAN. 249
miendas without the pope's leave, and he pro
nounced all that had hitherto been done in this
matter illegal.
We may conjecture that Father Antonio was
not idle during this period. He was ftill much
difcountenanced by people in authority, while his
opponent Father Alonfo, the Francifcan, had free
accefs to the Junta and was made aware of its
views and proceedings. The agents for the colo
nifts were very active and no doubt furnifhed
much evidence to fhow that the Indians were
idle, that they had no good polity amongft them,
that they fhunned the Chriftians ; and in fhort
that if they were not to be favages, they muft be
flaves. Poor Father Antonio, who no doubt felt
he could anfwer all thefe Abatements, how he muft
have grieved at not being able to obtain a fuffi-
cient hearing ! At laft he refolved upon what
will appear a very bold undertaking : he deter
mined to convince his efpecial adverfary, the
Francifcan ; fo, waylaying him as he came out of
fome monaftery of his order in Burgos, Father
Antonio told Father Alonfo that he wifhed to
talk to him, and thus commenced his addrefs.
" Have you anything to take out of this life
" with you but that ragged robe, full of unmen-
" tionable infects, which you carry on your

250 THE KING'S PREACHERS.
" fhoulders?" This does not feem a winning mode
of addrefs to begin with ; but Father Antonio
fhowed more fkill in the courfe of the converfa-
tion than would appear probable from the outfet.
He told the Francifcan that other men were but
ufing him as a tool ; that he was perilling the
reward of a life of fanctity in a matter which
could not poffibly benefit him ; that he was doing
the devil's work without being paid for it even
in the devil's wages. He fpoke to him touch-
ingly, upon the treatment of the Indians, and
appealed to his own experience as regarded • the
inhumanity he had witneffed. And, ftrange to
fay, the converfation between the two monks
ended in the Francifcan being entirely gained
over by the Dominican, and putting himfelf under
his guidance; fo that he afterwards gave him
information as to what occurred in the junta,
which enabled Father Antonio to fhape the cafe
for the Indians more fkilfully. The colonifts,
therefore, did not gain much by their fpiritual
ambaflador; their lay ones, however, as impli
cated in the refult as themfelves, were ftaunch
and bufy.
On receiving the anfwer from the Junta, the
king's minifters requefted the Junta to draw up a
body of laws in conformity with the principles

THE KING'S PREACHERS. 251
which they had affirmed in their decifion; but
this the Junta was unwilling to do, faying that
they had laid down the bafis for legiflation, and
that, with refpect to the particular laws which
would be requifite, they only had to obferve
that the more clofely fuch laws could be adapted
to this bafis the better. Such appears to have
been the line taken by the unofficial members of
the Junta.
Meanwhile, whether on account of the folici-
tations of Father Antonio, or on account of the
book of Father Mathias, which I imagine was
publiflied at this time, the king does not appear
to have been fatisfied with the principles laid
down by the Junta, or at any rate, was willing
that the queftion fliould be further confidered ; The king
for he afked an opinion in writing from the Li- op;njo^
centiate Gregorio, who was one of the Junta, and frPm two
alfo from Bernardo de Mefa, both of them king's preachers.
preachers. It muft be noticed that the decifion of the
Junta, though not exprefsly mentioning the words
repartimiento, or encomienda, is in fubftance built
upon the reafons which had led to the eftablifh
ment of thefe things in Ovando's time.
Returning to the king's Preachers, we find that
Bernardo de Mefa's opinion was to this effect, That

252 THE KING'S PREACHERS.
Bernardo efpecial heed fliould be taken in converting the
opinion. Indians ; that they were not flaves but vaflals ; that
for " their own good" they muft be ruled in fome
manner of fervitude ; that they had nothing but per
fonal fervices to give ; that idlenefs is the mother of
all evil ; that, finally, the Indians might be given
in encomiendas, — but not to every Spaniard, only
to thofe who were of good confcience and cuftoms,
and who, befides employing the Indians who
fhould be allotted to them, would inftruct them
in matters of Faith. If the Indians, he faid, were
to remain under their Caciques, how could they
learn the Faith ? But while he concluded that it
would be right to give the Indians in encomiendas,
he was for their being well treated, and having
regulated tafks allotted to them.
Bernardo de Mefa's opinion is in general well
expreffed and well reafoned, that is, according to
his erroneous facts and limited experience ; but
there is one dictum of his, which thofe of us who
are iflanders may be inclined to queftion. He fays
that it would be contradicting the goodnefs of
God to affert that the Indians were not fit to
receive the Chriftian Faith ; but that to main
tain them in it and to teach them good cuftoms,
would be a matter of great labour, for as an
infular people, they naturally have lefs con-

THE KING'S PREACHERS. 253
flancy, by reafon of the moon being the miftrefs
of the waters.*
The above feems too grofs a folly to do any
thing but laugh at ; yet opinions grounded on
little better reafon, and empty phrafes thrown
prettily together, and words far too big for the
occafion, (fo that in the vacant fpaces there is ample
room for combuftibles) are the things which, in all
times, have to be tranflated into various kinds of
mifery and ruin. A mift of foolifh words comes
down fometimes, now as then, in a rain of blood.
The other Preacher was of the fame mind as
Bernardo de Mefa, but carried the conclufion
further; for he (Gregorio) maintained that the Gregorys
king might juftly inflict flavery upon the Indians
for their idolatry — efpecially fuch a qualified
flavery as that propofed.
The opinion of the king's Preachers coinciding
with that of the Junta, it was adopted by the
King ; and nothing remained but to carry it into
execution. A fet of laws was, therefore, drawn
up by certain members of the King's Council,
appointed for that purpofe, taking as their bafis,

* La naturaleza de ellos no confiente tener perfeverancia en la
virtud, por fer Infulares que naturalmente tienen menos conftancia,
por fer la Luna Seiiora de las Aguas. Las Cafas Hifl. gen. de las
lndias, Tercera Parte, torn, i, cap. 9.

254 THE LAWS OF BURGOS.
that the fyftem of encomiendas was to be retained.
In their preamble thefe legiflators pronounce
upon the indolence and depravity of the Indians ;
and declare that the beft thing which can be done
at prefent, is to break up the Indian fettlements
and to place the Indians in the neighbourhood of
the Spaniards : that thus both in body and mind
the aborigines will be well cared for.
The laws were to the following effect : —
The Indians were firft to be brought amongft
the Spaniards ; all gentie means being ufed to
wards the Caciques, to perfuade them to come
Food and willingly. Then, for every fifty Indians, four
for in- Bohios (large huts) fhould be made by their maf-
ians. £ers> -pj^ jjonios were to bg thirty feet in
length by fifteen in breadth. Three thoufand
montones (the hillocks which were ufed to pre-
ferve the plants from too much moifture*) of
yuca, of which they made the caflava bread,
two thoufand montones of yams, with a certain
fpace for growing pimento and a certain number
of fowls, were to be affigned for the living of
thefe fifty Indians.
Religious Every Spaniard who had an encomienda of In-
worfhip. * The Indians planted their potatoes, alfo, upon hillocks — a
circumftance which may be worth heeding in the prefent times.
See Oviedo, Hift. Gen. lib. 7, cap. 4.

THE LAWS OF BURGOS. " 255
dians was to make fome fort of rude building for
a chapel ; in it was to be placed an image of the
Virgin Mary and a bell. Prayers were to be
read morning and evening — the Ave Maria, the
Pater Nofter, the Credo and the Salve Regina.
Befides this chapel for each encomienda, there was
to be built a church for the general neighbour
hood, in which mafs was to be faid.
By thefe laws it was fettled that the Indians
appointed to work at the mines were to flay there Work at
five months ; then they were to have forty days
for holidays to till their ground in ; then they were
to go to the mines for another five months. Cer
tain regulations follow about the food to be given
to the Indians working at the mines or on the
Spanifh farms. Las Cafas grows furious in con
demning the quantity and quality of this food as
being utterly inadequate. Amongft other arrange
ments, certain little fifhes called fardines are or
dered to be eat on faft-days. Such an order, as
Las Cafas fays, was ridiculous ; for men employed
in fuch labours as the Indians were, would have
no time for fifhing, and it would have been impof-
fible to bring a fufficient fupply of fifh from Spain
and convey it into the interior of Hifpaniola.
The employment of the Indians in the mines is
not only encouraged but infifted upon ; for it is

' 256 • THE LAWS OF BURGOS.
ordered that a third part of each encomienda, or if
the owner wifh it, more than a third part, fhould
be fo employed. Thofe Spaniards who were very
diftant from the mines (one hundred leagues off)
were not to be bound by this law. They might,
however, be in partnerfhip with thofe of their
countrymen who lived near the mines. And in
practice it came to this : that thofe who lived
near the mines furnifhed provifions, and thofe
who lived far off brought Indians ; fo that this
exception to the law only added to the mifery of
the natives.
Wages. With regard to the wages, it was ordered that
one pefo of gold fhould be given annually to each
Indian, to provide clothes with.
Then there was a law in favour of women
with child.
Then followed a law which might have led to
important refults, but little good came of it. It
vifitors was that Vifitors fhould be appointed, two for
appointed. each gpanifh fettlement ; but thefe Vifitors were
themfelves, to have encomiendas ; and therefore
we can hardly expect that their proceedings fhould
be confiderate, or even impartial.
The Indian dances were forbidden.
Caciques. The regulations refpecting the Caciques were,
that they fhould have a certain number of their

THE LAWS OF BURGOS. 257
Indians fet apart for their fervice, (never to ex
ceed fix) and the Cacique with his attendants was
to go to whatever Spaniard had the greateft num
ber of that Indian Prince's tribe allotted to him.
The Cacique and his attendants were not, how
ever, to be idle, but were to be employed in eafy
and light fervices. Poor fellows ! to come down
from governing a people (which they did after
their fafhion and not fo badly) to looking after
fowls !
The above laws were promulgated at Burgos, Laws of
the 27th of December, 15 12. Much cannot be urg°s'
faid in praife of their juftice, wifdom, or humanity.
My readers may recollect that the king, on
receiving the complaints from the official perfons
of St. Domingo againft the Dominicans, fent for
the Provincial of that order and fpoke to him
about thofe fermons of Father Antonio's, doubt
lefs blaming them exceedingly. The Provincial
wrote to Peter de Cordova, the head of the Do* Peter de
minicans in St. Domingo ; and in confequence comes to
of that, or wifhing to aid Father Antonio by his court"
prefence, Peter de Cordova came over to Spain
and prefented himfelf at Court. He was 3 perfon
of great repute and authority ; and when he had
read thefe laws of Burgos and had expreffed to
the King his diffatisfaction with them, Ferdinand

258

ADDITIONS TO

Peter de
Cordova
will not
legiflatefor the In
dians .

faid to him " Take upon yourfelf, then, Father,
" the charge of remedying them, you will do me
" a great fervice therein ; and I will order that what
" you decide upon fhall be adopted." " It is
" not my profeffion to meddle in fo arduous a
" matter," the Vicar replied. " I befeech Your
" Highnefs, do not command me." And fo paffed
away one of the greateft opportunities of doing
good that any man ever had. Thofe who have
taken up a great caufe muft facrifice even their
referve and their humility to it — often, perhaps,
the hardeft thing for a good man to do. And,
as to refoonfibility, any one who is not prepared
to take all the refponfibility that may come of his
moving in any matter, can with difficulty juftify
his moving at all in it. However, let us fay as
litde as poffible againft Peter de Cordova, who
was a very good man.
As Peter de Cordova would not take the ar
rangement of the Indian laws upon himfelf, the
King fummoned another Junta with two new theo
logians in it, to fee if the laws could be amelio
rated. Peter de Cordova aflifted at this Council ;
but did not fucceed in doing much, though all
that was done, was of very good tendency.
This Junta, in their report fuggefted certain
additions to the laws of Burgos; namely, that

THE LAWS OF BURGOS. 259
married women fhould not be compelled to go
and ferve with their hufbands in the mines or on
the farms; that boys and girls under fourteen
fliould not be employed in hard work, but only
in matters of houfehold fervice, and that, till their
coming of age, they fhould be under their parents
or appointed guardians.
This Junta alfo recommended that the unmar- Additions
ried Indian women fhould work in the company laws of
of their parents ; and that the laws which applied urgos'
to the clothing of men fhould apply to that of
women alfo.
Thefe fuggeftions, all of which have for their
object the cultivation of family ties and of deco
rum, are good as far as they go, and deferve to be
commended. In the courfe of this report there is
a fentence, added probably by Peter de Cordova,
or on his remonftrances, which is important in
principle, to the effect that if the Indians were to
become civilized, then they fhould be allowed to
live by themfelves.* However, as Las Cafas
intimates, if thefe people had lived to the Day of

* Qjie por que con el tiempo y la converfacion de los Crifti-
anos fe podrian hacer capaces y politicos para vivir por fi e por fi
regirfe, fe les dife a los que tales fe cognofciefen facultad para por
fi vivir." Las Cafas Hifl. de las lndias Tercera Parte, torn, i,
cap. 18.

260 RESULTS OF DISCOVERY.
Judgment they never would have got their liberty
in this way.
The Junta concludes by telling His Highnefs
that thefe additions being made to the laws of
Burgos " his royal confcience will be entirely
" difcharged," and Las Cafas fays " it is delight-
" ful to fee how free the King remained from the
" fins which were committed in the perdition of
" thofe people" (the Indians).
The fummoning of thefe Juntas is the firft
occafion of the grievances of the Indians being
brought before the Court of Spain in a public
manner ; and thefe laws of Burgos are the firft
attempt at legiflation to remove fuch grievances.
We may naturally make a paufe here in the nar
rative, and pafs in review the main events and
circumftances of the hiftory up to this time.
»4i8 to At the time of paffing thefe laws of Burgos,
1512 nearly a century had elapfed fince Prince Henry
of Portugal, fuddenly refolving upon his firft ex
pedition of Difcovery, fent out the two gendemen
of his houfehold to get beyond Cape Nam if they
could, and to do what mifchief to the Moors
Refults of might come in their way. Since then how changed
ducovery " ' °
during and how enlarged a world it is ! The whole coaft

th

i pe

riod. line of Africa has been followed out, and the

RESULTS OF DISCOVERY. 261
way by fea to India afcertained ; the Atlantic has
been croffed; the moft important of the Weft
India iflands, Hifpaniola, Cuba and Jamaica, have
been difcovered ; nor is the continent of America
unknown, though only the margin of a fmall part
of it is yet beginning to be colonized. Naviga
tion, inftead of being the childifh, timid thing it
was, has fprung up at once into full manhood ;
and mariners now lofe fight of land altogether,
and yet go to fleep as fearlefs as if they were in
their own ports. Europe has become acquainted
with new plants, new animals, new trees, new
men ; and thefe new things and creatures will
not remain mere curiofities for the Old World ;
but will henceforth be mixed up with its policy,
its wars, its daily and domeftic habits, and become
part of its neareft anxieties. The finances of
great nations and the fuftenance of numerous
people will depend upon plants which our Spanifh
difcoverers are juft now beginning to notice, and
are fpeaking of with an indifference which feems
almoft wonderful to us who know what a large
part thefe things are to play in the commodities
of European life.
As regards the civil hiftory of thefe new climes
of Africa and America, much has already taken
place in the courfe of this firft century of modern

262 RESULTS OF DISCOVERY.
difcovery, which fixes, if we may fay fo, the fate
of millions of people to come. Already a flave
trade is eftablifhed in Africa; already has the
firft inftance taken place of colonifts deftroying
aborigines (an example hereafter to be fo fre
quently followed) ; already have the peculiar
difficulties attendant upon modern colonization
begun to be felt, and the firft beginnings been
made of ftate papers, fearful to think of from
their number and extent, to regulate the relations
between the colony, the mother-country and the
original inhabitants.
other con- Nor, in other departments befides thofe of
quefts of
thiscen- conqueft and colonization, have the European
"v men of this century been idle. They have in
vented printing — about the fame time that they
introduced a negro flave trade ; and the two
things will have a death battle for many genera
tions. Literature has maintained its revival. Art
may be faid to have culminated in a century which
can boaft a Leonardo da Vinci, a Michael Angelo,
a Raffaelle, and a Titian. The fcience of inter
national politics has begun, for it was during this
period that the policy of European nations be
came fomething like what it is now, fo that we
feel as if we were immediately related to the men
of that day, though if we flep back a few years

RESULTS OF DISCOVERY. 263
in hiftory, men then feem ancients to us. Taking
it altogether, this particular hundred years will
only yield as yet to one other century in the
annals of the world.
There is never wanting, however, the flave to
fit in the chariot at any mortal triumph. And
when, with fome knowledge of what has taken
place fince, we look over the proceedings of this
century (efpecially as regards thefe difcoveries and
conquefts with which we are at prefent concerned)
we almoft feel as if nothing had been gained for Human
humanity, fo large are the drawbacks. Not that not all
I can believe, and I truft, reader, you think with gain'
me, that the world goes on toiling and fuffering
and afpiring, yet gaining nothing ; or that we are
to conclude that the conquefts and difcoveries of
this century were not a furtherance of the intelli
gence and the worth of mankind. But Ignorance
and Evil, even in full flight deal terrible back
handed ftrokes upon their purfuers.
In the very cafe before us, in this difcovery of
the Indies, what do we find ? From want of un
derftanding their fellow-men, from want of com
prehending what fhould be the firft objects of
colonization, thefe early difcoverers are doing
what they can to produce a difplacement of human
life which will be very mifchievous to as remote

264 RESULTS OF DISCOVERY.
a period in the hiftory of the world as we can at
all prefume to forefee. It is probable that no
confiderable changes take place even in infect life
without affecting us — it may be. largely: and
what muft we expect from abrupt extinctions and
introductions of races of mankind in any country ;
which are fo many fhocks, as it were, to focial
nature ? What, but troubles and difafters of the
direft kind ? And fuch they have proved to be ;
large in themfelves, prolific in their nature, and of
vaft extent in their operation.
To follow out further the courfe of thefe things,
till we come to the large and continuous introduc
tion of negro labour into the New World, and to
the ultimate fettlement of the Indian encomiendas,
may, I hope, be an endeavour fulfilled in a future
volume.

THE END OF VOL. I.

PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM,- CHISWICK.

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